Snow Plow Bracing

I have a Meyer snow plow. I bought a mounting plate. I have been lookieg at some on ebay to gt some Ideas on bracing. The one I like the most is the ones that a guy that goes by[ markssupply88]Its basically like a trailer tounge coming off the bottom of the tach plateTo the pivot point on the blade. That part I already have.,then two braces coming from the top of the tach plate down to about 6 inches behind the pivot pin on the blade.I dont have concerns about that being bullett proof.My concern is that the pivot point on the blade is strong enough to take the down pressure that a skid steer can apply . I know you wouldnt apply any more pressure than nessesary in plowing.But it seems it would have to be strong enough to take the weight of the front of the skid steer wether its applied intentionally or not. I have seen chains as a top link. then you only have gravity as down presure. I know the blade will flex forward with to much pressure when traveling.
How are they making them strong enough? Or an I under estimating the leverage that is applied there?I thought I saw a thread on this subject. cant remember any solution. I thought about some kind of heavy duty spring loaded top link. If this subject has been covered send me there Thanks Mike

Mike
I had a 7' meyers that I widened into a 9' I cut the factory push arms off just behine the steel loops on top that the hoses run through. Welded this to a retangular frame made from 2 by 3 box iron. Then I run a brace down and forward from the top center of the rectangle to just behind the side to side pivot . It was rigid and could not float. I ended up putting a 3rd trip spring in the center and flow controls (a must have) on the cylinders. The only trouble I had was that I broke the pivot (pipe the pin goes in) for the "moldboard trip" out of the back of the curved angle iron they run top to bottom. I was back blading at the time, so it could not trip, but it was 1/2 broke out of the angle to. I welded it back in and fixed the other side to. Used it for 3 years, takes about 2 hours to plow my yard before I sold it. The factory skidsteer blades we sell are definitely more heavy duty, but these work fine for personal use.
Ken

skidsteer.ca said:

Mike
I had a 7' meyers that I widened into a 9' I cut the factory push arms off just behine the steel loops on top that the hoses run through. Welded this to a retangular frame made from 2 by 3 box iron. Then I run a brace down and forward from the top center of the rectangle to just behind the side to side pivot . It was rigid and could not float. I ended up putting a 3rd trip spring in the center and flow controls (a must have) on the cylinders. The only trouble I had was that I broke the pivot (pipe the pin goes in) for the "moldboard trip" out of the back of the curved angle iron they run top to bottom. I was back blading at the time, so it could not trip, but it was 1/2 broke out of the angle to. I welded it back in and fixed the other side to. Used it for 3 years, takes about 2 hours to plow my yard before I sold it. The factory skidsteer blades we sell are definitely more heavy duty, but these work fine for personal use.
Ken

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Ken : Thats a good looking blade you have there. [Maybe someday] I can see that is where the weakness will be on my blade. those pipes for the pivot pins are light and not welded very well.I think iI will re-work all three attaching points before they create problem . I like your bracing design . The two springs look preiiy weakI think ll replace them and add one. On the flow restrictor I have one. Thanks for the info. A guy that sells snow plows and gives advise on how to build one is alright.I live on the end of a private road about a mile long. I do most of the maintenance. deadbeats dont pay road dues.One stopped and told me I was doing a good gob. I should have held out my hand and said SHOW ME THE MONEY

mllud said:

Ken : Thats a good looking blade you have there. [Maybe someday] I can see that is where the weakness will be on my blade. those pipes for the pivot pins are light and not welded very well.I think iI will re-work all three attaching points before they create problem . I like your bracing design . The two springs look preiiy weakI think ll replace them and add one. On the flow restrictor I have one. Thanks for the info. A guy that sells snow plows and gives advise on how to build one is alright.I live on the end of a private road about a mile long. I do most of the maintenance. deadbeats dont pay road dues.One stopped and told me I was doing a good gob. I should have held out my hand and said SHOW ME THE MONEY

