Asphalt snow, FEL or BX2812 Blade

[fmgsr]

Last year I bought a new BX 2380 with FEL & BX 2812 snow blade, and mid
mower deck. The way the winter came in, I wasn't about to remove the FEL
and hook up the Blade, so I ran it thru the snow on my gravel / stone driveway. The Loader went thru the snow like a champ, very impressed. So much so, I did TWO neighbors all winter too.
Next week, I plan on having my driveway paved with asphalt. Opinions
please, on Asphalt, Loader or Snow Blade. What works best. The Blade also has shoe set.
May need to sell the BX2812 Blade and Quick Mount.

 

[vic gerbasi]

A wise old farmer told me along time ago: keep your bucket on- it can get you out of trouble- snow blower on the back gets used on asphalt as well when raised a bit on neighbors gravel driveway until a hard snow base is there then lower blower down onto its skids
the only negative for some is having to do a half turn in order to steer your path works for me and other !!!!

 

[chim]

Lots of different things work. Much is personal preference, desired level of comfort and budget driven. We built here in 89/90 and have about 300' of driveway and I do others as well. Prior to that my snow weapon was a shovel. Our driveway here was was gravel at first and we paved after maybe 5 years. Current favorite is a converted truck plow on the front of the tractor. Here's a rundown of what I've used and it all got the snow off the driveway.

First two years - Cub LoBoy 154. 2WD w/ turfs & chains. Worked OK.

Next ten years - Ford 1210 4WD w/ R1's and a 5' rear blade. Worked well, especially if the snow wasn't so deep to prevent me from driving through it and setting the blade at an angle to cast it aside. With gravel, I'd swing the blade backwards if the gravel asn't frozen tight to avoid dragging stones where they didn't belong. Paving happened during the Ford's reign.

Next ten years - a B7500HST w/ R4's, FEL and rear blade. Seemed like the hot setup.

2012/2013 - An L3200HST w/ R4's, FEL and rear blade. Built a cab for this one and suddenly plowing in the worst weather punishment. Worked like the B7500, but stronger. This is the first I tried grooving the R4's and it really does make a difference.

2014-2018 - Same L3200HST but added a rear blower. Although it's great fun to pump big rooster tails of white, a blower has limitations when doing parking lots. Re-blown snow only re-blows well a time or two before becoming a heavy problem.

Last Winter - L4240HSTC w/ grooved R4's. Absolute favorite. This one has an 8' Fisher truck plow on an SSQA plate. Found this tractor last December and promised Wifey we'd sell the L3200 after making sure the 4240 was tried and proven. That's coming to the top of the to-do list. That being the case, the rear blower is still here and it spent last Winter on the 4240. I barely used it because the front blade worked so well at pretty much everything.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Both work well, much depends on size and layout of driveways. A loader always needs counter balance weight in the back.
If you use a blade, you MUST get the snow 'far,far away' the 1st time. Once it freezes you're in trouble.....
dang, reminds me, I need to find a 4' length of 'plastic decking' to become a 'shoe' under my bucket....save wear on the bucket an dkeeps driveway looking pretty...

 

[chim]

...................dang, reminds me, I need to find a 4' length of 'plastic decking' to become a 'shoe' under my bucket....save wear on the bucket an keeps driveway looking pretty...

Great idea. I wore the edge on my first FEL quite noticeably in one Winter. Since then the first order of business was adding a wear edge. Mine have been steel though.

 

[SDT]

Last year I bought a new BX 2380 with FEL & BX 2812 snow blade, and mid
mower deck. The way the winter came in, I wasn't about to remove the FEL
and hook up the Blade, so I ran it thru the snow on my gravel / stone driveway. The Loader went thru the snow like a champ, very impressed. So much so, I did TWO neighbors all winter too.
Next week, I plan on having my driveway paved with asphalt. Opinions
please, on Asphalt, Loader or Snow Blade. What works best. The Blade also has shoe set.
May need to sell the BX2812 Blade and Quick Mount.

If a poly or hard rubber cutting edge is available for your 2812, get one and use it.

It's easy to damage asphalt with a FEL bucket.

Moreover, without the FEL, you will have less weight ahead of the front axle and need less counterweight.

SDT

 

[dalola]

Get a urethane strip, best $80 you'll ever spend.

https://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38981&highlight=urethane

Will try to repost pic later, uploader not working right now...

 

[sdk1968]

^^^ YES thats a super nice piece.

blade is rough on asphalt. the other really good thing for blacktop or gravel is this blade that i use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK5oMnm-rnQ

i have the version thats 6'

it works on my mini truck, side x side, zero turn & yes on my tractor too!

now winch needed, no power required, no damage done to gravel or blacktop.

