Ed Kennell 39,236 #1 Posted January 6 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. 6 10 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 11,578 #2 Posted January 6 2 hours ago, 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 😜 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCM 9,636 #3 Posted January 6 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 ! 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,920 #4 Posted January 7 Thanks for the video !! Little jealous, all we have is cold. No snow to play with. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leabassett@sbcglobal.net 156 #5 Posted January 7 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. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brockport Bill 1,748 #6 Posted January 7 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 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ML3 1,362 #7 Posted January 7 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 8,878 #8 Posted January 7 @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 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 39,236 #9 Posted January 7 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. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MainelyWheelhorse 660 #10 Posted January 7 After a couple hours of operating this even at 44, I definitely wouldn’t mind a hydraulic/electric lift. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davem1111 2,055 #11 Posted January 7 (edited) 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 by davem1111 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davem1111 2,055 #12 Posted January 7 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. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 39,236 #13 Posted January 7 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. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 39,236 #14 Posted January 8 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. 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alrashid2 324 #15 Posted Friday at 04:14 AM 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 ! Messenger_creation_8A4B8133-27EF-461B-8B66-B83A18C33F34~2.mp4 PXL_20250106_171816574_TS.mp4 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 12,817 #16 Posted Friday at 07:01 AM 2 hours ago, Alrashid2 said: The horse plowed flawlessly! Looks like fun! I'm almost jealous of you guys playing in the snow. ...almost. 1 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
