Why it’s nice to have a working plow tractor

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

Makes it a lot easier when it’s an empty lot haha. When I pushed we did a hospital, so it was going in cirlcles around traffic in the parking lot. I didn’t mind because I was paid by the hour, but it would’ve been nice to push a little faster than 5-10mph 😂

[ebinmaine 62,952]

Back around 1990 I had several friends that went to college at various schools in Amherst Massachusetts.

 

Can't remember which one but, one of those colleges had a really need parking lot plow rig.

 

It was an old school Jeep CJ Style that was lifted several inches and had very tall thin tires.

The plow frame was a custom job that actually attached at the rear bumper. The Hydraulics were also very close to the back.

The plow it carried on the front was huge for a CJ. Maybe eight feet?

Tight turning and wide clearing area.

That particular Parking Lot had a large amount of light poles and divider Islands in it.

 

We had assumed at the time that putting all the weight of that hanging plow on the rear bumper must have been good for traction but I don't know enough about physics and levers and fulcrums to know if it really worked all that well.

 

[Pullstart 59,543]

19 hours ago, KyleLengerich said:

No joke!  One came back at me and it was like some one snowballed me point blank. But that was half way through the last driveway, so I just “pushed” through it lol. 

 

We have three elderly (75+) neighbors that I try to clear their drives before they do. The couple across the street is actually younger than me, but they have a little one and the man of the house has to plow for his employer, so I got theirs so the misses doesn’t slip with the little one. I’d rather get a brain freeze for a bit than a call that someone’s broken a hip or got a concussion because I wanted to stay warm. The blower makes it easier to do, as a kid I shoveled 5-6 drives each snow fall for the same reason. After two snow falls under 7in, I’ve done 10 drive ways and still have a 1/3rd if a tank of gas. Not half bad I think. 

 

Not sure who’s more efficient, 4 hrs plowing and here’s my gas tab..

 

 

[ohiofarmer 3,156]

 My daughter looked a lot like that with her hair frozen in place. A tied up hoodie helped some.  I kept her car in the shop out of the snow so she had it ready to attend a wedding.  We have the Stihl BR600 leaf blower, and I faced the drifts down with a concrete placing tool [come along] while she put it in the air. The snow simply vanished into the wind. That kid of mine is a beast of an athlete with many state high school appearances and a college career as well, so she showed me she still has the push to get it done. We had a ball working together. She is going to rustle an 8HP Kohler in that state up North today, so maybe I will have a dedicated plow or snowblower tractor for next year

 

  I do have a front mount plow as well as a single stage snowblower and am considering mounting one or the other. I always used a Bobcat skid steer before, but it is up at the other farm. Just struggling with having an empty trailer and truck driveshaft to pull it home at the moment.  Having no real snow events that require attention for two years running gave me a false sense of security and how things can go from bad to worse in a hurry

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

4 hours ago, pullstart said:

 

Not sure who’s more efficient, 4 hrs plowing and here’s my gas tab..

 

 

I had 3 bucks in my tank and still got about .72¢ left in there 😂

 

3 hours ago, ohiofarmer said:

 My daughter looked a lot like that with her hair frozen in place. A tied up hoodie helped some.  I kept her car in the shop out of the snow so she had it ready to attend a wedding.  We have the Stihl BR600 leaf blower, and I faced the drifts down with a concrete placing tool [come along] while she put it in the air. The snow simply vanished into the wind. That kid of mine is a beast of an athlete with many state high school appearances and a college career as well, so she showed me she still has the push to get it done. We had a ball working together. She is going to rustle an 8HP Kohler in that state up North today, so maybe I will have a dedicated plow or snowblower tractor for next year

 

  I do have a front mount plow as well as a single stage snowblower and am considering mounting one or the other. I always used a Bobcat skid steer before, but it is up at the other farm. Just struggling with having an empty trailer and truck driveshaft to pull it home at the moment.  Having no real snow events that require attention for two years running gave me a false sense of security and how things can go from bad to worse in a hurry

Our family vehicle stays in the garage, as the wife drives it every day and it’s the vehicle with the car seats. Our trucks are outside, but my FIL and I mostly drive those. 

The wind was atrocious, I’ve not been out clearing snow in wind that bad on foot in probably 20 years. We have a tractor with a plow mounted, but I noticed a few weeks ago the head gasket is toast, and I haven’t had a chance to tackle it yet. I’m hoping we get a chance to get to it sooner rather than later, but we’ll see what life throws at me between now and then. 

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Back around 1990 I had several friends that went to college at various schools in Amherst Massachusetts.

 

Can't remember which one but, one of those colleges had a really need parking lot plow rig.

 

It was an old school Jeep CJ Style that was lifted several inches and had very tall thin tires.