 

[beex]

for those plowing with the loader and trying to rig up some edge protection, I recommend using Edge Tamers.


https://r2manufacturing.com/products/edge-tamer

Easy to mount, unmount , never wear out. Down side is they leave about 1/2” on the driveway, so if won’t be able to clean down to dry pavement. But, you won’t damage your driveway or grass. I use it on fresh sealed driveway, surprisingly it doesn’t leave marks either. I also use them to pick up mulch and top soil off the driveway. You can plop the bucket down on the asphalt and not worry about the driveway or bucket edge.

Also, the extenders that you can get for them work great, with them I can carry a huge brush pile on my loader.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Zaicran]

for those plowing with the loader and trying to rig up some edge protection, I recommend using Edge Tamers.


https://r2manufacturing.com/products/edge-tamer

Easy to mount, unmount , never wear out. Down side is they leave about 1/2” on the driveway, so if won’t be able to clean down to dry pavement. But, you won’t damage your driveway or grass. I use it on fresh sealed driveway, surprisingly it doesn’t leave marks either. I also use them to pick up mulch and top soil off the driveway. You can plop the bucket down on the asphalt and not worry about the driveway or bucket edge.

Also, the extenders that you can get for them work great, with them I can carry a huge brush pile on my loader.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Gonna order me some, thanks!!!

 

[precisionbike]

I’ve added the SnowEdge by Ratchet Rake
https://www.ratchetrake.com/images/snow_edge_info_revised0915.pdf
It does a great job and protects the seal coat on my asphalt.

Here’s a picture of the finished driveway

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RyanG]

Might be worth looking into a plow for the loader. I ended up picking one up a few days ago and the quality for the price looks to be pretty good. Still waiting on my BX to be delivered and see how she works. But since it looks like a lot of people end up just using the bucket it might be a better option. They also come in a bunch of different mounts as well.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-60-SNOW-PLOW-BLADE-for-SUBCOMPACT-TRACTOR-WITH-SKID-STEER-UNIVERSAL-MOUNT-5/372809813474?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Dd4c0db37efb54c6eb3cad55e39832079%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D11%26sd%3D333381488160%26itm%3D372809813474%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac663e2c1-0f95-11ea-986c-74dbd180307f%7Cparentrq%3Aa31d902616e0ad4ee3314790ffe328c6%7Ciid%3A1

 

[Wjglampe]

I have been using this on 300 yard long driveway. Half blacktop and half gravel. Use it in float. Plows like a dream. No counter weight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fmgsr]

If that is the BX2812 and BX2810 Blade and Mount, I have that set up brand new, with the shoe kit. But I used my FEL bucket last year on gravel driveway, but now I had it blacktopped. Gonna see how the bucket is on asphalt, then decide if I sell the blade and mount setup.

 

[GotBX23S]

I was out today plowing during our 1st snowfall of the season. I use the bucket on my BX23S on both the asphalt & gravel portion of my driveway. I just set the FEL to the 'float' position and it gets the job done without tearing up the paving or digging in the gravel.

 

[N.ID]

If a poly or hard rubber cutting edge is available for your 2812, get one and use it.

It's easy to damage asphalt with a FEL bucket.

Moreover, without the FEL, you will have less weight ahead of the front axle and need less counterweight.

Do you need the skid shoes with the rubber cutting edge on the BX2812A plow?

 

[DustyRusty]

I have been using the snowblower on my driveway for about 15 years with no problems other than wearing out the cutting edge at the back of the blower. I flip them over when they are worn, and get another few seasons out of them, and then buy another. I also use the plow blade to clean up what the blower leaves behind, because if I don't, the sun comes out and melts it, and then it freezes into ice that evening. I have replaced a few cutting edges on the blade in 15 years, but I have never damaged my driveway using the steel cutting edges. A friend does a lot of plowing with his 6' blade on a small pick-up, and he wears out a lot of the poly-cutting edges. I see cutting edges as disposables, needing replacing every 4 or 5 years. Everyone has their preference, and there is no right or wrong. One year, I was clearing the driveway with the bucket, and I quickly wore out the buckets cutting edge, since it was mild steel. That is when I upgraded to the plow, and the following year the snowblower. The one thing that I learned about snow decades ago, is you want to get it as far away as possible because once it freezes, you can't move it unless you have some very heavy equipment.

 

[TheOldHokie]

If that is the BX2812 and BX2810 Blade and Mount, I have that set up brand new, with the shoe kit. But I used my FEL bucket last year on gravel driveway, but now I had it blacktopped. Gonna see how the bucket is on asphalt, then decide if I sell the blade and mount setup.

I have plowed my asphalt driveway with the loader bucket for many years. I use float for most plowing and the loader is gereat at stacking heavy accumulations that buid up over teh season. Using down pressure is a big plus when you have to get right down to bare asphalt to prevent icing up. As long as you don't have cracks you can catch with the edge down pressure on a small tractor like a BX won't "damage" the pavement and I don't worry about the scrape marks it leaves. My lane is steep and doesn't get good sun so getting the ice off to keep it passable is way more important than cosmetic appearance.

Dan