snow plow soft edge

[festerw]

There's a couple different types of poly edges, I've been out of the game for a while now but I've been using a FallLine edge on a Gator for the last 10 years. It's worn maybe an inch off of the whole thing in that time, but is still pretty flexible.

It will chatter pretty bad when new, if you cut an angle off of the bottom it'll help break it in a little faster.

(broken link removed to https://www.fallline.com/snow-removal/polyurethane-snowplow-cutting-edges/)

 

[Ashful]

Hey guys, seeing as how mine flexed and pushed up between the plow and keeper bar, is there a chance I'm just not screwing that keeper bar down tight enough on it? I went until the keeper was tight against the urethane, likely squeezing it only a bit, but not really squishing it into the material. Any guidance on this?

I do note that at least FallLine implies skid shoes should be left on, for all but the tiny ATV plows. My edge is 33% thicker than theirs in the 4x72-inch size, not sure if that would change the recommendation, but it's interesting that recommendations vary on the use of skid shoes with these polyurethane edges.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I don't see the need for shoes with a poly edge unless you are worried about grass. The edge won't really hurt anything.

 

[Ashful]

Cool. I wasn't worried about the edge hurting anything on the ground, rather I was worried about asphalt wearing the edge to nothing, without the aid of shoes to take some of the weight.

This is a loader-mounted plow, and I usually float the loader as much as possible, rather than constantly futzing with a fixed height as I go over and around things. So, the weight on the plow edge is a bit higher than most 6' blades, due to the weight of the loader arms and quick-attach assembly.

 

[ABMax24]

Hey guys, seeing as how mine flexed and pushed up between the plow and keeper bar, is there a chance I'm just not screwing that keeper bar down tight enough on it? I went until the keeper was tight against the urethane, likely squeezing it only a bit, but not really squishing it into the material. Any guidance on this?

You're overthinking it, you know what most people would do? Rattle it tight with an impact until the nut stops turning and call it good enough, if the urethane squishes out too much then back the nut off a bit.

That being said I would add more bolts, that flatbar is only clamping the urethane effectively a few inches each side of the bolt. The rest is essentially unsupported. Yeah you'd have to file some more square holes, or again do what most people would do, use a hex bolt and hold the other side with a wrench while the impact rattles away.

Like one of the welders I used to work with would say "we ain't working for NASA, it doesn't have to make orbit, it just has to make launch".

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Yep. Drill holes and go.

As far as weight on the loader blade, shoes might be a good idea depending on just how heavy it is.

 

[bholler]

There are times to keep plowing through the storm so you can keep up and there are times to just wait it out. The problem is our society is in so much of a hurry to get places. I have sat by the wood stove for 2-3 days waiting for a blizzard to pass and then found 4+ ft of snow in the driveway. You have to know when to wait

Yeah I usually plow every couple hours if it's a big storm. But I am also clearing a pretty big parking lot. If I get more than 4" on the ground my truck struggles with it.

 

[brenndatomu]

Could go to your local Parts B Us store and buy some wheel studs...drill holes to the proper ID so the splines engage well...or if still hung up on square holes/carriage bolts, use an air file, or take it to a fab shop and have them burn square holes with a plasma gun.

 

[Ashful]

True. But I'm not looking for a new way to waste a Saturday. Honestly, I'd probably buy and try the stiffer UHMW, before putting another half dozen holes and bolts in the plow. Path of least resistance, and all...

Remember that the square holes in the clamping bar are only half the job, probably not even the bigger part of it. If I recall, the plow is made of 1/4" mild steel, with an extra 1/4" x 2" piece of flat sock laminated onto to the back where those bolts penetrate. Hand-drilling another half dozen 1/2" holes thru 1/2" of mild steel is not exactly a fun way to spend the afternoon, since there's no easy way to get that plow blade up onto a drill press table, without a few extra helping hands and a lot of cussing. It all can be done, but $150 worth of UHMW looks far more attractive, at that point.

I'm going to try running the polyurethane again this winter, WITHOUT shoes, and see how it goes. If it still doesn't get the job done, buying some UHMW will be next. If that fails, then I'll be eating crow, and drilling more holes.

 

[SpaceBus]

Cool. I wasn't worried about the edge hurting anything on the ground, rather I was worried about asphalt wearing the edge to nothing, without the aid of shoes to take some of the weight.

This is a loader-mounted plow, and I usually float the loader as much as possible, rather than constantly futzing with a fixed height as I go over and around things. So, the weight on the plow edge is a bit higher than most 6' blades, due to the weight of the loader arms and quick-attach assembly.

I don't know about all plow vehicles, but our work trucks all had a float mechanism for the plow. I just dropped the plow on the ground as low as it would go, usually lifting the front of the truck a few inches, and got to pushing.

