I've been plowing snow this winter with my JD 345 and 48" snow blade on the front of it. It does well in the snow, in order to transport it, I have to get it up on the trailer. Now the blade doesn't come but around 2" or a little more off the ground in the first place, and I put a rubber gaurd for the bottom of the blade so it doesn't damage blacktop surfaces badly. Anyway, the trailer gate is obviously at an incline, and this makes loading difficult.
I have to first lube the blade and gate with a little snow and then practically ram the blade up the gate at full speed on the tractor to get up the incline. (the front wheels have to come off the ground at one point while rear wheels try to push rest of tractor up the gate) This is possible for me after a few tries, but I hate having to do it because I know this is hard on my machine.
I've tried backin it on the trailer which would be easier if there wasn't ice on the trailer floor boards which usually at some point make the back wheels start to spin and the tractor cannout make the full incline.
I do take a cement block and raise the trailer with the jack while it is hooked to the truck to a better suited incline for the 345, but it's still hard on equipment and I need a better way of loading if I ever get many snow removal jobs in the future.
Any suggestions?
Thanx!
__________________
Kevin Rumsey
The Mean Green Cut
Sounds to me like the blade is'nt raising high enough, Two inches off the ground does'nt sound right. I have the 54" blade on my 420 with hydraulic angle and it raises a good 12-16 inches off the ground. I would try to back up to a moderate snow pile and just drive it on. Guess it would be better to find someone with a similar set-up and talk to them but I think a blade that only clears the ground by 2" would be a joke. I would be stuck all the time with that clearence. Do you use weights and chains? I have A 70 lb. starter wieght and two 50 lb. wieghts in each wheel with chains it will push until I stop it!
I didn't have to transport it, I just used it here at home.
Now I have the Kioti, and I haven't used the JD with the plow in a good while.
The only thing you could do would be raise the front of the trailer up by the jack, or park with the rear tires elevated to drop the end of the trailer.
The way the lift is designed on the 345, about 2-3 inches is all you can get.
AltaLawnCare is correct, two to three inches is about all I can get. I have a JD X485 that I'd just love to put a front blade on, but I don't have enough money for that because my local dealer listed it to me at $2500 with installation.
You guys mentioned raising the front end of the trailer with the jack, which I have done and it's a big help, but I still have ram the darned thing on there.
I have two rear wheel weights on there (my dealer told me these were 80 lbs. when I bought them) and I figure the barred tires work fine in the snow.
Thanks for your help guys.
__________________
Kevin Rumsey
The Mean Green Cut
AltaLawnCare, how the heck did you get a 72 inch (6ft.) front end blade on your 345? I though 48 inches was as big as they went!
That's gigantic for a little 345!
__________________
Kevin Rumsey
The Mean Green Cut
went plowing today and I've found a solution to my loading problem...I've put chains on the rear tires and have been backing the 345 onto my trailer which is a heck of a lot easier on my tractor. Thank you for all your input.
Alta,
link doesn't work...it says that it cannot find such a page.
__________________
Kevin Rumsey
The Mean Green Cut
Linear Mode
