# New Skid-steer Plow



## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Hello All,
This is my first post & I'm attempting to attach some photos, so it may take a few post(or hours.)
I have been checking out this site for a few months, & have gotten some good ideas from here. I thought I would share some pictures of a recent project I put together since I got some invaluable info here.
Let me know what you think!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

I cant seem to find a way to post pictures with my post. Any simple methods/suggestions?


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## Bajak (Nov 12, 2008)

At the bottom right hand side of the page posting rules Does it say you may post attachments?

P.S. you should be in the test forum.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Yes, it say I may post attachments, I'll try again tommorrow, in the test forum. Thanks.

P.S. I think it was easier building this plow than posting the pics!


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## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=15417


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

All right, I finally got a few pics to post in the test forum, so I'll give it another try here. More to follow if these work.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)




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## deere615 (Jun 1, 2007)

Dang, sick fab work!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

More Pics.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)




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## nicksplowing (Oct 5, 2005)

*LOOKS GREAT VERY NICE WORK NOW LETS SEE SOME ACTION PICS*


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## flatlander42 (Oct 22, 2008)

COOL! great work on the fab!


have you had the chance to push with it yet ?


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## hlntoiz (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice job well done.....but it looks like a hiniker scoop plow to me???


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

No pushing with the plow yet, just painted on monday & assembleing (& moddifying:angry yesterday. We really haven,t had any substantial snow here in prob 6 weeks also. Anyways, I'll try it at the shop once (or the rest of the year) before I drop it off on site. Thanks for the compliments!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

hlntoiz;756918 said:


> Nice job well done.....but it looks like a hiniker scoop plow to me???


I actually hadn't seen those Hiniker scoops until after I started building this. It looked like a good idea in the brochure, but we were up at a big plow dealer (who sells 6 or 7 brand, but always seems to push Hinikers) one day, and he had a few of the scoop blades in a scrap pile. You could say they still looked brand new, & I don't think they have been out that long? I meant to ask him what the problem was, but I figured I already knew the answer.


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## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

holy crap...

That is nice.

I would sell the crap outta those.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

BladeScape;756948 said:


> holy crap...
> 
> That is nice.
> 
> I would sell the crap outta those.


Yeah, this was just a winter project, & i don't think I'de have the patience to do it again, much less everyday. Besides, I could prolly make more working at Walmart than I could building these


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## Grisi24 (Oct 19, 2005)

That looks amazing!!!! That is far better than my last minute solution of mine that I posted before.

Amazing Job!!


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## Grisi24 (Oct 19, 2005)

Here is the link to the page.

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=68933


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## Craaaig (Dec 10, 2008)

nice setup


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## gd8boltman (Dec 18, 2002)

*Beautiful job, how did it work out*

last night and today?


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## BlackIrish (Dec 22, 2007)

Kudos on the fab work.

What do you figure your investment is so far?


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## musclecarboy (Aug 19, 2007)

Plastic looks reallll thin dude. Frame looks like it could push concrete though. Looks great!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

A few more pictures, trying it out onsite last night. Probably 7-8" of snow with a lot of blowing, as most my sites are in an indus. park on the edge of town. Might as well be called rural. I opened up the importane lots during the day with the old plow, & decided afterwards that I HAD to take the new plow up there. I dread hauling the International 4700 out with snow on the roads/backroads. The drive tires aren't the best, so it can be a little hairysometimes.
Anyways, it was worth the effort, as the new plow seems way more productive than the old 8.5 Wetern with pro wings. And I think it will stand up to abuse a little better. Well at least it's on it's way, it made it thru it's first 6-7 hours of deep snow! xysport

































The last picture shows what I was really trying to accomplish with the new plow. I always struggled to get the windrows back at 12 mph. This isn't perfect now, but it's a big improvement, & I don't have to call on another truck to drive out of the way to clean it up for me. I try to be self sufficient, & things seem to go alot smoother when the boss doesn't send "help" for me!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

BlackIrish;758629 said:


> Kudos on the fab work.
> 
> What do you figure your investment is so far?


Probably a lot more than I figuered when I started the process. I'll try to be honest (with myself) & put a list down here.

