V-Plow Better Than Blowing Snow

V-Plow Better Than Blowing Snow SNOWBLOWERS Gerry Hawkes Woodstock Vt : “I’ll never return to a rear-mounted snowblower after adapting a Fisher V-plow to the front-end loader on my tractor It’s far easier to move snow plowing forward than blowing snow backward     “My Kubota is set up for working in the woods with heavy-duty mesh screens on the cab instead of windows I would get so coated with blowing snow that I looked like a snowman The blowing snow would obstruct my vision and I was forever stopping If a rock or stick got sucked into the blower I’d have to stop and replace a shear pin barehanded in the cold     “I modified a quick attach bracket to mount the V-plow with a pivot so it follows the ground A pair of retainer chains prevents it from flopping down when I lift it with the loader I can raise and lower it with the loader hydraulics and tilt the plow up straight ahead or down to float across the ground     “I ran hoses from the tractor’s rear remotes to operate the configuration of the blades They’re bungee-tied to one side of the safety cab and the loader arms I can tilt the ends of the blades forward to gather the snow or back to push the snow to either side     “Mounted to the loader the blade sticks out 8 or 9 ft in front of the front wheels I can push back snowbanks several feet beyond the front wheels and push snow into piles a dozen feet high     “If the snowbank is too big it can force the tractor to slide to the side I lift the loader push the top section forward and then make a second pass to push the bottom portion     “When I’ve pushed snow into a big pile I can raise the blade up to 12 ft in the air and push over the top before the front wheels hit the bottom     “To get needed traction I usually mount a 1 200-lb mulcher on my 3-pt hitch It counterbalances the V-plow without putting weights on the wheels     “With four control valves for the loader and the V-plow reattaching hoses can get confusing each winter Instead of trying to recall what goes where I put a single zip tie on the hose that connects to the first position two zip ties on the second and so on Once everything is hooked up I zip-tie the two valves for the V-plow together so I can push them simultaneously to change the shape of the blades     “I keep a Tajfun winch on the back of the tractor with a chainsaw in a scabbard If I happen to slide off the road I can winch myself back on If a limb or tree is down I can cut it up and continue plowing ”

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.