Putting a 2.75" hardened steel pipe on rear blade for plowing in soft conditions?

[In.the.Piñons]

I have a few miles of gravel road that I need to plow - conditions are often soft. It's full of ups and downs, like a roller coaster, so being able to float my rear blade would make life a LOT easier. Turning the blade around does not work well because the rear of the blade is full of uneven edges due to all the reinforcing, so it just gathers snow.

It's a very heavy attachment, probably close to 1,600lbs and I'm hoping the pipe will allow the blade to "glide" over the gravel without digging in and messing it up too much.

 

[CalG]

It's done all the time, but where does one get "hardened pipe"?

Regular steel pipe would prove the concept.
Weld on a few tabs for mounting to the blade with bolts. Splitting pipe is a foolish effort.

Some "home owners" have tried split PVC and CPVC. It breaks!

 

[In.the.Piñons]

It's done all the time, but where does one get "hardened pipe"?

Regular steel pipe would prove the concept.
Weld on a few tabs for mounting to the blade with bolts. Splitting pipe is a foolish effort.

Some "home owners" have tried split PVC and CPVC. It breaks!

I have a local guy that gets it from the oil fields. Cost me $35 for 9ft length 1/4" thick, 2 & 3/4" dia. J55 tool grade steel, schedule 80.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Would it be possible to add gauge wheels to the back, so you could adjust the height?

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Would it be possible to add gauge wheels to the back, so you could adjust the height?

The blade came with a hydraulic gauge wheel, but it sits back about 3-4ft behind the blade. It didn't seem to work very well with my roller coaster roads, but then again I was new to tractoring back then. I could see gauge wheels that are right next to the blade working better, but that's a lot more of a project than fitting a pipe to the blade.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Farther back the better, I'd think ... Think about a big road grader, there blade is in the middle between there v e r y long stretched out wheelbase.

I'd may take awhile to get the road smooth, but once smooth, the snow removal will be so much easier/faster, and much better for general driving ...

My driveway is only about 1000' long, it was rough when I bought it, but my land plane smoothed it out, not I can easily drive over 25 mph if I want to, usually less than 10, because I'm not in a hurry ...

Just killing weeds, as it was already smooth, two passes up, and now on my second pass back down ...

Land Plane in action

Showing how the gravel is re-mixed, and any excess rolls over the top of the blades.

rumble.com

 

[Cycledude]

I also have a 9 foot Bison blade, it works great for plowing in reverse if the ground is frozen but if it’s not frozen you have to be very careful or you wind up pushing a lot of gravel off the road. In my area the ground usually freezes pretty hard.
Have considered trying the pipe method but so far haven’t done it.

 

[ruffdog]

I made brackets to hold snowplow shoes for when the ground is soft.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Farther back the better, I'd think ... Think about a big road grader, there blade is in the middle between there v e r y long stretched out wheelbase.

I'd may take awhile to get the road smooth, but once smooth, the snow removal will be so much easier/faster, and much better for general driving ...

My driveway is only about 1000' long, it was rough when I bought it, but my land plane smoothed it out, not I can easily drive over 25 mph if I want to, usually less than 10, because I'm not in a hurry ...

Just killing weeds, as it was already smooth, two passes up, and now on my second pass back down ...

Land Plane in action

Showing how the gravel is re-mixed, and any excess rolls over the top of the blades.

rumble.com

I thought further back (for the gauge wheel) would be better too, but the problem is when you're trying to grade a roller coaster of a road... I bet it works a charm for flat ground though.

My road is baby butt smooth (I also use a land plane for smoothing). But when the ground is soft, you have to use the 3pt hitch to adjust the height of the blade every time you crest a hill or hit a g-out. But if you can get the blade/implement to glide over the top of the gravel in float mode, you can just set and forget for the most part.

I sometimes do this in the summer with the rear blade turned around when the road is firm. It works great to smooth out the gravel a bit. The blade just tracks perfectly and I don't have to constantly adjust the 3pt hitch.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

I made brackets to hold snowplow shoes for when the ground is soft.

View attachment 4133412

I tried this last winter and it didn't work for my conditions. The shoes sunk into the road and caused the blade to dig in. Admittedly this was the part of my road that is just packed dirt. Which just turns into packed mud under the snow when it's above freezing.

 

[Topzide]

Weld studs on pipe to match the skid mounts. That way you can put pipe on and off as needed.

 

[ruffdog]

Admittedly this was the part of my road that is just packed dirt. Which just turns into packed mud under the snow when it's above freezing.

Plowing snow in mud? Good luck.

 

[bigtiller]

If used just for snow, drop down to a cat. 1, rear blade. If turned around backward it would better than your HD blade.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Plowing snow in mud? Good luck.

It's not as bad as it sounds, but I do need to put some gravel on it. It's a project that was supposed to happen this year, but you know how that goes lol.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

If used just for snow, drop down to a cat. 1, rear blade. If turned around backward it would better than your HD blade.

I'll keep that in mind, but I just spent a small fortune on hydraulics for this blade, so I hope I can get it to work.

 

[jjeff]

I've welded pipes to cutting edge for plowing snow, despite what others say and think if you have access to a plasma cutter that works it's easy, clamp pipe in a stick of angle iron preferably as long or longer than pipe, use edge of angle as a straight edge dragging torch along edge, loosen clamps rotate pipe slightly and cut adjacent groove. Learned the harder way have plasma cutter consumables on hand or your going to be using a grinder to finish cut. Lol

 

[gstrom99]

I tried this last winter and it didn't work for my conditions. The shoes sunk into the road and caused the blade to dig in. Admittedly this was the part of my road that is just packed dirt. Which just turns into packed mud under the snow when it's above freezing.

If the shoes dug in, I think the round pipe will dig in worse. I'd look into making longer (like 12") skids mounted on the side.

 

[jjeff]

If the shoes dug in, I think the round pipe will dig in worse. I'd look into making longer (like 12") skids mounted on the side.

Initially surprised me yrs ago cuz I thought the same thing. It doesn't really even plowing snow on thawed soft ground in my experiences. I think cuz the roundness of pipe for cutting edge spread out over entire plow length helps keep the plow from digging in. Provided your not exerting extra down force on pipes cutting edge.

 

[ruffdog]

If the shoes dug in, I think the round pipe will dig in worse. I'd look into making longer (like 12") skids mounted on the side.

This company sells very large (30" long) skids for snow blowers for soft conditions:

SHOP | ARMORskids®

 

[ruffdog]

I have a local guy that gets it from the oil fields. Cost me $35 for 9ft length 1/4" thick, 2 & 3/4" dia. J55 tool grade steel, schedule 80.

AI....J55 steel is not a "tool steel" but rather a low-grade casing and tubing steel specified by the American Petroleum Institute (API) under the API 5CT standard. It's primarily used in the oil and gas industry for shallow wells due to its low cost and wide application range, with a minimum yield strength of 379 MPa (55,000 psi) and a minimum tensile strength of 517 MPa (75,000 psi).