Truck snow plow to Tractor SSQA Conversion

[LouNY]

When my gravel/dirt driveway is not froze it is usually soft enough that the standard shoes don't hold the blade up, the shoes actually cut right into the driveway.
I either back blade with the snow plows or I use my 3 pt backblade and turn it so it runs backward to try and push the snow without scrapping gravel off.
Once its frozen hard I run without shoes and let the blade scrap clean.

 

[sdboers]

Thanks for the reply. So much easier to ask people with the actual experience than go by trial and error. The internet has made me a much smarter man through others... I will keep the back blade and return the shoes. Thanks!

 

[LouNY]

When my gravel/dirt driveway is not froze it is usually soft enough that the standard shoes don't hold the blade up, the shoes actually cut right into the driveway.
I either back blade with the snow plows or I use my 3 pt backblade and turn it so it runs backward to try and push the snow without scrapping gravel off.
Once its frozen hard I run without shoes and let the blade scrap clean.

Just a quick note,
When I say back blading I am not using a back drag blade on my plow, I am using my main blade backwards so the angle of the blade is not digging in..
but is sliding over the driveway.

 

[sdboers]

Got it - thanks - that makes sense. The most important messages I got from your first reply were - 1) When the driveway is soft, the shoes don't do anything, blade still digs. 2) When the driveway is frozen, the shoes don't do anything, blade rides fine without them. Therefore - ditch the shoes and keep the back blade!

I still have the blower on the back of the tractor, and I have the hydraulic top link. At the start of the season, I simply tilt the blower upwards so it rides up more. Once everything is frozen, I tilt it to dig in more. Periodically I'd need to scrape the laneway with the bucket to get rid of some buildup.

I'm adding the blade this year since I snagged one so cheap ($150). Last year we got a lot of small snow falls that were a pain to do with the blower - backing all the way down the laneway and back again - but would be super quick work with a blade on the front. Best of both worlds now.

Sean.

 

[TractorNH]

Feel free to steal any ideas you want from my build if they're useful to you.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/401291-snow-plow-build-finished-underslung.html

 

[KubotainNH]

Looks good. I don't have shoes for my gravel driveway either. It sometimes digs in here and there but not usually in the driveway section. I would prefer the backblade over the shoes. It's a bit rough until things are frozen with a nice layer of packed down snow. Having a blade is great for speed and pushing banks out.

 

[sdboers]

Thanks! I think that is one of the threads I came across in my research. Always happy to learn from others!

 

[sdboers]

Hey Folks - Happy Thanksgiving from Canada (yeah - we're not on the same timeline...)

Back to report some more progress on the plow. Completion in fact with the exception of hydraulics and painting...

So today's tasks were:

Weld the rear holders for the hydraulics on:


Weld the d-ring on where the chain will lift the plow:


Attach the top crossbar where the plow\plate will pivot, and weld a support from the bottom for when back-blading:


Weld on the grab hooks, pin it together, and chain it up. The chain is one of my spare tow chains for now - I'll purchase a more appropriate length later:


Right - that all seems to look ok - time to try it out on the tractor:


I don't have the parts to hook up the hydraulics at the moment ($$!) - so after purging the air from the cylinders, I simply connected them to each other. I'm able to easily manually pivot the blade when it's in the air. If I don't get to the hydraulics this year - I'm simply going to put a ball valve between the two cylinders. Open it to pivot - close it to lock in place.

Thanks to everyone for all of your help. Your assistance was appreciated (not to mention needed!)

Sean.

 

[sdboers]

For anyone interested - total build cost was about $600 including the plow.

(edited: $400 was a typo...)

Sean.

 

[LouNY]

Looks good and usable, I would cleanup the angles and brackets off the face of the plow,
maybe even fresh paint to slick up the face so the snow will slid off it easier.
Nice to get a functional blade for a moderate cost.

 

[sdboers]

Thanks LouNY. Good idea. I'm going to save the full painting until spring - but easy enough to clean up the face and shine it up with a fresh coat of paint.

Sean.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Looks really good - what you are building!
I was reading the discussion on the plow shoes. I have a loooong gravel drive too in northern VT. I also back drag with the snow plow if the road is soft and I do it also early even when frozen until I have I have a smooth hard surface to run the blade on, Because I have numerous rough spots from the tops of boulders that stick up a little here and there. Often we get some rain in the winter, especially lately it seems, and the road turns to a ribbon of ice. I don't sand. It is way cheaper and easier to run good winter studded tires on the wife's CRV and my p/u. I run chains on the plow truck - a 1 ton dually. Anyway, when the road turns to ice I put on the plow shoes to hold the blade up a little so I leave an 1" or 1-1/2" of snow on top of the ice when I plow. This thin layer will stick to the ice much better and easier than deeper snow when packed by traffic To turn the road back to a snow road. Just a different way to do it and thought you might be interested.

gg

 

[dstig1]

Looks good! Shorten up that chain by 1/3 or so (between the upper frame and the D ring) and you should be in a better place.

 

[sdboers]

Looks good! Shorten up that chain by 1/3 or so (between the upper frame and the D ring) and you should be in a better place.

I can do that for sure... Is the aim to be plowing with the QA plate essentially vertical?

Sean.

 

[deezler]

Very nice. I look forward to building one of these some year soon.

 

[KubotainNH]

Thanks LouNY. Good idea. I'm going to save the full painting until spring - but easy enough to clean up the face and shine it up with a fresh coat of paint.

Sean.

I put a plastic skin like the one below on my plow. Huge help for the slow sliding off and it looks good.

Amazon.com: Yellow Poly Snow Plow Shield: Garden & Outdoor

 

[sdboers]

I put a plastic skin like the one below on my plow. Huge help for the slow sliding off and it looks good.

Amazon.com: Yellow Poly Snow Plow Shield: Garden & Outdoor

Excellent idea - I'll have to see if I can find one in Canada. Amazon.ca doesn't have it, but I sure like the idea. Thanks!

Sean.

 

[KubotainNH]

Actually, I got mine from Northern Tool. Do they do CA? They have them in red and yellow.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200321798_200321798

I also have one of these on my plow. Both items make it much better for all types of snow.

S.A.M. Super-Duty Rubber Snow Deflector for Plows, Model# 1325 | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[sdboers]

Thanks for those - I'll take a look. Worst case - if they don't ship to Canada - I'm only 20 minutes from the border. I can ship to a US address and drive over to pick it up.

With a blower on the back and a blade on the front - I'm ready for the next 18 months of winter!

Sean.

 

[Blackcatstrat]

I have a gravel driveway as well and I welded a piece of round black iron pipe to the bottom of the scraper blade, worked great.
It doesn't scrape the black top as nice but wasn't too bad either.

Jer

Question for folks... You can see in the picture with the blade sitting up on blocks - the back blade is hanging down (pic 1 of the last set). From what I can tell - I can either have the back blade plate - OR I can have shoes for the plow to run on - but not both. The back blade has cutouts to go around the fittings where the shoes would go - but putting shoes in those fittings would interfere with the back blade. Am I reading that right?

So... If I can have one or the other - which should I have? Laneway is about 500 meters - all gravel. If I waited until I had a frozen layer - could I get away without shoes? Never used a blade before. Tractor has a 7' wide blower on the back.

Sean.