snow removal

[grsthegreat]

4 hours later...power still out. Love my generator

 

[KenLysons]

JD when it isn't cold, had it longer than everything but the F150. Started plowing with a quad.


newest toy


old faithful, have moved countless tons of snow



my most fun toy, for real deep snow

 

[BoylermanCT]

We average 60" or so a year. Been slow this year. Only been able to use the tractor a couple of times with 5" and 8". Was 65 for the past 2 days and now back in the 20's.

 

[PILOON]

He we had all sorts of severe weather warnings, so much so That I purchased another 5 gals of gas for the generator.
Supposedly to expect much rain, sleet and pellets followed by lots of snow.
Winds expected to cause power outages.
Well it did rain some but I had left last snow on the ground (tractor was out of service*) and that proved to be an asset as it absorbed the rain but still was 'plowable'.
Today I plowed and blew that crusty snow to kingdom come and have a nice serviceable drive.

*my block heater blew and needed to be replaced,that a chore in itself!
Fortunately being mild the repair went quite well.
Due to the compactness of my CUT access was a challenge but with ingenuity and a vast assortment of tools I made the swap.
Still it took me 3 hours to do the swap.
Knowing the job needed going I had propped the FEL upright for more reasonable access.

 

[Branson Bob]

JD when it isn't cold, had it longer than everything but the F150. Started plowing with a quad.


newest toy


old faithful, have moved countless tons of snow



my most fun toy, for real deep snow

Nice collection of iron. Say why are the hydraulic lines on the JD so loose and low?

What kind of quad do you have?

 

[Cougsfan]

I am in the same general area as you and Oosik. So far we have gotten maybe 5 inches and I have just used the plow on the front of my truck. We got a WoodMax SB82" snow blower to use on the back of my tractor. Today I hooked it up and played with it for the first time, even though we haven't got enough snow to justify using it. I found out the following: It will be great for the reason we bought it, taking care of the 3 and 4 foot drifts we sometimes get across long sections of our road. It is not so great for doing driveways and tight areas. It is just too big and bulky. Having a cab with a snowblower isn't as wonderful as you'd think. Unless you constantly fiddle with the direction of the blow, the windows get covered with ice and snow fairly quickly and you can't see what you are doing.

 

[KenLysons]

Nice collection of iron. Say why are the hydraulic lines on the JD so loose and low?

What kind of quad do you have?

Thanks. I had just taken the mower off, and was cleaning everything.
Quad was a 2002 Yamaha Grizzly 660- only had 1800 km

 

[grsthegreat]

have 27" of snow on the ground. plowed out me and the neighbors again. 8 hours on tractor again today.

 

[oosik]

Cougsfan - I would just guess you should have got a tad bit less than me. I see that grsthegreat, somewhere in N Idaho, got 27" from this last storm. You don't like all the snow collecting on your rear window. Try a rear blower with no cab. For 28 years I used a 3-point blower on my previous open station tractor. I have a hooded Eddie Bauer down jacket that I faithfully wore, back when I was blowing snow. No matter the wind direction, no matter the way you point the chute - there will always be a mist of snow coming back on the operator. Now with a totally heavier operation, all the way around, there is no blown snow to worry about. It's a heavy tractor, RimGuard in the rear tires and a very HD rear blade.


Hombre - I keep forgetting that Amber does not show on all maps. I have special software that does show old & small Ea WA towns. Most of these old, small towns were where the centralized grain elevators were located for the area wheat farmers. Straight as an arrow - Amber is 25 miles SW of downtown Spokane. Amber is on the North side of Amber lake. I live 2 1/2 miles due North of Amber/Amber Lk.

This last storm brought around 7 1/2" here. It's melted down to 3 1/2" now. Even with the ideal plowing conditions right now.... 20F, I don't bother for that little bit.

 

[buickanddeere]

A snowblower to get rid of the snow . Blading and pushing just forms worse drifts the next time it snows .

 

[grsthegreat]

A snowblower to get rid of the snow . Blading and pushing just forms worse drifts the next time it snows .

That also works for me...unless the temp gets too warm than i swap out the blower for the plow. That has happened 2 times this season. Right now I have the blower installed. Spent 6 hours blowing thru 20+ inch messes at some neighbors houses as they could not keep up with the snow. One guy has 2 older tractors down for the count and his walk behing blower just gave up the ghost. Another had just broken the plow on his side by side pushing thru a bank.

 

[Hombre]

I am in the same general area as you and Oosik. So far we have gotten maybe 5 inches and I have just used the plow on the front of my truck. We got a WoodMax SB82" snow blower to use on the back of my tractor. Today I hooked it up and played with it for the first time, even though we haven't got enough snow to justify using it. I found out the following: It will be great for the reason we bought it, taking care of the 3 and 4 foot drifts we sometimes get across long sections of our road. It is not so great for doing driveways and tight areas. It is just too big and bulky. Having a cab with a snowblower isn't as wonderful as you'd think. Unless you constantly fiddle with the direction of the blow, the windows get covered with ice and snow fairly quickly and you can't see what you are doing.

