Snow Snow Plowing with 430 FEL

[IbQuick]

Has anyone got any horror stories from snow plowing with a FEL, I just tired it for the first time and it took me 90 minutes, I can sence that the time could be shorter but how do you do it with out doing damage? I have a 4310 with 430FEL.

 

[bczoom]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I just tired it for the first time and it took me 90 minutes)</font>

IbQuick,

Welcome to TBN!!

Can you tell us a little more about what you're plowing? Gravel? Length?

Any reason you're not using a light duty 6' blade off the 3PH?

Brian

 

[dmp437]

I found some flat ground and raised the lip of the loader up about 1", then marked the bucket level indicator with some white tape. I have a gravel drive and don't want to be picking stones all spring.
Eventually I'll get a 84" rear blade.

 

[johnbilt]

Hi

I have been plowing with my 990/430LDR for the past few years without serious trouble. I have a level indicator which I marked with tape while sitting on the level concrete in garage.

I set the blade for level or slightly raised when I plow. This keeps me from digging and skims the snow off real well. I lower the blade gently until it strikes bottom and then apply some down pressure. I am doing a gravel driveway, which is fairly forgiving, but I would think a similar technique would work for concrete, if that's what you have.

I run fairly fast, 3rd gear / B range / 1800-2000 rpm. This glides right along and I adjust the blade up a little if I lose steering control. My driveway is about 200 feet long. I make several passes usually starting with a middle run, then I clean up the sides. A rear angled blade would make a cleaner path, but I don't have one.

I did catch a frozen 10 inch rock one time. It got my attention as I peeled myself off the steering wheel and hood. Probably should have attached my seat belt......Yikes. Or better yet, stay on the developed path.

Good Luck

John

 

[pat32rf]

If you live in Maine with a driveway of any length you definitely should get a rear blade, one that swings 360deg so you can pull or push the white stuff with it. I have a "snow bucket" insert that I made for my FEL that extends the bucket about 24" forward.(great for moving 1/2 face cord of firewood from the woodshed to the front porch) I normally use the blade to get the snow out of the way, then when it has compacted and hardened a bit I pick it up with the bucket and dump it over the hill. This winter I have 4 piles of over-the-hill
snow.One 20' deepx20' wide, three more slightly smaller. These piles are packed hard enough to drive out on and still dump over the edge. If I hit a soft spot with the front wheels I empty the bucket, then press down and slide back using it as a sled to support the front end untill I reach harder snow.
We have a hilly driveway without a hope of seeing the gravel for another month so I just clear down as far as I can, then spread a bit of sand in the bad spots as needed. I also try to remove the piled up snow from the edge to stop drifting should we get a storm and also to reduce the run-off come spring. I try to pile the snow on the downhill side of the driveway and house as well as removing the piles from any shady spots so it will melt faster. Have fun, Pat

 

[beenthere]

Search on 'Western Plow' for an alternative to plowing with the FEL, just for some other ideas. You will find some pics of this 7' plow mounted on a Deere 4300 (in front).
It works great and changes quick back to the FEL if needed. No worry about extra stress on the FEL (which I think will take it, none the less).

 

[sab5948]

I've been plowing my ~200' gravel driveway with my JD4410 and 430 FEL for the last 2 winders. My first few tries put a lot of stones in my yard, but my technique has improved tremendously, and I now only catch a few stones on occasion, but I'm also plowing much faster (B range, 3rd or 4th gear, ~2000 RPM).

My biggest problem is snow drifts. I've tried putting up a snow fence, but I find that with the FEL I can stack the snow up to make a pretty nice snow fence that removes itself in the spring. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Time is the biggest drawback to using the FEL. 90 minutes is not uncommon, but does include clearing a path through the yard from the house to the barn (~250') in addtion to the driveway. I don't own anything else at the moment, but I have been considering another solution to speed up the process. One upside to the FEL solution that I have found is that it doesn't take me much longer to clear out after a 12" snowfall versus a 4" snowfall. Of course we haven't had any real good storms since I bought my tractor /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

-Scott

 

[IbQuick]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( I just tired it for the first time and it took me 90 minutes)</font>

IbQuick,

Welcome to TBN!!

Can you tell us a little more about what you're plowing? Gravel? Length?

Any reason you're not using a light duty 6' blade off the 3PH?

Brian )</font>
Brian
I have 300 feet of asphalt fairly flat drive way. I didn't think that a 6 foot rear blade would work well if you had a lot of snow drifts etc. Someone else mentioned that you can run over the snow and drive forward with the rear blade, but doesn't that make it messy or time consuming? So far I have found the hydraulics are so fast that I have to be real care full when I lower the bucket or I will do damage if I don't have it flat.
I had a 4100 previous with a 54 front blade and it work well but again it was time consuming. I thought the FEL would be faster and cleaner but I do a lot of clean up from the overflow.

 

[dicker]

Hi

I do a lot of driveways with a JD 4310, 430 loader and a backblade.

The loose gravel ones, like mine are the most challenging, but the ashphalt ones are the easiest. On ashphalt, just set the blade at a slight downward angle and the loader will clean the snow off nicely. Float is a good idea. It just takes a lot of patience and practice.

As a tip for snow drifts, I sometimes will use the back blade and loader at the same time. Set the loader flat but say 6 inches off the ground and drop the back blade and drive forward. This allows the loader to cut through the drifts and the back blade will clean down to the ashphalt.

Good luck

Richard

 

[JB4310]

ibquick, I just registered so I could reply to you horror story, I also have 4310 w/430 FEL E.hydro only 18 hours on it, when I first tried it in the snow I thought it would never work good and also considered a rear blade. I have a western plow on my Ram 2500 and figured i'd just keep using that since it sure was not fun with the tractor. But this last snow I gave it another try and everything just clicked, By far the most important thing is the float, I don't know how you could possibly do with out it, unless you were on a flat paved surface you are going to dig in or leave alot behind. I do about 250 ft of gravel and 500 ft of paved, very uneven and hilly, between my own yard and the two single ladies on each side of me (side of my yard that is) I just get the bucket close with the indicator and drop it in float and drive making minor adjustments to bucket angle as I go. No digging up a half a bucket of process, no front tires a foot off the ground, no chattering and banging, it worked out real good. That's why I was surprised that only one other guy mentioned using float. I have the r-4's and have the ballast box about 3/4 full of stone, I do have to use 4x4 on the hills some times but I'm satisfied with it now. good luck! John,