 

[Ashful]

I don't know about all plow vehicles, but our work trucks all had a float mechanism for the plow. I just dropped the plow on the ground as low as it would go, usually lifting the front of the truck a few inches, and got to pushing.

Yep, mine is the same. And since it's a tractor with independent rear braking, I can actually still steer in that mode.

But loader mounted plows do have a disadvantage in float, in that the pivot point is higher off the ground. So, when the snow load you're pushing becomes high enough, the tractor actually "walks up" on the loader pivot points, usually causing you to stop. So, I can float the plow in 6" of snow, but in a foot of snow I have to keep it hydraulically locked to a given height. That height could be negative 3", keeping the front tires off the ground, just as you did with the pickup, but not floating.

In case you've never seen one, the "float" is on the loader lift arms, not the curl. I think you said you had a loader on your tractor, so you're probably already familiar with this, even if you don't plow with it.

 

[SpaceBus]

Yep, mine is the same. And since it's a tractor with independent rear braking, I can actually still steer in that mode.

But loader mounted plows do have a disadvantage in float, in that the pivot point is higher off the ground. So, when the snow load you're pushing becomes high enough, the tractor actually "walks up" on the loader pivot points, usually causing you to stop. So, I can float the plow in 6" of snow, but in a foot of snow I have to keep it hydraulically locked to a given height. That height could be negative 3", keeping the front tires off the ground, just as you did with the pickup, but not floating.

In case you've never seen one, the "float" is on the loader lift arms, not the curl. I think you said you had a loader on your tractor, so you're probably already familiar with this, even if you don't plow with it.

Oh, we couldn't lift the tires on our truck, just taking a bit of load off of the suspension, not all of it.
I have the same issue trying to use my bucket for snow handling, it always wants to catch and then lift my front end off the ground, even in float, if that edge catches anything at all. I've only used a V plow, but ours would trip the whole thing if you really caught something rather than jump over it or lift the front tires off the ground. This winter I'm not doing snow removal, so I can just laugh when I hear the *BANG* of a plow tripping in the distance. I'll be using my 76" snow blower and not worrying about pushing snow.

 

[Ashful]

Oh, we couldn't lift the tires on our truck, just taking a bit of load off of the suspension, not all of it.
I have the same issue trying to use my bucket for snow handling, it always wants to catch and then lift my front end off the ground, even in float, if that edge catches anything at all. I've only used a V plow, but ours would trip the whole thing if you really caught something rather than jump over it or lift the front tires off the ground. This winter I'm not doing snow removal, so I can just laugh when I hear the *BANG* of a plow tripping in the distance. I'll be using my 76" snow blower and not worrying about pushing snow.

I had a Woods PTO 64" snow blower for about 10 years, just sold it a year or two ago. Having used both for a decade, I actually prefer the plow (or even the bucket) for several reasons:

1. speed
2. less snow blowing back on me (no cab)
3. less time to hook it up before a storm
4. my snowblower was rear-mounted, and I got tired of going backwards

I'll admit that the snowblower was better when snow gets real deep, maybe anything over 12 inches. But storms like that have an average frequency of maybe only once per year, we get far more 4" to 10" storms, where the plow is just much faster.

Some also complain about the banks that build up along the edges of a driveway over the course of a season with a plow, which is avoided with a snowblower. But this is no issue with a loader-mounted plow, I can just raise it 6" off the ground and drive down the edge of the driveway, pushing that berm out into the lawn. In fact, I like having a bit of a snow berm along each side of the driveway, it keeps the idiot Amazon drivers off my lawn when it's soft from snow melt. They seem to have a lot of trouble staying on asphalt, around here.

 

[brenndatomu]

it keeps the idiot Amazon drivers off my lawn when it's soft from snow melt. They seem to have a lot of trouble staying on asphalt, around here.

It's not just there...they seem to like to park in the street too...usually in the dumbest spot possible...they must hire pretty much anybody.

 

[festerw]

Hey guys, seeing as how mine flexed and pushed up between the plow and keeper bar, is there a chance I'm just not screwing that keeper bar down tight enough on it? I went until the keeper was tight against the urethane, likely squeezing it only a bit, but not really squishing it into the material. Any guidance on this?

I do note that at least FallLine implies skid shoes should be left on, for all but the tiny ATV plows. My edge is 33% thicker than theirs in the 4x72-inch size, not sure if that would change the recommendation, but it's interesting that recommendations vary on the use of skid shoes with these polyurethane edges.

I never used them for either the Gator or when I had one on my Snoway on the truck.

