Split pipe on cutting edge of my MT125 for pushing snow.

[bp fick]

Up here, some winters are notoriously snowy with 130" of snow, or more. Everybody has gravel on soft sandy bases and it's not cheap to lose the gravel. We're fortunate enough, I guess, not to have more than one thaw so if you pack the base with frost, by leaving first fallen snow in place and drive on it for a few weeks, the base keeps most of the gravel in place. But every blade edge up here has the pipe installed. I didn't originate the idea by any means. It's just standard practice. I've always used the black steel pipe edge with superb success. Folks split the pipe with various tools and by various means. Mine is tacked on with a few spots of weld, as it is on a dedicated front blade. On the buckets, folks have devised a few bolts to do the job. But if the tension is high on the slit and you gotta bang it on, that's all to the good. Only way to go.

 

[mslisaj]

Thanks BP for putting the idea out there for folks like me that are brand new to the tractor business. The black iron pipe I put on has a lot of tension holding it in place. If it comes off I can certainly tack it on there and grind those small welds off in the spring. But I'm looking forward to using it and I'm glad to hear that in your region this is not a new idea so it's well tested. I'll report with pictures when I get a chance to push some real snow.
Best regards, Lisa :thumbsup:

 

[Doofy]

Thanks BP for putting the idea out there for folks like me that are brand new to the tractor business. The black iron pipe I put on has a lot of tension holding it in place. If it comes off I can certainly tack it on there and grind those small welds off in the spring. But I'm looking forward to using it and I'm glad to hear that in your region this is not a new idea so it's well tested. I'll report with pictures when I get a chance to push some real snow.
Best regards, Lisa :thumbsup:

X2. Good to know!

 

[mslisaj]

Wel gentlemen, I wanted you to know I haven't run away with my report and pictures of how this works. The backhoe is off on it's cradle the tractor is just waiting for some snow and we've had none. This works for me but the local farmers are worried at this point. But the reason I haven't been back with a report and pictures as it's still waiting for some snow to push. Just checking in.........

 

[PILOON]

While the split pipe does work other methods are available.

Skid shoes or mini skis work well and leave just enough snow to create the desired base.
(On TBN I saw a design for 'clamp on' skids.)

Back dragging a plow to compact the first snowfall is also an effective technique.

I fabricated oversized skid shoes for my blower a while back and now never shear any pins. (LOL unless I find a 'lost' tool or forgotten toy.)

 

[mslisaj]

Well first I have to announce that today was the very first time I can say I have actually done real work with my MT-125 and I had a ball. I've owned this tractor now for 4 months waiting for some snow or work to do and today was my day. So I'm thrilled. :cool2:

The tractor has been sitting for about 8 weeks now with the new "Split Pipe" cutting edge on the bucket. Well last night we got about 3" of snow and I said today is the day to try it. To say it was a success is an understatement. I had the backhoe off so the tractor was more evenly weighted and I could steer it and had not traction issues. It rolled up big buckets of snow that I could lift into a pile and I was so pleased. No my entire driveway is asphalt or concrete so I would take a "cut" with a level bucket in the "float" position and off I'd go. Where I was putting the snow was in a pile in front of my home and there was a transition from the asphault to thick gravel. Well I didn't raise the bucket quick enough and while it didn't dig deep it did push a sizeable amount of gravel into the snow pile. Now it's been mentioned that the best way for this pipe cutting edge with gravel driveways is to get a layer of ice to work on and I would agree that would be the very best situation for the pipe cuttine edge but I'm here to say it worked flawlessy through all the transitions from concrete to asphalt and back again. It cleaned the snow and ice off in one pass and didn't snag on anything. When I was shoving the snow off the asphalt onto the gravel pad and into the pile I took it off float and just raised it a touch. This way I did not dig the gravel or when I was pushing the snow off the asphalt onto my lawn I didn't dig the grass at all this way. But I was very pleased as it left the driveway clean and clear of ice and snow.
Now after I put the tractor away I raised the bucket up so I could see how much of this pipe I wore away. I used a piece of 1 1/4" black iron gas or water pipe. Nothing fancy. I don't know how thick that pipe is but would "we" say 3/16" thick? Well this one hour of work I would estimate wore 1/3 of that thickness away. So if I could get this to last for 3 or 4 uses without it splitting and wearing away I would be lucky. But time will tell. I may see if I can buy thicker pipe or a harder steel pipe in the 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" diameter that may wear better. But on the positive note this would leave a perfectly clean path behind it and that is what I was looking for. If you remember when I started this thread I mentioned I bought a set of "Edge Tamers" and they worked perfectly as advertised except they raised the cutting edge maybe 5/8" of an inch and I would leave that much snow behind. This was not what I wanted to do as I wanted my passes to be clean. I am very please with the pipe and I have a total of $18 in it so it's well worth the money. It would last a lot longer if it was working on an ice coated gravel driveweay for sure. But here is my feed back on how this worked and I am pleased. Now if I can figure out how to make it wear less it would be perfect.
Pictures attached too.
Thanks for the help, feedback and advice.

Lisa

 

[Doofy]

Lisa, glad you had a successful trial run and that you are happy with the results. My driveway is all gravel so I bought 3 Edge Tamers to hopefully keep from plowing up the crown in the road. Not had a chance to test yet.

 

[mslisaj]

I have to say Doofy, you'll love the Edge Tamer with your gravel driveway. There quality can't be beat and they work better then advertised. But I need a "clean pass" with the paved driveway and the pipe delivered that results. I just need to look into thicker or better pipe.

 

[Doofy]

I have to say Doofy, you'll love the Edge Tamer with your gravel driveway. There quality can't be beat and they work better then advertised. But I need a "clean pass" with the paved driveway and the pipe delivered that results. I just need to look into thicker or better pipe.

Maybe you need some type of heavy rubber squeegee type material to complement the pipe.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Thanks for posting your results, looks like it worked well.