- Old Pro Plow for A-frame & Quadrant : Free in neighbors back yard, but I'm sure I'll do him a favor down the road.

- Implement Dealer : $300 for quick attatch plate, hyd. hoses, couplers, fittings, pins, etc.

- All steel : $350 for all tubing, plate, solid & flat stock, 3/8" ribs cut by others, etc.

- Cutting edges : $250 for 1/2" by 8' & two 1" by 12" rubbers.

- Poly moldboard : $150 for 4' by 8' by 1/4" HDPE.

- Misc. hardware : $50? for bolts, chain, broken drill bits (alot of them), etc.

Total I would say about $1100 plus welding gas, wire, stuff like that. Also a ton of time, but there's no way I would even want to know how much. It was a lot of fun tho (most f the time), & it gave me a reason to buy a new Miller 252!

Gd8boltman, what area are u from? I'm in Northern Oz. County.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

musclecarboy;758667 said:


> Plastic looks reallll thin dude. Frame looks like it could push concrete though. Looks great!


The plastic is 1/4" HDPE. Pretty sure it's the same thing that is used on Westerns, Boss's, & dumpliners. I did sume research before hand, & Bosses were 1/4" thick. n excavator friend of mine, that I used to plow for, has 3 Wausau polt road plows on hs wheel loaders. The oldest (about 12 YO) has 5/16" thick moldboard, while the newer, bigger ones are 3/8". He actually has never replaced any of them, but they do have some "battle" wounds. 

I figure the poly was only about $150, so worst case, I could replace it & order 5/16", & learn my lesson.

And BTW, I'm a concrete/masonry contractor. You shouldn't give me ideas like that!


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## MattyK (Dec 16, 2008)

looks great, very nice job


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## musclecarboy (Aug 19, 2007)

Maybe I missed it, but what are the dimensions? Does the S250 have any troubles moving a full load of snow like in the second picture?


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

musclecarboy;758964 said:


> Maybe I missed it, but what are the dimensions? Does the S250 have any troubles moving a full load of snow like in the second picture?


The plow is 10 feet wide with the wings on, & about 29" high in the middle & about 33" high on the outside edges.

The snow rolls pretty well of the blade, so once you get going, it's not stopping. The snow will come over the blade first. The S250 has a different, Industrial size tire which is narrrower than the ag style tire. I think that helps a ton.

I did get out to take that picture tho, & I def. had to back up or chisel away at it to get the pile moving again.


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## hlntoiz (Jan 13, 2009)

Glad it is working out for you. It is nice when the hard work pays off.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

hlntoiz;759035 said:


> Glad it is working out for you. It is nice when the hard work pays off.


I agree, I'd be proud to say I made it.


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## xtreem3d (Nov 26, 2005)

don't think alot of guys would go to the trouble to wet down the floor for priming and painting a snow plow......nice job and good luck the rest of winter !!!


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

That thing is beautiful. Nice work:salute:


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## Brant'sLawnCare (Jun 29, 2007)

NICHOLS LANDSCA;759437 said:


> That thing is beautiful. Nice work:salute:


I agree, very nice!


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## jgoetter1 (Feb 23, 2007)

Impressive. Great job. What did this cost you in materials and time??


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## gd8boltman (Dec 18, 2002)

*jgoetter1, take a look see several posts up*

for your answer.


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## BlackIrish (Dec 22, 2007)

jgoetter1;759926 said:


> Impressive. Great job. What did this cost you in materials and time??


see post 25


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Alright, I got a chance to push 20-30 hours at the end of last season. The plow "worked" great & helped me pick-up some serious time over my old plow. In a more humbling note, I noticed some issues at the A-frame/quad pivot last spring when I put it away. Of course, I decided to wait until the other day when snow was in the forecast to pull the plow out & remedy the situation. In the first pic, you can see that the excess pivot pin & even the A-frame itself are hitting the middle mouldboard rib. The shock absorbers are also maxxed out at this point, luckily I caught this now before they were destroyed as well.









And the stops aren't even close to making contact at this point......









