How much weight ?

[XTROOPER]

For my friends up North (and I guess now down South) how much weight should I use for ballast? I usually use about 10 sandbags (30-35 lbs. per bag.) I normally do use weight in the bed of the RTV 1100. I find it helps when plowing since I have the Blizzard 720Lt snowplow and it is fairly heavy.

As always, Thank You

XROOPER

 

[BaiJiu]

XTrooper I am interested in the responses as well, just yesterday I was talking to a dealer about a plow for mine and I would like to know if he was feeding me a line. His theory is that once you upgrade the front springs to suppport the plow, you should be good to go. when the plow is on the ground not much load on the RTV, when you are carrting the plow you are loading the front end. Weight in the back is for traction only.

 

[BaiJiu]

XTrooper I just thought of something else, some bags of sand are treated with salt and are meant for spreading on sidewalks etc. Had a friend once who ruined the box on his truck after purchasing a bunch of these sand bags from a local service station and not knowing this kept them in his truck all winter. Not a problem if you are loading your own bags, but if you purchase them make sure you know what you are getting. I want a Blizzard plow soooo bad.

 

[XTROOPER]

Blizzard

Baijiu, it's more like silt in these bags, I originally used them for flood control many moons ago and have not had any problems regarding the salt. However, my wife used to pull around rock salt in a radio flyer wagon, you can imagine what happened to the cute red wagon, now the the wagon is all rusted. I just got the Kubota back from the Blizzard dealer where it had some work done. The Blizzard is very heavy duty and I am extremely happy with it. It is the third plow I have had on the Kubota. I tend to bounce off of stone walls, the blizzard is designed for a Ford Ranger or a Jeep. I simply bounce off the stone wall when I get a bit too close. Rugged rig, you will be happy with it if you do get one. I would not pass on the Kubota V plow. My neighbor has one and loves it. Good luck.

XTROOPER

 

[cpsseals]

Hey XTROOPER, as a northern Canadian I could probably be sworn in as an expert witness in at field of clearing snow. And I never place any ballast in the back of my 1100. Never had a need for it with the 4WD. I've got the Kubota commercial duty plow, very similar to the one you have. Looking to replace the wear bar this season, but that's about it. Love being able to move all that snow while listening to music, cuddled in the warmth of the cab.

 

[BaiJiu]

So could you guys give the rest of us some ball park prices for these plows and what is really required when you purchase one. There just seems to be so many hidden cost when you talk to the dealers. I was talking to the Kubots dealer about their plows and I could get a home owner plow for $2500 I told him I'd heard they were too light so he says he will quote me a commercial plow price, he comes back and says I can get you one for $2500 but you have to install another hydraulic valve, wow sounds good to me. How much is the valve he says $2000. So i'm not getting the Kubota plow anytime soon.

 

[Mark.Sibole]

I use cinder blocks here.Each weighs 35 pounds and i use 5 of them for ballast.This seems at least for me a good weight and still allows me to bring up firewood to the house.With the full load of wood on it every 4th day it gives me added weight for pushing the real nasty stuff around before I unload the wood.The extra traction with the added weight and the grim reapers really bite into the snow and dosnt slip a lot at all.

 

[Mark.Sibole]

It all depends on who you talk to.Ive used my Kubots play for 8 years now and have had no problems other than me being stupid and breaking the a frame.But that was me being stupid.Under normal instances the Kubots plow should work fine.I plow out my drive way and dads place which equals about a 1/2 mile of driveway and the plow handles it just fine.I also use it in the summer for putting dirt back in the washed out driveway after storms.I heard the newer plows are beefier so thats a plus.

 

[XTROOPER]

Weight for Snow Plowing

CPSSEALS-I have a piece of rubber across the bottom of the plow blade. It was put on by the plow dealer. It is about 1 1/2 inch thick (I don't know what that would be in the metric system). I find it works really well and since I have a shale driveway, it seems to take some of the clanging out of the plowing. I will defer to you as an expert, however I got stuck twice last week because I was trying to push back the snow along my driveway far enough to have some place to put the snow we are getting tomorrow, that's supposed to be up to 10 inches. So, chains on the rear and the weight will make me feel better. Just trying to avoid having my wife tow me out with our truck. It can be a little emasculating!

