[schreib]

Just bought a used plow for my track loader last April and have had plenty of experience using it this winter. Works like a champ on my crushed blacktop lane(1/2 mile long) but not so much when the road is soft, not frozen any longer. During the early fall and early spring the road is too soft to let the blade float on the road surface. It digs in, springs forward not to mention scraping the gravel off to the side. If I try to use the floating pucks on the sides they catch on the gravel and make troughs, then eventually they also dig in and I have to stop and reset.

It seems to me a great idea would be to replace those circular discs with a wider ski-like piece. I have in mind a 6" wide ski by about 12" long; curved up in the front. I would place a small keel fin under it; deepest at the very back, maybe 3/4" deep max. The keel would keep it pointed straight and the curved front would prevent digging in. Is this crazy or has someone else already built what seems "obvious" to me, a newbie!

 

[Hydromaster]

Why not just pick it up a little?
Drop it, then lift it enough to take the weight off of the edge.

Just like pushing dirt most dozer / blade operators don’t use float unless backtracking muck or something.

 

[schreib]

The road is not "flat". It has hills and valleys. In a valley the optimum level is not the same as the hill 10 ft further down the road. It hits the hill on the way up and scrapes. It is not practical to jack it up and down continuously as I drive down the road. The whole idea of the pucks on each side is so you do not have to do that on uneven surfaces. They work just fine-- on HARD surfaces. The point here is when the surface is soft(NOT frozen) the pucks dig in. The idea of the ski is to be a soft road(only) "puck".

Maybe I am not using this correctly but what I do seems to mostly work. There is a simple chain that prevents the blade from falling too far forward and I usually let it stay slack while the pucks ride on the hard surface. So, instead of "floating" the blade like I would with my bucket, I float it on the pucks with the chain slack. I am forced to bring the chain up TIGHT on a soft road and skim the pucks over the surface so they don't dig in. I don't want to do that. I want to use the puck method.

 

[John_DeereGreen]

You’re not going to be able to use them when it’s soft. That’s just the nature of the beast when plowing unpaved areas. You will have to hold it off the ground unless you want to plow your driveway material.

 

[Mr.Markus]

Try back draging the drive, angled so the blade empties to the side you want it. It doesn't flow like going forward but those times its soft it works like a champ. Then when it freezes back up you can plow it forward again and get a better scrape...

 

[FredG]

This is a on going issue on stone, don't take much when things dry up some to regrade what you pushed up.

 

[Mark Oomkes]

Need one of those gravel edges made of pipe...not PVC.

 

[BUFF]

Need one of those gravel edges made of pipe...not PVC.

Or pneumatic casters and live with a couple inches of snow on the driveway being left behind.

 

[EWSplow]

Need one of those gravel edges made of pipe...not PVC.

Chain link fence posts?

 

[Mark Oomkes]

Chain link fence posts?

Better than PVC...

 

[EWSplow]

Better than PVC...and a water heater is better than a sheet of pywood.

Yooper engineering
http://crystalsteelhouse.com/groundz-keeper-old.htm

 

[schreib]

OK! It looks like Dr Oomkes gets the blue ribbon medal here. I figured SOMEONE had thought of this before me. I still like my ski idea. Then again, I AM pretty hard headed. Now I am thinking of make a fabricated edge using a 3/4 section of 1.5" steel pipe, a few tabs on it to mount. Thanks guys

 

[Mark Oomkes]

OK! It looks like Dr Oomkes gets the blue ribbon medal here. I figured SOMEONE had thought of this before me. I still like my ski idea. Then again, I AM pretty hard headed. Now I am thinking of make a fabricated edge using a 3/4 section of 1.5" steel pipe, a few tabs on it to mount. Thanks guys

First Einstein now doctor...keep it up and my ego might almost match Buff's. If that is possible.

 

[BUFF]

First Einstein now doctor...keep it up and my ego might almost match Buff's. If that is possible.

SKWSM

 

[schreib]

hmmmm. SKWSM. . . that went over MY head, Buff!:hammerhead:

 

[BUFF]

hmmmm. SKWSM. . . that went over MY head, Buff!:hammerhead:

Once you've hit 100 post you'll be able to access the PlowSite translator feature...…..Thumbs Up

 

[Mark Oomkes]

Once you've hit 100 post you'll be able to access the PlowSite translator feature...…..Thumbs Up

At 200 you get your decoder ring.

 

[EWSplow]

At 200 you get your decoder ring.

Are you comparing PS to cracker jacks?

 

[Mark Oomkes]

Are you comparing PS to cracker jacks?

I didn't say that...besides Cracker Jacks are not PC due to the name and containing nuts...