Hiniker SSQA Big Ox blade questions

[oldafretired]

Anyone here own one of these? I'm thinking of getting one of these blades and was wondering if it has a vertical float feature. I read it has lateral oscillation but not sure about vertical float. If it does have vertical float, how much movement does it allow and does it take the place of using the FEL float function? Thanks!

 

[FatTire]

Anyone here own one of these? I'm thinking of getting one of these blades and was wondering if it has a vertical float feature. I read it has lateral oscillation but not sure about vertical float. If it does have vertical float, how much movement does it allow and does it take the place of using the FEL float function? Thanks!

I don't know about the Big Ox, but I can answer the question about the vertical float for blades that have that. I have an FFC V-plow, 1100 lbs, on an MX5100. Floating the FEL does not work well, the blade and arms combined is just way too heavy. But the blade has lateral and vertical float (the mechanism is a ball joint). I set the blade down hard, then I lift the blade up until it is at about the middle of the float, also watching to make sure the shoes are about parallel with the ground. When operating in the middle of the float the blade can move a bit in any direction and can really follow the contour. I would not want a heavy blade without vertical float, I think its even more important than lateral. (I'm on dirt, packed roadbase, and gravel. I don't know a thing about pavement except that its easy.)

Also- It took me a few times to get good at setting the FEL, the first time my results varied from pushing dirt to leaving too much snow, and especially the first time I tripped the edge a bunch basically on nothing. In the first 10 minutes I was thinking maybe I'd made an expensive mistake. By about the 3rd session plowing I got it. Now I love this plow. V, straight, scoop -- they're all useful.

 

[oldafretired]

Thanks for the great info. Use on gravel is pretty much why I'm interested in having float on the blade itself. I have a blade right now that doesn't have float and it's tough to use on gravel but I got it working pretty well with a rubber edge. I need a bigger blade for the MX and want to get the float feature.

 

[FatTire]

Hiniker makes nice stuff, and a lot to choose from. How about this one in 7.5 ft width?

Hiniker Snowplows - 6', 7' & 7 1/2' Loader Snowplows

 

[oldafretired]

Hiniker makes nice stuff, and a lot to choose from. How about this one in 7.5 ft width?

Hiniker Snowplows - 6', 7' & 7 1/2' Loader Snowplows

Those are nice and quite a bit lighter than the ones for the skid steers but I wonder how well plastic does compared to steel?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Anyone here own one of these? I'm thinking of getting one of these blades and was wondering if it has a vertical float feature. I read it has lateral oscillation but not sure about vertical float. If it does have vertical float, how much movement does it allow and does it take the place of using the FEL float function? Thanks!

I have a Hiniker Big Ox.

Is is a PITA to get on the SSQA because the SSQA plate is unforgiving without any taper whatsoever. So unforgiving that I even called and spoke to Hiniker's engineer about this problem and he didn't seem to apprehend the issue that tractors mount their SSQA largely blind and need forgiving SSQA plates in contrast to skid steers that can see every thing right in front of them. Because the whole blade trips rather than just the the bottom, blade tripping can send your tractor into a ditch easier than a trip bottom plows. But to answer your question: the up and down and side to side articulation is second to none and the kind of plowing I do on unimproved trails is extreme, a thing that my Hiniker handles with ease.

I have an 8' mounted on my NX6010 in the following video.

So you know that when you plow, you do not float your loader. The snow plow takes all the upward and downward movement as well as any torsional movement. Hiniker's are very, very good at eating up this movement and not transferring to loader to the loader, which is why we like them.

That said, every time I mount my Hiniker onto my SSQA I want to punch somebody in the face.

Hiniker plows have a factory mounted crossover that also protects your hydraulics from side to side hits. In the video above, when i plow the tree, you can see that feature working where a sudden hit without a crossover would result in a blown hydraulic hose somewhere.

 

[oldafretired]

Nice video. Thanks! Looks like a very nice blade.

