Rear Blade Agonizing over rear blade decision

bigdad · Dec 8, 2010

Gauge wheels....... No digging in.

Chilly807 · Dec 9, 2010

This is what I did with mine for shoes.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/welding/190070-rear-blade-skid-shoes.html

I haven't tried it yet, but it should work fine until there's a solid base of snow/ice and I can remove the shoes if I need to.

I added hydraulics to the angle function of the blade, which worked fine moving mud earlier in the year. Snow should be no worse.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/188519-adding-rear-remote-kubota-l3400.html

I've since beefed up the rear pivot bracket as well.

Sean

93Mustang · Dec 12, 2010

Well I am agonizing no longer. Picked up a slightly used 84" Befco BRB 284 with hydraulic angler from Craigslist. Now it won't snow-you may well be correct CompactTractorFan but at least I am prepared! I will find other uses as well. Thank you all as always for your input - went with the heavier option and i don't think i will have any regrets. This thing is stout. I will probably try plowing moving forward first and if for some reason that doesn't work as planned, then figure out how to turn it around and push it. The hydraulic angler is a sweet bonus!

One other question- my driveway is paved - should I get the skid shoes?

Thank you Dana

Thomas · Dec 12, 2010

"Picked up a slightly used 84" Befco BRB 284 with hydraulic angler"

Your going like that setup alot..all season work.

Shoes will reduce lot of scraping marks but also leave little build up snow/ice..some operators adjust shoes about 1/2".

Diamondpilot · Dec 12, 2010

I have plowed on paved drives for 10 years with my 7' Woods Grader Blade with no issues. I have found going forward is the best way. Going in reverse the tires tread was not in the right direction and I could only move 1/2 the snow.

I now have a FEL mounted Meyer 7' Plow but thats a whole other beast. Moves snow real quick.

By they way, we need pictures or you will be stoned....:laughing:

Its the rule!

Chris

93Mustang · Dec 12, 2010

Sorry - understand the picture thing- has been raining like crazy. The new to

ol...
Not sure I will have time to hook it up today-wonder if it will work with the Imatch. Then I can get some action shots!

Dana

MtnViewRanch · Dec 12, 2010

Nice blade.:thumbsup: Are you sure that thing is used? It looks like new. :cool2: A couple of things, would you tell us what you had to pay for it, might help some of us that are looking for a nice used blade. Second thing is that I think that you will find that it does not use the hydraulic to angle the blade, but to offset the boom in one direction. Now offsetting the boom does indeed angle the blade, but it will be off to one side of the tractor.

Again, nice setup and I'm sure that you will be happy with it.

Gale Hawkins · Dec 12, 2010

Nice blade for sure.

Wish I had a blade after waking to some hard snowing this morning.

If it stops this afternoon I my see what i can do with the MF 265 with 8' box blade or the 7.5 FEL bucket on the 2WD backhoe that I have never driving on snow. I have about 2000 foot of county pavement I would like to clear (major hills) but I am sure that is out of the question with what I have. I will be able to clear the state route snow plow ridge left down at the bottom of the hill.

That hydralic angling should would be nice to have on our hills so I could pull down hill all of the time without getting off the tractor.

93Mustang · Dec 12, 2010

MtnView - you are correct - I thought it angled the blade but actually offsets the blade (I am always confused!). Regardless, i think this will work well. I paid $750. I thought this reasonable due to condition and quotes I have gotten for new blades.

Dana

MtnViewRanch · Dec 12, 2010

93Mustang said:
MtnView - you are correct - I thought it angled the blade but actually offsets the blade (I am always confused!). Regardless, i think this will work well. I paid $750. I thought this reasonable due to condition and quotes I have gotten for new blades.

Dana

That is a great price, I'm sure that it will work out very well for you. :thumbsup:

leonz · Dec 13, 2010

93Mustang said:
Well I am agonizing no longer. Picked up a slightly used 84" Befco BRB 284 with hydraulic angler from Craigslist. Now it won't snow-you may well be correct CompactTractorFan but at least I am prepared! I will find other uses as well. Thank you all as always for your input - went with the heavier option and i don't think i will have any regrets. This thing is stout. I will probably try plowing moving forward first and if for some reason that doesn't work as planned, then figure out how to turn it around and push it. The hydraulic angler is a sweet bonus!

