Grading FEL + snowplow = clear driveway?

[bxowner]

I know this is a subject that's tired, overanalyzed and beaten to death, but I've got to ask it... With a 2320, you get a quick-disconnect bucket. It's handy. For forks. But there's no plow assembly available through John Deere. The Curtis is expensive and seems overkill - both in price and weight.

So, I keep coming back to this:

http://www.johnnyproducts.com/images/Johnny-Plow-Sr/JplowSr 010.jpg

But, I'm concerned that the 2320 is too light to handle even a 60" blade mounted a couple feet ahead of the front tires. Should I be concerned? I seem to recall people complaining about sub-compacts and compacts not being able to handle this style plow. I just really like the idea of keeping my FEL on and cleaning up with a bucket. I envisioned running the angle function to the hydraulic MMM lift.

I suppose I could buy it, adapt it for the loader, and if it didn't work out then I could get the JD quick-hitch and mount it to that. Then I'd end up with an extra 6" of blade than the factory plow blade.

Thoughts?

 

[kennyd]

I think I have shared my opinion with you before, I had a blade mounted on my FEL.
My feeling is that these tractors arfe just to light for this setup. The plow is too far forward and steering becomes an issue.

 

[Mech]

I have a 6' frontier blade that I bought from JD and it mounts on the quick disconnects on my 790 FEL. It works well for me. I can't usually use my float or it will lift the front wheels up but otherwise it moves snow well. Beats the heck out of a rear blade, or a FEL bucket, or a walk behind snow blower which are two things I tried before. Yes it is way out in front and you have to be careful when you turn around and it would be nice if you could float it but it beats what I've tried before.

See attachment.

 

[tomd999]

Mech;

How does the JD blade "feel" on the loader? Does it feel like a full bucket of stonedust when you lift it? Does heavy snow push the tractor around? (by heavy I mean in the 1 foot deep range) Do you know how much the blade and mount weigh?

I ask because when I was buying my 2520 the owner and salesman at the dealer swore up and down that although the 200cx has a higher lift capacity than the 300 loader, the 72" blade would be way too big for "the little 2520" and if I wanted one I should look to the 3x20 series at a minimum or better yet the 4x20 series. The 790 is not a lot heavier tractor than the 2520, (less than 100 lbs if I remember correctly)

I ended up with a Curtis 5' plow and while it appears to work well, it's simply not wide enough when angled and I get a lot of driveover. It would have been nice to get that extra 6" on each side.

Tom

 

[Mech]

It feels only a little heavier than the empty heavy duty bucket and I have hydraulic angle on it. The salesman would have sold me the 7 ft blade. I don't know how much it weights. If I float the blade it can become impossible to steer but otherwise it handles easily. I bought this late last April and here we don't get wet heavy snow except March and April and I haven't plowed a foot plus of that yet but I don't expect any problems based on how easily it plows in the higher gears and 6-8" of snow and even larger snow banks. I think my 790 weights about 2100 and my box blade about 700 and I have filled tires. The 2520 shows as 1865 on the JD website. Maybe others have a longer experience with their FEL blades.

 

[bxowner]

Looking at the pic of the 790, it seems that the plow is at least 1 to 1 1/2 feet further away from the tractor than a 'Johnny Bucket" plow would be, mounted to the q/a on a 200cx. It also seems much beefier (i.e. heavier).

I just find myself spending too much time plowing whenever there's more than about 5"-6" - I have a 72" rear mount blade and the FEL... and where I live, there's often 6" - 12" single-event snowfalls.

I'm just trying to find a reasonably economical way - and efficient way - to get out to the main road. If money were no object, I guess I'd just get the blower.

 

[tuolumne]

I have a 6' loader mounted plow on a 3520. I'm on the steering breaks a lot when trying to move the banks over. Even the rear blade will push the back end sideways if set on a steep angle, so I am sure that a frame mounted front blade would do the same. A front blower is never an option for me, as I use the loader attachments too often to have the blower on all winter. A rear blower would be nice for sure. Do you go backwards or forward with your rear blade?

 

[jd140400]

my 2 cents worth , i have a 54" deere blade on a 2320, before i got the 2320 i had a 14hp 140 john deere garden tractor that also had a 54" blade, it handled the 54 pretty well ( the 140) theonly problem was that it did not have power steering, i was disappointed that deere only offered a 54 for the 2320, it is capable of handling a 72" in my opinion, the key is to get to bare surface on the first pass, if you do that then the traction is not an issue.

 

[NorthernMainer]

Thought you guys might like to see what a "real plow" set up looks like on a JD ! Here is a 32hp tractor with a 90" Fisher Quick Switch plow mounted on the QD arms of the FEL. Time to hook up 2 mins [or as it takes to hook up two QD to the distirbution block for Hydro to run the two clys on plow to angle it, and release the two pins that attach it to the adaptor. Works absolutely perfect with this size tractor [3ooo series] I have rears filled with rimguard and a 350 lb rear blade on the R4's. This will push 18" of wet heavy snow until it comes right up over the blade and keep right on marching. Super for jiging around in a narrow driveway that would be a nitemare in a pickup! {plus they cant shove it 8 ft into the air} have fun. We got another foot coming tonite

 

[Mech]

That is a very nice setup.

