Super Scooper thoughts

[ebinmaine 75,775]

 

 

 

@JoeM

[SylvanLakeWH 29,847]

looks great!

 

I don't think the slight blade side movement is a big deal. Frame stability yes.

 

Id keep angle bar on. It could be functional in some instances.

 

Leave springs - why not?

 

Big plows have rubber flaps across top. I'd go with what you have for a bolt on 6-8" over hang...

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:35 PM by SylvanLakeWH

[ebinmaine 75,775]

11 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

don't think the slight blade side movement is a big deal.

 

My concern there is, keeping in mind that this whole assembly needs to follow a fore n aft line of movement with the tractor, the bottom skids will wear prematurely and grab things in the pathways if they're not straight.  

[JoeM 9,320]

I like it, nice to see them in use. 

Yep need to add on the top of the blade. 

I am going to follow this one because I am kicking around another setup for the FEL

Can't wait to see an action vid!

 

 

Here they are before they migrated north east.

[Handy Don 15,205]

I endorse fixing the anti-wiggle bracket, even though you won’t be casting snow to either side. 

 

Power and traction you’ve got aplenty so raising the top (and sides?) to permit a larger volume of snow-- sure!

 

As for the springs, even with the side rails, they could ease the impact of catching the bottom on something--the motion would pivot around the leading corners of the sides. Another possibility?  Remove them to would allow the blade to “float” in conformance with terrain. You would need a chain or cable to limit the “droop” so you could lift the plow completely off the ground. 

Edited Saturday at 09:07 PM by Handy Don

[ebinmaine 75,775]

46 minutes ago, JoeM said:

an action vid!

 

 

I'll try to remember to get one for you tomorrow. 

 

 

43 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Remove [the springs]  would allow the blade to “float” in conformance with terrain. You would need a chain or cable to limit the “droop” so you could lift the plow completely off the ground. 

 

Now that's an interesting thought! 

[ri702bill 10,578]

Eric - you more than doubled the force on the Unidrive bracket with the scoop compared to a regular 42" plow with all that mass of snow.

My concern is our old friend the "F" plate getting cracked and failing. WH used to offer a plate reinforcement kit, but it is NLA...

You saw my diagonal bolt-in braces on my C81 and the 854 8 speed. That stops the plate flex. Maybe you will want to do something similar??

 

Side plates - how about a lower side pivot in line with the trip rod centerline and the top one rides in a radiused "smiley face" cutout following the motion of the plow to allow the blade to trip, yet the sides remain on the ground and upright??

[ebinmaine 75,775]

3 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Eric - you more than doubled the force on the Unidrive bracket with the scoop compared to a regular 42" plow with all that mass of snow.

My concern is our old friend the "F" plate getting cracked and failing. WH used to offer a plate reinforcement kit, but it is NLA...

You saw my diagonal bolt-in braces on my C81 and the 854 8 speed. That stops the plate flex. Maybe you will want to do something similar??

 

This is the tractor we built a few years ago specifically with plowing snow in mind. 

The frame F plate is already doubled up. 

Remember... I've been using the BIG 60" wide plow for a couple seasons.  

 

3 hours ago, ri702bill said:

 

Side plates - how about a lower side pivot in line with the trip rod centerline and the top one rides in a radiused "smiley face" cutout following the motion of the plow to allow the blade to trip, yet the sides remain on the ground and upright??

 

In principle I like the idea of having the center moldboard free to pivot forward and keeping the sides free to pivot on their own. I did try to set it up as such. 

 

However.... in actual practical usage that just doesn't work. 

The side plates are just plain floppy if I leave them ANY kind of loose enough to pivot.  

 

 

That said.... the ability to trip this plow is really no longer necessary. We've been maintaining and modifying the yard to make it as plow friendly as possible for 6 or 8 years. 

 

 

[JoeM 9,320]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

the center moldboard free to pivot forward and keeping the sides free to pivot on their own

Interested in this. Original thought was to have the sides pivot and follow the contour of the ground, but not flop down and hit the ground when raised.

