This weekend we got around 12 inches of snow,YE-HAA time tosome serious snow plowing[8-|]To make a long story short I lost one of the snow shoes off the curtis plow.The curtis plowis sold threw kubota dealerships here in michigan,anyway the cost of the new shoe is $28 bucks.The shoe is held in place by a small cotter pin.My advice is tape the end of the cotterpin on theend if you don,t want to lose a $28 dollar shoe.[:'(]coobie</P>
RTV 900 & Curtis snowplow
- Thread starter coobie
- Start date
I plow with the Curtis also on my RTV. I mangled, bent, restrightened, reinstalled many times, and finally just took them off. The blade bounces on the hard-packed snow layer now, and it does a good job. Before the snow is perminantly on the ground , the blade may dig into the dirt without the buttons. Just pull up on the blade slightly with the controls, till its Just floating.
Hope you hve the hyd. controlls for it. Its a MUST HAVE for the set-up.
Jeff
Hope you hve the hyd. controlls for it. Its a MUST HAVE for the set-up.
Jeff
I finally got to work the Curtis snow plow this weekend. I noticed the electric lift is slow and some times I have to back up if pushing into a large pile in order to lift. I also noticed that when the blade is turned all the way to clear off the long drive - the snow doesn't seem to slide off the blade. It ends up with a large pile in front and eventually gets forced off. Snow also seems to really stick to the blade and I end up getting of and cleaning it off a couple times.
My questions are:
1) Has anyone replaced the electric lift with hydraulic? I was thinking of getting diverter valve and using the bed dump lever to raise/lower the blade. Bed is not in use when in "snow mode"
2) Am I doing something wrong when blade is turned? It does seem to work a little better if I move along pretty fast in medium. Compared to the blade being turned on the tractor, the snow just doesn't move to the side very well.
Thanks guys!
My questions are:
1) Has anyone replaced the electric lift with hydraulic? I was thinking of getting diverter valve and using the bed dump lever to raise/lower the blade. Bed is not in use when in "snow mode"
2) Am I doing something wrong when blade is turned? It does seem to work a little better if I move along pretty fast in medium. Compared to the blade being turned on the tractor, the snow just doesn't move to the side very well.
Thanks guys!
[quote user="DigOrange"]1) Has anyone replaced the electric lift with hydraulic? I was thinking of getting diverter valve and using the bed dump lever to raise/lower the blade. Bed is not in use when in "snow mode"
2) Am I doing something wrong when blade is turned? It does seem to work a little better if I move along pretty fast in medium. Compared to the blade being turned on the tractor, the snow just doesn't move to the side very well.
Thanks guys![/quote]
I don't recall seeing a hyd lift. I believe it's common for turning the blade but not lifting it. I may be wrong on this.
With any blade, speed is going to be your friend when moving snow. Within reason, the faster the better. Too slow and it'll definitely pile up in front of you.
2) Am I doing something wrong when blade is turned? It does seem to work a little better if I move along pretty fast in medium. Compared to the blade being turned on the tractor, the snow just doesn't move to the side very well.
Thanks guys![/quote]
I don't recall seeing a hyd lift. I believe it's common for turning the blade but not lifting it. I may be wrong on this.
With any blade, speed is going to be your friend when moving snow. Within reason, the faster the better. Too slow and it'll definitely pile up in front of you.
KubotaTechnician
Member
Curtis isn't a bad product. But the Blizzard plow, model 680, would give you quick attachment, hydraulic lift, hydraulic angle, and a completely self contained unit. Yes, we're a dealer, so I speak with some bias, but its well placed. I've installed 10 of these this season, and they work very well on the RTV.
[quote user="KubotaTechnician"]Curtis isn't a bad product. But the Blizzard plow, model 680, would give you quick attachment, hydraulic lift, hydraulic angle, and a completely self contained unit. Yes, we're a dealer, so I speak with some bias, but its well placed. I've installed 10 of these this season, and they work very well on the RTV.[/quote]I also looked at the blizzard 680 before I bought the curtis.The 2 kubota dealers I spoke with wanted $3,000 grand for the blizzard 680 installed.I couldnot justify payng that much $$.coobie.
