Snow plowing on soft ground

[LD48750]

Ok.... What is the best (easiest) way to split a pipe to put on the cutting edge of the blade?

I got a short strip of thin wall cut & mounted but it didn't last.
PVC is broken & gone before I get to the end of the drive on my first pass.

 

[Amvcane]

I have been using grey 1 1/2” electrical pvc for a while now on my gravel drive. I’ve been getting 3 seasons out of the pvc. It’s only a 54” blade and no loader arms so not much weight on it.
As for cutting a slot in a length of metal pipe I would recommend a plasma cutter.

 

[PILOON]

The answer was mentioned earlier, EDGE TAMERS, they are small clamp on skids or shoes, clever idea!
You can make your own if you weld.

On my rear snow blower I have made oversized skids so I no longer blow gravel all over the place, also it save me replacing sheer bolts.
I can go a whole winter on a set of sheer bolts!

 

[dsb5610]

Ok.... What is the best (easiest) way to split a pipe to put on the cutting edge of the blade?

I got a short strip of thin wall cut & mounted but it didn't last.
PVC is broken & gone before I get to the end of the drive on my first pass.

Easiest would probably be striking two lines and cutting with a plasma cutter. I don't have a plasma cutter and didn't want to haul it somewhere so I clamped it on saw horses and used a cordless reciprocating saw. Pipe is 96" long. Recall it took at least 4 blades from a value pack of short metal cutting blades. Cut with the saw tilted back so the tip did not hit the other side. Lines are not perfectly straight and requires a couple taps with a maul to get on and off which turned out to be handy.

dsb

 

[ruko]

Easiest would probably be striking two lines and cutting with a plasma cutter. I don't have a plasma cutter and didn't want to haul it somewhere so I clamped it on saw horses and used a cordless reciprocating saw. Pipe is 96" long. Recall it took at least 4 blades from a value pack of short metal cutting blades. Cut with the saw tilted back so the tip did not hit the other side. Lines are not perfectly straight and requires a couple taps with a maul to get on and off which turned out to be handy.

dsb

Hello
I'm not clear on the pipe cutting. Do you cut the pipe in half? If so does the pipe halve fit tight enough on the blade? I'm also having a hard time plowing snow on soft ground with my front blade. I have a small Chinese plasma cutter that I use for cutting sheet metal. It'll be interesting to see if it cuts pipe.
Thanks
ruko

 

[olrobk]

The gravel drive solution is simple. Replace your cutting edge with a heavy piece of angle. I did it on my new 90" Meyer Minute Mount with a 4x4x 3/8". You can grade anything smooth in the Fall and Spring. I also have an old 9' Meyer dirt drive plow from the 30's that works great on my "Monster M37".

 

[Logeeland]

This is brilliant. I am going to do it on the 8ft for the tractor and the 7'2" on the truck.

 

[tl2926]

Edge Tamers (search edge tamer) for the front bucket work great, you can also use them in the summer to help from tearing up your lawn for any bucket work you might do where you have grass. I highly recommend them.

For snow "plowing" - At the start of the winter when hopefully you only get a couple inches of snow, spin your rear 3 point grading blade around 180 degrees and you will now be "grading" the snow rather than cutting or plowing it. If you can do that a couple of times you will hopefully get a nice frozen base established without removing any gravel from the drive. You can change the grading angle of the rear blade by adjusting the top link on your 3 point. You can also use your rear blade in this 180 degree rotated position for "grading" and smoothing your gravel driveway all summer long.

If you also have a front blade for the FEL, or a front blade for your tractor, putting a pipe (as mentioned in other posts) on the bottom cutting edge will solve all of your problems with "plowing" your gravel out of the driveway. The pipe stops the blade from "cutting". Call some of your local companies that sell snow plows for pickups and they can either get you a pipe of point you in the direction of who can. Quite a few commercial snow plow guys now use pipes on the cutting edge of their plows for gravel driveways. Once things get good and frozen, they remove the pipe.

I hope this helps.

 

[GBodie]

I have a Kubota L5030 HSTC with a Woods 6' bucket on my loader. I used a 6' piece of 3/4' ID boiler pipe, which is a schedule 80 pipe. I had a machine shop cut a 5/8" lengthwise slit in the pipe and I welded on 3 tabs and slid it over the cutting edge of my bucket. The tabs have 3/8" holes drilled in them, and once on your bucket, you have to drill holes through the bucket that match the holes drilled in the tabs. Secure with bolts from the underside, with the locking nuts resting inside the bucket. I have to replace the bolts about every year, as the heads get ground down with use.
My driveway is over .3 miles long and is about half gravel and half pavement. I had to replace the pipe after about 7-8 years of use, as it wears down with use. I hope this helps, as it sure cuts down on tearing up your grass and removing gravel from the driveway.

