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

[GeneV]

That is the setup I fabbed for my Yanmar 155D after getting tired of dragging around a rear blade on my gravel driveway. I found the front mount blade to be far superior, at least for my small tractor. I added an adjustable downstop to keep the blade a small set distance above the surface to avoid plowing the gravel.

My setup may vary a little from yours in that I have the mount bolted to the lower 3pt hitch links (with the links pointing to the front instead of rear). The lift/lower cables run through two pulleys per side, front and back, and are connected to the 3pt lift arms.

Cost was about $100 for a four ft blade pressed from 1/4" sheet steel plus a little for some square tubing for the mount etc. I can manually adjust it for a zero or 30 degree angle. I kept the blade as close to the front wheels as possible to minimize side-push rotation and to minimize variation in blade distance from the surface.

If I were doing it again, I would probably eliminate the angle adjustment, and leave it at 30 degrees, as that's about all I require for snow removal.

Post a couple pics.

 

[NoSmoke]

 

[camshawn]

My small tractor is a 15 hp Yanmar with a loader. I made my 6 foot front plow and tied it back to the loader frame. I used the loader and a chain to lift the blade. Manual angle that stayed at 30 degrees as well. Worked well. Only had problems with more than 6” of wet snow. Chains an all wheels. If the snow was really deep, I would have to turn off to the right to unload my blade, back up and start again. The 36 hp tractor with an 8 foot blade just works. One pass down and a finish pass back and I am just left with the parking areas

 

[NoSmoke]

My small tractor is a 15 hp Yanmar with a loader. I made my 6 foot front plow and tied it back to the loader frame. I used the loader and a chain to lift the blade. Manual angle that stayed at 30 degrees as well. Worked well. Only had problems with more than 6” of wet snow. Chains an all wheels. If the snow was really deep, I would have to turn off to the right to unload my blade, back up and start again. The 36 hp tractor with an 8 foot blade just works. One pass down and a finish pass back and I am just left with the parking areas

Do you think now that a 6 ft blade was maybe a bit wide for that tractor size? I can handle considerable more than 6" w/o front chains although I have some pretty heavy weights on the rear wheels (I encased scrap 8" iron pipe flanges in concrete and bolted them to the inside of the wheels - they weight about 120 lbs apiece).

Is your Yanmar a hard cold weather starter? I am trying 5-40 synthetic now (used 10-30 standard oil before) which makes a considerable difference in crank speed. I also have an oversize battery which is visible in the images I posted. I also built a removable styrofoam box to surround the engine with a hole in top to insert a heat gun - leaving it on high for 20 or 30 minutes works a lot better than the old strap on block heater.

 

[dstig1]

The OP probably ran away screaming by now...

 

[camshawn]

My Yanmar did OK most of the time with the 6foot blade. Chains on the front and back, extra weight on the rear and it was adequate. We usually only get snow dumps less than 6 inches at a time, mostly heavy wet snow. For a really heavy snow, I would plow in a herring bone pattern, back and forth a blade width at a time.
For cold weather starting, I park with a lightbulb around the injection pump and several old winter jackets over the hood to help keep the heat in. Most of the time it would fire right off. If not, stick the heat gun into the air intake and off she went.

 

[NoSmoke]

Yeah, I also find the heat gun in the intake is useful. Most of my problem I think is related to it fires only on one cylinder when cold. I guess I may have a bad injector but I don't have the extraction tool to check it (or the compression).

It also gets colder here in AB than BC.

 

[Robin Veerman]

Maybe run a good diesel additive to clean up the injectors? Double dose the first application. See if there’s any improvement as you use up that fuel. Glow plugs working fine?

 

[NoSmoke]

Maybe run a good diesel additive to clean up the injectors? Double dose the first application. See if there’s any improvement as you use up that fuel. Glow plugs working fine?

