Correct angle of snow plow for proper plowing

MFWD · Mar 17, 2015

Hello,
I know this question might not be in the right section , but I thought more people would read it here !! I want to get a snow plow for my skid steer but I'm not sure what width to buy. I'm not sure how much you should angle the plow and that will determine how wide of a plow I should buy. I know that the plow (while angled) needs to be as wide or wider than the width of your machine so as to keep your wheels out of the deep snow. So is a 15, 20, 25 or 30 degree angle the right one ????? So somebody help me out with your experience !!!! Thanks

MFWD

nybirdman · Mar 17, 2015

Unless you are building your own;you aren't going to have a lot of control what the angle is.I would guess 30 degrees to be optimum but it depends on snow conditions and traction.
Mine is hydraulic angle but not that finite.As long as it's wider when fully angled you should be alright.
Mine is a 8ft.converted truck plow mounted to my FEL,so if it worked on a truck it should and does work on my tractor.

MNBobcat · Mar 17, 2015

I have a 6 foot plow on my bobcat. I originally thought that I would need at least a 7 foot plow to get beyond the width of the skid. But as it turns out, the 6 foot has worked really, really well for me. It was for a truck and a friend gave it to me. I converted it for the skid and I have hydraulic angling. I would recommend getting one that you can angle because I find I use that feature a lot. It sounds like you may be looking at one with a fixed angle? I wouldn't like that.

94BULLITT · Mar 17, 2015

Most plows angle 30. The HLA blades angle 35.

gwiley · Mar 18, 2015

I got a 6' plow with my Bobcat 743, when I replaced the machine with a 773 I extended the plow to 8' and am super happy with that. The extra two feet reduces the number of passes I have to make on the 2 miles of road that I plow with it from 3 to 2. I can choose between 3 fixed angles in each direction and find that works well. I rarely change it from the 30deg setting and rather than flip it to the other side I just plow in the opposite direction.

Every year I am tempted to add hydraulic angling but I just don't think it is worth the effort.

If you are on mostly flat ground then you may not need them, but I find that chains on my rear wheels is necessary for me to handle the steep hills on our road. Before the chains I put the Bobcat into the ditch more than once. Spend the $700+ on good tire chains and you will be very happy to have them.

vtsnowedin · Mar 18, 2015

gwiley said:
Before the chains I put the Bobcat into the ditch more than once. Spend the $700+ on good tire chains and you will be very happy to have them.

I'll second that opinion.

Yooper75 · Mar 18, 2015

Plow angle really depends on snow conditions because I've had 8 inches of heavy wet snow push my pick up around while trying to windrow even at the slightest angle. I plan on doing the same thing with my Deere 2305 tractor with a 6ft plow from a truck I'm going to order HD Diamond tire chains front and back as well as fill the tires with windshield washer fluid.

ishiboo · Mar 18, 2015

MFWD said:
Hello,
I know this question might not be in the right section , but I thought more people would read it here !! I want to get a snow plow for my skid steer but I'm not sure what width to buy. I'm not sure how much you should angle the plow and that will determine how wide of a plow I should buy. I know that the plow (while angled) needs to be as wide or wider than the width of your machine so as to keep your wheels out of the deep snow. So is a 15, 20, 25 or 30 degree angle the right one ????? So somebody help me out with your experience !!!! Thanks

MFWD

What is your tread width, and what is the max angle of the plow you are looking at? That's how you would figure what blade width is the minimum to cover your tracks.

As a general rule of thumb, go 1' larger. 6' machine width = 7' plow.

Are you buying a fixed angle plow? Most are adjustable, either hydraulically or manually... I wouldn't buy one stuck at one angle.

Thomas · Mar 18, 2015

7 1/2' work great at 30 degress,rolls snow foot away from back tires.

CobyRupert · Mar 18, 2015

Path width (cleared) = Plow width x cosine

; where y is the angle of the blade. (e,g. 8' plow at 30 degrees: 8' x cos(30)= 8' x .866 =6.9ft wide path cleared).

