# Plowing with a telehandler



## LeadDogg

This year im going to be plowing with a Cat. TL 1055 telehandler. ive never used this machine for plowing before and i was just wondering if anyone else has experience with these. everything seems like it would be a nice machine to use but you never know until you try it. I have a 12' plow and i will be adding small wings to each side for some extra width. some specs on the machine; 35000 lbs, max speed of 18 mph and a 125 horses. its a gravel lot for a manufacturing company so i will be able to run chains on the machine.


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## 26543

Cant say as I have ever seen that before


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## LeadDogg

We have the equipment for another aspect of the business (framing) so instead of buying a machine to plow we are putting the telehandlers to use. i think im going to be building a large pusher for it also. not sure about a size though...


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## Kevin Kendrick

If you are building a pusher for it, here are some guidelines you should consider.

Machine Application (minimum)- Width- Snow Capacity (36" high moldboard)
5,000 lb machine 6' 5yd
6,000 lb machine 8' 7yd
8,000 lb machine 10' 9yd
8,000 lb machine 12' 11yd
10,000 lb machine 14' 13yd


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## RichG53

It will work just fine I have plowed with them right side vision is a little impaired..If you have loading docks you scope out and pull the snow back toward you..It's good at stacking also...


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## RichG53

One other thing they don't have a float setting dedent) position......


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## Mark Oomkes

Unless you get feet of snow, you won't need the chains. 

As for plowing a gravel lot, might want to invest in a urethane edge otherwise you're going to be plowing gravel. 

12' is actually a little small, but hey, if you have it, go with it. Just know you won't have issues. 

These machines are awesome for plowing, just don't extend the boom the whole way, just a foot or so at the most unless stacking. 

Have fun.


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## JD Dave

Our JD telehandler is only 86 hp and we have a 12ft pusher on it, so I'm very confidient yours will handle it alot better then mine and you won't need chains at all with the 12 or 14ft.


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## LeadDogg

thanks for the info on pusher size... im thinking that if i do build one it will be 16 or 18 feet since a smaller machine can push 12 with no problems. the fact that i will not be able to float is an issue... if i build my own pusher i might try to make it mount to the forks of the machine because those have a good 3 inches of vertical travel at the fork carriage. i think that would give me the play that i want to avoid messing up the lot too much. i am looking forward to the piles i can stack now too. i have a 20' retaining wall that i can push snow off of and then the machine has a 55' reach. all this talk and now i just want the snow to fly!


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## 04superduty

would it be possible to switch in a valve with the float position?


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## JD Dave

In all honesty, you don't need float, a good operator will always be running the joystick. And you can't push a 18 ft pusher, we have a 16 ft pusher on our MX 255 which is 205 hp and we can push it but we had a 19 ft on it before and it couldn't handle it. What's the torque converter like in that thing, some telehandlers really slip bad and won't push jack.


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## LeadDogg

im not real sure about the torque converter... ive never really done any pushing or pulling with this machine so its a little hard to tell. sure ive driven around with about 7,000 lbs on the forks but thats not the same as pushing a pile of snow. i have never had a problem with it before but like i said, plowing is much different than anything i do with this machine. i think if i did have issues it would be when im trying to stack my pile but i can just boom out to finish off my push if that becomes a problem. just out of curiosity, do you have a video on youtube of your MX 255? i found a few and im thinking one might be yours.


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## JD Dave




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## Superior L & L

WOW that tractor can push some snow!!!!


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## redman6565

you guys just wait...ill post some good pics of tractor plowing haha


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## LeadDogg

excellent vids. do you keep that tractor on-site or do you use it for multiple accounts? just curious because it looks pretty massive with the dual tires. maybe it is just because im not used to seeing tractors of that size seeing as i live in the northeast.


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## JD Dave

LeadDogg;611960 said:


> excellent vids. do you keep that tractor on-site or do you use it for multiple accounts? just curious because it looks pretty massive with the dual tires. maybe it is just because im not used to seeing tractors of that size seeing as i live in the northeast.


