FEL plow vs. rear blade for 1 mile of infrequent chipseal road snow removal

[LD1]

I too have both, and used both.

A loader plow is WAY too far forward. That in combination while the plow is down you have very little weight on the front tires.

Add it up and you have a ~20' lever from plow to rear axle that when the blade is angled.....you will fight constantly trying to windrow any measurable snow as it will just keep pushing you sideways.

Yes it even happens with a rear blade, and its much closer to the rear axle. So it takes alot more force to make that happen.

But given the size and light weight of your machine, I'd stick to a rear blade and leave the loader bucket on for use when needed

 

[Stonehaller]

I like using both. The trouble with a quick attach plow is it is difficult to keep it from digging in and pushing up the front of the tractor. Using loader float does not help. I added float to the curl function which helps some but you still can't scrape the drive clean. Mostly I just set the FEL to plow several inches above the drive and use the back blade to clean that up. I use them both at the same time.

 

[RjCorazza]

I guess everyone's situation is different. My ssqa plow does fine for my conditions and terrain. I don't float the fel, I just barely set the plow down and leave the fel weight on the front tires. Feather as needed.

 

[zzvyb6]

Front mounted plow works extremely well with several caveats:
1) You still need Left/Right brakes to correct steer/heading angle in the event that the plow finds a load condition that make the tractor veer to the side when the plow is at high angle.
2) You need a plow WIDE enough so that when it is at high angle (needed when there is a lot of snow depth), you can cover the width of the roadway lane you want to clear. Otherwise you have to make another pass to widen the cleared lanes.
3) You need a curl function on the loader arm mounted plow because there tends to be an optimum side view angle to keep the blade down depending on depth and 'weight' of the snow ('fluffy' or 'wet'). (so third function).
4) You need a rubber scraper blade wiper to follow the road surface because there will otherwise be gaps in the plowed lane which will trap water snow & ice, make the road possibly MORE dangerous than leaving it unplowed. [Insert legal implication problems here].
5) You need to keep the tractor going as fast as possible, so that the Karens following you don't blow their horns and flash their headlights because you are in their way on a trip to have their Saturday morning toenail refinishing appointments. If they try to pass you, there may be a collision, or worse, you might feel inclined to stop and help pull them out of the ditch they wind up in. You may feel guilty about needing $50 from them to pull them out, they may not have the cash, and now they have to walk back home in the cold with just thongs on their ugly fake tanned feet. {Been there, suffered from that, needed counseling to accept their fate].
6) To get the best traction AND steering, lots of rear weights works best if you have the brake steer option.
7) Either way the plow is mounted, you should have float as an option for obvious reasons.
8) The front mount plow (not using the loader) works best in your own yard & driveway because it doesn't take up so much space needed for tight maneuvering. Plus you can get substantial downforce on the blade for those pesky tire tracks frozen to the road from previous traffic.
9) Get a good rear view mirror to see how many vehicles you a blocking as you plow. When it gets to 3, pull over and let them get stuck ahead in the unplowed road. Then plow snow right next to them to block them in. When it freezes like this, a tow truck's extra fee to yank them out will remind them of a Patience & Courtesy meme.

I used to do our whole 1.4 mile road with this tractor running in high gear. The extra weights add to the momentum needed to move a lot of snow out of the way. But since retiring, I now make some cash from the $50 towing fee and get the satisfaction of assessing the character of new neighbors.

 

[agiardin]

Thanks for all of the great responses.

My takeaway here is that both the front flow and rear blade are workable options. Since I'm only going to use this a couple times a year and some years not at all, I'm probably going to go the rear blade route, as that also gives me more of a multi-purpose tool as well.

For the folks mentioning snow blowers, I have the gear drive version of the L2501 and the reverse gear selection isn't very good. And with the little horsepower I have, I'm not even sure that the first reverse gear would be low enough. I also don't think I get enough snow to really justify a blower.

For the folks mentioning pavement marking and such, I'm mostly just trying to not upset the neighbors. We all pitch in and paid for the chip sealing recently, and while most will be thrilled to have the snow removed, I could see a few folks not being happy about my scraping it up. So if I have to spend a few bucks to avoid that, it's money well spent.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Thoughts? Similar experience? Any input is appreciated.

When you ask for opinions, that's what you get . . .

I don't think there's any better setup than a plow out front and a snowblower on the back for stuff you can't handle with the plow. You don't see the county or state trying to plow snow by dragging a blade behind them. I don't like packing the snow by driving over it first and we get drifts along fences and in low spots that you can't really just drive through. A plow out front lets you keep your tires on plowed ground. A plow will do a better job at rolling the snow and pushing through a heavy snow that you'd bog down in with a rear blade.

A cheap Meyer plow, or similar, is easy to adapt to a SSQ plate and can be found pretty easily, at least around here. There are lots of old plow blades, A-frame with cylinders around. If you have rear remotes, you don't need the pump or truck frame or light bar, etc.

A mile is a lot to clear if there's very much snow. My only reservation with this free advice is that I think you might want to start looking for a cab tractor. If you're going to put together a package for the long haul, I think you at least need a cab tractor as a foundation and build on that. And a little more weight. It's a life-long investment if you take care of it.