I have the same blower. It is a big beast for sure but I don't have any tight areas I need to use it in. And if you think it isn't "great" with a cab, you should try it on an open station tractor like mine. My snowblower is currently residing in the barn and will only come out if the road starts getting to "narrow" from the plows snow berms... or we get a couple feet dropped on us at once. We have 8 to 10 that dropped last night on top of the 4ish we already had, so I'll be out pretty soon to do the drive down to the county road and whatever else is necessary. Four or so hours if it goes well and I don't have to come back up and put on chains.

 

[LouNY]

It's been a very mild winter for us so far,
a couple of plowable storms when the driveways weren't froze.
Then just one when it was froze up. Thawed out now but supposed to freeze up Thursday
and maybe a little or maybe more snow this weekend.

Once my chains go on in the fall, hopefully before they are needed,
they usually stay on till late spring.

 

[ruffdog]

Haven't had enough snow to even get the plow out. I just shovel off the concrete area between the buildings and pack the snow on the gravel drive. Yawn. :yawn:

 

[Aquamoose]

It's been a very mild winter for us so far,
a couple of plowable storms when the driveways weren't froze.
Then just one when it was froze up. Thawed out now but supposed to freeze up Thursday
and maybe a little or maybe more snow this weekend.

Once my chains go on in the fall, hopefully before they are needed,
they usually stay on till late spring.

Curious about your back blade with lots of hoses on them and a black box? Can you tell me about it? I’m looking to do mine on a single hydraulic cylinder to make angled adjustments from the seat.

 

[LouNY]

Curious about your back blade with lots of hoses on them and a black box? Can you tell me about it? I’m looking to do mine on a single hydraulic cylinder to make angled adjustments from the seat.

I have three rear remotes;
one goes to the hydraulic top link,
one goes up to the front to angle my front blade or run the grapple,
just leaves one open for the rear blade.
One set of remotes it goes to a diverter valve (have a second one to stack together),
have a toggle switch in the cab double pole double throw wired to a 4 pin trailer connector (round),
that flex cable runs to the junction block (black box), when the switch is in the center position (off)
hydraulic flow is straight thru the diverter to angle cylinder, switch up hydraulic flow is to the tilt cylinder for the blade,
when I add the second diverter and an offset cylinder, switch down will direct the hydraulic flow to the offset cylinder.
Just a way for one set of remotes to handle multiple cylinders.
Baileys calls them selector valves;
VALVE SELECTOR VALVE 12 VOLT DC SAE 1 WORK PORTS 3625 PSI
When de-energized flow is straight thru, when energized flow is thru the other ports.
One provides two different hydraulic circuits, stack two and you can have three, stack three and one remote can handle four different cylinders.
The black box is just a trailer junction box for the wiring to go to and stay some what neat and protected.

 

[Aquamoose]

Cool. Thank you sir! I have two rear remotes but one goes to the top 3ph. I plan to make my blade angle adjustable using the second remote but with a twist, quick fittings so I can disconnect the pivot from the cylinder, swing it around, and connect so I can use the blade both ways. It will take careful planning.

 

[oosik]

Short story. I have only one rear remote. It's used for the hydraulic top link. Three years ago I was out on the driveway plowing snow. I wanted to change the angle & offset on the rear blade. I had parked on a slight side slope. Undid the pin and before I could react that dam back blade swung on its own. I was lucky. I had the 3-point fully raised. The swinging blade knocked me down and swung right over the top of me. It was just enough slope and the rear blade is VERY heavy. I tried to stop it - I slipped on the snow. It could have split me open - end to end - like a ripe watermelon. I'm very careful, now, to be on a level spot. The Rhino 950 rear blade is hard enough to control even on a level spot.

You never think about the cutting edge being that sharp. Until it swings right over the top of you. Weird things in weird ways.

 

[LouNY]

Short story. I have only one rear remote. It's used for the hydraulic top link. Three years ago I was out on the driveway plowing snow. I wanted to change the angle & offset on the rear blade. I had parked on a slight side slope. Undid the pin and before I could react that dam back blade swung on its own. I was lucky. I had the 3-point fully raised. The swinging blade knocked me down and swung right over the top of me. It was just enough slope and the rear blade is VERY heavy. I tried to stop it - I slipped on the snow. It could have split me open - end to end - like a ripe watermelon. I'm very careful, now, to be on a level spot. The Rhino 950 rear blade is hard enough to control even on a level spot.

You never think about the cutting edge being that sharp. Until it swings right over the top of you. Weird things in weird ways.

That could have been bad, those heavy blades when they get started moving tend to have a mind of their own,
I'm fortunate that I have a remote fender mount for the 3 pt on my tractor.
I tend to get out and pull the pins when I need to then bump the hitch up to swing things around when needed,
I have just pulled the pin with it up also, fortunately It just walked me around that time.
The cutting edge is aptly named after being honed on gravel for a while they do get sharp.

 

[Aquamoose]

Never thought to see if the blade is sharp but I tend to adjust the angles often. Mine is stout but the only adjustment is the blade angles. Glad you ducked the reaper’s blade!