I have been plowing with a FEL snow plow for many years. I think it is the ideal universal snow removal weapon.
Any problems with using one are due to either design flaws, or operator error.
Yes, some stick out real far. But, they don't have to. It depends on how much fabricating you're capable of, and or willing to do. If you're going to mount it to the FEL bucket, it's probably going to stick out a long way. So, I chose to fabricate a dedicated mount, to allow for it to mount directly to the loader arms.
Yes, it needs to be able to float. A truck mounted plow floats via hinges on the bottom, and a chain on top that also allows you to lift it when it reaches it's limit. This is a popular way to float a FEL plow. But, it's not the only way. The bottom hinges can have stops, so the plow will lift when you raise it up. Again it depends on how much work you want to do on the build.
A snow plow that is rigidly mounted, is not going to perform well. It needs trip springs, and the plow also needs to have a few degrees of rotation, to be able to follow the terrain. This means the outer edges need to be able to raise or lower, to an extent, independent of the tractor. Otherwise, you can lose contact with the ground when there is a grade change. This rotation can be achieved as simply as building some slop in the mounts.
As far as the plow causing the tractor to turn when pushing snow, that's operator error. The turning forces are due to the angle you have on the plow. Reduce the angle, and the turning forces will be reduced. A plow does not need to be fully angled to function. It will work just fine at half that, and the turning forces on the tractor will have little to no effect on it. I push a 6' plow with a subcompact tractor, and it goes straight regardless of the amount of snow.
As far as loader arm damage, you risk that every time you use your front end loader. If you can't avoid things that could damage it, and don't use some good judgment, you're going to have issues regardless of whether you have a FEL plow or not. Loader arms are designed to have forces applied to them. This is what what happens when you push the front end loader bucket into the ground.
Don't plow at high speeds, and you're going to limit the forces applied to your rig, in the event something unforeseen happens. Between that, and the trip springs, your FEL arms should not be seeing as much force as they would if you were digging with the FEL bucket.
Any problems with using one are due to either design flaws, or operator error.
Yes, some stick out real far. But, they don't have to. It depends on how much fabricating you're capable of, and or willing to do. If you're going to mount it to the FEL bucket, it's probably going to stick out a long way. So, I chose to fabricate a dedicated mount, to allow for it to mount directly to the loader arms.
Yes, it needs to be able to float. A truck mounted plow floats via hinges on the bottom, and a chain on top that also allows you to lift it when it reaches it's limit. This is a popular way to float a FEL plow. But, it's not the only way. The bottom hinges can have stops, so the plow will lift when you raise it up. Again it depends on how much work you want to do on the build.
A snow plow that is rigidly mounted, is not going to perform well. It needs trip springs, and the plow also needs to have a few degrees of rotation, to be able to follow the terrain. This means the outer edges need to be able to raise or lower, to an extent, independent of the tractor. Otherwise, you can lose contact with the ground when there is a grade change. This rotation can be achieved as simply as building some slop in the mounts.
As far as the plow causing the tractor to turn when pushing snow, that's operator error. The turning forces are due to the angle you have on the plow. Reduce the angle, and the turning forces will be reduced. A plow does not need to be fully angled to function. It will work just fine at half that, and the turning forces on the tractor will have little to no effect on it. I push a 6' plow with a subcompact tractor, and it goes straight regardless of the amount of snow.
As far as loader arm damage, you risk that every time you use your front end loader. If you can't avoid things that could damage it, and don't use some good judgment, you're going to have issues regardless of whether you have a FEL plow or not. Loader arms are designed to have forces applied to them. This is what what happens when you push the front end loader bucket into the ground.
Don't plow at high speeds, and you're going to limit the forces applied to your rig, in the event something unforeseen happens. Between that, and the trip springs, your FEL arms should not be seeing as much force as they would if you were digging with the FEL bucket.