I tried to dig out about the same amount of combined driveways using my 30 HP open station Kubota. Started with a FEL and rear blade. Quickly added a snowblower to handle the drifts -- MUCH faster than shoveling it out with the bucket. Took me a few years to piece it together, but a repurposed Meyer plow on the front of a cab tractor with a snowblower on the back for weight and backup is the ultimate snow machine as far as I'm concerned.

That's my opinion, FWIW. Best of luck on your setup.

***************

Update ---- Just read your last post. You only need this "a couple times per year and sometimes not at all." In that case, disregard the above and just use the front bucket and rear blade that you were complaining about!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

For $150 I found an old Ford very light duty 7' rear blade to use on our chip and seal county road because the backhoe was a over kill.

Living on the Mississippi River end of Kentucky for the last 10 years I haven't hitched to it because the warmer winters that brought the armadillos means by 2pm the road most often is drivable with no plowing.

In 2014 I got the FWD Ford Taurus that did well in our typical snows. In 2018.we got the 2010 Subaru Forester so why freeze my old butt on the old tractor. Got the 2023 Tesla Model Y dual motor long range this past January and it's the best ice/snow mobile I have ever owned. On wet ice I can take off going WOT and never spin a wheel. The all wheel Regen braking is a plus.

At 22 plowing snow on a open tractor was cool but totally not at 72.

Be careful this coming winter. Some are calling for a ton of ice and snow.

 

[nyone]

With 24hp and a 2500lb machine useing any type of blade with a 12in wet storm your going to need to plow about every 5in.

Is this a shared driveway? If so find out how the other owners want to handle snow removal because it's really not all your issue.

 

[agiardin]

Is this a shared driveway? If so find out how the other owners want to handle snow removal because it's really not all your issue.

They are on board and happy to help out with the cost. And I'm at the end of the road, so road things seem to be more of my problem if I want to get from one end to the other

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I plow with a 6' backblade with a 24HP tractor that is liighter than yours. Our snow falls are typically 3" to 6 ". Some years up to 12" per snow fall. I have no problem with moving snow with the backblade, other than what @oosik mensions above about healing time.
My backblade has horse stall mat attached to the bottom of it and I plow at 6 to 7 mph.

When the snow is wet I use "edge tamers" on my front bucket to clear the snow if the snow buildup on the backblade gets to heavy. This is a slower process.

I plow 3 driveways for a total distance of 3700 feet.

With your 2501 I don't think you will have any problems plowing a mile with a 7' backblade. Just find a heavy duty one for the weight.

Your mileage may very, depending on conditions where you live.

 

[DK35vince]

8 foot ? How much snow before it bogs down?

Its a 9' plow.
I run chains on all 4 tires, we rarely get more than 12" snows at a time.
Handles any snows we ever get no problem at all.

 

[chim]

Tried front blade, rear blade, loader, rear blower and combinations of these. Front blade is my first choice. Our snowfalls are really inconsistent. Some Winters are real, and some tease us with a few light snows. Mounting the plow way out front is akin to having a front-mounted rudder with any significant snowfall. If you want a front blade, I'd suggest you look into what some here term "underslung" mounts. There have been a few threads on this and they're worth reading.

With my 8' tucked under the loader frame I can keep the tractor pointed where I want. I do have loaded rears and grooved tires. The blade is suspended with a chain, like it was on the donor truck. That allows the blade itself to float, rather than floating the FEL frame.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Its a 9' plow.
I run chains on all 4 tires, we rarely get more than 12" snows at a time.
Handles any snows we ever get no problem at all.

Wow, pretty impressive. Thanks

 

[DK35vince]

Tried front blade, rear blade, loader, rear blower and combinations of these. Front blade is my first choice.

+1
I have a bucket, a rear blade, rear mount snow blower.
I chose to use the front mount snow plow 99% of the time.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Depends on the road and amount of snow. I use a 9' plow/dozer blade on the front of mine and I can change the angle from inside the cab. As far as pile up or being pushed around its never been a problem for me. I do .6 miles then our drive. I tend to run at about 20 mph while plowing to throw the snow far enough off the road to keep it from piling up when we get it heavy. I have an odd feature that when you flip a lever on the front hydraulics it allows it to "float" and take a shock to it, I've never jammed it though and the spring loaded blade while annoying works pretty well. Never tried it with a rear blade.....

 

[LouNY]

I have a FEL mounted blade, a couple of 3 pt back blades, and a pair of blowers one conventional and I inverted pull type.
The FEL mounted blade sticks out way to far in front of the tractor, it does do the job and I can make some impressive snow piles using it.
Much of the time my rear blades are my preferred tool. I can let them float on the ground and by changing my toplink length I can adjust how aggressive the cutting edge gets.

The FEL mounted blade;

and the back blade both in use, one pulling snow away from doors and such and the other pushing away

Here I am actually pushing snow in reverse with the blade acting as kind of a squeegee to move wet snow
from a soft driveway without moving a lot of gravel and dirt

pushing a good sized snowfall

The conventional when being prepped.