Gee, I'm a tree !! :acorn:

almtree:

pat32rf · Mar 21, 2015

I laid an 8' 2x4 across the front of "John" and with the help of a coupla eyeballs figured that a 7 1/2' blade looked about right...

franklin2 · Mar 22, 2015

vtsnowedin said:
I'll second that opinion.

I will vote chains as a must. In my experience, bobcats/skidsteers do not push snow well at all. The ones I have seen that were pushing snow had chains on all 4 tires. I think part of the problem is they have no suspension, so that means in many situations you only have two wheels giving traction. And that can change from one tire to another on uneven ground.

We have one with the rubber tracks at work, and it won't do anything in the snow, and that's on pavement.

gwiley · Mar 22, 2015

franklin2 said:
I will vote chains as a must. In my experience, bobcats/skidsteers do not push snow well at all. The ones I have seen that were pushing snow had chains on all 4 tires. I think part of the problem is they have no suspension, so that means in many situations you only have two wheels giving traction. And that can change from one tire to another on uneven ground.

We have one with the rubber tracks at work, and it won't do anything in the snow, and that's on pavement.

I run my Bobcat 773 with heavy ladder chains on the rear tires and it works well - the 2 miles I plow have grades too steep for the state to be willing to maintain and I have no problems with chains on 2 tires. Chains on all 4 tires will probably wind up breaking chains because of the way the machine steers (skidding) and since I have no slipping I don't think you would see much benefit from the extra pair.

With no chains you WILL end up where you don't mean to go though.

uncleaddy · Mar 28, 2015

I have a Kubota BX2200D with a 58" wide blade that angles to about 28 deg. that I built about 6 years ago. See the attached pics. You may notice the blade is angled forward. Works great. The valve is from an Old Monarch belt drive snow plow pump set up. I picked up several of the valves at an auction for practically nothing. I don't think anyone knew what they were??

skyhook · Mar 29, 2015

uncleaddy, it looks like you have no "cross over valve" for your cylinders,
how does that work out for you. Or am I missing something again...lol

franklin2 · Mar 30, 2015

uncleaddy said:
I have a Kubota BX2200D with a 58" wide blade that angles to about 28 deg. that I built about 6 years ago. See the attached pics. You may notice the blade is angled forward. Works great. The valve is from an Old Monarch belt drive snow plow pump set up. I picked up several of the valves at an auction for practically nothing. I don't think anyone knew what they were??
View attachment 418545 View attachment 418546 View attachment 418547 View attachment 418548 View attachment 418549 View attachment 418550 View attachment 418551

Most plows I have seen on small tractors run a piece of square tubing from the plow mount back underneath the tractor to the rear hitch. We bought a cheap blade setup for a small John Deere at work that did not come with that piece, and the tractor guys added one.

uncleaddy · Apr 3, 2015

Yup, your right. I don't have the cross over valve . Don't really need it. The tractor isn't stong enought to bend anything I have hit??

woodchipper · Apr 6, 2015

One foot wider than your wheel tracks is the norm. No less. Hydraulic angle adjustment if preferable to fixed. One reason is that when you push to a bank, you will straighten the blade while on the move, and on final approach from the bank. Way less stress on both the blade, and the machine.
You will play betweem zero and thirty two degrees. It all depends what you are plowing, and your snow conditions. On a wide parking lot, around ten degrees to make windrows. when pushing straight, better have side plates, as they help contain the snow as you travel forward. Try to get a "back blade" installed on it. It is designed for back dragging (plowing in reverse). Efficiency is the name of the game! Chains on your rears to start with is recommended. Wait and see before considering the front ones as well. Get the trip edge kind, not the one where the whole mouldboard trips, because you will loose a lot of snow everytime it trips, and also it could be useless against a hard and crusty top layer.