Advice about front snow blade for L3600DT

[gssixgun]

Let me give you the run down imagine 4 feet of snow in the 4 days before and the week after Christmas another 6 inches of wet sludge this past Monday..

I have a Snow Blower that works really really well, in fact I run without feet and keep the gravel road pretty well cleared.. Regardless of what I do the road will build up a base layer of about 6 inches.. Most of the time this is not an issue, until we get Rain like today. It is 40F outside and raining, so the base layer, and the inch of snow from this morning are slush.. I tried to move it around with the Back Blade but really didn't do much good.. My thought is to put on a front angle blade that attaches to the FEL..

Ideas, Links, and suggestions to do this without spending huge $$$$ wil be appreciated..

TIA

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Cheap thought since you already have a rear blade is add something to it for weight. I have 4ft blade for my little tractor and I add two 55lb suitcase weights and WOW I'm plowing now buddy!

OR if you have deep pockets and money is no object, yeah a front blade mounted to the loader is one option. You could deck it out and add a skid steere quick connect and make it easy on easy off between blade and bucket.

Check out W.R. Long for all the cool toys you can add to your tractor!

http://www.wrlonginc.com/

 

[skeets]

Comon Eric how many dead sharks is he gona pick up,,,LMAO

 

[Eric McCarthy]

You never know my lil buddy you never know...

 

[Joe Kelly]

Thanks, Eric, for that link to Long's..... yes, indeed, they offer cool stuff. I would really like to have a snow blade to quick detach and switch between bucket and blade. A bucket is great for short distances and cleaning a yard area but it sure isn't a plow and doing a mile of road really needs a plow... or a snow blower!

I am looking locally (central NH) as I fear the freight cost to ship a 380 lb blade up here from N Carolina is going to be cost prohibitive!

JoeK

 

[gssixgun]

What about this one

I found this one Locally

http://www.idahoimplement.com/72-in...act-tractor-snow-blade-model-1snbcmp72ms.html

I am going to stop in and talk with them and get a price, complete with the quick connects for the LA680 loader I have..

The Blower does 90% of the snow work and has been good for the last several years but I had help from a neighbor up the road who used his dozer in the Springtime for the slush.. That has changed, so now I am looking for another solution to moving that slush when it occurs...
I am thinking I might need to add chains too for this ????? at least to the rear tires, I have never used/needed them in the past.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Re: What about this one

I don't think you'll really need chains on the rears of AG tires. Some people do put chains on but I cant see it making that much of a difference when the chains fall between the lugs on the tires. Chains ideally work on turff tires.

 

[kubotasam]

The correct type of chain will not fall between the lugs of R1 tires. They make a world of difference when moving snow or slush especially if you are on ice or packed snow.

 

[gssixgun]

I do have R1 tires

These are what I was looking at

http://www.idahoimplement.com/agricultural-duo-grip-tractor-tire-chains-model-duo.html

I have never needed them in the past on the old L185 or so far on the new L3600 BUT I have never pushed snow either..
The neighbor at the front of the road who clears the first 1/4 mile has a B7500 and swears by his chains... And that is the style he has, also on R1 tires

 

[fast*st]

One quick option, super quick. Look around locally for a 7' power angle plow of any brand. Fisher, Meyers, Western. You'll need access to a welder and have someone that can burn a few rods.

Tops of the factory bucket can be really weak as far as spotting a chain without a reinforcing bracket. Not needed for this quickie. Get four pieces of angle iron, say 3x3x1/4 cut 3 inches long, drill or cut holes as needed to allow them to be small forks welded in the bucket to pin the plow to. I used 5/8 holes for my neighbor's JD, and with the brackets being a close sandwich to the plow tabs, never sheared or bent a pin. Brackets stayed in the bucket until we made up a quick hitch plate for the blade. Bottom cutting edge of the bucket can support the plow as long as the tabs are reasonably close to the bottom but still high enough up in the curve to keep everything mostly under compression loads.

Take the two 1/4 inch hoses for the angle pistons, put a valve between them. Open the valve, shove the blade to the desired angle and close the valve. Later on you can tap a power beyond and add a valve to give yourself a nice power angle.

My neighbor was quoted $5k for a JD plow setup that removes the loader, He scored a Meyers plow for $100 and I whipped up all the brackets for free and had it operational in 30 minutes. If you can score a a push bar with a fisher type plow, you can just tack that bar into the bucket and you're good.

Check around you might find something right local.


As for chains, tirechain.com has done right by me for several sets, get the v-bar tractor chains with the tie links, its worth the money.

 

[skeets]

Common fast PICTURES!!!!!

 

[fast*st]

Well, no pictures for that one, it was snowing and more than a couple years back. If you've seen how a plow pins up, its easy to see how you could duplicate it in a hurry.

 

[gssixgun]

Just got back from Idaho Implement, Good news all around actually, the 72" blade set up exactly for my FEL with the extra pins and everything is $2054.00 so about $500 less then I was expecting... I don't really need the Hydraulics, but I can add them later if I decide to.. I am going to target March 1st for a delivery date..

Many thanks for all the ideas, made me do a bit more research then I had originally planned on, so I learned quite a bit about the subject during that process...

 

[gpreuss]

After looking at the price of a snow pusher or blade, I'm delighted with the blade/pusher I just made for my L3200!! Cost a bit over $400 including the welding rod!

http://www.idahoimplement.com/tractor-implements-and-accessories/tractor-snow-pushers.html

I have a thread in fabrication and customization - the blade still needs to have the welds doubled up, and side shields, but works GREAT!

 

[Gundoctor]

They make Tractor chains just for R-1 tires that will not go between the lugs. They work great and I hope this link will come so you can see them. I knowing nothing about this company - I am just showing you the type of chains made today.
http://www.tirechainsrequired.com/?gclid=CKLKiYvF77QCFdOf4Aodq1sAvw

I did make a plow for my M7040 out of a 1972 Meyers ST90 plow and here are the photo's