1st Tractor, New Owner Help!

[Russell King]

You should search @mcmxi posts. He has quite the snow fighting equipment collection.

 

[Dchemphill1]

YES! I did reference the owners manual but because the owners manual is also for the 5400 (which I think does come in 2WD) I says "if equipped" with the 4WD stuff.

I have a 1/5th mile STEEP gravel driveway at Whiskey Ridge (my property) and I was trying to plow snow with the bucket for the first time last night after dark. I was worried I wasn't going to make it back up the hill in 2WD. I was looking for the 4WD lever in the dark and freezing cold and didn't see it but was only looking right next to the range gear selector. Barndo doesn't yet have electric and didn't have the generator on for light when I put the tractor away either.

Plowing snow with the bucket wasn't as easy as I imagined either. hard to get the bucket angle right along with the right downforce. But I'll figure it out. View attachment 144709 View attachment 144710 View attachment 144711

So glad I found OTT. The experts are always on these forums.

You should try some of these on your bucket for pushing snow with the bucket. These keep from digging in to deep and will save from removing as much gravel. https://r2manufacturing.com/product...eiSoZsIxBbpk6vnEYAvcGIHq6YX2ieWIaAtj9EALw_wcB

 

[jyoutz]

You should try some of these on your bucket for pushing snow with the bucket. These keep from digging in to deep and will save from removing as much gravel. https://r2manufacturing.com/product...eiSoZsIxBbpk6vnEYAvcGIHq6YX2ieWIaAtj9EALw_wcB

Yep. I have some homemade ones those work well except when the gravel is soft..

 

[jyoutz]

Courtney of Good Works Tractor Co. has an interesting video comparing a bucket to a snow pusher. A bucket is absolutely the last implement I'd use for snow but I understand that many don't want to invest in specialist equipment and get by with what they have. Nothing wrong with that.

For a paved surface, the snow pusher would be awesome. On gravel both the snow pusher and bucket have the same limitations: they have to be held up several inches above the ground to avoid scraping gravel. So they both simply push the bulk of the heavy snow and the rear blade does the real work of clearing the driveway. IDK how a box blade would work instead of a rear blade. I think it will scrape the gravel off the road. The advantage of a rear blade is that it can be angled and the mold board reversed to avoid scraping gravel off the road.

 

[bird dogger]

YES! I did reference the owners manual but because the owners manual is also for the 5400 (which I think does come in 2WD) I says "if equipped" with the 4WD stuff.

I have a 1/5th mile STEEP gravel driveway at Whiskey Ridge (my property) and I was trying to plow snow with the bucket for the first time last night after dark. I was worried I wasn't going to make it back up the hill in 2WD. I was looking for the 4WD lever in the dark and freezing cold and didn't see it but was only looking right next to the range gear selector. Barndo doesn't yet have electric and didn't have the generator on for light when I put the tractor away either.

Plowing snow with the bucket wasn't as easy as I imagined either. hard to get the bucket angle right along with the right downforce. But I'll figure it out. View attachment 144709 View attachment 144710 View attachment 144711

So glad I found OTT. The experts are always on these forums.

That's a beautiful spot you have there!! We used to vacation just outside of Hayward, Wi.

Since your tractor is fairly new still and no one else has mentioned....Bring a new thumb drive/zip drive to your dealer that you bought the tractor from and ask if they'll load the WSMs (Woprkshop Service Manual) on that zip drive. That will come in handy when you want/need very specific info for trouble shooting, repairs down the road, maintenance diagrams, etc. etc. You can easily print off the pages that you need for any particular service needs.

 

[Niki_10-32]

SNOWSPORT Pro Utility Blade | Tractor and Skidsteer Snow Removal System

Take a stand against winter weather! SNOWSPORT Pro Utility Blades are manufactured for compact tractors, skid steers and subcompact tractors to make winter cleanup fun again.

www.buysnowsportplows.com

This looks like a nice little pusher with the rubber bottom to go easy on a gravel driveway. And very light and easy to move around when off the tractor.