KubotaTechnician
Member
I completely understand the cost reasoning. However, I often wonder on my own projects if I had bought the model that had all the features I wanted, rather than the one that I had to modify, where I'd be on the numbers. </P>
What was the cost on the Curtis plow for the RTV?</P>
What was the cost on the Curtis plow for the RTV?</P>
[quote user="KubotaTechnician"]
I completely understand the cost reasoning. However, I often wonder on my own projects if I had bought the model that had all the features I wanted, rather than the one that I had to modify, where I'd be on the numbers. </P>
What was the cost on the Curtis plow for the RTV?</P>[/quote]The curtis plow was half the price,installed was $1500 with the electric lift.I amwith you on the projects thing.I try to buy quality equipment,I also bought a Kubota 326 pro ZTRabout 6 months afterbought my RTV 900,its a very heavy duty ZTR.I hate to be cheap and pay for it later with a breakdown.coobie[
]
I completely understand the cost reasoning. However, I often wonder on my own projects if I had bought the model that had all the features I wanted, rather than the one that I had to modify, where I'd be on the numbers. </P>
What was the cost on the Curtis plow for the RTV?</P>[/quote]The curtis plow was half the price,installed was $1500 with the electric lift.I amwith you on the projects thing.I try to buy quality equipment,I also bought a Kubota 326 pro ZTRabout 6 months afterbought my RTV 900,its a very heavy duty ZTR.I hate to be cheap and pay for it later with a breakdown.coobie[
]KubotaTechnician
Member
A couple of things:</P>
First, we also handle Curtis, but because of the electric lift and a number of other things, management has decided that the Blizzard is the better unit.I also understand the price difference.</P>
As to the question on lifting the Curtis: In my opinion, you should have no problem using the existing hydraulic pump on the RTV. If your RTV is like all that I've seen, you have quick disconnects at the rear of the machine. Routing a set of hoses to the front of the machine from the QD's would allow you to use the dump lever to control plow height. The dump lever has a float position that would be ideal for a plow. </P>
As to the actual installation of hoses, there are a number of ways it could be done. Easiest would be simply to go under the entire RTV. However, if having hydraulic hoses under the RTV unprotected is an issue, removing the floor mat reveals the hose/wire races under the mat that allow access to front and rear of machine through the cab. This would put the hoses in a protected environment.</P>
First, we also handle Curtis, but because of the electric lift and a number of other things, management has decided that the Blizzard is the better unit.I also understand the price difference.</P>
As to the question on lifting the Curtis: In my opinion, you should have no problem using the existing hydraulic pump on the RTV. If your RTV is like all that I've seen, you have quick disconnects at the rear of the machine. Routing a set of hoses to the front of the machine from the QD's would allow you to use the dump lever to control plow height. The dump lever has a float position that would be ideal for a plow. </P>
As to the actual installation of hoses, there are a number of ways it could be done. Easiest would be simply to go under the entire RTV. However, if having hydraulic hoses under the RTV unprotected is an issue, removing the floor mat reveals the hose/wire races under the mat that allow access to front and rear of machine through the cab. This would put the hoses in a protected environment.</P>
KubotaTechnician
Member
Meyer has a paint they call "Sno Flo yellow". It is supposed to make snow slip right off. Other than that, if the blade is warm, you'll have a problem with snow sticking regardless of chemical applied. It'll just be a more or lessor degree of problem.
I lost my right show 2 days after you posted your message. A call to the local dealer to see about getting a new one took too long, so I made my own. 3/16" steel plate, a piece of #3 rebar, lots of hammering and some welding, and it works just as well. I'm using cotter keys on all the pins that don't require removal every year. They have a tendency to stay in more securely than the pins they came with.
I used a 4 inch tall 3-7/8" pipe to get the rounded edges beat into shape and then just trimmed the 'corners' with a cut off wheel and lastly a grinder. Time will tell if the shoe will stay in place, but I'm very confident.
Time spent on this project: about 1 hour
NVBB
I used a 4 inch tall 3-7/8" pipe to get the rounded edges beat into shape and then just trimmed the 'corners' with a cut off wheel and lastly a grinder. Time will tell if the shoe will stay in place, but I'm very confident.
Time spent on this project: about 1 hour
NVBB
[quote user="NVBadBoy"]I lost my right show 2 days after you posted your message. A call to the local dealer to see about getting a new one took too long, so I made my own. 3/16" steel plate, a piece of #3 rebar, lots of hammering and some welding, and it works just as well. I'm using cotter keys on all the pins that don't require removal every year. They have a tendency to stay in more securely than the pins they came with.
I used a 4 inch tall 3-7/8" pipe to get the rounded edges beat into shape and then just trimmed the 'corners' with a cut off wheel and lastly a grinder. Time will tell if the shoe will stay in place, but I'm very confident.
Time spent on this project: about 1 hour
NVBB
[/quote]This is a update also.After watching the cotter pins spinning into the plow and bending,I also switched to cotter pins.I bent them just enough so they stay clear of the plow.I have snow plowed3 times since and have not had any problems.coobie
I used a 4 inch tall 3-7/8" pipe to get the rounded edges beat into shape and then just trimmed the 'corners' with a cut off wheel and lastly a grinder. Time will tell if the shoe will stay in place, but I'm very confident.
Time spent on this project: about 1 hour
NVBB
[/quote]This is a update also.After watching the cotter pins spinning into the plow and bending,I also switched to cotter pins.I bent them just enough so they stay clear of the plow.I have snow plowed3 times since and have not had any problems.coobie
I have also had a problem with the shoes on the Curtis plow.My driveway is gravel so I try to keep the blade an inch or so off the ground. The stem being only 9/16'' thick bends very easily. I just today enlarged the holes on the plow to 1'' and I installed 2 mushroom shoes from a regular 7' pickup truck plow. The stems are 1'' diameter and the shoes are much thicker so I hope this works. These shoes also have a hitch pin to secure them. I think Curtis could have supplied a better shoe. jdh1
forest dweller
Member
jdh1, I have the same problem plowing my stone driveway. Where can I find the larger shoes. Curtis should put stronger ones on their OEM blades. </P>
Merry Christmas to all !</P>
forest dweller</P>
</P>
Merry Christmas to all !</P>
forest dweller</P>
</P>
forest dweller, I had these shoes around for awhile, I'd originally had them on the backblade of my tractor for plowing snow. Now they will stay on the RTV since its nice to plow snow going forward for a change. I'm pretty sure they are from a Western pickup plow. The original Curtis shoes even when all the way down were never below the plow blade, not doing anything in my application. I welded an extra piece of rod to make them longer ( sit below the plow blade ) but they bent very quickly when plowing. Very poor design on an otherwise good product. I also added a little length to the lift chain to compensate for uneven ground. As I said before I drilled out the existing bracket on the blade to 1" , now I hope the shoes not stronger than the bracket, might be making new brackets soon, Do a search on e-bay under snowplow shoes, there are several different ones on there, jdh1
forest dweller
Member
jdh1, Thanks for the info. I'll shop around and see what shoes are out there. After 2 snow seasons the Curtis shoes are in really bad shape.</P>
forest dweller</P>
forest dweller</P>