Shoes on a rear blade?

[Fastball]

Hello all...have just put a few loads of fresh gravel down on the driveway. Am somewhat concerned about a lot of it getting pushed around and ending up in the ditch as i plow the drive with a rear blade. I thought about installing snowplow shoes on my rear blade to keep it a half-inch or so above the gravel surface. Anyone else have experience with that?

 

[atsah]

Shoes or a pipe should work..

 

[Einthewoods]

I will not claim to be anywhere close to experienced, but have done one year of snow plowing with my back blade...so this advice is free. :laughing:

The first several snowfalls I swung the blade backwards so that it wouldn't dig into my gravel/dirt drive. Once the ground froze, I swung it back around and never had any trouble with the gravel/dirt moving.

I might get shoes for mine, but for the cost and the way I did it, I haven't had any great reason to.

 

[RNeumann]

The shoes work better if you can make rapid top link adjustments (or curl adjustments on the front). I’m thinking it’s not going to be a great fix until/if your ground fully freezes.
Have you tried running the blade backwards?

 

[Oldoak]

Shoes help but are not the "end all". The weight of the blade will cause the shoes to dig in a little and leave raised ridge trails of lose gravel unless it frozen. The best success I have had is what others have suggested, turn the blade 180 degrees and push with the back of the blade.

 

[Piston]

I have a heavy rear blade that I use for my snow removal (land pride RBT4096) and when I purchased it I did not have skid shoes on it. I had a hard time keeping it at a consistent depth and thought about adding a gauge wheel. I was talked into trying skid shoes first, and that made a world of difference for snow removal.

With the skid shoes set just below the blade edge when the blade is level, I skim the surface easily without gauging into my gravel drive. When I go up the street to do my parents paved driveway, I just lower the 3 point hitch all the way down, this tips the blade forward just enough to get the cutting edge to scrape the pavement. At this point the skid shoes are just barely off the ground and not assisting in anyway.

If I come across a hump or something that needs more clearance (such as pulling snow piles onto my lawn section) I will raise the 3 point hitch up so it angles the blade backwards, essentially picking up the cutting edge off the ground because of the skid shoes.

I do all this with my hydraulic top link in float. I ALWAYS have my top link in float when I'm pulling snow, it makes a world of difference in controlling the depth/angle of attack on the blade. Simply use the 3 point hitch lever for adjustments. If you do not have a hydraulic top link (or the ability to float) you could do this same thing with a short length of chain connected instead of your top link.

 

[oosik]

I have a very heavy rear blade - Rhino 950 @ 1100#. Until my mile long, gravel driveway freezes up hard - I simply reverse the blade and drive forward.

 

[PILOON]

I have a very heavy rear blade - Rhino 950 @ 1100#. Until my mile long, gravel driveway freezes up hard - I simply reverse the blade and drive forward.

Yep you got it.
Compact that snow to create a good base.
Driving back and forth using the tractor weight also does a good job if you overlap the tire tracks.

 

[zzvyb6]

Shoes placed behind the blade could be used with a toplink chain to level your driveway. Large swivel caster wheels would be better. The wheels travel over the smoothed surface which becomes the gauge for the leading edge.

 

[ruffdog]

The first year with fresh gravel will be touchy. Like others have said, running the blade backwards works quite well. Very seldom do I put the shoes unless I feel I need to protect a questionable surface that might be soft.

 

[alflen52]

are there any places that make shoe kit for rear blades? I am having the same concerns/ I like the look of ruffdog,s

 

[ruffdog]

are there any places that make shoe kit for rear blades? I am having the same concerns/ I like the look of ruffdog,s

Those are on a Rhino blade and they were made by me. The part of the blade they are mounted is on a small angle so I figured that into the construction of the weldment. The brackets stay on all the time but install the shoe part when needed.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

This is the set I made at one time. Shoe is level with the bottom of a new edge on the blade. Shoe has a 1/4" sacrificial ware plate on the bottom, thus raising the cutting edge 1/4" high.
Worked well.

 

[oosik]

The OEM "shoes" for my Rhino 950 are like those in the right hand pic that Atsah posted - post #2. They work great if your driveway is asphalt or concrete or frozen to a certain extent. Otherwise - the weight of my blade - 1100# - causes those round shoes to slowly slip slide into the unfrozen gravel.

I've looked for something a foot long by six inches wide - ski arrangement - no joy. It just a whole lot easier to reverse the blade until the driveway gets hard as rock. Still removes the snow - does not "ditch" the gravel.

 

[atsah]

I agree, turning the blade around and dragging it would probably be the best way, the shoes will dig into non frozen gravel.

I tend to answer snow removal questions with the conditions I have here which is not what a lot of other people have for conditions. I have been here 13 years and have never plowed snow on soft ground, it's always frozen solid by the time I need to plow and that makes it much easier than it is for some of you guys that live in locations that don't freeze until after several storms or not at all.. Once it has snow cover as an insulator it's hard for the ground to freeze enough for something heavy and sharp not to penetrate it..

 

[msb1766]

Replace one or both of your 3 point hitch side links with some chain, that way the blade will float left to right and not have a corner dig in.

 

[MiserableOldFart]

I have shoes on my Woods rear blade. They work well, but I need to use an extra long top link to get the blade to sit back far enough to rest on them. I don't think the hydraulic top link on my new tractor will be long enough for it, so in winter, I'll have to go back to the long manual one I have specially for the rear blade. I also have Pat's hooks, so that makes the need for a long top link a little more. Measuring for the hydraulic top link, I was mainly concerned with the box blade, as the hydraulic link is especially handy for that. It also is handy with the chipper/shredder to keep it level. With the rear blade in snow, the top link is basically set it and forget it anyway. If your top link isn't long enough the shoes will want to dig into the ground. I would venture to guess that people who plow snow without shoes, have their top links adjusted to a much shorter length since they don't need to have the shoes flat on the ground. On a dirt and gravel driveway / road the shoes work well.

 

[oosik]

Because all my "vehicles" are 4WD - pickup, tractor, ATV - I usually DO NOT blade snow off the driveway until there is an 8" accumulation. This means - some years I have never plowed snow off the driveway. My driveway is one mile long - gravel.

Anyhow - the idea being, wait until the driveway is rock hard and I can use the rear blade in its "normal" configuration. I just HATE plowing sloppy snow with a soft driveway. The results are never that good.

I don't find that pulling gravel out of the driveway ditches, spreading, compacting to be that much fun.