I'm also happy with my frontier blade on my 790. We still haven't had a big, heavy spring snow but I was out last night clearing slush that had refrozen into deep ruts. I was pushing frozen slush that came over the top of the blade and there were no problems. Yes it pushes to the side once and a while and I did loose traction once going up a hill and had to take another run but I continue to be impressed with this little tractor and the blade. So much better than the rear blade I used on my previous tractors.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I have a 6' frontier blade that I bought from JD and it mounts on the quick disconnects on my 790 FEL. It works well for me. I can't usually use my float or it will lift the front wheels up but otherwise it moves snow well.

I don't understand your statement regarding "float." From my experience when using "float" the blade is free to travel up or down with the contour of the land and in fact, the only down force is the weight of the blade or bucket.

How can a blade in "float" lift the front wheels?

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I have a 6' frontier blade that I bought from JD and it mounts on the quick disconnects on my 790 FEL. It works well for me. I can't usually use my float or it will lift the front wheels up but otherwise it moves snow well.

I don't understand. How can a blade in "float" lift the front wheels off the ground?

 

[goneandbrokeit]

I suspect what he is refering to is that when the load being pushed becomes too heavy, the tractor will have a tendency to try and "ride" over the pile. When in float the bucket stays on the ground and the front tires get light.

 

[yankeerider]

I don't understand. How can a blade in "float" lift the front wheels off the ground?

It has to do with geometry. When the bucket doesn't want to move forward, the tractor actually "climbs" the loader, lifting the front wheels off the ground just the same as if you were applying down pressure.

 

[Mech]

Correct. The pivit point on the loader arms is very high so if the blade digs in it will lift the front wheels off the ground. It really makes no difference how high I have the skids set. I just don't bother with float anymore and make periodic adjustments if the ground is unlevel. It would have been a lot easier for my wife to use if you could have just thrown into float and forget about it. The arms and blade have some play so it is a bit like the chain on a truck snow plow and you just set the blade down but don't take up all the play and it self adjusts a few inches.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Never mind the CUTS! I learned a thing or two that I myself experienced, but stll can't believe. I put an eight foot blade on a JD 6200 with 640 loader, and that will just push the tractor front sideways (when angled of course)!

Then I did the same on a Kubota 510 articulated loader, with loaded front tires, and guess what, same thing. I've never plowed with a pick-up, but can't imagine how they can do it? My Kubota weighs around 9000 LBS!

 

[tuolumne]

Ever watch how a grader will cant the front tires on an angle? This must prevent them from getting pushed around by digging the "edge" of a tire in a bit. Pickups must have more weight on the front end proportionally. Also, the plow is closer to the tires than the loader variety. Still, a pickup can move sideways when trying to shove a snow bank over. My 3520 with 72" frontier has behaved well, but I do need the steering brakes on the long stretch of the driveway to keep back the banks. I've don't usually need them in the wide open sections. One thing that would make any snow blade easier to use is the side to side pivot that Horst HLA did on their plows. This lets the plow stay on the angle of the ground even when all the way left or right. I can do this now by playing with the curl, but it takes constant attention. Also, I would sometimes want to curl more or less to dig in or float and can't do to a sideslope. Also, the frontier trip springs seem a bit week. When she trips over, the plow often will stay there until I pick up the bucket a bit.

 

[NorthernMainer]

Mech, What is the width of your Frontier plow?? What is the actual weight of it??? I keep seeing these on here but am not firmilar with them . Here in New England the most common plows on these are made by Curtis and it makes a good outfit, but they are considerable lighter made plow than a Fisher. With the front tires chained up, this will push even wet snow, so deep that it comes over the 28" height of the blade, and back over the hood of the 3203! About the only time I get any "crabing" is if I get a windrow say 30" tall and then try to go with it and as it builds up in front when you get enough of it out there it will eventually start to crab. For up to 20" of the white stuff it will just sling it down the angle side and clean up nice every pass! I have tryed them all ...[on pickups over the last 25 years] Myers , Curtis , Western, even a plexi glass one made in Wis I think called a "Badger", and for our money its Fisher all the way. The plows are so much ruggeder and heavyer they "stay down" instead of riding up all the time. We are getting about 18" tonight and I am going to make a short movie in the morning and post on utube so will link it back to this site so the boys can see how that JD handles it with a 90" blade!

 

[Mech]

72" wide and don't know how heavy but doesn't look to be as heavily built as your setup. I wouldn't want much more weight on the front of my 790. It is a lot better now that I have the rears filled but the tractor is still pretty light.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Here is another option that I saw mounted on a 3120 while riding around today...