 

[Golden Rocket]

Here is what I am working on to solve this issue for me - mount wheels to replace the skid shoes or wheels to augment the skid shoes. So far I have attempted to utilize anti-scallop wheels off a mower deck - problem so far is not being close enough to the deck (plow and/or blower) to allow the implement to lower sufficently - a friend utilizes trailer tongue jacks for this purpose (allows swivel operation).

 

[joeyd]

Ok.... What is the best (easiest) way to split a pipe to put on the cutting edge of the blade?

I got a short strip of thin wall cut & mounted but it didn't last.
PVC is broken & gone before I get to the end of the drive on my first pass.

In my experience ABS pipe lasts most of the season on my ATV blade, PVC broke the first plowing. I guess PVC doesn't like the cold. I use the ATV until the ground freezes, it takes a little longer to plow with it but my gravel doesn't end up in the berms. I've been meaning to try ABS on my tractor blade.

 

[HillStreet]

I also have a B2650, and use a rear blower and the bucket. Most years we just freeze and it’s not an issue. This year is cycling a lot between frozen and thawed. My driveway is paved but the adjoining areas are not. I just keep the blower or bucket off the ground enough to move snow but not dig in. I drive in low range and slow, using extra caution. That way the plowed areas are bare in a few days and you are ready for clearing snow when it freezes.

 

[JVR5333]

we have long gravel driveways on our property - all in open areas however - not in trees so they thaw fairly quickly. While we are in eastern TN - nowhere near snow levels you get in MN - I have found that I just drive over the gravel with my Kubota L3901 in 4WD to pack the snow down - easy to drive on with trucks when packed like that. I keep the front-loader tilted all the way down like a blade and keep it high so it only really catches snow that is deep on the crown. If it creates a big mound - I just pick it up and dump it somewhere else - this keeps from digging into the gravel and also gets rid of deep snow on the crown of the driveways - usually rare in TN, but when we do get a good amount of snow - this has been working for me. Good luck!

 

[nspec]

I plow a very large commercial area that is all dirt and can be very soft before it's frozen. Slotted pipe worked just okay. Plow was heavy enough to still dig a little. Also, the pipe seemed like it was wearing pretty quick in the abrasive dirt - even though it was very heavy walled pipe.

Stall mat bolted over the cutting edge was my solution. About twice as tall as cutting edge. bolt it on so half hangs beneath the edge. When you plow, it folds under and the blade rides on the stall mat like a flying carpet. Not perfect, but works really good - much better than the pipe.

I really like the angle iron idea. I may have to try that!

 

[ayelvington]

I used ABS pipe for many years, but usually went through two sections a season since they didn't tolerate the gravel well (split). Two seasons ago I slotted a section of schedule 40 iron pipe with my plasma cutter and fit that over the cutting edge of my back blade. AWESOME! It has stayed on well by itself, so no need to tack it with the welder. I suppose I could have used cutting wheels, but the plasma cutter was paid for and made for warm cutting on a cold day

 

[LD48750]

I used ABS pipe for many years, but usually went through two sections a season since they didn't tolerate the gravel well (split). Two seasons ago I slotted a section of schedule 40 iron pipe with my plasma cutter and fit that over the cutting edge of my back blade. AWESOME! It has stayed on well by itself, so no need to tack it with the welder. I suppose I could have used cutting wheels, but the plasma cutter was paid for and made for warm cutting on a cold day

Hard to justify the cost of a plasma cutter for this one job.

 

[Katahdin]

This worked out well for me one spring, before I put a 2-inch pipe on my plow edge:

1) Raise the front plow a couple inches off the ground.

2) Extend the top-link of the rear box blade as far as it will go.

Now, moving forward, the box blade should compress the snow the plow leaves behind and not disturb the gravel, and your plow never touched the soft ground.

 

[jbrumberg]

^^^^ Works well with a FEL (different heights and angles of contact/w/o edge) as well. I do not even think about moving snow until it is at least ~4." Packing little nuisance snow events with car & truck sets our gravel driveway well, frozen or not, for snow management with the tractor.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Until the gravel base on our drive freezes well, I use my rear blade around backwards. That and a gentle touch on the drive seems to work well enough until the base is firm.

Nothing is easy or works the same for everyone. What worked today may not work well tomorrow.

 

[Ken Kegris]

I use the front blade but back up and you will still get some stones that sticks to the snow. I also learned this year that if you take a 2 inch pipe and split length wise and fab that over the cutting edge will make a world of difference. This is what I been told love to know if it works.