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since your just doing a road this may not be of interest to you but alot of the skid steer plow mfgrs install cushion valves so that any hard impact of one side of the blade doesn't blowout the cyls or hoses....can't remember if erskines do or not, ken would know and maybe have a part # steve

xtreem3d said:

since your just doing a road this may not be of interest to you but alot of the skid steer plow mfgrs install cushion valves so that any hard impact of one side of the blade doesn't blowout the cyls or hoses....can't remember if erskines do or not, ken would know and maybe have a part # steve

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Thanks Steve. that may a good investment. Tte road is more like a tractor path with tree on the side. I seen in one of your post you were near the home of bigfoot. Yoy must live in S. louis county. I live between winfield and Troy. Mike

xtreem3d said:

since your just doing a road this may not be of interest to you but alot of the skid steer plow mfgrs install cushion valves so that any hard impact of one side of the blade doesn't blowout the cyls or hoses....can't remember if erskines do or not, ken would know and maybe have a part # steve

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Our factory blades don't have a cushion valve either. Not sure if the loaders relief valve can provide any protection if the aux hyd circuits is off and there is a pressure spike in tht coupler end of the circuit.??
Surplus center would have one. but it is likely more of a truck plow concern where speeds are greater. Not all a bad idea though, epecially if you have several pontential hazards.
Ken

skidsteer.ca said:

Our factory blades don't have a cushion valve either. Not sure if the loaders relief valve can provide any protection if the aux hyd circuits is off and there is a pressure spike in tht coupler end of the circuit.??
Surplus center would have one. but it is likely more of a truck plow concern where speeds are greater. Not all a bad idea though, epecially if you have several pontential hazards.
Ken

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hi mike, i am right in the heart of south county, bigfoot is about 20 minutes from me...i have a few friends from the troy area steve

xtreem3d said:

hi mike, i am right in the heart of south county, bigfoot is about 20 minutes from me...i have a few friends from the troy area steve

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I think I can avoid the obticals. i dont get crazy with my equipment. It cots to much to fix.Ill look in surplus hydraulics on the web. Steve Bob Chandler started in a little shop across from McDonnald Douglas on Lindburg. Blv. In About 1974 . I was about 19 and use to stop in and talk and admire his trucks. His first trucks werent much bigger than a lot of what you see with the mud runners.My dad worked for Mac.My dad called me one day and said he seen me outside his shop. He asked me what is that idiot doing with those trucks Thats one rich Idiot. I was soon an idiot driving a jacked up trucks but I never got rich. Mike

mllud said:

I think I can avoid the obticals. i dont get crazy with my equipment. It cots to much to fix.Ill look in surplus hydraulics on the web. Steve Bob Chandler started in a little shop across from McDonnald Douglas on Lindburg. Blv. In About 1974 . I was about 19 and use to stop in and talk and admire his trucks. His first trucks werent much bigger than a lot of what you see with the mud runners.My dad worked for Mac.My dad called me one day and said he seen me outside his shop. He asked me what is that idiot doing with those trucks Thats one rich Idiot. I was soon an idiot driving a jacked up trucks but I never got rich. Mike

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i remember that corregated metal half moon looking building also...he's come a long way.

mllud said:

I think I can avoid the obticals. i dont get crazy with my equipment. It cots to much to fix.Ill look in surplus hydraulics on the web. Steve Bob Chandler started in a little shop across from McDonnald Douglas on Lindburg. Blv. In About 1974 . I was about 19 and use to stop in and talk and admire his trucks. His first trucks werent much bigger than a lot of what you see with the mud runners.My dad worked for Mac.My dad called me one day and said he seen me outside his shop. He asked me what is that idiot doing with those trucks Thats one rich Idiot. I was soon an idiot driving a jacked up trucks but I never got rich. Mike

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Ken : I think your sating being at the end of the curcit With the valve off a blow to the blade impact couldnt send pressure back tnto the skid steer system. The only damage that could occure would be the blade cylinder or the hose connected to the Quick coupler.Ill take my chances. I do appreciate Steves point and suggestion Thanks Mike

mllud said:

Ken : I think your sating being at the end of the curcit With the valve off a blow to the blade impact couldnt send pressure back tnto the skid steer system. The only damage that could occure would be the blade cylinder or the hose connected to the Quick coupler.Ill take my chances. I do appreciate Steves point and suggestion Thanks Mike

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With the way the spools are you could easily create a pressure spike but it would only cause a problem for the hoses and cylinder. When the ram in not being operated its more or less isolated from the rest of the circuit. Thats why your lift section of the control block has its own relief valve, to prevent damage if something was droped on the bucket, it will simply lower down and not cause damage.

