Grading rear blade cloging up?

nhkabotab7800 · Dec 20, 2008

i'll just throw this out there and see what ya'll think....i have had my rear blade now for a year this being the second year using it. installed some rear and front lights on the canopy this summer and they work great, also bought rear tire chains as my drive turns into a sheet of ice every winter ( drainage project this summer ) anyway this storm i found the blade did not proform as well as i recall it did from last year. i kept stoping and spinning the tires. it seemed to get snow stuck to the blade, and i am mondering if that had anything to do with it. maybe i need to wax the blade so that snow does not stick to it? i thought i would be in good shape with the chains! any ideas?

ChuckinNH · Dec 20, 2008

Probably after a year of aging, the finish on your blade isn't as smooth as it was. I just got some spray on stuff from the yard equipment dealer that is supposed to keep that from happening in snowblower chutes, etc., but I don't know if it works yet. Yes, others have said that wax really helps the snow slide off. The digging could be that you have your top link adjusted a bit further out this year than last changing the angle the blade meets the ground. You might want to take a look at that. Another thing to consider is that even in an unheated garage, the blade will be usually warmer than the air outside, and that temperature difference will make the snow stick more too. I noticed that when I first went out with my tractor today, so I did some more work with the walk behind, while the tractor idled outside, and then it was better. Once the snow sticks, it insulates the blade, and the snow will just keep sticking to the snow that is already there.

nhkabotab7800 · Dec 21, 2008

thanks Chuck,

confirmed what i was thinking. i keep my tractor outside with a piece of rubber roof over it, so i am thinking the blade temp should be the same as the outside air. anyway planing to stop at a ski shop and get some wax or i have heard that pledge works well but wears off fast. i think i will try to adjust the angle of the blade as well, or at least check it. looks like i will be able to try it again today. we may have two feet of snow by the end of the day tomorrow....winter came in fast.

ChuckinNH · Dec 21, 2008

It's snowing like crazy here too. I've used "Butcher's Wax" on my table saw, and other power tool tables that I have. It keeps them from rusting, and has stood up to a lot of boards being pushed over it, and seems to fill in the pores of the tables. Don't know how it would work on a blade though. It is pretty hard stuff. ( It was used on bowling alleys) I buy mine at places like Aubuchon, or probably Home Depot, etc.

nhkabotab7800 · Dec 21, 2008

well here is my update....scraped most of the snow and ice off the blade then fired up the hock heater and melted the rest off....while doing that started to smell some pine burning....got me to thinking about the ice storm last weekend. i had a number of pine tree tops snap off and land in the drive. after removing the bigger limbs with the help of the ole chain saw, i used the back blade to push the pile of needls and smaller branches off the side of the drive...i now think that doing that got some pine pitch on the blade and that helped to cause it to " clog " up. it worked great this afternoon.

alls well that ends well.

ChuckinNH · Dec 21, 2008

Well, glad you found the cause! So often we do something like that, and never think of it when some other issue comes up. I sure have done the same kind of thing! Thanks for the update!

Hoosier_Daddy · Dec 21, 2008

I bought that spray stuff from the farm store that is supposed to keep things slinding out of the bucket. Have not tried it yet for the rear blade. Also some guys sprayed PAM in their buckets. Did that one year on the earlier tractor. Remember wifey looking out the door at me with the look of "what the **** is that dumb a.. doing?"