Thanks, I'll try that - I have used Diesel Purge on my VW Golf so maybe it will help here too.
The stuff is best used full strength so you need to plumb a jug of it directly into the pump and run the engine for 15 or 20 minutes.

Doesn't have glow plugs. It is a hot wire/diesel fuel ignite in the intake manifold system and as far as I can tell, it is working.

 

[just_Dave]

Honesty with a 1 mile road, I would consider plowing during a storm and or right after it stops with a snow plow.
you could buzz down the road with 2-4 inches of snow and blow and throw it off the road fairly easily, then do it again a few hrs latter during a snow event.

The issue is your waiting way to long to consider clearing the road and by then it's a massive amount to try and clear and not always snow, it's compacted snow and ICE, blobs of slush ruts form cars and truck compacting it down that travelled down the road while it was falling and this is what is causing issues.

You could maybe find a V plow or one that you can make into a v this would allow you to go fast down the road breaking ground, then the next few passes to widen the road.

Plow trucks run non stop while it's falling.

The other option is just get a dedicated truck with a snow plow, lots of power, weight, cab, heat.

 

[oosik]

We very seldom get more than twelve inches of snow accumulated. One winter - out of the 41 I've been here - we got 42 inches accumulated. THAT winter I was really glad I had a 3-point mounted blower.

I've not plowed the driveway - even once - in the last four years. I have a very heavy Ram 2500 Power Wagon. It will easily cut a path thru six inches of snow. As long as I can keep the path open with the Power Wagon ( Taco Wagon) there is no need to plow.

The normal scenario here is - it will snow, then turn warm and most of that snow will melt before it snows again.

 

[Glue Guy]

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.

I've mounted many Meyers Jeep size plows in Kubota buckets and on SSQA plates They work great as long as you let the plow float with a chain top link! 3rd function for power angle and remove two pins to use the bucket to finish of f==f the piles at the end!

 

[zzvyb6]

Running a blower either rear or front mounted seems absurd to me because you can't go 10 - 15 mph like you can with a blade. By the time you get to the end of the road and turn around the lane you just cleared will be loaded with snow again. Plus, along with snow comes debris (ice clumps, tree branches, discarded McDonalds meals, pop & beer cans and worse. Your blower won't like any of that. If you have the traction, speed will be the key element because heavy wet snow needs break-out force.

 

[Robin Veerman]

Yah, but not all of us have a 3 mile driveway, or the money for a plow truck. Besides that, what to do with the snow banks as winter progresses? Blowing my driveway is fun and the best solution for me. YMMV….

 

[Robin Veerman]

My company plow…

 

[alpha&omega]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. For the first 27 years I had a Ford 1700 with a rear blade. On rare occasions I'd wait too long - the snow would get too deep - the rear blade would tend to push the rear of the tractor around.

At least four hours to clear the driveway and mailbox area. Another hour or so to clear the yard.

My neck and shoulders would take two or three days to "heal" after using the blower.

This is my snow machine..........
View attachment 821125

No wonder it takes you so long. Im guessing by using that grapple for moving snow, it’s probably as useful as it would be to move sand or liquid water. Ha!
That’s a heck of a blade though. What length is that one? And do you mind if I ask what that one cost when you bought it?

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Speaking of snow...

Removed the little mower and installed the salvaged Rhino blade for winter duty. As you can see, the blade itself isn't exactly as delivered. That's because somebody had bent the original blade, repaired (badly), and bent again a few times. But at $50, the price was right.

Don't ask me how they managed to mangle it so badly. To the point that it had a bit over a 90 degree bend in it. After a futile attempt at straightening it I started looking for a new blade, and quickly found that they're very proud of them.

Ended up having one bent up at the local metal place, then added reinforcements as necessary and welded it to the original mount, then welded a cutting edge to the bottom. Also had to replace a corroded quick connect on one hose.

All said and done I have under $300 invested in this setup, and it works quite a bit better than the (free) basic Kubota blade I've been using for the past 12 years. More weight, less slop, and the ability to offset is great.