Tazza said:

With the way the spools are you could easily create a pressure spike but it would only cause a problem for the hoses and cylinder. When the ram in not being operated its more or less isolated from the rest of the circuit. Thats why your lift section of the control block has its own relief valve, to prevent damage if something was droped on the bucket, it will simply lower down and not cause damage.

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So theyre protecting the system on the two main functions lift and curl. The aux. curcit theyre expecting you to do soo as necessary.They may be doing so because with certain attachments it would inhibit the attachnents function. I could risk a hose or having to put a seal in a seal in a cylinder . Thank Tazza
Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike

mllud said:

So theyre protecting the system on the two main functions lift and curl. The aux. curcit theyre expecting you to do soo as necessary.They may be doing so because with certain attachments it would inhibit the attachnents function. I could risk a hose or having to put a seal in a seal in a cylinder . Thank Tazza
Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike

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a seal in a cyl. not a seal in a seal. I need to proofread and put some 10w30 on my sticky s key.

mllud said:

So theyre protecting the system on the two main functions lift and curl. The aux. curcit theyre expecting you to do soo as necessary.They may be doing so because with certain attachments it would inhibit the attachnents function. I could risk a hose or having to put a seal in a seal in a cylinder . Thank Tazza
Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike

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"Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike"
We sent ours to you to make room for a delivery from the Artic. Were shivering too, just at a lower temp. You can send our weather back anytime now, I'm ready for it
Mike there is a edit button at the bottom of the posts where you can fix any bloopers
Ken

skidsteer.ca said:

"Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike"
We sent ours to you to make room for a delivery from the Artic. Were shivering too, just at a lower temp. You can send our weather back anytime now, I'm ready for it
Mike there is a edit button at the bottom of the posts where you can fix any bloopers
Ken

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mllud, I originally had my mount set up similar to Ken's. Welded solid with 2 braces from the top corners of the Quicktach to the horizontal arms on the plow.
I had some issues I didn't like with that setup. With the short wheelbase on the loader, if you are on uneven ground the plow would gouge when the front tires dropped, or the plow would lift if the front tires went over a ridge. I tried floating the arms and didn't like the amount of weight on the cutting edge. These plows are designed to float their own weight when installed on a truck. This is a common complaint when I asked others about their use of plows on skid steers. I have seen a couple of commercially made plows that did incorporate various methods to allow the plow to float and allow the operator to put some down pressure when they wanted it.
I decided to change my setup. I wanted it to float but still wanted to be able to apply down pressure when needed. I also wanted to allow the plow to twist side to side when approaching a cross slope to stay on the grade and minimize the wear on the outside corners of the cutting edge.
I designed this and am running it as my current setup.

The plow mount is adjustable by moving the pins to the three different positions which limits the amount of float at the cutting edge. When I roll the Quicktach forward the pins force the plow arms down allowing me to put down pressure on the cutting edge.

Note the slotted holes where the plow mount bolts to the plow arms. This slotting allows the plow to twist side to side when approaching a cross slope.

