Snow plow ? Beginner

[tacticalturnip]

Edge tamers will keep your bucket from gouging the pavement and the gravel,
Edge Tamer - Move Snow With Your Tractor Loader Bucket
View attachment 831048

You can also add shoes to your back blade.
If your pavement is smooth the back blade would not gouge into it.

These are absolutely worth their weight in gold.

 

[ray66v]

It has about 2-3" of float the way it was built. It is a "factory" snow plow, not sure who built it.

I'll guess then, there was some slop built in it.

2-3" of slop on the ends, will work to give you rotation on the center axis, meaning the right, or left side can raise or lower some. But, it's perhaps not enough to give you the straight up, or down movement you need for you terrain.

Sorry you are not satisfied. I honestly could not be happier with the way my loader plow works.

 

[BlueKnife]

Your plow appears to have no ability to "float"?

Most heavy loader plows are hinged, and hung from a chain, so it can move up if the terrain requires it to do so.

I've never seen a commercially made, loader mounted plow that hung from a chain. Seen pictures of homemade ones. That design isn't strong enough to hold up to bigger loaders, so you're not likely to see one either. Too much risk of warranty issues and bad press for the manufacturer.

 

[BlueKnife]

I guess the choice is getting to just getting one for the tractor. I'm thinking the 7'6" model to match the L3301's size.
Now to decide to get a mounted one for the front and remove the loader for the winter or a quick attach. I have third function already (diverter) and a 4 valve rear out(s) setup.

A frame mounted plow is lots nicer to use than a loader mounted plow on a light machine like yours. The problem with loader mounted is that it puts the plow far out in front of the machine and you end up getting shoved sideways when you're trying to push heavy snow off to the side. Only downside is that you can't stack the snow as high. Whether that's an issue or not depends on how your driveway is laid out. I'd get a frame mounted plow and then swap to the loader when needed to stack high.

 

[ruffdog]

I've never seen a commercially made, loader mounted plow that hung from a chain. Seen pictures of homemade ones. That design isn't strong enough to hold up to bigger loaders, so you're not likely to see one either. Too much risk of warranty issues and bad press for the manufacturer.

It is the way this bucket plow was made to float...see the chain?

 

[BlueKnife]

It is the way this bucket plow was made to float...see the chain?

View attachment 831201

Is that commercially made? Perhaps I should clarify that I mean SSQA or direct mounted, not bucket mounted. Can't say I've seen an angle capable plow that attached to the bucket. Seems like that'd be awfully ungainly.

 

[ruffdog]

This guy makes SSQA plows with 8-10" up/down float and 4" of wobble float. It has a linkage, not a chain. He also makes them as short as he can so they don't stick way out front.

 

[BlueKnife]

This guy makes SSQA plows with 8-10" up/down float and 4" of wobble float. It has a linkage, not a chain.

Right. Again, I don't think that they're available commercially with a chain. I could be wrong, but I've never seen or heard of one.

 

[ray66v]

I've never seen a commercially made, loader mounted plow that hung from a chain. Seen pictures of homemade ones. That design isn't strong enough to hold up to bigger loaders, so you're not likely to see one either. Too much risk of warranty issues and bad press for the manufacturer.

I honestly wasn't expecting there to be many commercially made loader plows.

Around here, I all I see are pusher boxes when I see commercial snow removal equipment.

Since they were originally pretty much all truck plows, adapted to use with a loader it was already designed to be lifted by a chain, so I guess most peopel just stay with it.

More or less building from scratch, I didn't see a need for it on my rig.

I really like the Minnesota Implements design. They clearly did things from experience, and have a very nice system.

 

[chim]

Addressing one concern mentioned - If a bucket or plow digs holes in an asphalt driveway, the driveway is worthless.

Chain suspension (for a loader-mounted blade) - It's the only way I'd have it. It allows the blade itself to float with just the weight of the blade. Designs without chains or the unique hinge in a link above have the weight of the loader frame bearing down on the blade.

There are quite a few DIY plow projects both here and on orangetractortalks.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Another problem with loader mounted plows, or most any plow for that matter unless there is rotational provisions, is that they are not set up so that the plow frame is parallel to the road surface. When the plow is straight it looks good but when it is angled one corner is lifted or tries to lift and all or most of the weight is transferred to the other corner which can make it dig in and plow lousy.

gg

 

[jfsawatzky]

I have a Meyers home plow that connects to the 2 inch front receiver on my rtv. I use it mainly on light snow on my 1200 ft lane and as a backup for the tractor and blower. It takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes to clear the lane instead of the hour using the blower driving backwards. I plan to put a front receiver on my f150 for it, but that’s a low priority project.

 

[chim]

Another problem with loader mounted plows, or most any plow for that matter unless there is rotational provisions, is that they are not set up so that the plow frame is parallel to the road surface. When the plow is straight it looks good but when it is angled one corner is lifted or tries to lift and all or most of the weight is transferred to the other corner which can make it dig in and plow lousy.

gg

I used a pair of magnets with whiskers made from zip ties. The one on the left is set to align with the top fin of the grille guard and sets the loader arm height. The one on the right is at the tip of the level indicator rod when the QA is at the correct angle.

The QA roll angle is set and forget for the most part. It doesn't require much adjustment. Occasionally when piling up snow I do rotate it a bit. Up and down for the arms becomes second nature after a bit of operating.

The picture of the plow is a good example of a mounting design based on Gordon Gould's. The tape measure is not for doing setup. It was placed there to answer a question another poster asked concerning clearance.

 

[RjCorazza]

I used a pair of magnets with whiskers made from zip ties. The one on the left is set to align with the top fin of the grille guard and sets the loader arm height. The one on the right is at the tip of the level indicator rod when the QA is at the correct angle.