Not a major problem to fix, just a major oversight from when I put the plow together last year. When I originally positioned the stops & quadrant to the moldboard, I realized the "attack angle" of the plow was all ascue. You can see in one of the earlier pics when the plow is on the little skid outside that the angle is wrong. So, I cut a bunch of material out of the rest stops on the quadrant side & continued to grind them until they sat tightly with the moldboard. When doing that, It seems I overlooked the fact that the stops also needed some attention.  So, I added little 1" dai. "pucks" to solve that situation. I dry ran the plow thru the trip a few times, & all seem well with that part.









The hardest part was getting the bent center pivot out to disassmble the plow. As you can see, I had to cut it out.









Now, that was the SIMPLE problem...................


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

musclecarboy;758667 said:


> *Plastic looks reallll thin dude*. Frame looks like it could push concrete though. Looks great!





jomama45;758731 said:


> The plastic is 1/4" HDPE. Pretty sure it's the same thing that is used on Westerns, Boss's, & dumpliners. I did sume research before hand, & Bosses were 1/4" thick. n excavator friend of mine, that I used to plow for, has 3 Wausau polt road plows on hs wheel loaders. The oldest (about 12 YO) has 5/16" thick moldboard, while the newer, bigger ones are 3/8". He actually has never replaced any of them, but they do have some "battle" wounds.
> 
> *I figure the poly was only about $150, so worst case, I could replace it & order 5/16", & learn my lesson*.
> 
> And BTW, I'm a concrete/masonry contractor. You shouldn't give me ideas like that!


I let you guess what problem #2 is!!!

While out yesterday, I needed to move 2 stacks of pallets that were in my way to clearing a PITA firelane. (YES, I got out to move them by hand, but they were frozen down, & YES I know I'm an IDIOT) Pallets moved real easy, but I noticed that they shattered some plastic on the blade, which continued to spread as I plowed. :realmad: (soory, no pics of that yet) I "rigged" it together for now with some light sheet steel that I sent thru the brake as well as a buttload of rivets. I THINK it will get me thru this next storm as it's pretty high on the blade, but obviously I need to fix this in the near future. I thought I did a fair amount of research before choosing the plastic for the blade, obviously I was wrong. The plastic wholesaler suggested this HDPE, as they said it's all they sell for dump bed liners, etc....

So now my question: Does anyone know for a FACT what Western, Boss, even the big muni plow manu's, use for the poly moldboard? It seems that material is much more susceptable to puncture (must be softer & more flexible) rather than crack & shatter. Little holes from long time use I can deal with, large missing chunks I cant.


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## KL&M Snow Div. (Jan 2, 2009)

Looks good, you did a good job fabbing that up.


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## Jelinek61 (Mar 16, 2009)

Does wetting down the floor before painting really help in keeping the paint from coating the concrete?


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## Jelinek61 (Mar 16, 2009)

That sucks that your plow has a little battle scar. I know some of the larger roadway plow brands like henderson, everest, and wausau use 3/8in polymer UHMW polyethylene sheets. The UHMW stands for Ultra High Molecular Weight, and is like ten times "harder" than a normal sheet of polyethylene, which will be less prone to chips and gouges. You can probably do a google search of the material and find a supplier for a sheet of it.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Jelinek61;895095 said:


> Does wetting down the floor before painting really help in keeping the paint from coating the concrete?


Yes, quite a bit easier to clean up in my opinion. Also keeps down any dust that may be on the floor from flying around.



Jelinek61;895168 said:


> That sucks that your plow has a little battle scar. I know some of the larger roadway plow brands like henderson, everest, and wausau use 3/8in polymer UHMW polyethylene sheets. The UHMW stands for Ultra High Molecular Weight, and is like ten times "harder" than a normal sheet of polyethylene, which will be less prone to chips and gouges. You can probably do a google search of the material and find a supplier for a sheet of it.


I wish it was just a little battle scar, but it's more like 1/5 of the blade is affected. I actually looked at an older poly Wausau blade before I built this & was impressed with how well it held up to abuse. Thanks for the info on the UHMW, I'm just a little leary when you say it's "harder". I actually think that I may need something softer & less brittle. I checked the website of the local plastic place, & they indeed cary that stuff. I'll have to call them later. I'm not sure I completely trust everything they tell me though.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

The plow looks awesome! Takes a big man to admit mistakes wesport You did a great job on what you thought would work. As we all know, nothing works right or is flawless the first time around. I wish I could build something like that, maybe in my next life!


