Boss Plow Quick-Attach Adapter

[panchohughes]

Thanks very much!! I may just order this thing.

 

[Katahdin]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another QA plate from there.

Forgot to add, here's some more pics. I'll try to add some video of it in action later this weekend.

1) A 9 pin molex connector is used to connect the controller. The unused brown wire will be used for the plow lights The black wire with white tape goes to the pump solenoid. The other loose black wire are +/-. The sheathed wires go to the 13-pin plug to the plow. The yellow/black spliced wire is the pump solenoid control from the smart-hitch switch on the plow.
2) Control Stick in Float Mode. You can also mount/dismount the plow using the smart-hitch switch when the controller is in float mode.
3) Placing the solenoid on top of the battery seemed like an out-of-the-way spot.
4) Splicing control wires to the 13 pin plug
5-7) After a coat of Majic brand tractor & implement paint.

 

[Katahdin]

I played around with plow this weekend, works great! The 4 cyl tractor definitely has more pushing power then my old v8 GMC half ton.

Note, with this setup you can adjust the downward angle with both the loader and the plow hydraulics. Finding the right balance can be tricky, too much downward angle and the plow will trip. I found lowering the loaders arms so they're about the height off the ground as a truck frame works well. I'm looking forward to trying it out on the next snow storm.

Here's a quick video clip of the adapter, for the non-boss users out there I demonstrated how the plow mounts to the push beam. Enjoy, please let me know if there are any questions.

 

[Katahdin]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You can leave the adapter on the plow and attach/detach it to the tractor like any other QA attachment.

 

[cschulz]

Katahdin, things have really worked out well. Glad to see it all worksl. From the video it looks like you could stack snow as high as your barn. Just an idea to help kill your frustration of digging in and tripping the plow is add a 3rd or 4th shoe back at the rear plow frame. Then just put the FEL in float and it slides on the shoes. See 4shorts idea on this. Seems to work really well.

Chris
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/snow-removal/256183-arctic-poly-skin.html

 

[Katahdin]

Thanks Chris, interesting idea, resting on those rear shoes would definitely keep the blade at a consistent angle that its designed for.

That said, I not terribly concerned yet with the plow tripping I experienced in my early trials. I was pushing around heavy week-old snow piles that had settled, and of course now with my plow mount finished there is no new snow in the forecast...I'm itching to give it a proper fresh snow test!

In any event I'm going to go ahead and tweak a few things. I've ordered a shock absorber kit to help with the blade springing forward and back. Of course, Boss tells me this is now a standard feature on this plow. Once the kit is installed I'll tighten up the trip springs to spec and see how it fairs for the next storm. It also looks like I can add a fourth spring easily to put more tension on the blade before it'll trip. The plow blade already has a place to hook in a fourth spring, it appears I'd just need to weld a tab for the other end of the spring onto the A-frame.

 

[Katahdin]

Well, we finally got that big test I was waiting for. 32 inches of fallen snow and waist high snow drifts! I plowed once when about 7 inches had fallen and then there was about 2 feet to move the next morning. I also have some cleanup to do this morning due to drifting.

Everything worked absolutely great! I really think I would've had trouble if I had tried to use the truck instead of the tractor. Being able to lift the blade and pile the snow high was a key feature for dealing with this storm. Also, I had no problem with the blade tripping. I think part of that was because I was pushing a much taller load against the full height of blade, rather than just a small 6 inch or so load at the bottom edge of the blade.

Here's some pics!

 

[cschulz]

Awesome! Glad it worked out so well.


Chris

 

[puckgrinder85]

The place you got the QA plate is an advertiser here as well.

 

[dave1949]

Katahdin- Nice. You won't get a better test than that! It's always great when things work the way we think they will. "Kaiser" is cool.

 

[GManBart]

Perfect timing...I was driving home today (540mi) and thinking about whether I could come up with a way to do this with my 7.5' SnowDogg plow that's similar to the Boss here. I might not get to it this winter, but I think it'll make a great summer project!

 

[GManBart]

Perfect timing...I was driving home today (540mi) and thinking about whether I could come up with a way to do this with my 7.5' SnowDogg plow that's similar to the Boss here. I might not get to it this winter, but I think it'll make a great summer project!

 

[Katahdin]

GManBart, I looked up the SnowDogg plows and I agree, its pretty much the same deal. The wiring also looks like it would be similar.

We got a foot of heavy snow today, here's the plow in action, my wife helped make the video:

 

[cschulz]

Like a charm. Nice


Chris

 

[GManBart]

Yeah, that's doing a nice job! My dog Charlie has a similar Snowcoat!