Looks like that was unnecessary. Looking at all the commercial ones, they are all fixed. Maybe a little over thinking? 

 

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

ability to trip this plow

I have been plowing the same driveways for almost 4 decades. I can only remember my plow tripping once and that was recent using the FEL. Was at the neighbors approach and the state road was redone by the state. I had a lot of down pressure and caught the edge where the did not do a good job matching it up.

Shucks, I had and original plow that was fixed with no springs for 15 years. Pushed dirt in summer, snow in winter. It had an 11 ga blade for snow,  and a 1/2" one dirt.

 

 

[ebinmaine 75,775]

4 hours ago, JoeM said:

Interested in this. Original thought was to have the sides pivot and follow the contour of the ground, but not flop down and hit the ground when raised.

Looks like that was unnecessary. Looking at all the commercial ones, they are all fixed. Maybe a little over thinking? 

 

I like the idea.... but not the reality. So I'd say over thinking 🤔 is accurate here.  

 

There are commercially available PLOWS that have folding sides, thereby creating a scoop.  The ones I've seen do still have the whole width as a solid connection. No up/down or pivoting is between the center and side pieces. 

Again  - as near as I can tell  - there's very limited or no tripping mechanism while in "scoop mode"

 

 

I did get a suggestion from a YT comment about the possibilities of using buckles & cables to brace the back from the small amount of twist. 

Install a cable on each side pulling against each other. Movement eliminated. 

 

[JoeM 9,320]

22 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Install a cable on each side pulling against each other. Movement eliminated.

Your talking about the movement in the pivot bolt area? Might just try to tighten the bolt up to prevent swivel. just thinking again. 

[ebinmaine 75,775]

7 minutes ago, JoeM said:

Your talking about the movement in the pivot bolt area? Might just try to tighten the bolt up to prevent swivel. just thinking again. 

 

I'll look at that... not sure I could get it that tight though. 🤔 

[Lee1977 7,456]

EB I.ve seen pictures of you dog, I don't think it's that big,

[JoeM 9,320]

On 12/14/2025 at 8:38 AM, ebinmaine said:

I'll look at that... not sure I could get it that tight though

I was plowing the other day with the FEL and noticeg the plow swivel bolt is loose intentionally. It allowed the blade to ride the ground contour and self level as compared to the frame. The blade at the ends could tip about 2 inches. 

Just something to think about. 

[ebinmaine 75,775]

18 minutes ago, JoeM said:

I was plowing the other day with the FEL and noticeg the plow swivel bolt is loose intentionally. It allowed the blade to ride the ground contour and self level as compared to the frame. The blade at the ends could tip about 2 inches. 

Just something to think about. 

 

 

Good info. Thank you.

[Handy Don 15,205]

4 hours ago, JoeM said:

I was plowing the other day with the FEL and noticeg the plow swivel bolt is loose intentionally. It allowed the blade to ride the ground contour and self level as compared to the frame. The blade at the ends could tip about 2 inches. 

Just something to think about. 

Interesting observation, Joe.

@ebinmaine gifted me a very tired 1963 snow blade surplus to his needs (Thanks again, EB). On this style of blade the quadrant bracket “sandwiches” the end of the frame with wide flanges to aid rotational stability (on newer blades, the frame sandwiches the quadrant).

While replacing missing parts and making repairs I discovered the shoulder-style pivot bolt had been replaced with a fully threaded bolt which had worn through the threads and wallowed out where it fit in the quadrant and the frame. The slop was a lot more than two inches! This year, with a friends help, I reinforced the flanges, rebushed the frame and quadrant pivot points, and have a Grade 5 shoulder bolt. 

After two sessions of plowing with the new setup I see that there is about an inch of free rotation at the blade end from play in the pivot, but then the frame itself twists a bit to add another inch or so. Rotated positions now hold precisely.

Edited Tuesday at 03:29 PM by Handy Don