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## Jelinek61 (Mar 16, 2009)

Yeah, "harder" might not be the word i wanted to use, I couldnt exactly remember what i read about it a while back. I just checked online and they say that it is actually 10 times more "dense" then a normal sheet. And it has the highest impact strength of any thermoplastic presently available. 

Sorry for the lack of memory. haha. And i think it is pretty expensive so i would do some more research before any purchases are made if i were you. Good luck to ya man.


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## BoyneCityGuy (May 7, 2009)

In my Dad's factory, we use UHMW all the time for glide surfaces. i have used some sheet material for "Government Jobs" and it seems to have a good amount of impact absorbtion capability. i think that is the way to go for your new moldbord covering. it is pretty flexible and shouldnt be too hard to work with either! also slippery, snow shouldnt stick bad, they make it in a textured version, so make sure if you order it, you get smooth, because obviously texture on the plow would be bad news for snow sticking. great looking fab work though!!:salute:


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## show-n-go (Feb 5, 2009)

Great job. that blade looks awsome. Good luck getting it back up and running. Wish i could make something like that..


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## In2toys (Jan 25, 2006)

Nice fab work. great job & some bucks saved over a new one. ussmileyflag


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Thanks for the complimants guys, as well as the insight on UHMW poly. I checked into it late yesterday with the supplier I got the last stuff after doing a little more research. They have the UHMW in stock in 4' x 10' sheets for the same price as what I paid for a 4 x 8' sheet of the HDPE last year.  I asked for a price on the stuff I bought last year, & it's now about 2.5 times cheaper than last year. I don't quite understand it, but I'm glad the UHMV is priced fairly.


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## elmo1537 (Aug 31, 2005)

Not to get off point but a while back in one of your post I thought I read that you put a flow restictor on this plow to slow the hydraulic flow down. Is that something you actually did or was it just a passing thought? We built a plow with the same concept (funny thing is we saw this plow after we built ours) as your and have found the hydraulics are way too fast and tend to make the plow slam around. Have you ever had any issues catching a curb and damaging the plow. I would really like to install a valve between the two cylinder to act a relief if one side catches something it could dump some of the pressure to the other side but have had no luck finding anything. Do you have any suggestions?


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## BMWSTUD25 (Aug 21, 2008)

AWESOME job on the fab!!


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## ACA L&L (Jan 5, 2007)

i have to say that is one heck of a job u did there, i would bet u could prolly sell a few here on the site.........ill take one.!! Great job really nice work. Nice and clean.


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## lawnproslawncar (Dec 9, 2007)

Any bobcat dealer should be able to get restricting orifice's to put between the hose and quick coupler. They make different sizes of orifice's so idk what size restriction you need. might take some time and money, but they are fair prices for a little piece of metal.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

elmo1537;905786 said:


> Not to get off point but a while back in one of your post I thought I read that you put a flow restictor on this plow to slow the hydraulic flow down. Is that something you actually did or was it just a passing thought? We built a plow with the same concept (funny thing is we saw this plow after we built ours) as your and have found the hydraulics are way too fast and tend to make the plow slam around. Have you ever had any issues catching a curb and damaging the plow. I would really like to install a valve between the two cylinder to act a relief if one side catches something it could dump some of the pressure to the other side but have had no luck finding anything. *Do you have any suggestions*?


Yes, I definatly suggest the restrictors as well as the cross-over relief valve.

I don't have the relief valve on yet (I didn't buy it either yet, but thanks for the reminder) but I definatly plan on installing one. I know cretebaby gave me the part # for one & if you do a little searching here, you should be able to find one.

As for the restrictors, on this plow I just used very simple fittings from the implement dealer that built my hoses. They're only a few dollars a piece. When I first used them, they were too slow, so I ended up drilling them out slightly to 1/16" were they work great on my machines. It may take a little trial and error to find what works for your particular set-up. I also have a set of adjustable flow restrictors on an older skid plow set-up, but they're definatly not necessary. They're probably rusted tight since I haven't need to adjust them in years.

Thanks to the rest for the compliments. :waving:


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Nice work Joe! 

Not sure how I missed this one the last 11 months.


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