Rear blade for snow removal

[leningrad]

I have a l3901 and am using it to clear my 1000 ft driveway with the bucket currently, not ideal! I am looking to get a rear blade but am conflicted on a 6ft or 7ft? What would you chose for size with my tractor in mind?

 

[Stan B]

I have a similar size tractor and use a 6ft rear blade for my 360ft driveway. I set it at an angle and one trip down and back gets it done. 7ft might be better though as 6ft angled just barely covers the width of the tractor, but I prefer the 6ft as it is the same width as my snow pusher, so when using both to clear in front of buildings (pusher for volume, rear blade for getting close to doors), they compliment each other.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Most would choose 84". Here is the best compact tractor blade with simple tilt, angle and offset functions. Completely USA Made with a USA Made cutting edge!
EA 6 Way Deluxe Scrape Blade

Pics from fellow TBNer, MAD777..

And a few from the factory..

 

[Boondox]

Wider is better as it will still cover the width of the tractor when angled. The big caveat is that early and late in the winter when the snow is wet and heavy it will tend to drag the tractor a bit. Ballast in the bucket will mitigate that somewhat. Another factor to consider is whether or not you have room to pile the snow alongside your driveway. I'm in Craftsbury VT and after years of using a blade I finally gave up and bought a snowblower. This time of year it's not any faster than using the rear blade, but since it throws it 30 feet to the side I no longer have to spend half days in February thru April pushing huge snowbanks back to make room for my car.

 

[MAD777]

Those top two pictures EA posted above are my 84" on my Kioti CK2610HST, which I believe is roughly equivalent to the size of your tractor.
It was definitely the right choice in size. And I must say that I'm super impressed with the design and build quality of the blade. There's no end to its versatility.
I use it backwards when my 450' gravel driveway is soft and frontwards when it's frozen. The offset and angle really pushes the snow well to the side of my driving path.
And it's so easy to change the setup of offset, angle or tilt. The steepest part of my driveway is 19% slope, so I plow downhill only so as not to overwork my 25 HP tractor. That means I have to flip everything over to the other side between runs.
Bottom line, I would not even consider another rear blade than this 84" Deluxe 6-way from EA.
P. S. My tires are filled with beet juice and I have very aggressive Euro chains.

 

[nybirdman]

The seven footer for sure;way better than just a bucket.Good all around tool for summer drive way maintenance also.I have two, a light duty for our smaller tractor(6' and free) and a Landpride medium duty 7' for the bigger tractor.You want one you can turn the blade around for dragging on soft ground;advise NOT to push with it.
I have a 8' converted truck plow on the FEL;you may want to consider one of those in the future.

 

[CobyRupert]

I know your question was 6' vs 7', but do you have any rear hydraulic SCV ports?
Rear blades usually have 2 or 3 adjustments: Angle, tilt, and offset.

Angle: Being able to hydraulically change the angle to plow snow left or right without getting off the tractor every time is the most useful.
Tilt: I originally though having a 2nd cylinder for tilt would be 2nd most useful. It is in dirt, when trying to crown, or pitch a surface; or when cleaning out or establishing a ditch, etc... I find that when plowing snow, it's more useful to have the tilt free floating so that all of blade stays in contact with ground even when the tractor tilts ahead of ground the blade is on. This depends on how flat your driveway is. On a manual adjusting blade, one can just pull the pin to let the tilt action float.
Offset: Knowing what I know now for plowing snow, I would of made this action hydraulic so I can get blade up next to buildings without worrying about putting the bucket through a wall.

 

[leningrad]

Thanks everyone for the insight! My driveway is twisty and hilly and not very level and has some ditches on the sides as well as being gravel/ dirt. It is quite narrow maybe 10-12 ft. I wanted to get some more opinions as my dealer was saying the 7ft was too big and the 3901 would struggle with it. Seems most here would go 84”...

 

[leningrad]

I know your question was 6' vs 7', but do you have any rear hydraulic SCV ports?
Rear blades usually have 2 or 3 adjustments: Angle, tilt, and offset.

Angle: Being able to hydraulically change the angle to plow snow left or right without getting off the tractor every time is the most useful.
Tilt: I originally though having a 2nd cylinder for tilt would be 2nd most useful. It is in dirt, when trying to crown, or pitch a surface; or when cleaning out or establishing a ditch, etc... I find that when plowing snow, it's more useful to have the tilt free floating so that all of blade stays in contact with ground even when the tractor tilts ahead of ground the blade is on. This depends on how flat your driveway is. On a manual adjusting blade, one can just pull the pin to let the tilt action float.
Offset: Knowing what I know now for plowing snow, I would of made this action hydraulic so I can get blade up next to buildings without worrying about putting the bucket through a wall.

