BozenBota
New member
Equipment
LX2610; RCR1542, FDR1260, BSS54P, PFL1242, STB1072, MacKissick TPH123
In the process of buying the STB1072 I didn’t find an abundance of detailed reviews out there. The 12” or so we received last night gave a good opportunity to see how it performs in relatively deep snow.
My setup is the LX2610 cab with filled (Rim Gaurd) rears, factory spacers, Kubota third function and R4s. I’ve got the dual cylinder with cushion valve and steel edge. I’ve been running the BSS54P as ballast. I figure all in I’m probably around 3500 lbs with this setup. I clear our gravel driveway/parking area which slopes down from the roadway toward the garages, paths to the outbuildings (grass and not level), and a small flat trailhead parking area.
Overall impression is that with larger snowfall it pays to take smaller bites. Although it will push a lot of snow, angling the blade while floating the loader pushes the machine off course, though as soon as you lift the boom and weight the front tires you regain steerage. On the sloped driveway I plow across slope which means gravity compounds the issue. But even on flat ground a 2-pass-size 12” moderate moisture density snowfall windrow will push you off course if you angle.
I have run the skid shoes in a variety of positions, from zero spacers for ice, to an inch off the ground for snow on unfrozen ground to on 1/4” spacer today for the now frozen paved (frozen) surface and 1/2” for the grass. It takes a little practice to level the blade frame (taking some advice from folks on here I placed some black electric tape on the level rod for the blade vs the bucket) but once you get used to it it performs well. At this width, for instance, not having the left/right tilt or “side float” is not a huge deal; it follows the ground pretty well.
But caveats aside this setup will move some snow! The lower 22” (vs the LP 15 series 27”) moldboard performed fine in this snow, with little overtopping and good material curling action. Taking a first swipe straight on across the driveway was no problem. (But keep doing it this way and you’ll never clear up the spilled windrows!)
And back dragging also works well and depending how you angle the SSQA plate cylinders you can get pretty aggressive. Or you can run it level and angle the blade to back drag into windrows. (Backing uphill today I took short lengths of uncleared area instead of trying for an entire pass in the relatively deep snow, and this seemed to work without losing traction.) I’m able to get close to buildings and under tree canopy.
The dual cylinder setup is superior. When delivered our dealer did not have the dual cylinder/cushion valve assembly—only the single—and was very accommodating by setting up the single cylinder as a stop gap. It was about a month after delivery that the dual/cushion assembly arrived. So using both I think the action, while slightly slower, is smoother and more powerful with duals. Also when the blade is off the ground and is then angled, the single setup causes sudden movements that shake the loader frame due to the third function being essentially on/off; this shuddering is tamed with duals.
I have yet to trip the blade while plowing, and I’m wondering if I need to adjust the springs. It seems to me that a softer setting (ie easier trip) would be easier on all the gear. I was going to attempt adjustments pre-snowfall but found the springs to not have as much tension as I expected: I was able to manually “jiggle” or deflect them side to side—not a lot but enough deflection that made me hold off adjusting. I have been able to trip the blade manually (tho not make it travel much), by raising the blade off the ground and pulling on it myself, so I know it has some give. It just seems like ther should be a bit more. (Also as I think was mentioned on here previous make sure to remove the two bolts that lock out the trip function for dirt/silage work if you’re working snow.)
The STB1072 weighs about 400 lbs and with the dual cylinders seems pretty stout to me. I’ve not owned other plows so I don’t have much to compare it to. But I’m guessing with a little maintenance and care it will last quite awhile—even with regular use on the LX. In the end it’s a pretty simple device.
Another nice feature is that you don’t need to remove the loader to use it. On my old BX I was constantly switching between front blower and loader in the winter for snow removal and other loader tasks, like firewood logistics and brush clearing. With this setup the loader will stay on all winter; no more dorking around with quick hitches and mid PTO shafts when shifting among chores.
As a quick aside I’ve been surprisingly impressed with the R4s. I’ve had almost no traction issues in the snow and ice. For the several smaller snows I’ve run 2WD and not missed the front wheels driving. Our driveway has been pretty icy lately and the tractor has found grip even on the icier spots—enough that I felt confident enough to get out of the inherent control of 4WD and low range and such that I’ve not had any high pucker factor moments. I go slow and am careful but so far no complaints on the R4s. And in the deeper snow today which I shaved down in several iterations it really didn’t struggle for traction when driving through 6” with gravity against— except as I mention above, relative to the floating blade unweighting the fronts. When piling snow in medium range at the end of a pass I could bog down the engine: the tires still had plenty of traction to keep pushing/piling (missing that extra cylinder and five or so HP of the 3310).
On balance then I’m happy so far with the precision, flexibility (eg plowing with various skid shoe heights, back dragging, and scraping), and power (some of the piles out there are 9’ tall!) of this front angle trip blade setup. For us it’s a good compromise: on gravel it does a wider variety of snow and ice clearing tasks (such as scraping) out in front of the tractor without making tool adjustments, as compared to a blower or push box, or switching implements. (A blower admittedly would’ve been faster today.) Once you know some of the limitations, figure out how to work with gravity, and exercise some patience (seat time) with the larger snows, I think we made a good choice.
