2-3 ft of snow to much for blade

[OldeEnglish]

You folks having trouble... Are the tires loaded? Chained? Extra weight on the back?

I use my blade a lot (well twice this year, but pushed a lot of snow last year ) along with the snow blower and I'm not chained running turf tires. For the most part I've pushed a good 2' with no problems. If I had to push uphill chains would definitely be needed. Speed along with taking half bites works well for me to get the snow to flop over.

Used to plow a lot packed drifts on a long driveway with a 300 Polaris 4x4 to one side of the drive. I would have to work backwards by starting from the side I want the snow on and working my way to the other side, that way your not trying to move a mountain of snow. That helped a lot.

 

[aeronutt]

For the question of how to keep the gravel on the driveway while removing the snow, you need to have a negative attack angle for whatever blade you are using. This means backdragging with the bucket tilted down at about 60 degrees or dragging the back blade forward while it's spun around backwards. The blade isn't as effective that way, but it tends to roll over the gravel while bunching up the snow. When you're done, there will be very little gravel in your snow pile and about an inch of snow remaining on the driveway. That's good enough for most cars to get through safely.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have been lucky enough not to have to plow snow with the front blade, (not enough snow, tall truck) but for that time in the future when I have to, what's a good round depth number for what is practical? I would have guessed 2-3 ft was too much, but is a foot doable? Tackle it before it gets to a foot deep? Plow at 6" & every 6" thereafter?
Equipment is B7100, new R1s, lots of weight, 5ft Curtis plow that will have skids instead of mushroom feet. (soon)
Your experience would be appreciated.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I have been lucky enough not to have to plow snow with the front blade, (not enough snow, tall truck) but for that time in the future when I have to, what's a good round depth number for what is practical? I would have guessed 2-3 ft was too much, but is a foot doable? Tackle it before it gets to a foot deep? Plow at 6" & every 6" thereafter?
Equipment is B7100, new R1s, lots of weight, 5ft Curtis plow that will have skids instead of mushroom feet. (soon)
Your experience would be appreciated.

The weight of the snow is more important than the depth. Six inches of wet heavy snow could be a real challenge as the traction will also be reduced. For dry fluffy snow I would try to keep it down to 18" as it will compress some and get heavier as you plow it. Plowing uphill can be a problem if the snow is wet or icy. You might want to consider chains for the R1s a turf tire would be better on snow. With a little experience you might be able to push deeper snow.

 

[Tazz]

I have R4 tires loaded.

I tired plowing only half the snow but even that was to much once it built up in front of you. I would back up and try to bust through it but i could only move it a foot or two before the wheels would spin again.

If i tired to move even less snow with the plow (having it up higher) it would build up under the tractor and i would get stuck. I think using the front bucket would have the same results.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Heavy snow i take short runs, and dump snow to sides of driveway. Like a herringbone pattern. Same with my plow truck, especially if i need to widen,punch a trail straight down middle and use trail carry/push snow out and away. Its a long process and lots of back and forth.

 

[OldeEnglish]

I have been lucky enough not to have to plow snow with the front blade, (not enough snow, tall truck) but for that time in the future when I have to, what's a good round depth number for what is practical? I would have guessed 2-3 ft was too much, but is a foot doable? Tackle it before it gets to a foot deep? Plow at 6" & every 6" thereafter?
Equipment is B7100, new R1s, lots of weight, 5ft Curtis plow that will have skids instead of mushroom feet. (soon)
Your experience would be appreciated.

Personally never operated a tractor with R1's in the snow but I would guess they are better than R4's. I used to snowmobile though a farm that would spread cow manure over the snow and their tractors would go though 4' of powder without a problem with R1's. I personally think R4's suck in the snow. The 7100 can push some snow and has impressed me with how much Of a pile I could get. I've tried plowing without the blower hanging off the back, easier to keep weight on the front and controlling the front from pushing to the side, but I would lose traction in no time. It's a night and day difference with weight on the back and after loading my rears. My old good year turfs were useless in the snow but the new Carlisle multi Trac tires do very well.

Folks that are having trouble getting traction, I would try a set of chains with extra weight on the back. I think with R4's it's probably a must have, it should make a night and day difference. Like someone said before, if you only get a storm on a rare occasion, I wouldn't invest in a snowblower. At the same time it's your money and you can do what you please with it .

 

[Daren Todd]

I got rice patty tires on my l1501. As long as the back blade is angled I can run through the heavy wet snow without issues. Tractors only 2wd so I usually have to steer with the brakes I use the back blade angled at 22° and backwards so it doesn't dig into the gravel. We had 8" of really wet and heavy stuff the other day. Cleaned my driveway, two of the neighbors, and plowed the street we live on. Around 1000 ft of road plus the driveways.

The road was a bit of a challange. Had to run down the edges and sling the access snow into the ditch. Then hit the middle of the road and toss that bunch towards the edge. Then one more pass up and back to sling that bunch into the ditch. Now if it was light and fluffy, I wouldn't have an issue tackling it.

With the wet stuff and the blade straight, I could move maybe 10ft before completely losing traction.

 

[08quadram]

I use a rear mounted blower and have no desire to go back to front blower. I like a loader on the front. I can say I have less problems mechanically with a rear blower. Less to break. I keep the blower just off the ground with the Skids and clean asphalt up with loader. If the snow is really wet, blowers are useless. My old front mount would ride up on top and not blow for crap. With the loader on front , No problem. We get some pretty good drifts when the wind blows(more often than not). 70% of the time, I could get by without the blower, but it keeps gravel off grass and does not tear up grass if the ground isn't frozen yet.

