Go Bottom9 Snowplow on L4330
 | HuckMeat
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 121 Colorado 
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2006-12-06 137687
I'm suspecting this might be too big, I found a 9' Meyer C9 snowplow and would like to cut up and weld the mount onto a quick tach plate for my L4330/LA853 Loader for now.
Is this too big? I don't really need one that big, it's just for sale at a good price locally. I don't want to damage anything, but I wouldn't be moving too fast with it obviously, just wanting to have an angled blade in front of the tractor to scrape 1500-2000 feet of driveway (I've been doing it with my loader and a murf pipe up till now).
Any suggestions on the best "stock truck" mount to use as a starting point when building my quick-attach mount?
Once I get my '86 Ford F250 6.9 head gasket fixed, I'd buy a mount for it and move the plow there, but that might be a while at the current rate of project completion.
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa 
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2006-12-07 137689
Huck; Correct me if I'm wrong but a 4330 is about 43 horse and weighs a short 3500 lbs. A 9ft. blade is prtty wide and depending what it came off from likely has a pretty heavy frame involved. Do you know how much it weighs? I think you may bwe overloading the front axle of your tractor, and would need enough rear weights to make the whole unit overwhelm the ability of your tractor. Just my thoughts. Frank. ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2006-12-07 137704
Huck, first of all, you don't say so, but it sounds like you want to do something similar to that shown in my picture # 15?
If that's the case, you want neither of a "stock mount" nor a 9' blade..... It won't work.
It will be too big and too heavy. You want nothing bigger than a 7.5' wide plow, in fact if you get much accumulation in a single shot, you might want to look around for a 6' or 7' blade. All you need to do is cover the width of the outsides of the tires with the blade angled.
You won't have much luck with a 9'er on your pickup either.
I have a 9.5' V-plow on my dually, and it is heavily tweaked, it puts about 325+ hp on the ground. In much of a snow storm it is REALLY working with a blade full of snow.
Best of luck. ....
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| HuckMeat
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 121 Colorado
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2006-12-07 137706
Yep, the murf pipe did so well, I thought I'd upgrade to a blade. I was planning on building exactly like your rig - I'll pass on the the 9' blade.
I found a cheapo 7' "snow bear" personal snowplow used for $250. If I add a quick-tach plate and some steel, I thoink I could finish it for $400. Not sure the blade is heavy enough for long term usage though.
Generally we don't get more than 4-8" ever, and it melts off after a week or so. If we get a big dump, I'll switch to a loader blade and spend a few hours.
Art,
I'm trying to grease up my loader valve with with lithium grease to prevent freezing, but have been thwarted by the cover removal. Any hints there?, and I assume, the idea is to put a thin layer on the linkages and valve pistons so that water can't get in there and freeze. I'm using my tractor to dig my barn/shop footings, so it will be in the weather for another month or two. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2006-12-07 137712
Huck, first off, yes, unless you're very gentle you don't want a snow bear plow.
Secondly, what cover are you talking about on your FEL valve? Do you mean the little rubber boots?
BTW, in all the years we plowed commercially, we never had a problem with FEL valves, as the machine warms up, the fluid does too, and it heats the valve from the inside out.
Best of luck. ....
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 | earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2006-12-07 137718
Huck my buddy has a smallish skid steer (New Holland LS170) that he mounted his entire snow plow A-frame on. He retained the bucket and welded ears inside the bucket in the same places that would be on the truck carriage, so he can switch the plow between truck and skid steer. Depending on the type of snow, he can also lock in place the front of the A-frame to the bucket to make it rigid--otherwise the plow is allowed to float pivoting at the back of the bucket. He connected the hyd. aux. lines to the plow angling cylinders. Makes for a sweet set-up as he can pile snow 12-14 high. In fact he should be plowing tonite with no enclosed cab or heat. And he laughed at me when I bought mine with cab and heat. ha! ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2006-12-08 137727
Huck, I go with the flow here on the blade for sure as bing that far out in front of the tractor with any amount of snow it would just push the front the opposite of the angle. Been there with an 8' blade that was mounted to the loader arms with hydraulic angle. The caps on the bottom of the valve should either screw on or have allen head bolts holding them on. Its not a matter of just coating them we actually nearly fill them. ....
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| HuckMeat
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 121 Colorado
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2006-12-09 137804
How does this sound:
I found a 7' western plow locally with angle cylinders and the A frame, but no truck mounts or power unit (which I dont think I need). I'd mount this to a bobcat quick-tach plate such that it can float up and down, and use a section of chain to keep it from falling when I raise it. Use a pin to set the angle, unless you guys think I can use a the valves from the loader bucket to adjust the angle?
For a gravel drive I was going to add a rubber wiper and skidshoes?
Art,
Thanks for the pointers - My valve freezes when we get cold wet snows (temps below 10) and it takes idling about an hour before the fluid warms up enough to operate it. Is it water freezing and blocking things, or just cold hf? ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2006-12-10 137805
1. You can use the loader valve for controlling the angling. I'd install quick-couplers to make changing between the blade and the bucket easier. No need for the power unit at all. And remember that a floating blade is not necessarily a good thing, esp. on gravel that hasn't froze yet as it will submarine. And you have to keep the attitude of the plow exactly as it was designed to fit a truck. Otherwise, the angle of attack will be off and it will dig into one corner or the other more. Also, instead of plowing you'll end up jacking up the loader and digging in.
2. You need weight out front to keep traction on the front for traction and steering, so I'd keep the bucket and use the ears inside the bucket to mount the plow like I mentioned earlier. If you did it this way you won't need keeper chains as it will rest on the cutting edge. And this will prevent or reduce submarining.
3. Skid shoes while good for hard packed snow or ice are useless on gravel. Once the drive freezes you won't need skid shoes anyway.
4. A rubber cutting edge is a good idea if you have pavement protrusions or concrete that will catch on the steel cutting edge. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and in fact will reduce the effectiveness of the blade to clear ice. But if you're dead-set on doing it, all you gotta do is remove the existing steel one and use it as a template for the rubber, add some rubber at least 1/2" thick or more (from a small car radial tire tread or thick conveyor belt) and extend it past the steel about an 1-1/2" or so---the more it protrudes the more it will flop back which isn't best--has to be stiff going forward. Then reinstall the steel edge.
5. Rear counterweight isn't a bad idea either. ....
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| Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2006-12-10 137819
With warming and cooling they actually fill with condensation! We have tried small holes on the bottom to drain which worked with some satisfaction but the best thing we've found is to fill with a grease and then it helps to cut the condensation and helps keep everything moving well. If you do see signs of rust you should clean that out before filling with grease and installing. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2006-12-11 137837
For my two cents worth.....
The FEL arms alone, plus the weight of the QT plate, and the part of the plow frame it carries will be more than enough front end ballast.
You will definitely need 3pth ballast though. I usually leave the box blade on the 3pth, it weighs about 1,000 pounds. If I trailer the machine away somewhere, I put on the 3pth ballast box, it weighs about 700 pounds, but I can hydraulically move it out away from the 3pth and effectively increase that a bit by leverage.
From a visibility point of view, mounting the blade inside the bucket is a PITA, the bucket blocks your view of the blade and usually means the blade hits the corner of the bucket before it can fully angle.
The angle of the blade can be done two ways, tap into the bucket curl circuit, or run lines from a rear remote, I have done both, either one works fine.
Best of luck. ....
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