Snow Plow Scrapper Blade

[Rob R 966]

Have  a C-81 with a 48" Snow Plow, the current Steel Bottom Scrapper  Blade  is on it's last season..... I have noticed as of late that quite a few folks are installing the POLY blades.....  I plow a 100' macadam driveway and my concern and/or question is how well and how DURABLE are these blade. I did install feet on my existing steel blade plow (see pics) to limit the normal wear.   Thanks for you input 

[GlenPettit 1,716]

Rob:

This will be the 3rd season I've had them on and there is very minimal wear (year #1 was only about 10 hours of use, year #2 about 25 hours and this year about 10 hours so far), the wear is just noticeable, I feel I should get 7-8 years of good use at this rate, and then I reverse the blade for 7-8 more years of use.  I have a 90% asphalt drive, 10% concrete -- the kind of drive you have will make a difference.  I think the asphalt is the least worst (less wear) and that a rough gravel drive may be the worst,  I have 5,000 square feet of drive and plow right down to the asphalt surface, -- but notice that you use skids which would cause almost no wear since you're only plowing snow and not riding on a hard surface.

Glen

[bigplow1 23]

I use 3/4" rubber stall mat cut twice the width of my steel cutting edge holes that line up with the cutting edge drilled I. The center so about 1"hangs past on top and bottom sandwich that between your plow and cutting edge works great when you wear out 1 side you just flip it over I get a couple years out of one normally and I plow asphalt and gravel and the mats are 4ft by 6ft so you get a lot of them out of 1 and for about 30 bucks

[emdmat1981 61]

I went with the poly blade this year as well and probably have about 5 hours on it so far.

 

Plow a few of the neighbors which is a mix of new and old (uneven and sometimes broken up) blacktop.   

 

Very minimal wear ... would project I can get about 5 years or so out of it ...   and then I'll flip to the other edge for another 5.

 

[Rob R 966]

39 minutes ago, bigplow1 said:

I use 3/4" rubber stall mat cut twice the width of my steel cutting edge holes that line up with the cutting edge drilled I. The center so about 1"hangs past on top and bottom sandwich that between your plow and cutting edge works great when you wear out 1 side you just flip it over I get a couple years out of one normally and I plow asphalt and gravel and the mats are 4ft by 6ft so you get a lot of them out of 1 and for about 30 bucks

Sounds good what is the best way to cut the material and cut it straight?  Thanks 

[bigplow1 23]

I use a straight edge I have a 60" steel ruler and a sharp utility knife take your time usually takes about 3 to 4 cuts with a sharp blade I usually put in a new one

[JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,497]

2 hours ago, emdmat1981 said:

I went with the poly blade this year as well and probably have about 5 hours on it so far.

 

Plow a few of the neighbors which is a mix of new and old (uneven and sometimes broken up) blacktop.   

 

Very minimal wear ... would project I can get about 5 years or so out of it ...   and then I'll flip to the other edge for another 5.

 

Where do we get the poly blades again. I forgot about them, they might work as a snowblower scrapper bar to.

 

Thanks,    Glenn

[Rob R 966]

1 hour ago, bigplow1 said:

I use a straight edge I have a 60" steel ruler and a sharp utility knife take your time usually takes about 3 to 4 cuts with a sharp blade I usually put in a new one

Thank you bigplow1, will give this a try........

[Tankman 3,518]

Never used this blade but, interesting.

 

Given to me, an old timer moving South to a "NO SNOW" zone. 

Edited January 12, 2018 by Tankman

[P3x 56]

I purchased a Poly Blade off eBay and installed last season - or maybe he year prior(?). Live in MA and have not had too much snow since it was installed and looks like it has worn quite a bit. Went with it to avoid damaging the asphalt and it has done a good job in that respect. It came pre-drilled with one edge (top as installed) not having enough meat between the bolts and edge to flip and use again.  Bought some 1/2" conveyor belt strips to try when its completely worn.

 

Discussed wear strips on another thread a couple of weeks ago and one member do not recall the name/handle (Old-timers disease kicking in...).  He cut strips from old tires to use on his blade.  Sounds like an excellent idea - very cheap and should not damage the D-Way surface..

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

I have used both rubber and UHMW. Originally I bought a rubber horse mat, then cut a strip to bolt onto the blade. Use the blade's wear strip to use as a template and then sandwich them to the blade. It worked pretty good and didn't leave marks. I use to call it my 48" squeegee. But then I sold that dozer blade so decided to try a UHMW edge for the other blade.