Its snowing at the moment. Probably only goring to get a couple of inches, but the wind is to pick up. I'm sure we will have some drifts in the morning to play in......I mean to move.

When I was a kid, we used a 2n ford with a blade. Snow drifts would get so hard that little tractor would only drive over the top.

Mike

 

[chim]

Our driveway is about 300' long and I've been doing driveways for neighbors since '92. One of those driveways is like mine and 4 are less than 100'. From `1992 till 2002 the only snow removal tool was a cheap 60" rear blade on a Ford 1210. Using the "herringbone" technique mentioned above was the only way to clear deeper snows.

In 2002 we added a B7500 with FEL and a 72" rear blade. When things got too deep to scrape off with the rear blade the FEL came in handy.

In 2012 the B7500 was replaced with an L3200. Fall 2012 /early Winter 2013 I built a cab. Started out with FEL & 84" rear blade. That was a huge improvement.

Then in the Summer of 2014 I found a rear blower that was in good shape except for the paint. While refinishing it I added remote electric chute controls. It would be fun to have a front blower, but I couldn't give up the FEL. Here's a link to a short video a neighbor took when I was opening his driveway. The wings are on the bucket because the next place was our church parking lot:

http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/jim_miller7/media/Long Bob_zps1dwsz52i.mp4.html

 

[wardsfarmnj]

Heavy snow i take short runs, and dump snow to sides of driveway. Like a herringbone pattern. Same with my plow truck, especially if i need to widen,punch a trail straight down middle and use trail carry/push snow out and away. Its a long process and lots of back and forth.

I think this technique is what I was trying to say I did. Works well for me and the first half of my driveway is on a decent incline so it negates that incline a bit.

 

[dtbprc]

I just back up and ram it as my bx2230 has only turf tires. get some speed and smash into it, if too big just hit one side of the pile at a time.

 

[521]

I have a '94 B7100 HST-D 4wd with Ag R1 tires front/rear. I run a 5' LS rear blade. We had 20" of snow here in So MD this weekend. I live in a farming estate community - ie: all driveways are long and usually wind up/down into woods.


In the last 2 days my little B7100 has earned me $985 plowing driveways! Good cash money right in my community!


I run in fast gearing (jackrabbit instead of turtle - not sure what that selector is called) knock down the depth then push/pull it out!

I dont have chains - by nightfall, the slush was freezing up again ans had a lot more issues gaining traction but was always able to finish up the driveway i was working on.

These little machines are just a beast of working machines!

 

[Tazz]

I have a '94 B7100 HST-D 4wd with Ag R1 tires front/rear. I run a 5' LS rear blade. We had 20" of snow here in So MD this weekend. I live in a farming estate community - ie: all driveways are long and usually wind up/down into woods.


In the last 2 days my little B7100 has earned me $985 plowing driveways! Good cash money right in my community!


I run in fast gearing (jackrabbit instead of turtle - not sure what that selector is called) knock down the depth then push/pull it out!

I dont have chains - by nightfall, the slush was freezing up again ans had a lot more issues gaining traction but was always able to finish up the driveway i was working on.

These little machines are just a beast of working machines!

Nice that would be a good way to earn some extra cash. How do you move 20 inches of snow with only a rear blade? Do you backup and push it.... seems like going over it first would pack it down and get under the tractors frame.

 

[Greenhead]

Tazz you might want to consider a Snow Bucket. It's a light materials bucket and the least expensive way to deal with a lot of snow with no moving parts per se. Get one a foot wider than you have now and add the gravel shoes. They are deeper to load more snow. Snow is lighter than any other material you would put in the regular bucket like dirt/gravel. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/160195803944?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

 

[Tazz]

Tazz you might want to consider a Snow Bucket. It's a light materials bucket and the least expensive way to deal with a lot of snow with no moving parts per se. Get one a foot wider than you have now and add the gravel shoes. They are deeper to load more snow. Snow is lighter than any other material you would but in the regular bucket like dirt/gravel. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/160195803944?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

I seen one of them on a bobcat and the guy blasted through the snow.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I seen one of them on a bobcat and the guy blasted through the snow.

That's due to the weight and HP of most Bobcats.
My bobcat has a slightly smaller engine than my L3450, weighs 2500lbs more, and is a beast in the snow!

Greenhead,
While that bucket might look like a good idea, it weighs twice as much as what the B's original bucket weighs.
Talk about tipping it on it's nose!
One must be careful getting Skid Steer buckets and implements as they tend to weigh a lot more and require more HP and hydraulic power than most tractors are capable of producing.

 

[521]

I would run up over it, track the snow, then back drag the snow knocking it down then push the snow to a pile or releiving pile. I plowed 11 driveways, the shortest being about a 60' gravel uphill. The longest being a 500' gravel up a grade from street level.

The little B7100 with R1's dod an amazing job!

Im trying to upload a video a few days later after temps climbed to nearly 60* (typical of Maryland - blizzard then 60's 2 days later) but having internet upload problems.

Anyhow - yeah the R1's were awesome! 5' rear blade, track down then back drag and push. Got to figure out what works and run with it.

 

[Daren Todd]

Wolfman, A company I used to work for had a snow plow mounted on a skid steer Now that was a fun experience We used to argue over who got to use it

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Wolfman, A company I used to work for had a snow plow mounted on a skid steer Now that was a fun experience We used to argue over who got to use it

I'm making one for mine now, it will be a lot nicer than the L without a cab. and it does killer donuts makes me feel like a teenager running it!