Do you reverse your rear blade for snow ... any issues?

jimh406

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I've seen a few people say they reverse their rear blade for snow to keep from digging in to the driving surface. If you do or did, was there any issues?

I reversed mine just to look at it. I wondered if the bolts/nuts were damaged by this process. No, I haven't tried it yet. My road surfaces I will plow are primarily gravel.
 

johnjk

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I don’t reverse it but I do pull it as far Roth as possible then put it at a 30 degree angle to roll the snow off. It I’m dealing with 4-8” I’ll do the first pass down the middle with it straight and then the next two angled. To clean up or push piles back, I use the FEL
 
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johnjk

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Oh and I am 1300’ of gravel to the road. I get more rock in my grass from the FEL than I do from the rear blade
 
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Benhameen

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On my gravel drive I have turned my blade around and I’ve not damaged it in any way. It does leave a layer of snow of on the gravel which I prefer. I used to drag gravel all over the place trying to get all the snow off. I did realize that if I pile up all the snow in one location, once it melts thats were my gravel will be. We don’t get a lot of snow here, so your experience may vary.
 
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RDinNHandAZ

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I keep mine reversed all winter. If I have 4-8” of snow on the gravel I angle it and let it move the snow to the road side. If there is more I use the bucket and then the rear blade to push it away to the side. My new tractor has a front snowblower and I have paved the drive so I put a split PVC pipe on the scraping edge of the rear blade and will try it when we get snow (my son actually as I am in AZ). No harm to the rear blase on my old tractors after using it backwards for 20+ years. Actually it would be nice to see a rear blade with a smooth rear surface intended for this purpose.
 
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RCW

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Only one season under my belt with a back blade, but I do reverse it. Ready to go for season 2 and parked where I can get to it.

I sometimes use the box blade for wet stuff too.

image.jpg
 
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ayak

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For my gravel driveway, I turn my blade around and also add a cut strip of horse stall mat that I make a sandwich with:

9F296EC1-4EF6-4D0B-85AB-86C76231C642.jpeg
 
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jajiu

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The first and last storms of the season are the worst for gravel driveways. Until it freezes solid it will be a mess to plow. I use a plow on the front and the back blade as a clean-up at the same time. I only use it backwards when I back up pus
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hing snow away from the wood shed in my back yard so I don't dig up the lawn.
 
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My Barn

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I've used my facing forward at a angle...At time reversing it and we have +300' driveway and it is gravel. Now my blade has skid shoes on it. Depending on snow I make one or two pass.
At times pushing the pile off with the loader...This has worked for 25 plus years.
 

mcfarmall

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Nope. I shorten the top link all the way which reduces the positive rake of the cutting edge to near zero. Works great pulling or pushing, and a lot less work overall. I rarely use the FEL bucket in the winter.
 
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Bill in Martinsville

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ZD326
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I've seen a few people say they reverse their rear blade for snow to keep from digging in to the driving surface. If you do or did, was there any issues?

I reversed mine just to look at it. I wondered if the bolts/nuts were damaged by this process. No, I haven't tried it yet. My road surfaces I will plow are primarily gravel.
simple rule for this PUSH SNOW - PULL DIRT
 
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jimh406

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simple rule for this PUSH SNOW - PULL DIRT
I don't think you are talking pushing a rear blade, but I guess that's ok if you are talking feet. I'm not personally going to drive backwards for 1/2 mile, and that's just my driveway. More like miles if I do the unmaintained part of the county road.

A front mounted snow plow would be ok, but I can't think of any use of it other than snow. The rear blade has other uses.
 

jnschnit

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I always used mine in reverse. It enables you to pile the snow higher, especially if there is a lot of the white stuff.
 

jajiu

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I don't think you are talking pushing a rear blade, but I guess that's ok if you are talking feet. I'm not personally going to drive backwards for 1/2 mile, and that's just my driveway. More like miles if I do the unmaintained part of the county road.

A front mounted snow plow would be ok, but I can't think of any use of it other than snow. The rear blade has other uses.
My front plow blade I purchased from Quick Attach can be converted to a dozer blade by putting in bolts to keep it from tripping the trip edge.
 

jyoutz

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MX6000 HST open station, FEL, 6’ cutter, forks, 8’ rear blade, 7’ cultivator
Jan 14, 2019
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Yes, I reverse my blade to plow my gravel roads. I generally plow over 3/4 mile of road and the reversed blade keeps the gravel in place. I also do this in other times of years to do do the final gravel grading after pulling the gravel from the road ditches and shoulders with the blade facing forward. The reversed blade does a nice job of spreading gravel across the road. I have never seen any damage to the blade from doing this.
 

ferguson

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It depends on the volume of snow & wet heavy or dry fluffy ? I puled the blade at a angle in snow any kind up to a foot or so. Large volume & heavy over a foot bush. Agen did this with a 20 hp Ferguson 2weel drive for maney years.
 

Danl1957

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Bx2380, fel, rear blade, mower, winch, JD 318, HD road king, sportster, boats
Sep 12, 2022
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Vermont
Hi all,
Good reading on this post, my first year with a bx2380 and rear blade for snow, my worry is damaging a paved driveway. My dealer recommends reversing the rear blade and pushing snow. I plan to lengthen the top link to reduce the blade angle when pushing, yet still concerned about driveway damage. Does anyone use the high density poly edge on the rear blade or are my worries unfounded? Sorry if this was covered elsewhere.
Dan
 

Henro

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Hi all,
Good reading on this post, my first year with a bx2380 and rear blade for snow, my worry is damaging a paved driveway. My dealer recommends reversing the rear blade and pushing snow. I plan to lengthen the top link to reduce the blade angle when pushing, yet still concerned about driveway damage. Does anyone use the high density poly edge on the rear blade or are my worries unfounded? Sorry if this was covered elsewhere.
Dan
Reversing the blade and pushing snow? Does this mean you would be doing everything in reverse?

Sometimes I do push backwards, but most of the time I go forward with the blade mostly angled, but the first pass might be with the blade square.

Pushing in reverse all the time would get old pretty quick. My neck and body speaking now I think...LOL