Front loader snowplow

[edritchey]

If you are running a snowplow blade on your loader arms does the blade float (pivot up/down) without floating the loader arms?

I had a 8’ hydraulic angle plow built that will float. I also use cylinder ram limiters to keep the loader from lowering to the point where it will touch the ground.
With this combination I can lower the loader in the float position and not touch the ground then I can tilt the blade to touch the driveway surface and it will pivot up (float) as it rides the surface. My blade has a thick hard rubber edge which acts like a squeegee and cleans the blacktop off without marking it up.

My old Land Pride snow plow also had the poly edge but sucked because it didn’t have any up and down floating ability I had to float the loader arms and put up with all that weight pushing the blade against my driveway surface.

I’ll post some pictures of this snowplow when I get a chance. I was just wondering if anyone else is using a setup like I just described? I still hope it never snows again

 

[TheOldHokie]

If you are running a snowplow blade on your loader arms does the blade float (pivot up/down) without floating the loader arms?

I had a 8’ hydraulic angle plow built that will float. I also use cylinder ram limiters to keep the loader from lowering to the point where it will touch the ground.
With this combination I can lower the loader in the float position and not touch the ground then I can tilt the blade to touch the driveway surface and it will pivot up (float) as it rides the surface. My blade has a thick hard rubber edge which acts like a squeegee and cleans the blacktop off without marking it up.

My old Land Pride snow plow also had the poly edge but sucked because it didn’t have any up and down floating ability I had to float the loader arms and put up with all that weight pushing the blade against my driveway surface.

I’ll post some pictures of this snowplow when I get a chance. I was just wondering if anyone else is using a setup like I just described? I still hope it never snows again

I use the loader bucket itself and not just in float. I use down pressure on the packed areas.

Dan

 

[Ping]

I run a Kubota loader mounted blade (BX2763) on my BX. I have to put the loader in 'float'. The blade doesn't float on its own.
Regards

 

[chim]

Lots of stories on "Underslung Snow Plow" you may find useful.

I made mine so that in general use the plow blade floats like it did on the donor truck. The frame is built so I can allow the loader arms to float on it for extra weight. I can also put the entire weight of the front of the tractor on it for something really stubborn.

"Whiskers" made from magnets and pieces of heavy orange zip ties that align with parts of the grille guard when viewed from the seat makes hitting the sweet spot easier.

 

[McMXi]

If you are running a snowplow blade on your loader arms does the blade float (pivot up/down) without floating the loader arms?

I had a 8’ hydraulic angle plow built that will float. I also use cylinder ram limiters to keep the loader from lowering to the point where it will touch the ground.
With this combination I can lower the loader in the float position and not touch the ground then I can tilt the blade to touch the driveway surface and it will pivot up (float) as it rides the surface. My blade has a thick hard rubber edge which acts like a squeegee and cleans the blacktop off without marking it up.

My old Land Pride snow plow also had the poly edge but sucked because it didn’t have any up and down floating ability I had to float the loader arms and put up with all that weight pushing the blade against my driveway surface.

I’ll post some pictures of this snowplow when I get a chance. I was just wondering if anyone else is using a setup like I just described? I still hope it never snows again

I use a blower on the asphalt and a snow blade on the gravel. I have pucks on the snow blade so could float the cutting edge off the asphalt if I wanted but the blower does a good job so no need for that. Often I'll make small adjustments to the tilt of the blade via the joystick to change the offset of the cutting edge relative to the gravel driveway.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have a 60" Curtis plow blade that is probably too heavy for my tractor, (converted Jeep blade I think) mounted to the FEL arms, so I have up, down, tilt, and float.
But I have never plowed snow with it, (never had enough) but it worked great for scraping off & moving the cinders during my driveway project.

 

[edritchey]

I have a 60" Curtis plow blade that is probably too heavy for my tractor, (converted Jeep blade I think) mounted to the FEL arms, so I have up, down, tilt, and float.
But I have never plowed snow with it, (never had enough) but it worked great for scraping off & moving the cinders during my driveway project.

I was using my Land Pride blade with the loader in the float position but I don't like having that much weight pushing down on the blade it wears the poly edge off pretty quick which is why I have it setup so it only has the weight of the blade itself riding on the blacktop now instead of the loader and blade weight combined. It will make it a lot easier pushing heavy wet snow too now that the tractor doesn't have to fight the weight of the loader anymore.

 

[McMXi]

I was using my Land Pride blade with the loader in the float position but I don't like having that much weight pushing down on the blade it wears the poly edge off pretty quick which is why I have it setup so it only has the weight of the blade itself riding on the blacktop now instead of the loader and blade weight combined. It will make it a lot easier pushing heavy wet snow too now that the tractor doesn't have to fight the weight of the loader anymore.

Hopefully you'll post some pictures when you have your new set up. Interesting solution for sure.

 

[chim]

Here's a little more detail on the setup posted earlier. There's a lot of potential adjustment with the setup. Normally the blade is set so the skids and plow edge essentially touch the pavement together. Minor adjustments for the balance between the skids and blade can be made by raising or lowering the FEL.

In one picture you can see the bottom edge of a heavy angle iron stiffener (yellow arrow) and the center of the 2x2 square tube (red arrow). When the FEL is dumped, the rotation of the loader pulls the plow frame back toward the tractor so the corner of the angle iron bears on the center of the 2x2 square tube. This allows either the weight of the FEL frame alone (floating) or the weight of the tractor (pressure down) to be applied to the blade.

The second picture shows the FEL in dump and pressure down raising the front wheels of the tractor. Most of the time the blade itself is floated just as it was designed to do. Occasionally when the snow is driven over and packed down the weight of the FEL frame in the float position is sufficient to scrape it loose. Seldom have I used the weight of the tractor on the blade, but it's a nice option to have.

As time permits, there's a rear scraper blade to be refurbed. It's a different animal that one of the PO's broke.

 

[edritchey]

Hopefully you'll post some pictures when you have your new set up. Interesting solution for sure.

I will but it probably won't be till after the holidays.

 

[D2Cat]

I've got a snow blade mounted on the loader arms but I do not know it it floats. I was going to make something out of a Hiniker I had on my truck, but when I found this it was easier then building something. The guy I bought it from complained about using it on his skid-steer. When I got home I saw he had a bumper mounted backwards. I've had it a couple of years but never pushed snow with it.