Front snow blade, worried about tractor damage

[tmcj]

The springs are the key to absorb shock and take the stress off of the loader. You should be traveling at low speeds regardless and have time to react to the blade tripping and just stop asap. My Dad & I had put an old 6' truck blade that was modified to be 8' wide and 6" taller on his Farmall M. When it tripped many times it would flip all the way flat, so I put a cable on it to limit the travel to about 3/4 which was enough to give but still push. Keep in mind this is on driveways etc that we know have no solid obstacles. Wheel weights, tire chains, and this plow made the M a snow plowing beast. The only drawback was it was almost too big and heavy. I put a plow on my ATV when I bought it which worked pretty well for several years until I bought my little tractor, which is what I use now. I have seriously considered rigging up my 5' ATV plow on the tractor loader. I would just have to add brackets and pin locations for the SSQA. Looking at stuff in here really has me thinking about it now. Might have to look at it again and figure something out. I would however only plow with the blade straight to help eliminate added lateral stress on the loader.

 

[dwalk19]

Thanks for all the replies guys, i do a have a plow truck and atv w/ plow,,but was thinking about selling truck and getting a diesel truck no plow, and maybe using tbe tractor to plow with instead, i just have horror stories about loader arms getting sprung or racked

 

[DK35vince]

I would however only plow with the blade straight to help eliminate added lateral stress on the loader.

A straight blade would be near useless IMO.
The snow simply goes around both sides the blade. (better off just using the bucket if you can't angle the blade)
Been running a 9' power angle truck blade with chains on all 4 tires on my 35 HP tractor for years now, 0 issues.

 

[swampy6]

We have a Paladin snowplow on our 4540, this will be our third winter plowing with it and I've never seen any damage...........yet. You can curl or raise the blade up so you're off the driveway some, it sure beats plowing with the Ford Super Duty 250.

FFC SS Snow Blade 114 | Paladin Attachments

 

[PILOON]

The crossover valve will simply protect the extended plow tip.
How often do you plow away from the right curb? never? right.
A crossover valve will simply dump pressure over to the trailing edge blade, not the high end! and since we all plow off to the right side the crossover is useless!
OK, cool if there is a hydrant on the center of the road/drive and U hit it U are protected, but then no hydrants live in the center of the road! Only curbs on your right, right? and that pricy cross over valve will not protect U.
IT ONLY PROYECTS THE EXTENDED BLADE TIP!
Ok, that's cool as long as U push the snow to the center of the street but how often do we do that?
OK if you are under contract with the city and the blower and truck is following to load up that snow.

 

[MossRoad]

I plow to the left side every time I plow our drive due to the prevailing winds. If I'd plow to the right, the driveway would drift over.

 

[Ford850]

Thanks for all the replies guys, i do a have a plow truck and atv w/ plow,,but was thinking about selling truck and getting a diesel truck no plow, and maybe using tbe tractor to plow with instead, i just have horror stories about loader arms getting sprung or racked

I don't recall ever reading about someone on here damaging their FEL while using a true snow blade that trips if the edge catches on something. You'll see a lot of replies on here from people who use plows on the FEL, and with a little common sense I don't see how it could damage the arms. I've been using my FEL snow blade for more than 10 years and 98% of the time I use it angled. The only time I noticed any stress on the FEL arms was when I had the blade rolled too far forward/down, off the shoes with the edge cutting in, while I was clearing a lane through a rough lawn area. The blade edge was cutting into the frozen lawn and biting hard, pushing the front end sideways. I realized what was happening and curled the blade back just a bit so it rocked back on the shoes and took the weight off the cutting edge. That relieved the side pressure immediately, and there was no damage.
I think there is a much higher risk of damaging the FEL while loading the bucket if you scoop dirt or snow with your front wheels turned. I've turned like that many times when scooping dirt in tight areas, and I know I have to be careful due to the obvious stress on the FEL.

 

[KennyG]

As discussed, there shouldn't be a problem as long as the plow has trip springs. The biggest issue with loader mounted plows is pushing the tractor sideways when it's angled. Because I have a light tractor and not enough clearance for front chains, I built mine frame mount so the the plow is within a few inches of the front tire when angled. With a heavier tractor it's probably not such an issue but I also like the overall length being short for access to tight spots.

We just got 4 or 5 inches of heavy lake effect snow so I will put my plow on this afternoon for the first time this year. Hope I can find all the pieces.

 

[TractorNH]

Here's mine....8' fisher truck plow. More pics if you go to the post here on TBN by using the link.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/401291-snow-plow-build-finished-underslung.html

 

[Fallon]

I don't recall ever reading about someone on here damaging their FEL while using a true snow blade that trips if the edge catches on something. You'll see a lot of replies on here from people who use plows on the FEL, and with a little common sense I don't see how it could damage the arms. I've been using my FEL snow blade for more than 10 years and 98% of the time I use it angled.

Same. Lots of rumors & 3rd hand stories, but I have yet to hear of any first hand accounts of problems.

My problem with SSQA plows is they stick out so far. My old L3200 really couldn't turn when plowing until I put on chains up front. It's so easy to mount a SSQA plow it's worth it.