Good snow removal techniques?

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rhodges

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Nov 13, 2005
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Hi, everyone! I just recently bought an 825 with 12.5x16 tires and a 66 inch bucket. And like a lot of other people, I am starting to get snow on my driveway. It is about three hundred feet long up the side of a hill, rather steep at the end, and (mainly) covered in gravel. So far, it seems that using the bucket "float" (going forwards) with a shallow bucket angle works all right, but it still seems to take a while. And even though the bucket does travel with the bumps, I still have to fiddle with the bucket angle so that it is enough to cut the snow, but not so much that it digs up my gravel. I feel like I might be missing something here. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on getting snow moved efficiently with a regular bucket? Thanks!
 

Poolman

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Apr 17, 2005
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You may want to try backing down the driveway the bucket straight up and down then float the arms. You may need to tweak the angle from 90 degrees to something a little less if your drive isn't frozen yet as you may dig in a bit much. Good Luck.
 

sterlclan

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May 1, 2004
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You may want to try backing down the driveway the bucket straight up and down then float the arms. You may need to tweak the angle from 90 degrees to something a little less if your drive isn't frozen yet as you may dig in a bit much. Good Luck.
when I used the bucket last year I found that with the arms down fully and not in float I was able to just use the curl of the bucket to keep from digging in. a little up tilt to the bucket and it was all good but the 7.5 foot fisher mounted to a quick attach plate is much better Jeff
 

dano

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Jan 7, 2007
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when I used the bucket last year I found that with the arms down fully and not in float I was able to just use the curl of the bucket to keep from digging in. a little up tilt to the bucket and it was all good but the 7.5 foot fisher mounted to a quick attach plate is much better Jeff
when I do snow removal, it's using the material bucket, and if you can get the arms own to the bottom and the bucket down flat plus about two inches down, you'll scrape enough to get the majority of the snow and the least amount of driveway material. If it's only light snow, you can sometimes lift the arms up and tilt the bucket down so you can see how much clearance you've got. We plow a laneway about 100 feet long with a 1975 m-371 bobcat (just a little gasser), and it does a beautiful job.
 

skidsteer.ca

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when I do snow removal, it's using the material bucket, and if you can get the arms own to the bottom and the bucket down flat plus about two inches down, you'll scrape enough to get the majority of the snow and the least amount of driveway material. If it's only light snow, you can sometimes lift the arms up and tilt the bucket down so you can see how much clearance you've got. We plow a laneway about 100 feet long with a 1975 m-371 bobcat (just a little gasser), and it does a beautiful job.
If you do very much snow removal a plow is a real blessing.
Put the shoes on the bottom and lift the edge up when ever the ground is not frozen.
I usually carry the plow 1 inch above the ground the first time or two I do the lane and let some snow freeze down. The rest of the time I remove the shoes and let it scrape clean to the frost.
I have a 8' snow bucket, but the outside corners dig in when the machine goes through humps and holes in the drive because the bucket is 3 ft wider then the machine. Its ok but no trip edge and dumping takes time.
My snow blade has enough play in the pins to allow the blade to float side to side and prevents the corners from digging in.
It is a 7' meyers that we widened to 9' with a extension on each side angled forward at 30 degrees. This is the best of both worlds. It prevent snow from trickling around the sides and acts like a pusher or box blade when straight. I can carry twice the volume of snow across the parking area. I can also angle it left or right from within the cab when I want to angle blade.
They pickup blades are however somewhat light duty for a skidsteer and can be broke. Also you need flow restricters in the hydraulics to slow the angling to a controlable speed (or else you have to idle the engine everttime you want to change plow angle)
IMG_0624.JPG

IMG_0027.JPG

IMG_0033.JPG

The rubber cutting edge on the extensions is just the face cut out of a heavy truck tire, inside facing forward
This is the newest snow toy. If it would just snow more (instead of this freezing rain cr*p) I could use it.
IMG_0616.JPG

Its great where drifting is a problem or there is no place to pile snow (blower geatly reduces the volume), but the blade will clean more area in a shorter time. Plus no trip edge on the blower stops me dead if I hit something frozen in the ground, so I have to travel slower.
Ken
 

500K_773

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342
If you do very much snow removal a plow is a real blessing.
Put the shoes on the bottom and lift the edge up when ever the ground is not frozen.
I usually carry the plow 1 inch above the ground the first time or two I do the lane and let some snow freeze down. The rest of the time I remove the shoes and let it scrape clean to the frost.
I have a 8' snow bucket, but the outside corners dig in when the machine goes through humps and holes in the drive because the bucket is 3 ft wider then the machine. Its ok but no trip edge and dumping takes time.
My snow blade has enough play in the pins to allow the blade to float side to side and prevents the corners from digging in.
It is a 7' meyers that we widened to 9' with a extension on each side angled forward at 30 degrees. This is the best of both worlds. It prevent snow from trickling around the sides and acts like a pusher or box blade when straight. I can carry twice the volume of snow across the parking area. I can also angle it left or right from within the cab when I want to angle blade.
They pickup blades are however somewhat light duty for a skidsteer and can be broke. Also you need flow restricters in the hydraulics to slow the angling to a controlable speed (or else you have to idle the engine everttime you want to change plow angle)



The rubber cutting edge on the extensions is just the face cut out of a heavy truck tire, inside facing forward
This is the newest snow toy. If it would just snow more (instead of this freezing rain cr*p) I could use it.