 

[Coyote machine]

Nice work throughout. Couple of observations: one thing that concerns me is the solenoid wired on the battery especially the way you have it currently. If it were me I'd put 'boots' on each positive post AND spray with battery post spray, (before covering with the red boot(s). All other connections, black ground wires etc.; I would use liquid electrical tape, and spray the negative post and attached wires to keep corrosion from occurring.
The distance from the additional positives to the ground post of the battery has a potential to ground out when you're nowhere near the tractor- something you never want to happen.
I'd also put dielectric grease in each end of every butt splice you have at your Molex connectors, etc. to keep moisture/salt out then coat with liq electrical tape.
I say this coming from a salt water environment where I run my boat during the summer on the coast of CT. (ALL my wiring is marine grade with heat shrink butt connectors and tinned copper ring and push connectors. I like to do it once and done.
You might consider a battery box too if you have room- it keeps the weather out.

Lastly, I'd look into a 'crossover' valve for your hydraulics. One real concern with hanging a plow that far in front of a loader is lateral twist force, even more than plow blade trip force. Your plow is designed to be used on a truck frame and not on a loader, which is susceptible to racking by external forces like heavy wet snow or pushing against an obstacle that is not wanting to move the way or when you want it to.
Plows designed to be used in loader applications all have crossover valves to balance pressure exerted in ways that can/could damage the loader arms.
The plow I have has a single 2.5" piston controlled by a crossover valve and incorporates lateral float rather than vertical float used by other plow manufactures, to reduce/eliminate racking forces which can bend loader arms.
Check it out for reference to what I'm referring to: Horst welding/HLA Snowplows ~Series 2000 HLA Snow -they're made in Canada and go up to 20' wide, (with side wings)!
When you get to the 2000series snowblades click on the word 'features' to the right of the plow's pic, and it will drop down the feature list and show each part inc. the crossover valve.
I'm fairly sure you could figure out how to incorporate a crossover valve to help reduce shock and stresses on your FEL arms, for very little $.

 

[Katahdin]

Thank you CM, the dielectric grease on the Molex connectors is a good idea I hadn't considered. Covering the positives is a also good idea too I've been meaning to do. FYI, the hood on the Yanmar LX is fiberglass and there's plenty of space under there with it closed, so risk to grounding out the solenoid is minimal, but each tractor is different.

Regarding hydraulics, by the way this is a subject I need more schooling on, I did notice the HLA plows have one hydraulic cylinder for angling, with two ports, and one relief valve. The Boss plow has two cylinders, each with one port. I know as the wiring goes, to angle the Boss plow two valves are opened for both in and out. So I think this mean two relief valves would be required....HOWEVER....I dug a little deeper and found the Boss RT3 plows has a pressure relief valve on the pump set to 2500PSI...which I believe is set lower than the 3000PSI valve of the HLA Plow. So I'm now thinking the pump pressure relief valve serves the same purpose as the crossover relief valve?

In any event, I do like the looks of the HSA plow, if I had to go new again I'd definitely consider it!

 

[Katahdin]

Otay....I dug some more and I'm finding the Boss Plow has two pressure relief valves. Here are the part numbers and descriptions.

HYD01693 - This is part of the electric pump power unit and is set to 2500PSI

And

HYD07027 - This is an actual crossover relief valve like the one CM has mentioned. It operates at either 3800 or 4000 PSI, I've seen documentation with both figures, it probably depends upon your model year. I've attached the diagram of the Boss hydraulic manifold showing this relief valve. The current oem part appears to operate at 4000PSI, link to part: Relief Valve for Boss HYD07027

I googled some more and whereas the pressures may vary, all the major truck plow makers put crossover relief valves in their hydraulics. What I don't know is if you can adjust the PSI or thread in other valves with different PSI ratings. Thank you CM for suggesting I look into this... I learned something new!

 

[Electro]

How many HP is your tractor?? And how big is the plow. I am thinking of doing this with my 39 HP kubota with a 9'-2" v plow. My tractor is a TLB.. Do you think it will work??
Email. cgrobar@gmail.com. Thanks

 

[catdozer]

How many HP is your tractor?? And how big is the plow. I am thinking of doing this with my 39 HP kubota with a 9'-2" v plow. My tractor is a TLB.. Do you think it will work??
Email. cgrobar@gmail.com. Thanks

Have you thought about a tractor frame mount for that v-plow?