Ford 1700 4x4 Plow setup

[79ford1700]

Hey guys,
Going to start fabricating a snow plow setup for my Ford 1700 and am interested how some of you guys have done yours. I have a loader setup and am wondering whether it is better to use loader arms and remove the bucket and build a frame setup to mount my plow to or would it be easier to remove the loader arms all together and to build a mount system that utilizes the loader hydraulics and mounts to the frame somewhere underneath the tractor. If anybody has any good detailed pictures of how they fabricated their setups that would be great to look at could you please post them just so I can get a visual on what to do. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[rayclar]

79ford, this is how i did mine when i used a snow plow. Worked good but my blower works better.I liked using the loader because you can deck the snow up high with no problem. With a mount under the tractor you are restricted to your hight of lift. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Colonel Monk]

79ford, this is how i did mine when i used a snow plow. Worked good but my blower works better.I liked using the loader because you can deck the snow up high with no problem. With a mount under the tractor you are restricted to your hight of lift. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I like your mount, getting the plow a little closer to the wheels than some of them where it mounts to the bucket.

Question is, just how difficult is it to remove your bucket for the season? Real pain, or not bad? I have a Kubota L2250 and loader and wanting to do the same thing.

 

[rayclar]

My loader has the ssq (skid steer quickattach) so its a matter of pulling up two arms and backing away from the bucket, simple and fast.

 

[79ford1700]

Thanks for the response and pics rayclar. I have done some digging around on here and found this forum from somebody elses build.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/194865-front-mount-snow-blade.html

I really like his idea with the top link to apply some down pressure for scraping when I need to scrape the driveway down. The one concern that I have is that with the big plow hanging out on front of the loader arms is it going to want to dig rather than push. I have a farely flat driveway with no stumps or rocks and my loader does have a float setting so with the spring loaded plow maybe the rigid setup wouldn't be too bad. Would like to get some feedback from some others to see what they think about it. I also plan to use my loader curl hydaulic lines like he did so I can angle the plow from the seat rather than having to get off a pull a pin. If anybody has some suggestions or insight on this I would love to hear it. Thanks again everybody.

 

[79ford1700]

Also forgot to mention that I will be using a 7' 6" old Western plow. Thought about cutting it down a little bit so its not so big.

 

[Wolfy]

I mounted a Fisher plow on my 1977 Ford 1600. I took the mounting brackets from a pickup, and welded them to a big plate that bolts on the 1600 where the suitcase weights would hang. Two C-channels run from that to the rear of the tractor, like a subframe. The plow runs off a belt driven hydraulic pump. Two problems I found: One, the whole setup takes a while to remove each season. Two, being 2wd, I get stuck easy. My other tractor, a 1984 Ford 1710, has 4wd and the 770B loader, ( which is so-so to remove). I found that setup with a rear grading blade to be a much better snow mover, and the loader is great for relocating snow. I run wheel weights and tire chains on both tractors.

 

[Wolfy]

I started with a 7'6" plow as well, it was too much. I cut it down to 6' or so. You have 4wd, so full width might work fine for you.

 

[79ford1700]

Thats what I currently use is a 7' rear back blade with the loader and it just takes a long time to do my driveway. I too run tire chains but have not been able to find a set of wheel weights for my tractor anywhere. These Ford compact tractors are really hard to find any kind of add on parts. Have looked all over on the internet but can't seem to find any. My tires are loaded with beet juice so I do have some weight there but am still throwing around the idea of making my own wheel weights. Also thought about studding the front tires for the winter time just to get that little bit of extra traction as I live on a huge hill and plowing uphill is a problem with the little tractor.

 

[Wolfy]

I know exactly what you are talking about. Rather than studs, I think you would be better off with 4 link tire chains on the front axle. I have a huge hill too, and even with rear chains, I can barely climb it. This year I'm chaining all 4 wheels. On my 7' grader blade, I bolted a heavy plastic board to the top, making the plow taller. That will cut down on snow overflowing and save a lot of time. The weights I found from some place in PA that I can't remember the name. They sometimes show up on Ebay and craigslist.

 

[tomf]

IMO the problem with a rigidly mounted system is that when you angle the blade one side of the will be higher and the other lower. Thus one side will dig into the ground unless there is some ability for the blade to independently rotate somewhat around the axis that runs through the tractor from front to back. When I used my FEL float position the blade had a tendency to ride up the snow. If I did not use float the blade wanted to dig into the gravel due to the oscillating surface of the ground. It was a never-ending battle to keep the loader height in the perfect position

I ended up switching to 7' Western mounted on my FEL using a chain for float. I like it much better.

I initially ran with chains on the rear but the front end would want to slide when I made a turn even in 4x4. This year I added front chains with the rear chains and can plow in 2x4 with no slipping in turns.

Here are pictures of my two plows

 

[79ford1700]

Thanks tomf for the pictures and insight on the rigid setup. I had my doubts about it but thought maybe it would work. I like the way you setup the plow in your second picture. I really have a problem with just pinning a plow in the bucket like most people do because of how far out it hangs. Don't like the way it looks and doesn't seem like it would work as well and taking the bucket off and making your own mount. I like how you tucked the plow carriage back behind your 2x2 square tubing to save on some length. I do not have remote hyraulics so i will have to be using my loader curl lines with quick couplers to obtain the power angle on the plow. Which makes me wonder how I am going to mount the top of my framework. As where you mounted to your curl cylinders I will have nothing to mount to unless I use the top link idea from the 2x2 to the crossmember between my loader arms just to keep the framework from spinning on the pins. If you could maybe get a couple more detailed pictures of your setup that would be awesome, I would really like to see it a little bit more close up. Thanks again. Will be starting my build after the holiday rush is all over and I have filled my deer tag!

 

[tomf]

Here's some pictures. As you can see I don't have quick attach capability. If you do, make use of it on this project. I added an extra hydraulic valve using power beyond from the loader valve for angling. There was something about the design of my loader valve that prevented the curl circuit from holding the angled blade in position. I forget exactly why. Something to do with it being a regen circuit. I recommend you incorporate a relief/cushion valve into you system.