How do you use a FEL on snow

[TresCrows]

I know this is a tired and perhaps stupid question but how exactly does one remove snow with an FEL without tearing a gravel drive or the concrete up and excessive wear on the FEL? Is there a rubber or plastic shoe/cover/whatever that attaches to the FEL bucket that allows it to slide on the concrete without damage to either? Last year I did move snow with it but of course it left orange marks on my drive and on the gravel part scooped gravel. How do snow blowers work on gravel? Do snow blades or front blades have a wear shoe/skid for this purpose? Figuring the warmer conditions are just to fool us and Nigel Calders' Snow Blitz theory is more likely than tree hugging peacenics Global Warming crap--how do I know--well, I am a geologist. Go crank up your SUV and contribute some more greenhouse gases because that is all that seperates us from us from our current temperate climate and 20,000 plus years or more of an Ice Age onslaught. Brrrrrrr! J

 

[webbmeister]

The dealer told me today, in response to this very question, that 1. the fel is raised to about 3" off the ground, and 2. a rear blade is lowered to just off the ground at an angle, and off you go. Seems to make sense - in theory anyway. Given the experience represented on this board, I bet someone's tried this, and in the middle of the blizzard of the century, discovered that theory and reality are often quite different!

 

[Wheeldog]

JR,

If you haven't read these already, maybe they'll help.

Skid shoes or not?
Survey - Plowing snow with a rear blade
Rear blade shoes

Rob

 

[Thomas]

First year I use a FEL to clean my driveway and when spring arrive time to rake...well I found lot my driveway on the lawn. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
The next winter until now I use a plow w/attaches to my FEL and works great.
Just one problem attaching a plow to a FEL..sometime I forget it way out front and the mail box etc.. get a wack or two. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[HR_Mutt]

TresCrows
Glad you asked that question. I'm going into 2nd winter w/fel and I don't want to "waste" any snow in drive doing it wrong/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. One thing tried last winter on a 1000 ft. lane that's orchard grass was to lower fel to ground, raise cutting edge about 2" and then place in float position. Drove the entire length, fel fills up then pushes out to sides. Verrrry low impact on the grass as rear of bucket acted like big skidshoe. Wishin' for snow!!! & other ideas on using fel from TBN. Can't get the Curtis blade this year.
regards
Mutt

 

[Charliebrn]

Yup, Mutt's got it, put the FEL in "Float" and raise the lip a bit. Works real nice, but leaves just a bit of snow in the drive in which your tire tracks show up. I tried clean up with the rear blade, but had a hard time keeping it from digging in. This year I finally pave my drive and we'll see how well the rear blade cleans up. (wow, I can't believe i'm actually giving advice the high priest of the BX cult!!!) /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Oh, one other thing, you WILL scrape up the back bottom of your bucket, maybe a lot, like mine did. I had some pretty deep gouges all the way across the bottom back and it scared me a bit, so I had some plates welded on the bottom of my bucket to help with wearing. Now, no fear at all!

 

[TresCrows]

Charlie, before you get all puffed up it is only because I am a Sunbelter now living in the frigid artic regions of the Kansawanian tundra that I require advice /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif . Snow in the South is like rain in the deserts of Arizona, a cause for celebration, wonder and amazement.
Thanks for the responses, more welcome, sorry I posted my question in the wrong subject area. J

 

[upgw]

Hey, not all of use tree huggers subscribe to the Global Warming crap....

The best use of the FEL might be this: Tell the wife you need one to move all that snow, and then keep the old snowblower for that purpose and use the FEL for other stuff! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. This is also my first year trying to use the FEL on snow, but I've got the Honda snowblower just in case I have trouble.

- Patrick W.

 

[frank_f15]

JR: a couple of days late adding to this post, but for anybody still interested, i float my bucket and just curl it up just a bit or i REALLY take my time and and get it just right so don't tear up the concrete when i am cleaning up. also use the back blade with pc to just skim the drive.i don't scrape too much and don't worry about the metal on bucket, would have to do a lot of scrapeing to wear it out. but the way this winter is going i won't have to worry about it, no snow at all so far.last year this time, i had plowed 6 times already.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

TresCrow your comment about global climate change is off the mark and incredibly shortsighted. A warming climate isn't beneficial if your state has billions of dollars worth of structures on pilings set in permafrost. When the pilings melt out of the permafrost and the structure (big ones like schools and hospitals) collapses it isn't funny. I quess the insurance companies will shell out the $$, then spread the costs amoung it's policy holders. We'll all pay.