The QA roll angle is set and forget for the most part. It doesn't require much adjustment. Occasionally when piling up snow I do rotate it a bit. Up and down for the arms becomes second nature after a bit of operating.

The picture of the plow is a good example of a mounting design based on Gordon Gould's. The tape measure is not for doing setup. It was placed there to answer a question another poster asked concerning clearance.

I like the magnet and zip tie gauge. I'm going to add one to my ssqa blade. Currently eyeballing during use, and a magnetic level on the frame for the initial setting.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Though I've had tractors most of my life, I've never had or used a snow plow. I'd like to get a plow for my L3301 quick attach but also would like to use it on my pickup occasionally swapping back and forth rather easily.
Is there an adaptor or way to do this without a bunch of bolting/unbolting to move it from one to the other?

Forgive me if this is absurdly simple. As I said. I've never had a snow plow but moving to Vermont and getting a huge circular driveway paved this year has my 60 year old back and push behind snow blower cringing as winter approaches.

Thank you,
Lenny

My thoughts & experience:

Many years ago, I made an adapter by welding an old pickup plow frame to a SSQA plate. I used it to swap my Western 90" plow between several tractors & pickups over the years. Now, there are adapters available on the market such as this one:

BERLON Truck Plow to Skid Steer adapter

DESCRIPTION Berlon Strong mounting plates are manufactured for buckets and attachments used on skid steers, tractor loaders, compact utility tractors, wheel loaders and telescopic handlers. SNOWWM Converts Western/Meyer truck plows to skid steers SPECIFICATIONS MODEL WEIGHT (lbs.) SNOWWM 161

www.lecinfo.com

I found the 90" truck plow to be a bit awkward to use on my smaller B series Kubota's but not much of a problem for the newer L's I've owned. It took some practice and a few tricks but it got the job done. Getting on and off the tractor to manually adjust the blade angle was a real pain. Adding a 3rd function valve was a welcome improvement to hydraulically angle the blade.

When I was younger, I didn't mind being out in the weather plowing on an open station tractor. Maneuvering with the tractor was much easier than the pickup. I could easily pile snow and push the banks back using the blade on the FEL.

As I got older, I became less tolerant of the cold and began using the pickup most of the time. As the price of pickups increased, I became reluctant to beat up an expensive vehicle by plowing with it so I went back to using the tractor. I suppose I could have kept an old truck around just for plowing but the maintenance & storage of another vehicle was a problem.

Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought a cabbed tractor with an SSQA FEL plow. For me, at my age, it has proved to be the ideal solution. Plowing with heat and mowing with A/C just can't be beat!

 

[Doz]

Though I've had tractors most of my life, I've never had or used a snow plow. I'd like to get a plow for my L3301 quick attach but also would like to use it on my pickup occasionally swapping back and forth rather easily.
Is there an adaptor or way to do this without a bunch of bolting/unbolting to move it from one to the other?

Forgive me if this is absurdly simple. As I said. I've never had a snow plow but moving to Vermont and getting a huge circular driveway paved this year has my 60 year old back and push behind snow blower cringing as winter approaches.

Thank you,
Lenny

 

[Doz]

Though I've had tractors most of my life, I've never had or used a snow plow. I'd like to get a plow for my L3301 quick attach but also would like to use it on my pickup occasionally swapping back and forth rather easily.
Is there an adaptor or way to do this without a bunch of bolting/unbolting to move it from one to the other?

Forgive me if this is absurdly simple. As I said. I've never had a snow plow but moving to Vermont and getting a huge circular driveway paved this year has my 60 year old back and push behind snow blower cringing as winter approaches.

Thank you,
Lenny

So I live in northern Michigan and have a 1/4 mile driveway we can get a lot of snow do your self a favor and buy a reverse snowblower for the rear of the tractor that way your not backing up and driving into the snow your blowing and you don’t get any banks or piles to deal with it’s the best money you ever spent

 

[Doz]

Though I've had tractors most of my life, I've never had or used a snow plow. I'd like to get a plow for my L3301 quick attach but also would like to use it on my pickup occasionally swapping back and forth rather easily.
Is there an adaptor or way to do this without a bunch of bolting/unbolting to move it from one to the other?

Forgive me if this is absurdly simple. As I said. I've never had a snow plow but moving to Vermont and getting a huge circular driveway paved this year has my 60 year old back and push behind snow blower cringing as winter approaches.

Thank you,
Lenny

 

[TCGUY]

i use a plow on my FEL and a rear blower....leelanau county mich which gets a **** ton of snow......dont think u will be able to use the same plow on both truck and tractor.....i cut my old truck plow down so could put it on tractor....have to be careful when plowing with the plow on FEL...can bend the loader......if it was me...i would keep the plow on the truck...get a blower for the tractor.....

 

[Johnb0311]

Though I've had tractors most of my life, I've never had or used a snow plow. I'd like to get a plow for my L3301 quick attach but also would like to use it on my pickup occasionally swapping back and forth rather easily.
Is there an adaptor or way to do this without a bunch of bolting/unbolting to move it from one to the other?

Forgive me if this is absurdly simple. As I said. I've never had a snow plow but moving to Vermont and getting a huge circular driveway paved this year has my 60 year old back and push behind snow blower cringing as winter approaches.

Thank you,
Lenny

Hydraulic Snow Plow Pinnacle Series, from homestead implements. I also use a Woods rear ​

snowblower​

. It may cost you 5-6 grand for both, but the snow doesn't give me any problems, except getting up and out of bed to clear it. I do have a couple long driveways with open hayfields that build up the snow drifts. Mounted on a Kioti CK 3500. Works for me. Ford F-350 superduty with a plow stays parked unless I go on the road. All depends on what your gonna use it for and how much you can spend.​