V-Plow for FEL

[Pibster]

I am trying to decide if I should build a V-Plow or a regular angled plow. I have a Kioti CK25 and a really long driveway that tends to drift. I figured a v-plow would get thru the deepest snow drifts with ease but it would be lacking when cleaning up around the yard and the neighbors driveway. I could likely figure something out with a hinge in the middle and a manual adjustment. Two 4' blades hinged in the middle will plow a wide enough path for my tractor. Has anyone else built or used a v-plow on a compact tractor?

 

[jeff9366]

Tractor FELs are not designed nor built to PUSH heavy loads. Something will buckle if your push regularly.

 

[Fallon]

Lots have built SSQA mounts for truck plows. I built a mount for a small manual angle plow fir my old L3200 (32hp, 3k lbs). I went with a SnowDawg plow on my new L4060. I bought it new. It's a truck plow, but I got the SSQA mount rather than a truck mount from the dealer.

A V plow is typically a lot heavier than a straight plow. That weight doesnt match well for a CUT, especially on a loader.

 

[LouNY]

I wouldn't recommend trying to plow at high speed but using reasonable care;
View attachment IMG_20180205_104002041_HDR.jpg View attachment IMG_20180205_104017943.jpg
View attachment snow bank 5 jan 18.jpg
You can move quite a bit snow with a loader and blade or bucket, the first pics are using down pressure to scrape ice and frozen snow.
I also have a truck with a plow but I use the tractor to plow with and save the truck for sanding duty.

 

[ruffdog]

If the front drifts while plowing, more than likely you don't have a floating plow that allows the weight of the FEL arms to stay on the front tires.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a power angle snow plow for my little machine on the FEL arms. It works GREAT! It has gauge wheels, so I can make all of the weight of the plow ride on those wheels if I want just by putting it in float. That helps greatly with undulating terrain. It also prevents gouging in grass and gravel. Not only can I angle it hydraulically, I can also lift it and dump it like a bucket. The plow works way better than a bucket for moving snow. Way better. My unit is small. If I had a larger machine, I would adapt a pickup truck plow with the trip mechanism. It's not necessary on my small machine, but from my past experience with pickup type plows, you need that trip mechanism on a blade on a larger machine in case you hit something solid or you may damage your machine.

I can also curl the plow down and take it off the gauge wheels and scrape right down to the pavement if I want to. That's handy for that last 1" of slush or ice. It's also handy to be able to drive right up to a garage door and back-drag away from the door while scraping the pavement. Again, you have to watch for solid objects, but you should know your area.

I've thought about a V plow many times. I don't think it would be that useful for my needs. For the very rare times we get large drifts, I just push them off to the sides.

Good luck with your decision. :thumbsup:

 

[Pibster]

My old tractor did not have float so the angled blade pushed the tractor sideways when there was a lot of snow. This Kioti FEL does have the float feature.

 

[Pibster]

The trip is nice but if I build a V-Plow, I probably won't be able to include a trip mechanism. I would make sure that I use good plow shoes to keep the blade up.

 

[George2615]

The trip is nice but if I build a V-Plow, I probably won't be able to include a trip mechanism. I would make sure that I use good plow shoes to keep the blade up.

By using float we mean the plow float, not the loader arm float. A truck plow attached to the truck at the back of the A-frame and has a chain to lift it up. When lowered down the blade can float up or down due to slack in the chain. I tried using loader arms to float a fixed mount blade but the arms floated down to the ground. With a plow A-frame attached to a quick attach mount using a chain to lift like a truck allows you to lower the loader arms till the blade contacts the ground then tilt the QA forward slightly will allow the blade to float and keeps the loader arm weight on the front tires for better traction.

 

[Pibster]

I never thought about losing the weight of the loader when using float. That would decrease front wheel traction. The chain would cure that. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Fallon]

Ya, loader float doesnt work well at all. It works a bit, then inevitably the tractor tries to run the bucket/plow/loader over & you end up with your front tires 2' off the ground. Not particularly problematic for your equipment, but it does make it hard or impossible to operate the machine. You can steer with the steering brakes while the front is off the ground, but that eats power & traction. Not to mention being rough on the machine & operator as you bounce the front end off the ground & back.

My old (yellow) home built plow had float between the plow frame & loader. Worked well, although occasionally I wished for downpressure to really cut into packed snow or scrape the little pavement I deal with ckean. My new (silver) plow for the new machine is a solid mount & I often wish for float to avoid gouging up gravel & get a smoother finish. I knew it was likely to be a problem when I bought the new one. But I figured I could retrofit in a pivot & check chain if it got to be to much of a problem. It hasn't been enough pain to do it yet, but getting close.

 

[PILOON]

My plowing experience is that tractors (cuts) are not fast enough to curl the snow off to the side nor do they have enough front weight to do so like a truck has.
They tend to be OK for straight pushing but then the capacity is lacking.

Best is a blower and get rid of as far as possible.
Berms created by plowing just makes for bigger snow drifts also.

Blowers offer 2 options.
Front and PTO rear.
Here the big difference is $$s.
A back up camera helps for blowing if sitting 'side saddle' is not for you. (about 4 years ago I installed an import $50,00 one and it works just fine, even at very cold temps)

 

[Pibster]

My driveway is 1000' long so I was hoping to gear up something faster than a blower. They do work great on the really big storms.

 

[SpringHollow]

I have used a small truck V-plow mounted to my FEL for several years. Works great. Each blade angles so I can change the configuration while plowing - Angled, V, or reverse V (the way I use it most - gather the snow and dump it where I want). The most use as a V is on a neighbor's 1/4 mile driveway that is uphill from the road. An angled blade push the tractor to the side while climbing if the driveway is icy. With the V-plow, I can drive up the center and then take 2 passes downhill to clean up and push back the sides. I can plow that driveway in 1/3 of the time it took with just an angled plow.

Ken

 

[Pibster]

That’s good to hear. My driveway is uphill and was difficult to plow with my old Massey 35 and the angled plow. Did you float the plow or FEL?

 

[SpringHollow]

The plow has springs so it can flop up and down some. But I do not hang it from a chain. It is mounted to the quick attach on the FEL.

 

[nyone]

I went from a streight blade to a V plow on my pickup. Dear lord i will never own anothet streight plow again. So much quicker, push more snow, clean ends of driveways faster and really put the snow where you want.

Get the V plow. I saved about 25-30* in time and its way easier plowing.

 

[Pibster]

I am definitely leaning that way now after hearing from the guys that have one. Thanks!

 

[52wej]

Here is a home made fixed angle V plow that I made for my loader. I have not had to use it much here in central Va, but so far have not really met a snow that could stop my Century 2535 (Branson 3510). Put some extra weight on the back and it goes right along. I usually have to make a couple of trips on our road which is a mile long as the crown of the road does not allow all of the snow to be removed at first pass. But unlike a straight from blade this does not push your tractor all over the road in deeper snow. If I lived in the snow belt I would definitely buy an adjustable V plow that was mounted directly to the tractor. W. Jones

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[52wej]

Lets try these pictures again.