My setup is the LX2610 cab with filled (Rim Gaurd) rears, factory spacers, Kubota third function and R4s. I’ve got the dual cylinder with cushion valve and steel edge. I’ve been running the BSS54P as ballast. I figure all in I’m probably around 3500 lbs with this setup. I clear our gravel driveway/parking area which slopes down from the roadway toward the garages, paths to the outbuildings (grass and not level), and a small flat trailhead parking area.
Overall impression is that with larger snowfall it pays to take smaller bites. Although it will push a lot of snow, angling the blade while floating the loader pushes the machine off course, though as soon as you lift the boom and weight the front tires you regain steerage. On the sloped driveway I plow across slope which means gravity compounds the issue. But even on flat ground a 2-pass-size 12” moderate moisture density snowfall windrow will push you off course if you angle.
I have run the skid shoes in a variety of positions, from zero spacers for ice, to an inch off the ground for snow on unfrozen ground to on 1/4” spacer today for the now frozen paved (frozen) surface and 1/2” for the grass. It takes a little practice to level the blade frame (taking some advice from folks on here I placed some black electric tape on the level rod for the blade vs the bucket) but once you get used to it it performs well. At this width, for instance, not having the left/right tilt or “side float” is not a huge deal; it follows the ground pretty well.
But caveats aside this setup will move some snow! The lower 22” (vs the LP 15 series 27”) moldboard performed fine in this snow, with little overtopping and good material curling action. Taking a first swipe straight on across the driveway was no problem. (But keep doing it this way and you’ll never clear up the spilled windrows!)
And back dragging also works well and depending how you angle the SSQA plate cylinders you can get pretty aggressive. Or you can run it level and angle the blade to back drag into windrows. (Backing uphill today I took short lengths of uncleared area instead of trying for an entire pass in the relatively deep snow, and this seemed to work without losing traction.) I’m able to get close to buildings and under tree canopy.
The dual cylinder setup is superior. When delivered our dealer did not have the dual cylinder/cushion valve assembly—only the single—and was very accommodating by setting up the single cylinder as a stop gap. It was about a month after delivery that the dual/cushion assembly arrived. So using both I think the action, while slightly slower, is smoother and more powerful with duals. Also when the blade is off the ground and is then angled, the single setup causes sudden movements that shake the loader frame due to the third function being essentially on/off; this shuddering is tamed with duals.
I have yet to trip the blade while plowing, and I’m wondering if I need to adjust the springs. It seems to me that a softer setting (ie easier trip) would be easier on all the gear. I was going to attempt adjustments pre-snowfall but found the springs to not have as much tension as I expected: I was able to manually “jiggle” or deflect them side to side—not a lot but enough deflection that made me hold off adjusting. I have been able to trip the blade manually (tho not make it travel much), by raising the blade off the ground and pulling on it myself, so I know it has some give. It just seems like ther should be a bit more. (Also as I think was mentioned on here previous make sure to remove the two bolts that lock out the trip function for dirt/silage work if you’re working snow.)
The STB1072 weighs about 400 lbs and with the dual cylinders seems pretty stout to me. I’ve not owned other plows so I don’t have much to compare it to. But I’m guessing with a little maintenance and care it will last quite awhile—even with regular use on the LX. In the end it’s a pretty simple device.
Another nice feature is that you don’t need to remove the loader to use it. On my old BX I was constantly switching between front blower and loader in the winter for snow removal and other loader tasks, like firewood logistics and brush clearing. With this setup the loader will stay on all winter; no more dorking around with quick hitches and mid PTO shafts when shifting among chores.
As a quick aside I’ve been surprisingly impressed with the R4s. I’ve had almost no traction issues in the snow and ice. For the several smaller snows I’ve run 2WD and not missed the front wheels driving. Our driveway has been pretty icy lately and the tractor has found grip even on the icier spots—enough that I felt confident enough to get out of the inherent control of 4WD and low range and such that I’ve not had any high pucker factor moments. I go slow and am careful but so far no complaints on the R4s. And in the deeper snow today which I shaved down in several iterations it really didn’t struggle for traction when driving through 6” with gravity against— except as I mention above, relative to the floating blade unweighting the fronts. When piling snow in medium range at the end of a pass I could bog down the engine: the tires still had plenty of traction to keep pushing/piling (missing that extra cylinder and five or so HP of the 3310).
On balance then I’m happy so far with the precision, flexibility (eg plowing with various skid shoe heights, back dragging, and scraping), and power (some of the piles out there are 9’ tall!) of this front angle trip blade setup. For us it’s a good compromise: on gravel it does a wider variety of snow and ice clearing tasks (such as scraping) out in front of the tractor without making tool adjustments, as compared to a blower or push box, or switching implements. (A blower admittedly would’ve been faster today.) Once you know some of the limitations, figure out how to work with gravity, and exercise some patience (seat time) with the larger snows, I think we made a good choice.
