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.