The inverted when being prepped,

snow piled with the front blade,

 

[beenthere]

I live at the end of a 1 mile private road, which is chip sealed. We get anywhere between 0-3 "problematic" storms per year, usually between 4-12" of snow at a time. This doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a nightmare every time. The road has some steep parts and camber to it, with deep ditches on the side, and folks with lesser vehicles or lesser judgement always get stuck. Sometimes very stuck. After a day, the snow turns into ice and then everyone gets stuck for days and days until it melts.

Last year was particularly bad, and I used my loader bucket to clear out the worst sections of the road where people were getting stuck. This was very time consuming, and not the right tool for the job. I had to scoop it up one bucket at a time and dump it over the edge of the road. I was unable to push it anywhere, because it all clumps together and often freezes onto the inside of the bucket. It would take me all day to do the whole road.

I'd like to set my L2501 up to be able to clear these occasional storms, and I'm torn between:

• 7' rear blade with adjustable angle. Replace metal cutting edge with polyurethane strip. Let the "tilt" link on the 3 point hitch float, either by removing the link entirely or adding hydraulic top/tilt and floating the tilt valve, so that it can follow the contour of the road. Easy to find a rear blade used for $500.
• 7' quick attach snowplow attachment for front end loader, with either hydraulic or manual angle adjustment (I do have the 3rd function hydraulics). Hard to find used around here, would likely buy new.

The rear blade is definitely a cheaper option, and I get to keep my loader bucket or grapple attached for other tasks. I'm worried though that by not having my backhoe or chipper on the rear of the tractor (both at least 1200lbs) I'll be losing a lot of ballast/traction. The rear blade also doesn't have the springs of a snow plow, to give it relief if I hit an obstacle. There aren't many potential obstacles on the road, but these things happen. I'm also a little skeptical of how well the tractor will steer when pushing snow with the loader. The front end of this tractor is not particularly heavy, and I've noticed that when I'm pushing things around with the loader (stumps, piles of dirt, big rocks) it doesn't steer very well. It seems like the loader has too much leverage on the tractor, being so far out in front of the steering axle.


Thoughts? Similar experience? Any input is appreciated.

Fabricate a quick hitch on the front of the tractor that will handle a 7' plow blade and toss in a wing blade for those times when the plowed snow gets too closed in to handle with the 7' plow.
Remove the FEL. Takes only at most 25 minutes to switch back and forth so no problem at all. Been using this setup for the last 25 years on my JD 4300

 

[Doz]

I live at the end of a 1 mile private road, which is chip sealed. We get anywhere between 0-3 "problematic" storms per year, usually between 4-12" of snow at a time. This doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a nightmare every time. The road has some steep parts and camber to it, with deep ditches on the side, and folks with lesser vehicles or lesser judgement always get stuck. Sometimes very stuck. After a day, the snow turns into ice and then everyone gets stuck for days and days until it melts.

Last year was particularly bad, and I used my loader bucket to clear out the worst sections of the road where people were getting stuck. This was very time consuming, and not the right tool for the job. I had to scoop it up one bucket at a time and dump it over the edge of the road. I was unable to push it anywhere, because it all clumps together and often freezes onto the inside of the bucket. It would take me all day to do the whole road.

I'd like to set my L2501 up to be able to clear these occasional storms, and I'm torn between:

• 7' rear blade with adjustable angle. Replace metal cutting edge with polyurethane strip. Let the "tilt" link on the 3 point hitch float, either by removing the link entirely or adding hydraulic top/tilt and floating the tilt valve, so that it can follow the contour of the road. Easy to find a rear blade used for $500.
• 7' quick attach snowplow attachment for front end loader, with either hydraulic or manual angle adjustment (I do have the 3rd function hydraulics). Hard to find used around here, would likely buy new.

The rear blade is definitely a cheaper option, and I get to keep my loader bucket or grapple attached for other tasks. I'm worried though that by not having my backhoe or chipper on the rear of the tractor (both at least 1200lbs) I'll be losing a lot of ballast/traction. The rear blade also doesn't have the springs of a snow plow, to give it relief if I hit an obstacle. There aren't many potential obstacles on the road, but these things happen. I'm also a little skeptical of how well the tractor will steer when pushing snow with the loader. The front end of this tractor is not particularly heavy, and I've noticed that when I'm pushing things around with the loader (stumps, piles of dirt, big rocks) it doesn't steer very well. It seems like the loader has too much leverage on the tractor, being so far out in front of the steering axle.


Thoughts? Similar experience? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Doz]

I would go with a inverted snowblower that way you are driving away for the snow you are blowing instead of into it especially if you don’t have a cab ! But even if you do it help keep windows clear depending on steepness of the hills set of chains great to have the best part of the blower is it gets the snow away from the driveway and you don’t get snow banks and drifting good luck you will never regret buying one

 

[HAR]

The road has some steep parts and camber to it, with deep ditches on the side,


Thoughts? Similar experience? Any input is appreciated.

Regardless, considering your road alone, start with aggressive chains front and rear.