I found your video about the problem with mounting the blade to your FEL. Do you have a measurement of the width of the space on the blade mounting plate for the FEL quick attach? I'd like to see if it would fit on my FEL quick attach easily. Thanks again!

 

[Ford850]

I have a Big Ox too. I don't have any issues with the SSQA. I drive up to the blade curl my loader under it and pick it up easily, and then hop off and lock the levers. I try to get it centered relatively close, but it doesn't seem to matter if I don't. I think there's about 1/2" of free space on each side on mine. I can see the sides of the plates from my tractor seat, if I lean over a bit to either side. That's probably what makes mine easy to attach compared to Eric's issues. Part of that is due to my loader's curved arms, but it could be easier for me to see since I always detach the blade on top of casters so I can roll it out of the way in the barn. That raises the blade a few inches and might give me a better view.
It does have a lot of vertical float, which is a must for my undulating driveway. I keep the FEL arms raised enough to let the blade float on it's own and that keeps the weight of the FEL on the front wheels for traction and control. It also floats side to side like you said, again a must for me. I keep the shoes set at a point that allows me to raise the FEL slightly which rocks the blade edge down (since it is floating) for a clean scrape, or lower the FEL slightly which rocks the blade edge up above the gravel as is rests on the shoes. I make adjustments as I drive depending on conditions and how much gravel is exposed. Once I get a good hard pack in the winter I can drop the blade and fly without worrying about the gravel.
I've had mine for 10 years. If I was buying a plow today, I would get the same thing.

 

[Ford850]

I swapped out the shoes on my Hiniker Big Ox for some larger custom shoes. In the attached pictures, you can see the difference between the originals and the larger 10" shoes I had made. The larger shoes make a big difference when plowing the soft mushy drive when it's not frozen solid yet or the frost is thawing in the early spring.

 

[oldafretired]

I have a Big Ox too. I don't have any issues with the SSQA. I drive up to the blade curl my loader under it and pick it up easily, and then hop off and lock the levers. I try to get it centered relatively close, but it doesn't seem to matter if I don't. I think there's about 1/2" of free space on each side on mine. I can see the sides of the plates from my tractor seat, if I lean over a bit to either side. That's probably what makes mine easy to attach compared to Eric's issues. Part of that is due to my loader's curved arms, but it could be easier for me to see since I always detach the blade on top of casters so I can roll it out of the way in the barn. That raises the blade a few inches and might give me a better view.
It does have a lot of vertical float, which is a must for my undulating driveway. I keep the FEL arms raised enough to let the blade float on it's own and that keeps the weight of the FEL on the front wheels for traction and control. It also floats side to side like you said, again a must for me. I keep the shoes set at a point that allows me to raise the FEL slightly which rocks the blade edge down (since it is floating) for a clean scrape, or lower the FEL slightly which rocks the blade edge up above the gravel as is rests on the shoes. I make adjustments as I drive depending on conditions and how much gravel is exposed. Once I get a good hard pack in the winter I can drop the blade and fly without worrying about the gravel.
I've had mine for 10 years. If I was buying a plow today, I would get the same thing.

I swapped out the shoes on my Hiniker Big Ox for some larger custom shoes. In the attached pictures, you can see the difference between the originals and the larger 10" shoes I had made. The larger shoes make a big difference when plowing the soft mushy drive when it's not frozen solid yet or the frost is thawing in the early spring.

Thank you for the great info. Those are definitely huge shoes! I wonder why they make the available skid shoes so small? I would think if some company make them they could sell a bunch of those nice big skid shoes.

Just had some 40* temps yesterday so now my driveway is like a skating rink so hopefully the gravel shouldn't be much of a problem now. I'm heading to the garage to take the rubber edge off the snow blade and go back to steel.

Hiniker makes a blade like the Big Ox for tractor loaders which uses plastic instead of steel. Got to find out the advantages/disadvantages of plastic.

Thanks again.