312H snow plowing

[Ed Kennell 44,067]

We got about 5" of pretty dense snow from this mornings storm.    So I decided to video the 312H with foot pedal motion control.    The video is 7 minutes long, so get comfortable.  It took 7 minutes to clear one of the 5 paved driveways about an hour total  for all fiveand another 30 minutes to clear the stone road.    You can see the speed and ease of raising and lowering the plow and constant changing of direction.   This would probably take an hour with a gear drive and manual lift.

 

The stone road cleared in 30 minutes.

 

Sorry, 5" snow wasn't enough to justify firing up the Ber Vac Deuce.

 

 

 

[rjg854 12,716]

On 1/6/2025 at 2:58 PM, Ed Kennell said:

Sorry, 5" snow wasn't enough to justify firing up the Ber Vac Deuce.

 

 

 

I bet you'd like to see what that baby would do 😜 

[JCM 10,482]

You can tell you have some hours under your belt plowing snow. Those 312 's are a really great tractor for many tasks with super fuel economy.  Nicely set up rig. Great job ED !

[Achto 30,427]

Thanks for the video !!

 

Little jealous, all we have is cold. No snow to play with.

[leabassett@sbcglobal.net 157]

My gear drive 312-8 did good last year. This year I have a John Deere 140 with a 54" blade and full up/down and Left/right hydraulics. Hope this helps this old man some this year. The manual up/down and left/right gets old fast.

[Brockport Bill 2,174]

nice job Ed -- i love to see a grown man who knows his plowing technique and looks like he is enjoying himself - sweet WH video!!!  ------------ got my 312 - 8 new in 1989 -- plowed with it till 2 yrs ago -- did awesome job -- but then switched to c175h -- my lumbar lower back couldn't take the stress of the manual lift anymore -- my L4 disc is much happier now with driveway plow chores using the hydro lift on the c175h

[ML3 2,074]

I got same issue with the manual lift on my 654. If i can't come up with a easy solution to raise/lower blade with a winch or linear actuator idea may need to get a hydro. I like the small size of the 654 & it's a very reliable tractor despite the age. 

[peter lena 9,641]

 @Ed Kennell    @Brockport Bill  ED thank you for the plowing definition ! obviousely  experience / set up  makes it look very easy , something that stood out to me was the snow blade lubrication release , that also applies to @Brockport Bill  , often  refer to  slick blade is like free HP ,  that and knowing  how / where  to  put  snow  in initial plowing  cut is critical , over plowing  , getting a  far edge , on movement , thats exactify  what you want  !  watch too many  lock themselves in on plowing  foundation , you know its going to  freeze solid , often refer to sun helping me out , know exactly  where its  going to be , thats where I  load up , sun melt down to  street drain . all we are getting is dusting / cold , pete  

[Ed Kennell 44,067]

12 hours ago, Brockport Bill said:

 take the stress of the manual lift anymore -- my L4 disc is much happier now with driveway plow chores using the hydro lift on the c175h

 

39 minutes ago, ML3 said:

may need to get a hydro.

 

We all need a hydro and hyd. lift.   Just takes some of us longer to realize it.

[MainelyWheelhorse 2,290]

 

After a couple hours of operating this even at 44, I definitely wouldn’t mind a hydraulic/electric lift.

[davem1111 2,262]

On 1/6/2025 at 2:58 PM, Ed Kennell said:

....foot pedal motion control...

You can see the speed and ease of raising and lowering the plow and constant changing of direction.   This would probably take an hour with a gear drive and manual lift.

 

 

I used to plow with my 312-A (Eaton 700, no hydro lift) when that was all I had.  Plowed with the GT-1848 yesterday and that was much better, but wishing I had a foot pedal on it, because switching hands around between steering wheel, lift handle, hydro control handle, and blade angle handle was still a pain. I have an "experimental" foot pedal on my "517-H" (repowered 520-H), but its carb is all over the workbench right now, and doesn't have Ags but I could put the chains on it.... Maybe by the next snow I'll have hydro lift AND foot control...  I highly recommend going for this configuration to anyone thinking about or working on a snow plowing tractor project. Especially if, like Ed oh, that was Bill, you have any back issues, or in my case, chronic left shoulder pain - manual lift would *not* fly for me right now.

