Snow plowing snow w/FEL?

[twodogs]

Hey Folks-
I am in the Pittsburgh area & have a B7800 with a FEL. I tried plowing the snow with the FEL & have had pretty decent results. Is there any reason that I shouldn't do this? My primary concern was damaging my paved driveway, but I want to make sure that I am not doing anything that would cause a problem with my tractor. I have been leveling the bucket, dropping it to the float position, and then angling it a bit to scrape the snow. So far, it has worked well. I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[1TMatthews]

I have the same tractor and plow with the FEL, I thought about going with a plow, but I wouldn't be able to pile the snow up as high if I did. I love to plow snow at night too, I put my Ipod on and light up the tractor and off I go. My next addition to my tractor will hopefully be green LED lights.

 

[KubotaSteve]

I do the same with my 7800 except I have a gravel drive. I wouldn't use the FEL if I had a paved drive. Even in float if you catch the driveway with the corner of the bucket you could cause some damage to the driveway. Depending on the amount of snow you get, I would either get a rear blade or a blower. Even with the rear blade, I would get some type of softer edge on it such as an old conveyor belt or horse mat.

 

[Jay4200]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My primary concern was damaging my paved driveway, but I want to make sure that I am not doing anything that would cause a problem with my tractor. I have been leveling the bucket, dropping it to the float position, and then angling it a bit to scrape the snow. So far, it has worked well. I would appreciate your thoughts.)</font>

I don't see how you can cause any sort of problem with your machine. The only problem I see is the inability for snow to roll off the bucket, as it does on an angled plow. I still use my ATV/plow to do my driveways - it is WAY faster than the tractor would be. As for driveway damage - dragging the FEL bucket on the asphalt in float is no different than dragging a plow blade. Besides, it's cold and asphalt is really hard this time of year /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

Jay

 

[kevincook]

It should work fine and you won't do any damage to the tractor. I did manage to put a few gouges in the driveway when I was backdragging away from the garage. After I backdragged one area and then moved to the spot right beside to backdrag again. The tractor tipped slightly when the rear wheels went up over the snow that I had already backdragged. This caused the loader to tilt and the corner of the loader to gouge the driveway some. This only happened when we had more than a foot of snow and the backdragged pile was several feet tall. If the pile was around a foot tall the tractor didn't tilt enough to cause a problem.

I am buying a snowblower this year though. Not because of a problem with the FEL but I don't have a really good spot to pile the snow and about February every year I need to move the pile. I want to throw the snow once and not worry about it again.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[Speedy7]

What are the thoughts on wearing out the bottom and leading edge of the bucket? I know others have put skid plates on the side of the bucket, or put a plastic edge on the front of the blade, but how much will your bucket wear down over the years if you don't?

 

[radair]

That's been a question I've wondered about, as I plow my paved driveway with my FEL. I figure when it gets worn out it will be no big deal to weld another plate on the bottom and start over again.

Using float & angle of the bucket it's pretty easy to control the amount of scraping that goes on.

 

[RoyJackson]

"Even in float if you catch the driveway with the corner of the bucket you could cause some damage to the driveway"

Just curl the bucket slightly back...so the cutting edge doesn't touch the drive. The aft end of the bottom of the bucket can be on the surface. As long as the cutting (leading) edge of the bucket isn't on the asphalt, you shouldn't do any damage.

Personally, I use a rear blade...works much better (IMHO) then the bucket.

