# Banks are too high now - attachments/techniques to cut them down?



## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

Howdy Gents

Well, this winter has proven to be an interesting one in snow removal.... For the first time in many many years, the banks are at the point where I can't throw the snow over the top, so it's closing in behind me....

Early last week, at their highest, I ended up pushing the snow more forward with blade only slightly angled left or right, and started near the end of my push, and peeled off a little at a time and then piled it at the end of the push....

That was alot of back and forth, forward/reverse and many passes. I was out for 4 hours where it's usually just an hour/hour-half.

Are there any techniques you have used with your plow to cut down the bank? I tried driving along the bank with my plow up and angled, but of course that didn't work, with the plow angled toward the bank I could not reach it.....

How about attachments? Has anyone ever attached a wing or something to plow that allows you to cut down the height of the bank?

Thanks,

CM

Edit to add

I should have mentioned - 7.5' Western Hydroturn Plow

We have a 25hp Kubota tractor with 4' Loader - I have used this to manage the piles, but like the plow truck, it doesn't have any implement that hangs outside it's footprint..... If you now what I mean.

I thought about the possibility of finding some heavy planks and maybe strapping some kind of wooden blade to the bucket like a motor grader or something, then I could drive along the bank and knock it back..... Don't have a welder right now so can't really fab anything....

I could use the bucket if it was just a short driveway, but I'm guessing between my drive and my aunt's we have about 3/4 mile of wooded driveway, and it would need to be done on both sides - that's too much bucket work....

Anyway, your ideas are welcome let me know what you think....


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Time for a machine.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

dieselss;1768500 said:


> Time for a machine.


Sorry, not to be thick but I don't understand.... :salute:


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

He is saying hire someone with the proper machine to do the job for you. 

Or rent one.


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep. Your trying to "move" snow with a plow that was not designed to do that kind of work. Your gunna tear something up. So get a machine that is designed to do that kind of work


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## JTVLandscaping (Jan 1, 2010)

That bucket tractor will do it. Just take your time.


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## Big-Foot (Jun 2, 2013)

Some of my neighbors thought I was nuts when I was pushing the snow 15-20' into my lawn from the beginning of winter. My piles are now 5-10' from the driveway and I'm losing ground fast but hopefully will make it until we get a few good thaws - although MN is having one of the worst and coldest winters in 4 decades.


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## ServiceOnSite (Nov 23, 2006)

Hire a front end loader and push it back or haul it off site.


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## geer hed (Nov 22, 2010)

The tractor you have will do what you want to do, but it will take time. It's like this, you can make extensions for the bucket or for your plow blade ,but they are designed to move a certain amount of material at a time, once you exceed that your done. It will take time to move the snow in smaller amounts regardless of what you use. The first thing you need to do is try to make room to put the snow, whether you stack it up or just push it back you need to make room. Then start on the edge of the pile and move it, working your way across. Yes it is time consuming especially with a small bucket, but it's better than none.


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## snowplower1 (Jan 15, 2014)

start piling the snow in the parking spaces and then when they start complaining you say there is no where to put the snow anymore and if they would like to have it all hauled out, you make a quick buck doing it. We havent had this issue yet but we came pretty close to having no where else to put the snow this year. The warm weather this week took care of the issue!


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

Gotcha, everyone.

Well, we are definitely on a budget here... I was looking for some Do It Yourself advice...

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about snow piles at the end of the runs.... I have plenty of room on most, and the spots where I need a little more the tractor is working fine for that. Our roads run thru a cedar swamp, and so there's only so much room to start with in the fall... I have plowed as wide as possible all winter and not closed out yet.. Just starting to close in faster than I'd like.

We just inherited the tractor last summer from my dear departed uncle - that's a nice piece of equipment we never thought we'd have.... It's possible we could end up with a snowblower at some point for it.

One thing I could do with the bucket, would be to open up holes in the banks every 40 feet or so..... That would give the plow somewhere to unload and should let me keep my current width for the time being...

If any of you fellers come up with another idea let me know.... Won't happen this season, but this problem has given me some idears on how to combat it in the future.... I'm thinking an old 4ft plow blade with some angled framework and a chain binder to strap it to the bucket might be perfect to drive along the banks with bucket raised and just knock off the top 8" at a time.

Our banks are peaked sharply, since the snow falls off the edge of the drive and into the woods/swamp. It would not take much horsepower to just knock that several inches off and into the woods so the western plow can reach it once again.

I hear ya, geer hed and all, that our equipment wasn't designed to move massive amounts of snow all at once. This winter is teaching all of us in the northern climes that lesson again this year. I definitely realize it's got to be done just a little at a time to keep everything working.

Thanks to all

CM


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## cotter (Oct 9, 2010)

I have fabricated a mount for the bucket on my loader to where I can put a snow plow on the front of it. Works real good for pushing piles back and stacking snow to the sky if necessary. About $40 in steel, some fun with the welder and an old plow blade and I was in business. I think I have pics posted in the heavy equipment section if you search for loader plows they should come up. Also I found a site tractorbynet.com had a lot of good ideas as well.


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

snowplower1;1768854 said:


> start piling the snow in the parking spaces and then when they start complaining you say there is no where to put the snow anymore and if they would like to have it all hauled out, you make a quick buck doing it. We havent had this issue yet but we came pretty close to having no where else to put the snow this year. The warm weather this week took care of the issue!


Did you even read the ops post. He's talking about his own driveways.