One other question- my driveway is paved - should I get the skid shoes?

Thank you Dana

You need the shoes pronto, You will be unable to plow with the blade in reverse otherwise as the snow wieght will stop you if you do not angle the rear blade severely.

I hope that for your sake you do not end up snow bound as the rear blade will be of little use.

Gale Hawkins · Dec 13, 2010

leonz said:
You need the shoes pronto, You will be unable to plow with the blade in reverse otherwise as the snow wieght will stop you if you do not angle the rear blade severely.

I hope that for your sake you do not end up snow bound as the rear blade will be of little use.

At 59 I have seen a few blades and questionable operators but I have NEVER seen a rear blade with shoes. We often call them scrapers because they SCRAP the surface.

Topkicker · Dec 14, 2010

I have a Land Pride 84in rear blade with the optional shoes. The shoes work great on gravel drives. They allow the blade to float just above the gravel and keep you from digging in to your drive. When plowing on my concrete drive, I move the shoes all the way up so the blade makes full contact.

Chilly807 · Dec 14, 2010

leonz said:
You need the shoes pronto, You will be unable to plow with the blade in reverse otherwise as the snow wieght will stop you if you do not angle the rear blade severely.

I hope that for your sake you do not end up snow bound as the rear blade will be of little use.

Leonz,

Have you been smokin' da herb again??

bp fick · Dec 14, 2010

leonz said:
You need the shoes pronto, You will be unable to plow with the blade in reverse otherwise as the snow wieght will stop you if you do not angle the rear blade severely.

I hope that for your sake you do not end up snow bound as the rear blade will be of little use.

Chilly807 said:
Leonz,

Have you been smokin' da herb again??

Now that's funny!

But seriously, thousands of guys plowed out just fine, yesterday, with back blades without shoes.:confused2:
Me included. Good grief!!!

RalphVa · Dec 14, 2010

Worked fine without shoes in our 56 inches of snow last winter.

Ralph

Chilly807 · Dec 14, 2010

I've got shoes, but it has more to do with a love of keeping gravel where it belongs than anything else.

Sean

93Mustang · Dec 17, 2010

Well let it snow! Hear the northeast may be in for a bit this weekend. I was pleased that the blade works well with the Imatch. Had a set of hoses made that run from my diverter so I can use the offset on the blade while also having the toplink functional. Just ran them along the floorboard for now. Usually not excited about snow but can't wait to try this out. One sort of odd thing I noticed-there seems to be a little hole in each of the fittings that the hydraulic couplers attach two on the blade side- is there a reason for this? One of them seems to "bleed" a little hydraulic fluid. Only thing I can think of is they are there to relieve pressure for some reason?

- Dana

MtnViewRanch · Dec 17, 2010

Dana, your rig sure looks nice.:thumbsup: Question for you, which side do you normally look to, to watch an implement? If it's your left side then your all set, but if it is to the right, you may want to change sides of your offset cylinder and maybe put the extending end out at the boom, that way your hoses aren't always moving so much. My thinking is that you will need to angle the blade all the way (45*) and then use the offset for about 12"( your blade will then be at about 25-30 degree angle) and you will be plowing snow out and away from the tractor. A little experimenting and I'm sure you will find where it works the best for you. Can hardly wait for the action shots.

You know that now you need that tilt cylinder for your 3pt hitch to fine tune your rear blade. The tilt of the blade changes as you angle your blade.

Good luck and I hope that it snows a lot for you.

David Devuono · Dec 17, 2010

Hopefully you will get reasonable snow depth. I had to go with a blower because anything more then a couple of inches would move the rear of the 2wd tractor when the blade was angled. My tires are loaded and I have chains. 4x4 will help you . I actually find it better to push the snow. Again we are talking about deeper snow and it the loss of traction associated with the tires in the snow pulling a blade. Without tire chains I can't push or pull the snow on any grades. Anyway, google says your average snowfall is 45 inches. I predict tire chains in your future unless you can be home during storms and hit the driveway often. I'm still jealous.