The plow frame was a custom job that actually attached at the rear bumper. The Hydraulics were also very close to the back.

The plow it carried on the front was huge for a CJ. Maybe eight feet?

Tight turning and wide clearing area.

That particular Parking Lot had a large amount of light poles and divider Islands in it.

 

We had assumed at the time that putting all the weight of that hanging plow on the rear bumper must have been good for traction but I don't know enough about physics and levers and fulcrums to know if it really worked all that well.

 

That sounds like a nice set up, definitely interesting. 

Like a Hotwheel using half a ruler to push 😂😂

[Pullstart 59,543]

Regarding the head gasket, I’ve gotten by with a thin film of copper rtv on either side of a decent used gasket for quite some time in one of our tractors.  In fact, I donut recall which one it was!

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

1 minute ago, pullstart said:

Regarding the head gasket, I’ve gotten by with a thin film of copper rtv on either side of a decent used gasket for quite some time in one of our tractors.  In fact, I donut recall which one it was!

I’ve got the new one, and I’ve read through the thread here about it, but I’ve been waiting until my FILs schedule and mine line up. I just want a second set of eyes (and hands) around since I’ve never done it before. Not that I don’t think I can do, just better safe than sorry. 

 

First he was ill, then I was, then the kids were, today he started a new job... fingers crossed that Wednesday/Thursday can be dedicated to it. 

[ebinmaine 62,952]

Thing I have to remember on a head installation is to follow the torque sequence and use a KNOWN GOOD torque wrench.

I had an old cheeeepo here and found it to be very inaccurate.

 

 

Its now a hammer. 

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

1 minute ago, pullstart said:

Regarding the head gasket, I’ve gotten by with a thin film of copper rtv on either side of a decent used gasket for quite some time in one of our tractors.  In fact, I donut recall which one it was!

I’ve got the new one, and I’ve read through the thread here about it, but I’ve been waiting until my FILs schedule and mine line up. I just want a second set of eyes (and hands) around since I’ve never done it before. Not that I don’t think I can do, just better safe than sorry. 

 

First he was ill, then I was, then the kids were, today he started a new job... fingers crossed that Wednesday/Thursday can be dedicated to it. 

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

3 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Thing I have to remember on a head installation is to follow the torque sequence and use a KNOWN GOOD torque wrench.

I had an old cheeeepo here and found it to be very inaccurate.

 

 

Its now a hammer. 

You can never have too many hammers 

 

 

 

[bottjernat1 2,189]

5 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Thing I have to remember on a head installation is to follow the torque sequence and use a KNOWN GOOD torque wrench.

I had an old cheeeepo here and found it to be very inaccurate.

 

 

Its now a hammer. 

I fully agree with you cheap tools can get you cheap results. I got my my late dads snap on torque wrenches they are awesome. 

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

I’m pretty sure the old man had a quality torque wrench around... he doesn’t do cheap tools for the very reason you said @bottjernat1  

If we don’t, I’ll be buying myself an early birthday present. 

[ebinmaine 62,952]

1 minute ago, KyleLengerich said:

I’m pretty sure the old man had a quality torque wrench around... he doesn’t do cheap tools for the very reason you said @bottjernat1  

If we don’t, I’ll be buying myself an early birthday present. 

I don't do any work here that requires extreme precision and accuracy but I did want to at least get them close to correct.

 

I picked up an old school lever type torque wrench. I'm pretty sure it was less than $20 at the parts place.

 

[bottjernat1 2,189]

1 minute ago, KyleLengerich said:

I’m pretty sure the old man had a quality torque wrench around... he doesn’t do cheap tools for the very reason you said @bottjernat1  

If we don’t, I’ll be buying myself an early birthday present. 

He use to buy straight snap on tools for years then in later years he was buying craftsman . he found out with atleast the wrenches and sockets he was getting the same quality or seemed to be but half the cost. I got all of my late dads tools after he passed away i cherish everyone of them! Now saying all of that i have been impressed with the 301 piece set of harbor freight tools i bought in 2016. it is all in 1 case it has about everything i need to work on customers stuff when i go to there house to fix something. i have only broke 1 screwdriver so far. i have used the sockets in this set on my snap on impact and they have held up so far. i abuse tools sometimes. LOL

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

1 minute ago, bottjernat1 said:

 i abuse tools sometimes. LOL

😂

 

My old man was a Craftsman junky, the FIL is too. If we have one, I’d bet a dollar it’s a Craftsman lol. 

 

7 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I don't do any work here that requires extreme precision and accuracy but I did want to at least get them close to correct.

 

I picked up an old school lever type torque wrench. I'm pretty sure it was less than $20 at the parts place.

 

Leaves plenty of change for other presents that way 🤔😂😂