Stays onsite but we drive it all over the place in the summer for the farm.


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## Jay brown

LeadDogg;608864 said:


> im not real sure about the torque converter... ive never really done any pushing or pulling with this machine so its a little hard to tell. sure ive driven around with about 7,000 lbs on the forks but thats not the same as pushing a pile of snow. i have never had a problem with it before but like i said, plowing is much different than anything i do with this machine. i think if i did have issues it would be when im trying to stack my pile but i can just boom out to finish off my push if that becomes a problem. just out of curiosity, do you have a video on youtube of your MX 255? i found a few and im thinking one might be yours.


we have a 883 Gehl that we run a lot to push piles back and it does fine and has plenty of drive train power......also have a plow set up for it that is mounted to the bucket but never had to use it yet....


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## LeadDogg

this is a quick shot i took of the machine i use. i thought of taking it because i spent some time servicing the plow today. as soon as it snows i will take a few more with the plow mounted. the machine next to it is identical and we have a 12' plow for each one. we rarely use both machines to plow unless it is a large storm. 12' blades side by side makes for a pretty nasty v-plow though


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## stroker79

The stacking ablilities have to be awesome with those!


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## Jay brown

stroker79;650179 said:


> The stacking ablilities have to be awesome with those!


we can stack up to 40', but it takes too long...


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## Jay brown

Kevin Kendrick;606995 said:


> If you are building a pusher for it, here are some guidelines you should consider.
> 
> Machine Application (minimum)- Width- Snow Capacity (36" high moldboard)
> 5,000 lb machine 6' 5yd
> 6,000 lb machine 8' 7yd
> 8,000 lb machine 10' 9yd
> 8,000 lb machine 12' 11yd
> 10,000 lb machine 14' 13yd


most telehandlers weigh in at about 20,000-27,000 lbs ours is 23,500 plus bucket


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## LeadDogg

the stacking abilities are amazing. my machine has a 55' reach so the piles get pretty big by the end of the season. as far at weight, we run one of the larger machines available... its a 10,000 pound capacity which has 125 hp and weighs around 33,000 lbs


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## Jay brown

LeadDogg;650474 said:


> the stacking abilities are amazing. my machine has a 55' reach so the piles get pretty big by the end of the season. as far at weight, we run one of the larger machines available... its a 10,000 pound capacity which has 125 hp and weighs around 33,000 lbs


my next one will be a big boy like yours.....we never have enough reach on the big roofs....only bad thing is we break lots of sidewalks with ours, i can't imagine what yours is like...lol


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## LeadDogg

do you know what reach/ capacity/ brand you are looking for or were you just saying that when the time comes you need a bigger one.


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## LeadDogg

oh yeah and i was meaning to ask what machine you use now.


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## Jay brown

our unit is a Gehl 883.... #8000/ 40'..with a Deere....i'm not in the market for one now but probably will be in the next 3-4 years...i've had ours since 2000 and it has treated me good so far.. the blade never worked out, but we still use the bucket for stacking and loading salt....i'm thinking VERY hard about buying a pusher for it this week due to a larger contract we picked up.....think i'll try a 10 or 12'


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## LeadDogg

looking good. we also have a snow bucket and it works very well. these machines are life savers on the job sites and i cant imagine not having one. the reason i asked in the first place is because we have a 6000# lull 42'er that we are trying to sell so we can upgrade to another 10,000# machine. that wouldnt be much of an upgrade for you though. if you know anyone send em my way. selling construction equipment is getting a little tough so word of mouth is always a good thing.


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## Jay brown

LeadDogg;653840 said:


> looking good. we also have a snow bucket and it works very well. these machines are life savers on the job sites and i cant imagine not having one. the reason i asked in the first place is because we have a 6000# lull 42'er that we are trying to sell so we can upgrade to another 10,000# machine. that wouldnt be much of an upgrade for you though. if you know anyone send em my way. selling construction equipment is getting a little tough so word of mouth is always a good thing.


not too many people need forks right now, most people in construction are pretty slow around here!!!


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