Snow Attachments Snowplow width/angle question

[Captain Dirty]

I am contemplating replacing my FEL with a snowplow.

I have a 78 wide rear-mounted snowblower. I want the snowplow blade wide enough that the blower will not hang on the edges when I plow, and conversely, I want the blade to angle narrow enough not to hang on the edges when I blow. Applying the cosine rule it appears that a 7 (84? blade straight on satisfies the first condition and at 30ï½° gives a width of 72 satisfying the second condition. The cosine rule says the 84 blade has a width of 78 at about 22ï½°.

The on-line operatorç—´ manuals for power angle snowplows speak of plowing with the blade straight or angled left or right; they imply either full left or full right which is an angle of 27ï½° to 30ï½°. Can one plow at a smaller angle (22ï½°) or does the force of the snow overpower the relief valves till the piston bottoms out or the blade hits a mechanical stop at the max angle? TIA

 

[Ford850]

You can set it at any angle and it will hold.

 

[RNeumann]

The blade width doesn’t matter when blowing. Just lift it above the snow.

The more the angle the more the machine gets pushed sideways. I rarely plow with the angle at full stop one way or the other. I typically plow with only enough angle to prevent the snow from peeling off the “wrong” or “angles away” side.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Depending on footing, or depth of snow, sometimes you can't go with a sharp angle, or be pushed sideways.

 

[PILOON]

My blade is a tad narrower than my blower but when the edges where you have blown are 3 feet high my blade always catches and pulls snow back as I blow.
OK in a straight line it's OK but my drive has curves.
We have so much snow here that my drift cutters on the blower are 4 ft tall and often that is not enough.

Where my drive meets the public road my car is completely hidden from oncoming traffic plus I can't see any approaching cars. (and that's in both directions)
The only upside is that I am close to the end of a dead end however there is always one fool that wants to be there B4 he leaves.
Fortunately I now know his schedule so am very careful at those times.

LOL, I plan on mounting a concave mirror on my front fender just to see 'around the corners'.
And this year it is not just in my area but all over the city and even on the main highway.
Merchants are complaining as their shops are no longer visible, you simply have to know where they are to be found.

We look like some of those photos you see of the Alps after snow avalanches.
My roof had more than 4 ft of snow C/W 3 layers of ice, Poor house moaned happily when we shovelled most off.

LOL, the underworld economy is prospering with snow shovelling moonlighters. Ever 4-5th PU is sporting ladders and shovels.

 

[finn1]

The blade width has to take into consideration the weight of the tractor and composition and depth of the snow.

A light tractor won稚 be able to push heavy, wet snow with a wide blade at full lock as still be able to drive in a straight line. The front wheels will slide sideways.

When plowing with the blade angles, it痴 not uncommon to activate the angle cylinder relief valves when hitting the pile with my plow trucks. The mounting, cylinders, and hydraulics are designed to handle the forces of a 10000 lb F450 hitting the snowbank stack at full tilt plowing speed.

With a plow mounted to a tractor loader arm, I am not sure the same holds true. The long, spindly, relatively speaking, loader arms likely wouldn稚 work well with the lateral forces induced by a 7 blade hitting a snow stack at an angle.

Interesting force vector diagram conundrum, though.

 

[PILOON]

Another consideration is the farther ahead the blade is the more sideways forces will be generated.
Angled plows need a combination of weight and speed to curl the snow off to the side.

My old plow truck (GMC 3/4 ton 6.2 diesel ) had what it took to curl but drives got narrower as winter progressed.
One thaw/freeze cycle and a dozer was the next step.
In my area blowers rule and plows are getting to be a rare sight.