My Snowplow Solution

[PlanMan]

Well it's that time of year again so I thought I would post some pics of my humble B7200 and the front blade I use.

Couldn't spring for the Kubota blade, frame, hydraulics, so I bought this blade @ Gander Mountain, about $240, and welded some new brackets on that I made. The added brackets really strengthened the blade. It does a great job of dozing dirt and gravel, and works well for fine grading. I used it recently to spread and final grade a driveway extension for a friend of mine. About 25 yards of runner-crush.

 

[MOPAULY]

Looks hefty....but I've got to ask, why not just use the bucket to push snow, then pile it as needed?

 

[PlanMan]

My drive is 180', paved, and the blade rolls the snow well. I'm off the east end of lake Ontario, and we can see 200" or more of snow a season, with 24-30" overnight. Actually, it does pretty well picking up the snow against the bank and dumping it over the top.

 

[escavader]

HI,
What techniques do you use to plow ,if the blade doesnt angle?Im just curious ,because thats why i dont plow with mt FEL.I didnt like all the foward and reversing on the transmition.trying to push nit off to the side.Good fabrication job though.Nice lookin tractor too!
ALAN

 

[PlanMan]

Thanks Escavater. I Head down the drive out of the garage & push left or right at the road. Then drop the rear blade coming back & push left or right of my garage.

Usually not much spillage off the sides as long as I don't take more than about 3/4 width of the blade. If there is any, I catch it with the back blade (which I angle) on the way back up the drive.

I've had trouble with the tractor wanting to slide sideways on the hard-pack if I have the back blade angled and trying to take too much, so I don't mind the front not being angled.

The only learning curve was that with the FEL being rigid, the blade doesn't float too well. Sooo.... the first few times off the drive, I rolled my lawn up nicely. I could have opened a sod farm this spring!

 

[escavader]

Thanks Escavater. I Head down the drive out of the garage & push left or right at the road. Then drop the rear blade coming back & push left or right of my garage.

Usually not much spillage off the sides as long as I don't take more than about 3/4 width of the blade. If there is any, I catch it with the back blade (which I angle) on the way back up the drive.

I've had trouble with the tractor wanting to slide sideways on the hard-pack if I have the back blade angled and trying to take too much, so I don't mind the front not being angled.

The only learning curve was that with the FEL being rigid, the blade doesn't float too well. Sooo.... the first few times off the drive, I rolled my lawn up nicely. I could have opened a sod farm this spring!

OK ,the back blade is what angles it to the side .sounds easy.I hemming and hawing over a snowblower or welding me up a plow for mine.Ive seen them hooked to the buckets.Can you tell me why you chose to remove your bucket,im assuming it had to do with visability,or weight?
ALAN

 

[Dusty]

Buy the snowblower. I speak from experience. A plow is nice, but it doesn't handle wet heavy snow as well. You big little tractor will have a hard time pushing snow if it gets heavy and deep. You will loose traction quickly when you have a full head of snow ahead of you. I have seen times when even my truck couldn't handle the weight of the snow and the rear end slid to the side. Since I put the Kubota snowblower on the front, I have never had a problem other than a few broken shear pins. It handles everything that Mother Nature / Old Man Winter can throw my way. After you get the snowblower, you will want a cab and heater.
Dusty

 

[rdsaustintx]

What is this "snow" you people speak of? What do you grow in it after plowing??

That word is all over this board when the days grow short. Heck, there's hardly time to mow...


Russell in Texas

 

[Thomas]

Morning PlanMan.
Looks like your already mount of snow which might fall.

Plowing...as you might know one gotta keep those snow banks push back just in case you get a lot of drifting.

Wondering if there way you could install couple sets of trip springs on the plow,just in case you hit solid object which might cause less stress on the loader arms.

 

[PlanMan]

At first I thought about how to mount it to my bucket. Pondered forever. Didn't want clamps that could loosen or slide. Didn't want to stress the bucket or blade by imposing the entire load as a few point loads on the bucket or blade. Maybe I thought about it too much, not an engineer but I am an architect.

So I thought the best way was to attach it to the FEL at the points the loader frame was designed for, and added four more ribs to the plow, thus reinforcing the blade that much more.

Thomas, I agree about the trip springs. I originally was going to have a second set of brackets that fit in between the outer ones. The inner ones would be welded to the blade and the outer attached to the FEL as I have them. They would share a pin at the bottom hole, but the blade bracket would have the trip spring attached to the top hole and then back to the outer brackets. The top hole of the outer brackets would attach to the hydraulics on the FEL.

But I don't plow that fast and my driveway is paved so there's nothing to really hit. But they probably would save my lawn when I push the snow off the drive.