Snowplowing

[randyo]

no snow yet, barely had our first frost a couple days ago (very late this year) but you never know, I don't want to be caught with my pants down. Couple years ago, we had a nor'easter on Halloween, normally we have plowable snow for the opening of deer (rifle) season (Nov10) we get on average 75" a year, but I have seen as little as 25" and as many as 200" yes 16 feet of snow, biggest storm I recall was 45"

[airshot]

When I was working, snow wasnt as much fun as getting thru it to get to work took the fun out of it.  But now that I am retired and have my buggy with a heater and winter enclosure....bring on the snow !!!    No getting to work worries now just play time, ironically we have had some of our lowest snow falls on record since I retired and have my snow plowing toys.....just my luck !   Send some snow my way if you ever get to much.......

[randyo]

?? for anyone who may have added some weights to their plow, so that it can dig better into heavy rained on snow, rather than ride up over it.

I'm peeved at my auto mechanic, who has had my Tacoma since October, to replace the power steering pump, and repair exhaust leak in the left bank, maybe just a gasket, maybe warped exhaust manifold, with that I'd be using that to plow with a bigger heavier (Curtis) plow

[airshot]

?? for anyone who may have added some weights to their plow, so that it can dig better into heavy rained on snow, rather than ride up over it.

I'm peeved at my auto mechanic, who has had my Tacoma since October, to replace the power steering pump, and repair exhaust leak in the left bank, maybe just a gasket, maybe warped exhaust manifold, with that I'd be using that to plow with a bigger heavier (Curtis) plow

Not sure what type of plow you have, but I have a Pile Driver and that thing is heavy!!! Very heavy....it tajes to men to pickup the plow blade- push tube assembly !!!  Never had an issue with it riding up and over unless solid ice.  My old cycle country plow on my ATV was light weight so I added a piece of steel pipe to thevtop of the blade for added weight.  It helped but didnt solve the issue.   Would have been easier to bolt a heavy piece of angle iron to the top but pipe was all I had at the time...You need weight on the blade itself or right behind the blade on the push tubes to gain down pressure

[randyo]

my plow is a Moose, I tightened up on the trip springs, helps some, and the plow has some weight, I have a hard time moving it myself, I need to use a floor jack when hooking it up

[airshot]

Some thing else to look at is the angle of the blade when looking from the side.  On my blade the top edge and bottom edge are the same vertically.  Some blades have the bottom edge forward of the top which makes the blade slide up and over with less digging in.  When the top edge is forward of the bottom edge, it can cause the blade to dig in deeper into the snow. Most blades I have saw have this tilt adjustment on them.  Mine is set to dig a little deeper but I have large feet that are adjusted to keep the blade about 1/2 - 3/4" off the ground, so I dont dig up my gravel driveway.  Nothing worse than having to rake stones out of your grass in the spring !!!

[randyo]

Some thing else to look at is the angle of the blade when looking from the side.  On my blade the top edge and bottom edge are the same vertically.  Some blades have the bottom edge forward of the top which makes the blade slide up and over with less digging in.  When the top edge is forward of the bottom edge, it can cause the blade to dig in deeper into the snow. Most blades I have saw have this tilt adjustment on them.  Mine is set to dig a little deeper but I have large feet that are adjusted to keep the blade about 1/2 - 3/4" off the ground, so I dont dig up my gravel driveway.  Nothing worse than having to rake stones out of your grass in the spring !!!

yes, when I mounted my blade to my new frame (don't ask) I noticed it wasn't in the vertical position on the old frame, so I alsobolted it into the next slot, it's as close to vertical as it can get

[airshot]

Just being verticle might not be enough.  I have saw some lite weight blades have the top edge forward of the bottom so in theroy causing the blade to dig in more.  Might be worth a shot, otherwise add some extra weight to your blade.

[randyo]

Just being verticle might not be enough.  I have saw some lite weight blades have the top edge forward of the bottom so in theroy causing the blade to dig in more.  Might be worth a shot, otherwise add some extra weight to your blade.

vertical helps a lot. now I have to move some of the washers on the skids to lower the plow a bit

on another note, when I went out to plow yesterday, my 450i has been sitting a couple weeks, some heavy rain one day, and frigid weather the rest of the time. Started right up as usual, but wouldn't move, something froze up in the drive line, a screeching belt.  I used the winch to jar the 450i, it worked, started working normal

again, a blister on my thumb, shifting from forward to reverse to forward, and repeat

[airshot]

vertical helps a lot. now I have to move some of the washers on the skids to lower the plow a bit

on another note, when I went out to plow yesterday, my 450i has been sitting a couple weeks, some heavy rain one day, and frigid weather the rest of the time. Started right up as usual, but wouldn't move, something froze up in the drive line, a screeching belt.  I used the winch to jar the 450i, it worked, started working normal

again, a blister on my thumb, shifting from forward to reverse to forward, and repeat

A few years back had a similiar situation after plowing snow.  The snow was rather slushy and as usual it was up into the drive boots and around the axles where it froze !!  All that slyshy snow froze !!  Next outing the nachine didn't move, tried rocking but it was stuck !!  Brought out my salamander heater and a tarp, covered it and let the heater do its job.  An hour later all was good,  I make it a point to blow out all the snow from the boots with a long airgun, never had that issue again.   However, reading another similiar post on another forum, that owner tried forcing his machine after a similiar freezeup, and he ended up tearing all his rubber boots which of course had to be replaced !!!   Ouch...lots of work ...so be carefull next time and be sure you dont have any buildup around the boots!

[randyo]

aaaak! Sunday night prediction of 6" stalled over the Gulf of Maine, turned into 15-16" of heavy snow, snowed for 29 hours.

needless to say, more than I can push, so I got someone coming with a skid steer, 8-10 more inches predicted  for Wednesday.

[Neil955i]

Wow  Good luck with that Randy.

[airshot]

aaaak! Sunday night prediction of 6" stalled over the Gulf of Maine, turned into 15-16" Fof heavy snow, snowed for 29 hours.

needless to say, more than I can push, so I got someone coming with a skid steer, 8-10 more inches predicted  for Wednesday.

Ouch....thats a lot of snow....I have a big snow blower for the drifts and deep stuff, but it can be slow going.  I have used it in drifts of two feet and more but it isnt quick !!  Some years back I had a similiar heavy snow storm and had to call in a BobCat to move the big deep stuff....sometimes we just gotta do what is needed !!

[randyo]

Ouch....thats a lot of snow....I have a big snow blower for the drifts and deep stuff, but it can be slow going.  I have used it in drifts of two feet and more but it isnt quick !!  Some years back I had a similiar heavy snow storm and had to call in a BobCat to move the big deep stuff....sometimes we just gotta do what is needed !!

I have a $3k Honda snowblower that is junk, engine and hydraulic track drive are perfect, augers are toast, needs $1800 in parts to restore, worked great when new, actually better in deep snow, but keeping my eye out for a used skid steer, I have plenty of uses

[airshot]

Lots of luck there....they are out there but the cost !!!  Ouch, my beighbor has been looking for two years now, any type of skid steer around here is mucho bucks !!