 

Kinda wishing I had fixed the "flag" bar on the single-stage snow thrower I have, since we got nearly 10" it would have been nice to use as a first pass an inch or 2 up (gravel driveway), then hit it with the plow. Another project on the "to do" list.  

Edited January 7, 2025 by davem1111

[davem1111 2,262]

6 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

We all need a hydro and hyd. lift.   Just takes some of us longer to realize it.

 

I think there are some among us who would prefer having an 8-speed AND hydro lift, and I can see the reasoning there.  I guess one could always add an aftermarket hydraulic pump to a  XXX-8 tractor. Would need some fab work, for sure.

[Ed Kennell 44,067]

13 minutes ago, davem1111 said:

hydro lift AND foot control...  I highly recommend going for this

Yep, Right hand on steering wheel,  left hand on lift control, right foot on motion control pedal, and left foot available to push neutral/brake pedal.   

Efficient non-stop snow removal.

[Ed Kennell 44,067]

I fired up the 520H and gave the Ber Vac Deuce a little exercise blowing out some mail boxes that were buried by the state plows.  This is really hard packed stuff.

Sorry for the shaky video. Guess I need one more hand instead of hanging the camera around my neck.

 

 

The wind blew the flat areas clear and deposited it around the buildings.

Outside temp was 24F.    After 30 minutes the cab was near 50F.

 

 

 

[Alrashid2 433]

Awesome! I finally got to plow this week with the plow that @davem1111 sold me - thanks Dave!

 

The horse plowed flawlessly! Unfortunately I got distracted from sharing as immediately after I realized the load of plowing only increased the blowby my old Kohler has and oil was pushing out of every seam of the engine... Need to look into as a rebuild is just out of the question for me unfortunately.

 

Here's a video at least !

[kpinnc 16,498]

2 hours ago, Alrashid2 said:

The horse plowed flawlessly!

 

Looks like fun!

 

I'm almost jealous of you guys playing in the snow. 

 

...almost. 

[Handy Don 15,593]

On 1/7/2025 at 8:13 AM, ML3 said:

I got same issue with the manual lift on my 654. If i can't come up with a easy solution to raise/lower blade with a winch or linear actuator idea may need to get a hydro. I like the small size of the 654 & it's a very reliable tractor despite the age. 

The challenge of actuators is speed vs. power. You get one or the other except at the very high cost end. Also remember that they don’t go a lot faster “down” than “up” since the motor is driving in both directions. Hydraulics rule for a reason! 

 

@SylvanLakeWH has some winch experience! I’ve wondered if mounting the winch off the back end of the plow frame and running the cable forward under the tractor, around a pulley fixed to the plow frame, and then up to one of the rock shaft arms would make a “removable”, plow-only solution that doesn’t encumber the tractor. 

 

Another option is the self-contained electro/hydro setup you see on commercial blades. I’ve seen a couple at flea markets and CL for modest money.

 

[SylvanLakeWH 30,121]

41 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

@SylvanLakeWH has some winch experience! I’ve wondered if mounting the winch off the back end of the plow frame and running the cable forward under the tractor, around a pulley fixed to the plow frame, and then up to one of the rock shaft arms would make a “removable”, plow-only solution that doesn’t encumber the tractor.

 

I do...

 

Here's my set ups:

 

Both front and back work quite well...

[Handy Don 15,593]

33 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Both front and back work quite well...

Winch sizes, speeds, and max amp draw?

[SylvanLakeWH 30,121]

23 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Winch sizes, speeds, and max amp draw?

I've used 2000 lbs twice and 2500 lbs once. Only reason for 2500 was it was on a blowout sale... No issues with either one.