The Snoway edge was poly but a harder black type that was pretty rigid. The FallLine edge will nearly bend into a U if you pick it up in the center but has been nearly exclusively used on asphalt with not much wear.

Like @ABMax24 mentioned you're overthinking the bolts. Just crank them down and call it good. I wouldn't bother adding any more it won't make much of a difference.

 

[SpaceBus]

I had a Woods PTO 64" snow blower for about 10 years, just sold it a year or two ago. Having used both for a decade, I actually prefer the plow (or even the bucket) for several reasons:

1. speed
2. less snow blowing back on me (no cab)
3. less time to hook it up before a storm
4. my snowblower was rear-mounted, and I got tired of going backwards

I'll admit that the snowblower was better when snow gets real deep, maybe anything over 12 inches. But storms like that have an average frequency of maybe only once per year, we get far more 4" to 10" storms, where the plow is just much faster.

Some also complain about the banks that build up along the edges of a driveway over the course of a season with a plow, which is avoided with a snowblower. But this is no issue with a loader-mounted plow, I can just raise it 6" off the ground and drive down the edge of the driveway, pushing that berm out into the lawn. In fact, I like having a bit of a snow berm along each side of the driveway, it keeps the idiot Amazon drivers off my lawn when it's soft from snow melt. They seem to have a lot of trouble staying on asphalt, around here.

We live on a gravel road with a long gravel drive, much of it pretty steep. The snowblower does a much better job. A front mount or a cab would make it more enjoyable, but when I have 1,800 feet of snow to clear, that blower is just so fast. I can only back drag with the bucket, but that works when I need it. A friend of ours tried to use his truck to clear our drive before I got the tractor, he couldn't make it up to the top with 6-8" of snow on the ground and slid backwards into a tree. Admittedly we did have some ice under the snow and no chains, but it made it clear to me that a blower was the better answer for this situation. That being said, if I can get a good deal for a used FEL mounted plow I would love to have both. Sometimes when there is just barely any snow I just use my snowblower as a pusher instead.

 

[Ashful]

You're also in Maine, and I'm in the 'burbs near Philly. While our snowfall totals are likely very similar, unless you're right on the water, yours probably tends to stick around much longer and freeze much harder than ours.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

We get a lot of wind blown snow across our driveway, so I plow to the downwind side. It really helps.

 

[Ashful]

We get some of that, but surely not as bad or as frequently as you. I do remember a storm 3-4 years ago, where all of the doors and walks we use to access the house were buried 5 - 7 feet deep, and the far side of the house used for nothing but a nice view was blown clean down to the grass. Our 36 inch storm in 1996 was similar... our road was 6 feet deep, after the wind had carried nearly all the snow off the adjacent field onto the road, buttressed by a woods on the far side of the road.

 

[SpaceBus]

You're also in Maine, and I'm in the 'burbs near Philly. While our snowfall totals are likely very similar, unless you're right on the water, yours probably tends to stick around much longer and freeze much harder than ours.

I'm 1,000 feet from a large shallow body of salt water. I think it actually makes it a bit colder around our house compared to a few miles inland along the river. Our house is about 150' ASL on a cliff/ridge and not a lot of earth before hitting bedrock. Last winter was weird, but we usually do get a nice solid freeze for a few months. Anyway, hope the plow works better for you this year!

 

[bholler]

We live on a gravel road with a long gravel drive, much of it pretty steep. The snowblower does a much better job. A front mount or a cab would make it more enjoyable, but when I have 1,800 feet of snow to clear, that blower is just so fast. I can only back drag with the bucket, but that works when I need it. A friend of ours tried to use his truck to clear our drive before I got the tractor, he couldn't make it up to the top with 6-8" of snow on the ground and slid backwards into a tree. Admittedly we did have some ice under the snow and no chains, but it made it clear to me that a blower was the better answer for this situation. That being said, if I can get a good deal for a used FEL mounted plow I would love to have both. Sometimes when there is just barely any snow I just use my snowblower as a pusher instead.

I will stick with my truck with heated cab radio and a cup holder lol.

 

[Ashful]

I will stick with my truck with heated cab radio and a cup holder lol.

No sense of adventure... didn't think you were that old yet, Ben.

 

[SpaceBus]

I will stick with my truck with heated cab radio and a cup holder lol.

Some day I'll have an electric subcompact tractor with a plow and blower. Maybe a full cab side by side. I am betting on the climate here continuing to get more and more mild as I age.

 

[bholler]

Some day I'll have an electric subcompact tractor with a plow and blower. Maybe a full cab side by side. I am betting on the climate here continuing to get more and more mild as I age.

For clearing a big area like I have a truck and plow really is the best solution.

 

[festerw]

For clearing a big area like I have a truck and plow really is the best solution.

Disagree 🤣