Snow Attachments Rear blade for snow removal.

[Diamondpilot]

I moved to Indiana 4 months ago and have yet to spend a winter here. Would a FEL and a rear 3 point blade serve me well for snow removal on a paved drive?

I have lived in Indiana all my life. 20 some years in Connersville, about 15 years in Indianapolis, 4 years in Terre Haute, and 11 years now in the Muncie Area.

Here is what I can tell you. South of I-70 any tractor and a rear grader blade is all you will ever need except for that once every 20 year blizzard. Many get by with a 8N and a 6' blade. Average big snow fall south of I-70 is 8". 40 miles north of I-70 you can get 24" easily in a day or two.

North of I 70 its night a day different and the more north east you are like me 12" dumps are common and its wet and heavy. R1 tires are the best on a 25 to 35 HP 4x4 tractor or chains will be a must. I used a 7' grader blade and my FEL on my 28HP Jinma with the tires loaded and front and rear weights, about 5,600# and have had no issues.

2 years ago I upgraded to a 7' plow that fits on my FEL in place of the bucket. It has angle capability and cuts the plow time in half or more.

I think you are up north of Ft Wayne if I remember correctly so you will get plenty of snow. You can get by with what you have but you will need weight to push the heavy wet snow. Get your tractor as heavy as you can and get a strong blade. I had a cheap Howse 6' grader blade rated for a 40 HP tractor and broke it 3 times the first winter I had it using the Jinma 28 HP unit. I had used it before on a 45 HP Ford 861 and it held up fine but it was not 4x4 and a little lighter.

One other point is move it well off the drive. I have a 25' wide drive and have gotten down to 10' by the time winter is over from all the snow piled up. I also mark my drive in November so I know where the edge and obstacle are once it starts really falling. The 8" of snow you have seen is nothing. We had 27" on the ground at one time 2 years ago in a 24 hour period and it was wet and heavy.

One last thing to consider is where to keep the tractor. I keep mine in the barn facing out so I can get it out. My idiot neighbor put his in the back of the barn with his wifes car behind it. He had a 6' drift in front of the door and had to shovel it out by hand. Took him 5 hours to get the tractor out. Block heater is also necessary and a anti-gel in your diesel fuel.

Here are some pics of my rig and the last 18" dump we got last winter. I have since had my drive paved. Its 280' long. Got tires of scraping up all the gravel. As for the blade doing damage I have a 40x20 and a 25x30 concrete apron in front of my two garages and have been plowing on them for 10 years with no issues.



Chris

 

[dangerdoc]

I moved to Indiana 4 months ago and have yet to spend a winter here. Would a FEL and a rear 3 point blade serve me well for snow removal on a paved drive?

It will work fine for a few inches of snow. If you get a foot of snow, the weight of the snow will move the back end of the tractor instead of the tractor moving the snow, at least with my Kubota M5400 last winter.

I'm thinking about getting a front blade for the tractor this year.

 

[JHTFarmer]

Should work ok until you hit a curb or other non-moveable object under the snow. Those snowplow blades have springs / pivot points and rubber edges whereas the typical rear blade doesn't.

 

[Ford tractor]

I was worried about damaging the drive with the blade so I'll definately do the black pipe deal.
.

Be sure to set the blade level across the back. Check that it STAYS level when you rotate it left to right and even around the horn. (Mine doesn't)
Then just go in a straight line and don't turn corners while pushing snow. You won't damage the drive.


Very little will move more snow faster than a rear blade... and little will put a crick in your neck like all that backwards driving either!

 

[rbcsaver]

Can you post a picture or two, since I'm contemplating what to do for my new Deere.
regards,
Steve

I found that on a dirt/gravel drive it is much easier to plow with either skid shoes or a pipe over the cutting edge. I tried the black abs pipe and it just wouldn't stay on so I fabbed up a 1 1/2" section of water pipe and attached it to the skid shoes, works great and is really fast. The only drawback is that since it doesn't cut removeing sections that have frozen solid isn't as easy.
I live on Northern California and most the snow tends to be wet and sticky so sometimes when plowing I just have to stop and raise the blade to get out of the giant pile I'm dragging, I can then either push it out of the way backwards or move it with the loader on my way back.
A couple of things to remember if you get lots of heavy snow tire chains are the way to go. We got a couple of late season snows after I had removed mine and depending on the snow I was sliding all over the place. Gravity is your friend, I have one grade on my drive that can be hard to plow going up so I try to do the bulk of it going down hill.
I think one last thing to remember is what quality of plowing do you want, does it have to be down to bare eart/asphalt or like us do you have 4wd vehicles so some snow isn't a problem.
With all this said I still want a front blade mounted to my loader I think it would save time, but a rear blade works fine also.
Tom