To shorten the total length of the loader + plow I can pull both pins and roll the Quicktach all the way forward until the plow pivot arm is against the edge of the angle iron. Then I put the pin in the top hole (which is now underneath the plow support arm) locking the plow in the up position. When I roll the mount all the way back the plow is now pointed at the sky and takes up less space in garage or trailer.
I fab'd this up late last fall and didn't get a chance to get any paint on it. I can easily lift the front tires of the loader off the ground and there is minimal flexing at the pivot and appears to be rigid enough for my use. Time will tell if I didn't build it strong enough.
I thought I would give you something to think about if you haven't welded yours solid yet.

skidsteer.ca said:

"Hey Extreme 3D I think Ken sent one of his canadian clipper cold fronts down here to freeze us out. Mike"
We sent ours to you to make room for a delivery from the Artic. Were shivering too, just at a lower temp. You can send our weather back anytime now, I'm ready for it
Mike there is a edit button at the bottom of the posts where you can fix any bloopers
Ken

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Thanks Ken Get Your timber out of the lowlands The thaw is coming soon. Thanks for the tip. Mike

mllud said:

Thanks Ken Get Your timber out of the lowlands The thaw is coming soon. Thanks for the tip. Mike

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Trihonu. That looks strong but has some flexability. On a gravel road such as mine, with highs and lows that could work well. Thats a well thought out design. That would also take some stress off the boom.With all the great things a s/s can do. the short wheel base doesnt shave off highs and fill lows like a longer machine.I could see where I might use the design of that joint in other applications.Flexability keeps things from breaking. I think thats why they dont make these vertical lift booms too rigid side to side. Thanks Mike

mllud said:

Trihonu. That looks strong but has some flexability. On a gravel road such as mine, with highs and lows that could work well. Thats a well thought out design. That would also take some stress off the boom.With all the great things a s/s can do. the short wheel base doesnt shave off highs and fill lows like a longer machine.I could see where I might use the design of that joint in other applications.Flexability keeps things from breaking. I think thats why they dont make these vertical lift booms too rigid side to side. Thanks Mike

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TriHonu
That is a good design. I never though about setting the down pressure up like that. I knew I did not want it to only float, because back draging performance suffers
The Erskine blades float some at the center pivot, and the Meyers I had was worn enough to give that effect too.
If the push arms on the plow are not level and the center pivot is to tight, when you angle the blade the corners tend to dig in also.
Ken

skidsteer.ca said:

TriHonu
That is a good design. I never though about setting the down pressure up like that. I knew I did not want it to only float, because back draging performance suffers
The Erskine blades float some at the center pivot, and the Meyers I had was worn enough to give that effect too.
If the push arms on the plow are not level and the center pivot is to tight, when you angle the blade the corners tend to dig in also.
Ken

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A buddy of mine gave me a plow off one of his old trucks after he sold his plowing business.
I looked at plows at the Bobcat Dealer, in parking lots and a number of truck plow conversions. Everything I looked at 5 years ago was a fixed mount. I ASSuMEd that was the way to go since everyone was building them that way.
So out to the shop, I did a quick figure on the angles I wanted and burned it together. The first winter I tried different approaches to using it and it didn't work as well as I thought it could. I starting talking to the plow operators asking what they liked and disliked about the equipment they were using. The float issue came up over and over.
I happened across a plow at a local rental place that had float built in with pivots, a pair of arms coming down from the Quicktach that would press on the plow frame when you tilted the Quicktach forward and a chain to limit the plow drop. This really got me thinking.
I like things to work properly. I sketched a couple of designs that would do what I wanted but were over "designed". I just wanted the bare essentials. A new sketch, some cardboard templates to determine proper hole locations and it looked like a plan. It took me almost as long to cut the old setup apart as it took to build the new setup. (The first time I welded it like I never wanted it to come apart!) I've got to get a gouging tip for the torch. Grinding out welds is a pain!
This sharing of ideas is what this forum is all about. I'm sure someone will come up with a better solution than mine. I just hope they take the time to share their ideas. I have learned much from reading this forum. Sometime just reading the discussions will get me thinking from a different point of view. I have always believed the best designs were created from people who have to USE the product.
A friend of my brothers gave him a near new Wolf Plow for the Bobcat . His friend bought it new and got disgusted with the performance and put it in the shed and quit using it. Went back to using the plow truck. A couple years later the plow migrated out to my brothers place. He is now thinking about cutting it up and building some float into it.