Snow plow mount for 1985 Kubota L2250

[Chris Olson]

Advice for mounting a plow for snow on (or in place of) the bucket of my wife's Kubota 1985 L2250?

 

[leonz]

1. Really think about it as the loader frames are not built for snow plows.

2. They were designed to be used to collect light materials and not push snow.

3. You could very easily bend and wrack and twist the loader arms and really
make a mess of them no matter how careful either of you are.

4. If you still wish to use the loader frame for this you could buy a snow plow and buy a
mounting frame to clamp it to the bucket or purchase an SSQA mount to replace
the bucket entirely. If you do that you will have to change the entire mess to use the
original loader bucket.

5. another option is attaching extensions to the loader bucket lip and side to create a snow bucket.
You could have heavy mesh sides welded together with angle iron and have the angle iron drilled
out to let you bolt it to the sides, rear and lower lip weldments of the bucket.

 

[Jims1025R]

Putting a blade in place of a bucket on a loader will frustrate you. You'll regret it.

The reason is that the pivot point for raising and lower the blade should be as low as possible (like towing), loader arms have a pivot about as high as possible ('cause it's supposed to lift high!). So two bad things happen: You push with the tractor, the blade resists, and the loader arms try to pivot down (lifts front wheels off, and harder to steer) The loader and hydraulics are not stiff enough to prevent all movement, and they're not designed for it anyway. When the loader arms try to move down, the blade angle to the surface changes, and it digs in, worsening the whole effect. A proper blade will be mounted along under the tractor, which usually conflicts with loader mounting, so mutually exclusive mounts.

I know this because I modified my front mount snowblower to mount to the loader arms in place of the bucket (so I could leave the loader on year 'round), rather than the original under frame mount - mistake! It worked, but not well. The only saving grace was that being a blower, I really did not need to actually push with it, so I could "carry" it, and it still did the job (no friction to the ground). I learned.

Since then, new tractor, and I am (this week) modifying the front mount blower to now be a three point hitch rear blower. (there was no kit to modify the old front mount for my new tractor anyway, and I don't want to remove my loader for the winter.

I've seen loader mount blades for sale - but I have learned that the fact soemthing can be bought, does not assure it's a good idea! Buy a rear three point hitch plow, and you'll be fine (and much less frustrated)

 

[Chris Olson]

1. Really think about it as the loader frames are not built for snow plows.

2. They were designed to be used to collect light materials and not push snow.

3. You could very easily bend and wrack and twist the loader arms and really
make a mess of them no matter how careful either of you are.

4. If you still wish to use the loader frame for this you could buy a snow plow and buy a
mounting frame to clamp it to the bucket or purchase an SSQA mount to replace
the bucket entirely. If you do that you will have to change the entire mess to use the
original loader bucket.

5. another option is attaching extensions to the loader bucket lip and side to create a snow bucket.
You could have heavy mesh sides welded together with angle iron and have the angle iron drilled
out to let you bolt it to the sides, rear and lower lip weldments of the bucket.

Thanks for the clear communication. (Re)-considering my thoughts about how/if to use the tractor for snow removal...

 

[Chris Olson]

Putting a blade in place of a bucket on a loader will frustrate you. You'll regret it.

The reason is that the pivot point for raising and lower the blade should be as low as possible (like towing), loader arms have a pivot about as high as possible ('cause it's supposed to lift high!). So two bad things happen: You push with the tractor, the blade resists, and the loader arms try to pivot down (lifts front wheels off, and harder to steer) The loader and hydraulics are not stiff enough to prevent all movement, and they're not designed for it anyway. When the loader arms try to move down, the blade angle to the surface changes, and it digs in, worsening the whole effect. A proper blade will be mounted along under the tractor, which usually conflicts with loader mounting, so mutually exclusive mounts.

I know this because I modified my front mount snowblower to mount to the loader arms in place of the bucket (so I could leave the loader on year 'round), rather than the original under frame mount - mistake! It worked, but not well. The only saving grace was that being a blower, I really did not need to actually push with it, so I could "carry" it, and it still did the job (no friction to the ground). I learned.

Since then, new tractor, and I am (this week) modifying the front mount blower to now be a three point hitch rear blower. (there was no kit to modify the old front mount for my new tractor anyway, and I don't want to remove my loader for the winter.

I've seen loader mount blades for sale - but I have learned that the fact soemthing can be bought, does not assure it's a good idea! Buy a rear three point hitch plow, and you'll be fine (and much less frustrated)

Thanks for the reply and for the recommendation about the 3-point hitch plow. Any recommendation about a decent brand, model?

 

[Jims1025R]

Any recommendation about a decent brand, model?

I don't, but there are lots of choices. The one I have is probably older than I am, the blade itself is curled from 1/4" steel plate!

 

[Chris Olson]

Putting a blade in place of a bucket on a loader will frustrate you. You'll regret it.

The reason is that the pivot point for raising and lower the blade should be as low as possible (like towing), loader arms have a pivot about as high as possible ('cause it's supposed to lift high!). So two bad things happen: You push with the tractor, the blade resists, and the loader arms try to pivot down (lifts front wheels off, and harder to steer) The loader and hydraulics are not stiff enough to prevent all movement, and they're not designed for it anyway. When the loader arms try to move down, the blade angle to the surface changes, and it digs in, worsening the whole effect. A proper blade will be mounted along under the tractor, which usually conflicts with loader mounting, so mutually exclusive mounts.

I know this because I modified my front mount snowblower to mount to the loader arms in place of the bucket (so I could leave the loader on year 'round), rather than the original under frame mount - mistake! It worked, but not well. The only saving grace was that being a blower, I really did not need to actually push with it, so I could "carry" it, and it still did the job (no friction to the ground). I learned.

Since then, new tractor, and I am (this week) modifying the front mount blower to now be a three point hitch rear blower. (there was no kit to modify the old front mount for my new tractor anyway, and I don't want to remove my loader for the winter.

I've seen loader mount blades for sale - but I have learned that the fact soemthing can be bought, does not assure it's a good idea! Buy a rear three point hitch plow, and you'll be fine (and much less frustrated)

Thank you for the clear and useful reply.

 

[Chris Olson]

1. Really think about it as the loader frames are not built for snow plows.

2. They were designed to be used to collect light materials and not push snow.

3. You could very easily bend and wrack and twist the loader arms and really
make a mess of them no matter how careful either of you are.

4. If you still wish to use the loader frame for this you could buy a snow plow and buy a
mounting frame to clamp it to the bucket or purchase an SSQA mount to replace
the bucket entirely. If you do that you will have to change the entire mess to use the
original loader bucket.

5. another option is attaching extensions to the loader bucket lip and side to create a snow bucket.
You could have heavy mesh sides welded together with angle iron and have the angle iron drilled
out to let you bolt it to the sides, rear and lower lip weldments of the bucket.

Thanks for the clear description and advice. I am changing course.

 

[leonz]

Hello Mr. Olson,

I am glad I was able to help you with your decision. The last think I want to see happen is
your loader to be damaged as they are only ment to be used for light materials.