 

[RalphVa]

FEL & rear blade worked fine for me in last winter's 56" even with 4wd turf tires. Just don't let it accumulate more than about 4-6" at a time. Beyond that, it's too deep for the rear blade to work well. However, if you run it in reverse , you can use it to "stack" deeper snow off to the side, faster than what you can do with the FEL.

Ralph

 

[Chilly807]

I find that if you punch a hole through first with the loader bucket, and keep the rear blade angled to one side, you'll be done in as few as two passes. What spills off the edges of the loader bucket the blade shunts off to one side.

I have a screen made for the top of the bucket so any spillage over the top is pretty minimal. Once the bucket is that full, I angle to the side and dump it, then start again. Most will spill to the sides. I also built skids for the bottom of the bucket to save the cutting edge and the driveway.

You're probably going to want good ice chains, Aquiline or Norse are both good. I only use them on the rear.

Sean

 

[grnspot110]

Rear blades work fine, just make sure it's a heavily built blade. Bucking snow into piles can put a lot of strain on equipment! And don't get in a big hurry, that's what tears equipment up!!! ~~ grnspot110

 

[magicheater]

I have a screen made for the top of the bucket so any spillage over the top is pretty minimal. Once the bucket is that full, I angle to the side and dump it, then start again. Most will spill to the sides. I also built skids for the bottom of the bucket to save the cutting edge and the driveway.Sean

Is that a dedicated snow bucket then with the welded on mods?

 

[Topkicker]

If you decide to go with the rear blade you will want one large enough to cover your rear tire tracks with the blade angled 30 or 45 degrees.
To figure the length you need for 30 degrees, multiply your rear tire track width by 1.15 To figure the length you need for 45 degrees, multiply your rear tire track width by 1.4.

Thanks. I was thinking about a 72 in blade. My track width is approx 60 in. For the 45 degree I would need a 84 in blade.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks. I was thinking about a 72 in blade. My track width is approx 60 in. For the 45 degree I would need a 84 in blade.

You do not need 45 deg. 72" blade will be plenty. I run about a 20 deg angel when I plow. How much does your tractor weigh? Weight ratio to equipment size is the key.

Chris

 

[Chilly807]

Is that a dedicated snow bucket then with the welded on mods?

Both the screen and the skids are bolt-on, I used 3/8 carriage bolts through the reinforced part of the bucket for the skids, the screen doesn't get that much load to bend the bucket.

With the front and back end of the skids angled, you can tip the bucket forward a bit to put the cutting edge closer to the ground for a cleaner job.

I had to weld up the skids again mid-winter, they were getting thin on the nose section from gravel driveways. I used 1/4 x 3 steel for the bottom of the skids, if I do it again I'll use 1/2 ich thick stock.

Sean

 

[Baby Grand]

You do not need 45 deg. 72" blade will be plenty. I run about a 20 deg angel when I plow. How much does your tractor weigh? Weight ratio to equipment size is the key.

Chris

I found that for powdery snow on a brisk, cold day and in an area where I could drive quickly, 20 or 30 degrees worked just fine.

I also discovered that under these particular conditions:

1) very close quarters/no ability to operate at speed
2) wet, wet snow falling in air > 32 degrees
3) tractor with metal temperatures still below freezing due to low overnight temperatures

I had real trouble getting the snow to separate from the moldboard unless I cranked it all the way over to 45 degrees. Anything less and it would pile up in front of the blade.

If you decide to go with the 7' blade, make sure you can (easily) fit it thru your garage/barn door or wherever you keep your rig. First time I used mine I almost took some of the garage with me as I have to turn a little bit as I exit the door.

Also, I set my blade so it can float, both up and down as well as crown angle. My driveways are so wonky I have to. To avoid ripping up the grass part of one drive a chunk of rubber clamped between the cutting edge and moldboard works a little like a squeegee. Search the forums and you will find some interesting ideas on this theme.

-Jim