XTROOPER

 

[CarrotRentals]

So could you guys give the rest of us some ball park prices for these plows and what is really required when you purchase one. There just seems to be so many hidden cost when you talk to the dealers. I was talking to the Kubots dealer about their plows and I could get a home owner plow for $2500 I told him I'd heard they were too light so he says he will quote me a commercial plow price, he comes back and says I can get you one for $2500 but you have to install another hydraulic valve, wow sounds good to me. How much is the valve he says $2000. So i'm not getting the Kubota plow anytime soon.

Here is my experience: I have the Kubota Curtis 60' Homeowmer Snow Blade for my RTV 900. Had it installed on my 2004 which required installation of the heavy duty front suspension components and I plow about 3,000 feet of 12' road way and move about 1,300 yards of snow each 12 inch snowstorm with that "light weight blade'. I should have gone with some type of Comercial blade. When the dealer specifies that an additional hyrdaulic valve is necessary that is to function Down pressure on the blade. The hydraulic pressure to angle the blade comes from the dump circuit. For my purposes down pressure is not that important, the weight of the blade is sufficient. I would go so far as to say this blade is perfect for a 'homeowner' and will last a life time, especially if stored indoors during the summer months. Here is the catch, once you get a snowblade for your RTV you are going to start plowing the neighbors' properties for $20 bucks less than their current plow guy and all of a sudden your making $$$ everytime is snows and you really are smiling as you go to the bank and now you have a commercial operation. I will never get rich doing this but it does make buying those jugs of SUDT easier.

The $2500 is in line with what I paid for the Curtis plow and it is absoultly worth it if you plow up to about 1000 feet of roadway each snow.

If you decide to go with the commercial spend you may want to consider after market options like the Boss V blade $3500 installed.

Will be a good day plowing here today.

 

[BaiJiu]

The $2500 is in line with what I paid for the Curtis plow and it is absoultly worth it if you plow up to about 1000 feet of roadway each snow.

If you decide to go with the commercial spend you may want to consider after market options like the Boss V blade $3500 installed.

Will be a good day plowing here today.

Thanks for the information CarrottRentals.

 

[bczoom]

I don't plow with my RTV but just want to toss something out about weight in the bed.

Whatever you're using for weight, be it sand, lime, salt or whatever, if its alternate purpose is to spread out for traction, you'll want to keep it dry so it's not a solid block when you need it. Consider putting in a storage locker. They're cheap ($35 for a wheeled version at WalMart).

Something like this or even a rubbermaid tub.

 

[razerface]

I plow with a Boss V blade. I installed it myself, so I have less then $2800 in it IIRC. It came with everything I needed. The mount for the kubota had to be purchased separately.

I do not use special weight in the bed to plow. What ever is in the bed usually stays there,,normally 2 or 3 chainsaws, a couple 15 ft chains, some hand tools, axes, sledge, maul, gas cans, cant hook, and other wood cutting stuff. I just look to see if any of it is ready to fall out,,,then plow.

I have been plowing snow as high as the blade this year with no problem or extra weight needed. I have had to lock in the rear end a couple times.

I like the V to bust up the really deep drifts that are higher then the blade. I can get some speed with the blade in the V position, and not worry about getting shoved sideways from an angled blade going thru at speed.

 

[Tom B]

I haven't used any weight in the bed. Here's a few from this morning, 16" @ 6:00AM.

 

[Tom B]

Second:

 

[Tom B]

Last one:

 

[BaiJiu]

Good pictures Tom, that setup seems to work well.

 

[BaiJiu]

The tote is a good idea zoom thanks, can be used all year.

 

[Tom B]

Good pictures Tom, that setup seems to work well.

It does work well, but 16" or 17" of wet, heavy snow may be near it's limit. The combination of the snow weight and a 1500' uphill climb had it struggle a little at times. It has taken care of my 3000' driveway, very well, today was the most snow we've had since I bought the 900 3 years ago.

I had a John Deere utility tractor with a 54" snow blower that went through 30" of snow without breaking a sweat, but thats apples to oranges.

Tom

 

[BaiJiu]

That's really impressive, I hate plowing wet snow, powdered snow is just fun to plow. When I get deep wet snow I use the tractor and make two passes downhill when I try coming up it doesn't plow well and makes my windrows too big.