 

For that I ordered a 48" x 4"  x 1/2" black UHMW remnant on eBay less than half what are sold for snow blades. The white UHMW is virgin so the black must be recycled. Used the wear strip again as a template and sandwiched them too. I also cut about a 45 degree angle at the very ends to prevent a snag. Three seasons and it is showing some wear. But I find that it tends to "ride" on the snow so doesn't scrape as well. I think part of the problem is that the front edge is at a positive angle with the rear edge doing the scraping. It really needs to have the edge planed so that it bites at the front. After taking the photo, it appears that is how it is wearing.

 

 

 

[Eric Friedrichsen 111]

I used a 1/2" x 4" poly edge on a 48" blade that I installed before last season began on my 414/8.  I have a 450' asphalt drive

with parking area and turn around.  I plowed all last winter and 7 times this winter (so far) and the blade edge shows NO perceptible

wear (just a little rounding on the outside corners).  Before installing the edge I chamfered the the cutting edge with my wood

plane so that it mated at the correct angle with the driveway surface.

 

I am very pleased with the poly edge. It doesn't wear and it doesn't scratch.  The only negative is that it looks a little klutzy being

1/2" thick.  For me that is OK as performance trumps looks.

 

I also use the rubber tire chains modified to 2 link spacing.  I have also found them to work well. as they don't scratch the drive.

I have found the traction to be a little less than steel chains when pushing up the hill on the drive.  The slipping of the rubber chains

does not mark the drive and the straps show little evidence of wear.  I used to use steel chains and they really marked the drive

when slipping.

 

Conclusion: I am very satisfied with the poly blade edge and the rubber tire chains.

 

Eric

[GREYGHOST 65]

Thanks John, that gave me an idea for my Gator. Oops, wrong color.

[emdmat1981 61]

When I did order mine on eBay I ordered "UHMW Polyethylene Plastic Sheet BLACK 1/2" x 4" x 48".

 

If you order two of them the charge to ship the second is only a few bucks.

 

I think the pair will last me a decade or two given the light wear to date. 

[Tankman 3,518]

On January 13, 2018 at 12:00 AM, GREYGHOST said:

Thanks John, that gave me an idea for my Gator. Oops, wrong color.

Of course you know, "Red is for the blood we shed."  

[Rob R 966]

Okay, so I ordered. rec'd and installed the Poly Scrapper Blade 4" X 42" X 1/2" and installed on my C-81 ding dong done..... looks good and should work good..... we'll see snow coming Tuesday... Thank you gentleman.  P.S. used 5/16ths X 1 1/2" inch carriage bolt (Tractor Supply) to mount.  

[GlenPettit 1,716]

I used large washers on the front, but putting the worn original wear bar in front would be a smarter idea like you did, more holding power and a great recycling idea.

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by GlenPettit

[Rob R 966]

11 hours ago, GlenPettit said:

I used large washers on the front, but putting the worn original wear bar in front would be a smarter idea like you did, more holding power and a great recycling idea.

 

 

 

Thank you Glen, it was suggested but the other reasons I planned on doing this was support and I can tell at a glance how much the Blade is wearing and when it is time to reverse it.... also you do NOT have square the holes on the Poly since the old wear edge already has this done. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Rob R

[Tankman 3,518]

I always go to Lowes for hardware.

Stainless steel and Never-Seez on the threads.

 

When done plowing snow, blade down on a block of wood.

I often spray WD-40 (water displacement) along the top edge of the scraper edge. Allergic to rust. 

[Sarge 3,463]

Setting that blade down on a block of wood is a good habit - I had one of mine freeze onto the shed floor. The hydraulic lift didn't care - it just grunted a bit and ripped out a section of the plywood like nothing, lesson learned. If not a heated space they can freeze down to concrete as well - that's even worse and you'd be surprised at how tough it is to break it loose.

 

Sarge

[GREYGHOST 65]

The other benefit to lowering your blade down on a wooden block. If you have a floor that you don't want a Rust Stripe on, this will prevent that..I put an Epoxy floor coating down, and its really tough. But I haven't found anything that will take up that gust. I even tried Muratic Acid. Didn't hurt the coating, and had no effect on the rust stain.

[Sarge 3,463]

Tried Lime Away ? It will usually remove stains - but on epoxy if it soaked in below the hard top surface, it's probably permanent. Once drawback to those coatings , some things can penetrate them although I wasn't aware steel rust could do that - I'll remember that one as a buddy is about to coat a large shop floor this spring.

 

Sarge

[edgro 677]

I have been just leaving my blade up. Is that not a good idea? I put old newspaper underneath for when it melts

[Sarge 3,463]

On a manual lift - no problem other than stress to the lock parts on the handle. On hydro cylinder lifts - it's recommended not to leave implements hanging and holding that weight against the check valves, hoses and seals.

 

Sarge