Its great where drifting is a problem or there is no place to pile snow (blower geatly reduces the volume), but the blade will clean more area in a shorter time. Plus no trip edge on the blower stops me dead if I hit something frozen in the ground, so I have to travel slower.
Ken
Ken,
Your blade is almost identical to the blade I am thinking of making. I have a piece of 48" pipe, 1/2" wall, that I am going to use 1/4 section of to make the curved blade. I am thinking of a 6' wide center section with wings just like yours set at 30°. I am planning 30° of hydraulic angle. I plan on 8' to 8'6" overall width so I am legal towing it down the road. Also plan on adding grader cutting edges. I am using such heavy material because I want weight to remove hard pack. Also planning on mounting the blade 2.5' to 3' ahead of the Bobtach to make an overall longer effective wheelbase.
My question is, when angled does it have a tendendcy to turn the machine when plowing down a road?
 

skidsteer.ca

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Jan 20, 2006
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Ken,
Your blade is almost identical to the blade I am thinking of making. I have a piece of 48" pipe, 1/2" wall, that I am going to use 1/4 section of to make the curved blade. I am thinking of a 6' wide center section with wings just like yours set at 30°. I am planning 30° of hydraulic angle. I plan on 8' to 8'6" overall width so I am legal towing it down the road. Also plan on adding grader cutting edges. I am using such heavy material because I want weight to remove hard pack. Also planning on mounting the blade 2.5' to 3' ahead of the Bobtach to make an overall longer effective wheelbase.
My question is, when angled does it have a tendendcy to turn the machine when plowing down a road?
It will turn the machine at times. I only plow my own commercial yard and I get to it before there is alot of semi packed snow to deal with. Our snow is usually dry and light as well. So 98% of the time it is no problem at all.
I also run tire chains on the rear wheels as the lane itself is crowned and I was have trouble with the wheels on the ditch side not getting enough traction to point me towards the top and the more I tried the more I slipped sideways into the ditch. But it did this even with the blade up.
I'm legal width if I angle the blade, but I seldom trailer it anywhere.
How wide of a bucket can you handle in your "hard packed" snow? I'd let that be your guide. Are you making a trip cutting edge, or a trip mowboard or neither? I would not want a plow without a trip system of some sort. Without it someday your going to bite the windshield imo.
My blade has 3 springs but the 773 can lay it down fairly easy still. (2 springs was almost useless)
I always figured if it was tough scaping I'd use my bucket. because I don't see those conditions often, I made my blade wider then the oem would recommend, but it works great for me. If i end up selling my old one I'll make a 10' out of a 8' blade.
I also have a 2" dia single acting rams to angle each direction, which has enough power, but the volume is so little to fill the cylinder that you must have some sort of flow restriction, or the blade just whacks from one side to the other as soon as you touch the button, unless you idle the engine first. I'd say a 1/8" hole max, or needle valves from somewhere like
www.surpluscenter.com
I think that is alot of weight for a blade with 1/4" buy the time you get it all together it will be heavy. It will scrape good, and I guess you can carry it a little it need be, as opposed to me leaning the loader on mine.
Also be sure to leave some side to side movement in your main pivot pin, (a self aligning bushing would be a good idea) so the blade corners can move up and down as the road twists around. Otherwise your blade cornerwill carry all the weight lifting the opposite side of the blade of the ground.
Ken
 

500K_773

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Messages
342
It will turn the machine at times. I only plow my own commercial yard and I get to it before there is alot of semi packed snow to deal with. Our snow is usually dry and light as well. So 98% of the time it is no problem at all.
I also run tire chains on the rear wheels as the lane itself is crowned and I was have trouble with the wheels on the ditch side not getting enough traction to point me towards the top and the more I tried the more I slipped sideways into the ditch. But it did this even with the blade up.
I'm legal width if I angle the blade, but I seldom trailer it anywhere.
How wide of a bucket can you handle in your "hard packed" snow? I'd let that be your guide. Are you making a trip cutting edge, or a trip mowboard or neither? I would not want a plow without a trip system of some sort. Without it someday your going to bite the windshield imo.
My blade has 3 springs but the 773 can lay it down fairly easy still. (2 springs was almost useless)
I always figured if it was tough scaping I'd use my bucket. because I don't see those conditions often, I made my blade wider then the oem would recommend, but it works great for me. If i end up selling my old one I'll make a 10' out of a 8' blade.
I also have a 2" dia single acting rams to angle each direction, which has enough power, but the volume is so little to fill the cylinder that you must have some sort of flow restriction, or the blade just whacks from one side to the other as soon as you touch the button, unless you idle the engine first. I'd say a 1/8" hole max, or needle valves from somewhere like
www.surpluscenter.com
I think that is alot of weight for a blade with 1/4" buy the time you get it all together it will be heavy. It will scrape good, and I guess you can carry it a little it need be, as opposed to me leaning the loader on mine.
Also be sure to leave some side to side movement in your main pivot pin, (a self aligning bushing would be a good idea) so the blade corners can move up and down as the road twists around. Otherwise your blade cornerwill carry all the weight lifting the opposite side of the blade of the ground.
Ken
Ken,
I'm planning on adding the trip springs, but wasn't sure how they'd work with the 30° wings. I was planning on making the pivot pin tight, but you have a good point of leaving some play in there.
I suppose with all the weight, it will have even more tendancy to swing the machine while plowing angled. Maybe I should plan to make just a straight blade, no wings, that will angle for plowing roads. Then I'll make a snow push for parking lots and such.
 