That said, for the price its hard to pull the trigger on a little aluminum and rubber implement when you could get a full size steel pusher for just a little more.

(some used ones very cheap on craigslist)

Anyone have one of these?

 

[#40Fan]

SNOWSPORT Pro Utility Blade | Tractor and Skidsteer Snow Removal System

Take a stand against winter weather! SNOWSPORT Pro Utility Blades are manufactured for compact tractors, skid steers and subcompact tractors to make winter cleanup fun again.

www.buysnowsportplows.com

This looks like a nice little pusher with the rubber bottom to go easy on a gravel driveway. And very light and easy to move around when off the tractor.

That said, for the price its hard to pull the trigger on a little aluminum and rubber implement when you could get a full size steel pusher for just a little more.

(some used ones very cheap on craigslist)

Anyone have one of these?

I have that same snow pusher that I use on my Jeep. Works good on there and I imagine it would be even better on a tractor.

I carry an electric impact and pull off one of the side boards if doing angled work. The snow tends to get stuck there and you end up pushing everything straight instead of kicking it off to the side like a regular snow blade would.

ETA: Just looked and with these being SSQA, they can't angle like my front hitch adapter for my Jeep can.

 

[Niki_10-32]

I have that same snow pusher that I use on my Jeep. Works good on there and I imagine it would be even better on a tractor.

I carry an electric impact and pull off one of the side boards if doing angled work. The snow tends to get stuck there and you end up pushing everything straight instead of kicking it off to the side like a regular snow blade would.

ETA: Just looked and with these being SSQA, they can't angle like my front hitch adapter for my Jeep can.

Yeah and in addition the quick attach ones don't float the way the ones for a vehicle do. That makes me wonder if the ones for a vehicle might have another advantage on a gravel driveway since you'd only have the weight of the blade (less than 200#) of downforce on the driveway surface vs. the blade and loader arms with the tractor loader in float mode.

I have a hitch receiver attachment for my forks and I could buy a vehicle model snowsport and use it that way too

Anyone know how much the loader arms weigh in float mode?

 

[jyoutz]

Yeah and in addition the quick attach ones don't float the way the ones for a vehicle do. That makes me wonder if the ones for a vehicle might have another advantage on a gravel driveway since you'd only have the weight of the blade (less than 200#) of downforce on the driveway surface vs. the blade and loader arms with the tractor loader in float mode.

I have a hitch receiver attachment for my forks and I could buy a vehicle model snowsport and use it that way too

Anyone know how much the loader arms weigh in float mode?

I know that unless gravel is frozen, anything pushing will re-arrange your gravel in a pile at the end of the road if you plow with the blade on the surface. Even those with rubber or plastic edges.

 

[Botamon]

As for rpm range, the service department employee is misinforming you. The engine produces more soot when running at low rpm which can lead to more regens, but you don't need to run the engine at PTO speed unless you're using an implement that requires it.

All last winter I plowed downhill at 2,000 rpm, puttered around at 1,400 rpm, ran the blower at 2,200 rpm and come back up the lower driveway which is quite steep at 2,600 rpm (to generate more heat). I only went through one regen all last winter with something like 50 hours of use. My approach was to reduce fuel consumption and limit the number of regens and that's what I experienced.

If I let my M7060 idle a lot I find it needs to regen about every other hour, forcing me (blinking light) to raise the rpms up really high every time it does. If I just raise the rpms to ~ 2000 (once the engine is warmed up) I find, like you, that it will go for many hours without a regen. So that's what I do. I've gotten used to the sound of the engine roaring. And since each regen cycle takes extra fuel to happen I find the fuel consumption to be about the same.

The blinking light (telling me to raise rpms) goes out when the tach reads ~2200 rpm. Don't remember ever having the tach at 2600. But then there's nothing I do with the tractor that requires a lot of horsepower. 540 PTO rpm is achieved at ~1850 rpm (at the 540E setting) and the tractor runs happily all day long at that engine speed.