 

[MX5000]

I used my 72" loader bucket to plow about 9" of wet snow (not the light fluffy stuff) last night (not 1st time plowing snow with loader). I've got a 300 foot uneven, gravel and dirt driveway about 10' wide. Down near the house it opens up to about 25' square. The only reason I used the loader to do the whole driveway is because my 05 Ford F-250 plow truck was in the shop. If youv'e got a flat, paved, wide driveway I think it would be a whole lot easier. With long, narrow, uneven driveways, it's a really inefficient way to move snow. With a snow plow, it takes minutes. With a loader it takes much, much, more time. Every 6 feet, the bucket is full and have to do a bunch of forward and reversing to hold the bucket over the side of the driveway edge to dump the snow. If you like seat time, then it's great. When I started last night with the loader, I felt like I'd be doing the driveway all night. Once I started making progress, I started to relax and just enjoy the seat time. If it was still sleeting, raining or heavy wet snow, It wouldn't have been any fun for me. I did spend guite a bit of that time thinking about how I'd mount the old 7 1/2' Meyers snow plow to the tractor.

Howard

 

[SteveH_CT]

Hi Roy - I was thinking about the rear blade option on my tractor - I had a question on plowing snow you've already driven over. Do you find the rear blade will pull it up, or do you just get that slippery compacted mess that I leave behind now? My FEL does a good job, but as previously stated it takes a lot more back & forth trips to get the snow that I know a plow blade would get in one pass. The problem is once I drive on the snow it's too compacted to get off the driveway, and my gosh is it slippery when it's frozen.

 

[SteveH_CT]

I use the FEL and I generally like the results, although I know a plow or snow blower would work better. I haven't damaged my driveway, but I do scuff the surface sometimes, nothing deep, just scuff marks if I try to scrape too hard.

My technique is probably the same as yours, I get the lip to the driveway, then put an angle up on the back of the bucket. In practice it looks like I'm using a large snow shovel. I've found that I can push large amounts with minumum spillage around the sides, but I always seem to leave a small track of snow on each side.

 

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Hey Folks-
I have been leveling the bucket, dropping it to the float position, and then angling it a bit to scrape the snow. So far, it has worked well. I would appreciate your thoughts. )</font>

I have a Tacoma with a 6'9" Fisher plow which I find
does a far better job than my L48 for routine snow
removal. I suppose if I had a true snow plow on the
quick-tach it would do as well as the truck with the
ability to articulate side-to-side. Also the acoustics in
the truck are better for the requisite plowing music.

I find the tractor hardly stands idle during snow removal
escapades however. While the truck serves to remove
snow from 400'+ of driveway the tractor is what removes
the truck from the snow when it inevitably gets beached
up to the differentials at some unGodly inclination.

Oh yea, and when there is no place left to push/plow
snow the tractor is the only tool you'll want to have
for excavating the ice/snow into out-of-the-way locations.

 

[escavader]

HOWARD YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!!! BUY AN OLD BEATER PLOW TRUCK ,You might have to tinker at first,plow in fraction of time in nice warm cab.Go out on a warmer ,dryer day ,and play...i mean push back snowbanks.That is if you dont want to shell out the greenbacks for a blower and cab.
ALAN

 

[robertm]

I typically have used my ATV with a blade for my 150-175 foot asphalt driveway, but after I got my B7500, I bought a 72" rear blade. While late for work one morning, I had to use the Kubota because the snow was too deep for the ATV - a 150 foot run would build up too much load in front of the blade. So, out came the tractor. In reverse, I pushed the snow away with the Land Pride rear blade like it was a county plow. Had the drive done in a fraction of the time. Yes, the ATV is more fun, but for quick easy snow removal, the rear blade is the cats meow. Then, after the piled snow closes the driveway in by mid-season, I can push the top of the furrows back with the blade about a foot off the ground, back up and drop the blade and push the rest back. Then, the blade has broken up the frozen furrows enough that I can bucket any other snow out of the way to make room for more later. The key is a waxed blade and a good angle. That is why I like the 72" blade. I never have a problem with running un my own furrows. It takes a deep snow to cause the 72" blade to "steer" the tractor. As far as the loader tearing up the asphalt, I find the rear blade scrapes off the yearly applied "sealing tar coat" leaving white scratches more than the bucket. I will say that I did catch a stone this year with the bucket, and it gouged a pretty masty scratch in the asphalt, but it is nothing some tar and sealer wont repair next spring.