skidsteer.ca

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Ken,
I'm planning on adding the trip springs, but wasn't sure how they'd work with the 30° wings. I was planning on making the pivot pin tight, but you have a good point of leaving some play in there.
I suppose with all the weight, it will have even more tendancy to swing the machine while plowing angled. Maybe I should plan to make just a straight blade, no wings, that will angle for plowing roads. Then I'll make a snow push for parking lots and such.
That why I used rubber corner bits on the wings, so they can compress when the blade trips.
The swing all depends on how tough your so is imo.
Ken
 

skidsteer.ca

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That why I used rubber corner bits on the wings, so they can compress when the blade trips.
The swing all depends on how tough your so is imo.
Ken
I just re read your post and you said 1/2" material. I think I'd be figuring out my material list and asking a steel shop how much a foot of each type of steel you plan to use weighs. The 8' blade I sell weight under 700 lbs
Also remember that you plannig on putting that weight a good distance in front of your loader. Pallet fork ratings decrease significantly at 24" in front of the quick attach. just over half. Tipping load for a 773 30" in front may be as little as 1500lbs
IMG_0079.JPG
 

500K_773

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I just re read your post and you said 1/2" material. I think I'd be figuring out my material list and asking a steel shop how much a foot of each type of steel you plan to use weighs. The 8' blade I sell weight under 700 lbs
Also remember that you plannig on putting that weight a good distance in front of your loader. Pallet fork ratings decrease significantly at 24" in front of the quick attach. just over half. Tipping load for a 773 30" in front may be as little as 1500lbs
I already have the piece of 48" (1/2" wall) pipe. It was too good of a deal to pass up. The weight of the pipe used for the blade will be 635#. I shouldn't have to use too big of bracing behind the blade because it has quite a bit of it's own strength. I will probably use something like 3" or 4" angle. I have some 6" channel to use for the frame to move the blade forward. Probably will be 900# total. Shouldn't be lifting too much for the machine. When stacking, I should be pushing more so than lifting the weight of the snow. Not including the cutting edges, I'll have about $200 material in the blade. Add cutting edges, hydraulics, hoses, and fittings; I'll have less than $1000 total in it.
If it's too heavy but a good design, retrofit the heavy blade to fit a larger machine and build one with some rolled 11 gauge steel.
 

skidsteer.ca

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Jan 20, 2006
Messages
3,853
I already have the piece of 48" (1/2" wall) pipe. It was too good of a deal to pass up. The weight of the pipe used for the blade will be 635#. I shouldn't have to use too big of bracing behind the blade because it has quite a bit of it's own strength. I will probably use something like 3" or 4" angle. I have some 6" channel to use for the frame to move the blade forward. Probably will be 900# total. Shouldn't be lifting too much for the machine. When stacking, I should be pushing more so than lifting the weight of the snow. Not including the cutting edges, I'll have about $200 material in the blade. Add cutting edges, hydraulics, hoses, and fittings; I'll have less than $1000 total in it.
If it's too heavy but a good design, retrofit the heavy blade to fit a larger machine and build one with some rolled 11 gauge steel.
If you can keep it near 1k lbs you should be fine.
I shortend the push arms on mine so it nicely cleared the front tires when angled. You may want to consider keeping it up close to your loader. Was there a reason you had decided 30" long?
You will never poke a hole in your moldboard. if you keep your other material within reason and a eye on you weight you will be fine.
The blades I sell also use a single cylinder for angling, less fabbing , parts etc.
Ken
 

500K_773

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Messages
342
If you can keep it near 1k lbs you should be fine.
I shortend the push arms on mine so it nicely cleared the front tires when angled. You may want to consider keeping it up close to your loader. Was there a reason you had decided 30" long?
You will never poke a hole in your moldboard. if you keep your other material within reason and a eye on you weight you will be fine.
The blades I sell also use a single cylinder for angling, less fabbing , parts etc.
Ken
I was thinking putting the blade further ahead would leave the drive axles back to counter some of the turning forces. 773's are pretty short wheelbased to begin with. I'll play with a mock-up and see what it takes to just clear the tires when angled.
I was planning on two 3" cylinders for angling the blade. Looking for welded, not tie-rod type. Don't want any blowouts or leaking.
 

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