I would love to have some rear remotes in the future but for now unfortunately they aren’t an option. They would be extremely helpful when grading the drive even with the box blade I use now as I am frequently getting off the tractor to adjust.

 

[fried1765]

I have a l3901 and am using it to clear my 1000 ft driveway with the bucket currently, not ideal! I am looking to get a rear blade but am conflicted on a 6ft or 7ft? What would you chose for size with my tractor in mind?

The EA 6 WAY Deluxe Scrape Blade is without question THE BEST (manual adjust) rear blade on the market.
BEST BUILT & EASIEST TO ADJUST !

 

[nybirdman]

My rear blade is the LandPride RB2684;7 footer and totally adjustable(manual) and should be readily available at any Kubota dealer.
Very good all around blade.

 

[leningrad]

Most would choose 84". Here is the best compact tractor blade with simple tilt, angle and offset functions. Completely USA Made with a USA Made cutting edge!
EA 6 Way Deluxe Scrape Blade

Pics from fellow TBNer, MAD777..

View attachment 636185

View attachment 636186

And a few from the factory..

View attachment 636190

View attachment 636191

View attachment 636192

How long would it take to get to Vermont using the shipping to home for the extra $

 

[EverythingAttachments]

How long would it take to get to Vermont using the shipping to home for the extra $

We have 60" and 72" ready to roll. Several 84" are in production, tacked and waiting for solid welds. If ordered this week, one could probably ship next week and be there the following week. That's my best "crystal ball" estimate!
Travis

 

[CobyRupert]

Thanks everyone for the insight! My driveway is twisty and hilly and not very level and has some ditches on the sides as well as being gravel/ dirt. It is quite narrow maybe 10-12 ft. I wanted to get some more opinions as my dealer was saying the 7ft was too big and the 3901 would struggle with it. Seems most here would go 84”...

I think width-wise, it depends on the weight of your tractor, weight of the snow (wet & heavy "mashed potato" vs powder) and how many "passes" you are "adding" together and trying to move, and what is under the snow (ice?).
Will you have chains? Ballasted filled tires?

I only plow a dirt driveway and a feed area around my barn. I find that some years, once plowed, it just make a bare surface that can become a skating rink if it then rains and freezes. This is when chains are a must.
My tractor is a lot heavier than yours (~9000lbs (?) w/ loader, ballast & blade), and under various combinations of conditions (heavy deep snow, multiple plow passes adding together, ice base, and angled blade, etc..) there are times I'll get pushed sideways with a 8' blade. Majority of the time it's no problem.
Some would rather have the width and compensate during those times (i.e. don't start in the middle of driveway & add multiple passes together, take more passes, etc..)
I think it's a coin flip
...if you have chains and loaded tires (& FEL & blade puts you around ~5000 lbs?)
Some days you'll wish it was 7', other days 6'.
:2cents:

 

[mike48130]

6 foot. I have a Deere 4410. It came with a 84" and all id did was push the rear end of the tractor around. It depends of if you have weights as well. I had my AG tires filled and it would still push the tractor around.

I think it also depends on the shape of the blade. I know the one pictured above has the flat blade that is bent. This is the way some are made because it is cheaper and was how my 84" was. My landpride has a curved round blade and the snow rolls off it like a wave. Way better design and requires less power to push the snow and will throw it off to the side. That is based on my experience using both on the same tractor.

The other note, is make sure you can rotate the blade 180deg while on the tractor. There will be times you want to rotate the blade 180 and drive backwards. There have been other recent posts on here about not being able to do that with some bladed while on the tractor.

 

[Fallon]

The economy Ls with R4s are a fixed 60" track. R1s are adjustable I think but don't know how wide. They are also pretty light machines. So if the blade sticks out past the wheels much when heavily angled you're going to get pushed sideways a lot.

 

[fried1765]

How long would it take to get to Vermont using the shipping to home for the extra $

Whatever time it takes to get THAT particular blade, try to be patient....and DO IT!
THAT is the BEST blade!

 

[3gunr]

I use a 7 ft woods behind a 28 hp tractor with no problem, as long as you angle the blade and go in a higher gear the snow will be thrown off the end of the blade. Yes you might have issues if your plowing deep wet snow , but if you take it before it gets to deep the 7 ft blade will be much better. i had a smaller one and it was useless for ditch work.

 

[airbiscuit]

X 2 on a 6' OFFSET Year Blade.

 

[RalphVa]

I have a l3901 and am using it to clear my 1000 ft driveway with the bucket currently, not ideal! I am looking to get a rear blade but am conflicted on a 6ft or 7ft? What would you chose for size with my tractor in mind?

I've a 5 ft blade for 4 ft wide tractor tires to outer edges. Works great for up to around 6 or 8 inches and even then can be used to push pile tops back if running out of room.

Ralph