Help me with my loader technique....

[jayhaitch]

Please!

I've been clearing snow with my new MF GC2310 TLB, using the bucket. 16 hrs of pure loader work so far. Except, I've been stuck several times slipping off the packed gravel drive into powdery unpacked snow. Grrrrrr. Once, I was stuck so bad several neighbours came to help shovel. I couldn't even pull it out with my 4x4. Now I'm not totally a clutz (though my brain does hurt sometimes......) so I'm wondering if it's me, or the tractor, or both.

I've got the loader and BH attached as it came from the dealer. I've learned to keep the bucket tilted up just a tad to not gouge into the gravel. I'm using float mode, pushing snow, but regularly I find I lose steering control, even in 4WD. The front wheels are at full lock, spinning under power, and the tractor is going straight. Why?

I know the weight distribution has about a 40/60 rearward bias, but I thought in float mode the bucket shouldn't be pushing up on the front end unless the cutting edge is biting into the gravel. Snow is lighter than dirt, so is my problem the BH? Should I take it off to put more weight on the front end? I'll be buying a box scraper for summer use, so I could buy it early and use it for ballast. Or is there something in my technique I need to improve?

Thanks.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

If you're loosing steering control it sounds like you may need more weight on the front. When you're in float, your bucket may not be pushing the front end up, but it's definately not holding it down.

Just how much snow are you pushing? You may need to get a little less eager and take it in smaller sections. With a FEL you are piling the snow up in front of you as you go rather than moving it off to the side as with a snow plow or rear blade. (The same thing goes for a box blade.) You have to plan to dump the snow off to the side at strategic points along the way. Maybe you need to find a few more strategic points along the way.

I push a lot of snow with a tractor much smaller than yours, but it takes some time to do it. I use a loader and a box blade. I love the box blade for the final clean up. It leaves a clean looking driveway, sidewalk, etc.

 

[clundog]

Many will tell you a rear blade is best for snow removal. However I use my fel, but my drive is paved. I don't see any problem with your technique. Maybe your bucket is full and steering the tractor? Sorry I can't be more helpfull on this, I've found most things just take some experimenting. As far as removing your hoe, it probably is taking alot of weight off the front end but couldn't you use it to pull yourself out when you get stuck!

 

[Egon]

Are you sure the FEL is in float. There are times it's very hard to differentiate. Ask me how I know this.

Perhaps slowing down a bit will allow more control time?

Practice will do wonders. Just wait till next year and see if you are having the same problems.

If the hoe is on it may be possible for you to use it to lift and pull the rear of the tractor sideways. Also note that if you lock the rear differential and spin the tires the back of the reactor will go downhill and if it's the least bit slick it does it real fast.

 

[kwolfe]

jayhaitch,
It is possible that the bucket is titled up a little too much. It may be compactintg the snow underneath enough that the loader is riding up it a little which is causing the front wheels to loose traction. Try playing with the bucket angle a little more.

 

[HomeBrew2]

I have the same prob from time to time (dirt/gravel, no snow here). I like kwolfe's explaination, also try backing up a bit when it starts to happen then re-setting the float ... seems to help me. Also, try not using the float sometimes so you can inch the bucket up to get the front wheels back on the ground ...

 

[Dmace]

I couldn't use the float position just for that reason. The front end would go straight up even with loaded tires and I would have no steering.

Instead I would just lower the bucket to the ground, curl it back just a bit and go. Instead of adjusting the bucket up and down as I go through my gravel driveway, I would just curl it up or down as needed. Worked like a charm!

Float allows free movement of the FEL, so when it gets enough friction on the ground to grip, the FEL will stick and the machine would just allow the FEL to drop and the front wheels to go up.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I've been using my just-bought tractor with FEL and rear blade for snow removal this past weekend, and with no prior experience have generally found it easy. I am mostly using FEL with position set, not floating, as I find floating is erratic in whether it scalps or digs in. I think the buildup of weight in the bucket, if it's NOT floating, will aid traction by increasing weight on the front tires (since you have 4wd), while the buildup of weight when when floating will hurt traction because weight is then transferred off the tires and onto the bucket.

Also, I suspect you have R4 tires on your setup. I have R1's and I can tell you that their traction in snow is minimal - I have spun all 4 wheels a number of times trying to push things that I think would be easy to move on dry soil. I doubt R4's do much if any better on snow. Presumably somewhere there are special snow tires for tractors, but for any regular tires I think low traction on snow is just unavoidable.

Finally, I doubt you want to buy another tool, but I find the rear blade set at a mild angle is far better than the FEL for most snow work, and has yet to slow the tractor down noticeably even with snow rolling in the blade well above the moldboard height. I have read about the "problem" of using the blade on snow you've just driven over, but for me it has been no problem. Just my 1.5 cents.

 

[Opti-Mist]

You are on the right track. When operating in "Float" the front end of the tractor will tend to rise as the resistance of the increased load of the bucket begins to offset the continued forward motion produced by the drive of the rear wheels. To prove this, place the bucket against a stump, place the Lift control lever in "Float", then begin to let out the clutch (or press the treadle to forward), and watch the front wheels come off the ground.

 

[JoeL4330]

As DMACE said, you might forego float, at least on the first pass ...shear off the top layer and then decide how close to the gravel you need to get. If you have a crown in your gravel drive, then you will never get all the way down (unless you have a very wide drive and work each side of the crown independently. If you insist on using the float, then be more sensitive to what the front wheels are doin' and reverse promptly to avoid goin' "off-road". Can I assume you have chains on? If not, consider them ...on the rear for backin' out as above, and on the front for directional control and serious ice if your drive has any kind of slope to it.

I have a long steep gravel drive and for the reasons you mentiond, don't use the FEL, although it worked great on a neighbor's blacktop drive.