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## nepatsfan (Sep 16, 2004)

Why not just take the Kubota tractor and pick up the banks and push them back. Go all the way down a bucket at a time pushing the tops over. I'm not sure how long of a run it is but that's how a big machine would do it too. Just faster


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

nepatsfan;1769092 said:


> Why not just take the Kubota tractor and pick up the banks and push them back. Go all the way down a bucket at a time pushing the tops over. I'm not sure how long of a run it is but that's how a big machine would do it too. Just faster


Howdy

Yeah, that's the problem. it's about 3/4 mile of road each way, so that's alot of bucket work.... And the drive right now is about a car and a quarter wide, so not much room to maneuver...

But, like I said above, I think I'll get a few gals diesel and try opening up the bank every 40-50 feet where it's the worst and see if giving the plow somewhere to unload snow. If I take small bites should be able to widen it a little and if it works, I'll do more of it so I'm ready for the next big storm.

Cotter, yeah I'm a member there on tractorbynet as well. Have looked into doing a plow mount for Kubota, wasn't sure if the old Jeep was still in plowing order. It is, mostly - the brakes don't work but it still plows.

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a smaller blade, probably like a 6 footer with manual pivot. If I slid the plow to the right side of center so it hangs outside the tractor's tires, I think I could take 8" or so off the top of a tall bank pretty easy since they are narrow on top. Would be a pretty cool rig for sure.

Talking to other guys they have said that using only tractor instead of bigger more powerful plow truck will make more work out of general plowing and it will take longer. This is true, I can plow the driveway faster than the top speed of the kubota..... But the kubota with loader can do some really cool things to move snow you just can't do with regular plow.

If this driveway was in a field, I could have just started double/triple wide and given up my ground as we got more snow, but it's a wooded gravel drive thru the swamp - so you can't go wider than the road which is 10 maybe 12 feet wide between trees.

I'll make her work for now, but I'm thinking a small plow for such work on bucket would be awesome.

CM


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## geer hed (Nov 22, 2010)

Here's something for thought, If you get a small blade, and mount it so that it is offset to the side, you can keep the tractor more to the center of the driveway, yet push the snow back as you go. The only thing you have to be carefull of is the further you offset the blade the easier it will want to spin the tractor sideways. We have put snowplows on backhoes already with much success. Simply welded 2 sets of ears on the inside bottom of the bucket to mount the plow same as if it were on a truck, welded a hook at the top of the bucket for the lift chain. On one hoe it even had plumbing for auxiliary hydraulics which we ran hoses to and even had power angle. This can be very usefull for widening. and if you only take about 6" or so at a time this should work well for you, it just means more trips back and forth, but it should still be faster than one bucket at a time.

The idea if making dump spots to empty the blade can help, but you need them spaced so the blade empties out before it starts to kick it out the other side, otherwise your defeating the purpose.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

geer hed;1769272 said:


> Here's something for thought, If you get a small blade, and mount it so that it is offset to the side, you can keep the tractor more to the center of the driveway, yet push the snow back as you go. The only thing you have to be carefull of is the further you offset the blade the easier it will want to spin the tractor sideways. We have put snowplows on backhoes already with much success. Simply welded 2 sets of ears on the inside bottom of the bucket to mount the plow same as if it were on a truck, welded a hook at the top of the bucket for the lift chain. On one hoe it even had plumbing for auxiliary hydraulics which we ran hoses to and even had power angle. This can be very usefull for widening. and if you only take about 6" or so at a time this should work well for you, it just means more trips back and forth, but it should still be faster than one bucket at a time.
> 
> The idea if making dump spots to empty the blade can help, but you need them spaced so the blade empties out before it starts to kick it out the other side, otherwise your defeating the purpose.


Yeah, that's the idea! Most of the plows adapted to bucket mounts use a simple u-shaped piece of steel welded to plow frame that hooks on the lip of the bucket. The you use a chain and binders to strap them to bucket. If I did one of these and pulled the plow to the right side of center, I'd have the blade hanging over the tires, and could just drive down the road with plow elevated and topple the banks into the woods.

Can't make it happen for this year on account of funds, but should be able to make it happen for next year. I've seen old 6 ft jeep plows for sale without hydros for 100-200 bucks.

Agreed on the dump spots. I'll have to figure out the right combo of spacing and amount of snow I bite off to make sure it's a clean plow.

CM


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

I've got a few swampy cedar lanes that every now and then need to be blown back. I would find a good used 5-6 ft single auger blower (-$1000) for that Kubota and continue the way you are... use it when you need to. I don't like to mix it up on drives alternating plowing and blowing but the plowing goes faster than the blowing for most of it and I know you're probably up against trees too, so the blower is a better choise.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks Markus. Yeah, that's true, I think that we really could use a blower, but living just off a lake and not far from Lake Michigan, the wind and weather is pretty miserable on the tractor as a primary snow removal tool. I do use it quite a bit, but not when it's storming hard.


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## RLM (Jan 12, 2006)

Colonel Monk;1768855 said:


> Gotcha, everyone.
> 
> Well, we are definitely on a budget here... I was looking for some Do It Yourself advice...
> 
> ...


Your on the right track with the tractor pushing holes in the bank. We have even backed int driveways at one HOA and pushed banks back with trucks as long as you can do it before they freeze up and have enough room to get 90 degrees to them it goes pretty quick.


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## KLC99 (Feb 3, 2003)




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## Big-Foot (Jun 2, 2013)

KLC99;1770640 said:


>


Hmmmm... Maybe Minnesota is a foreign country now? purplebou


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

Hah! Yeah, that's pretty cool. I've seen those on commercial trucks. A mini version just might fit down our driveway.... On TractorByNet a guy there had fabricated one for his tractor that looked pretty damn beefy.


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## MtnCowboy (Dec 20, 2009)

What has worked for me might not work in your situation. But it has worked very well in keeping berms tame on a narrow mountain road in big snow country. Check here: http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=113942


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## theholycow (Nov 29, 2002)

Big-Foot;1768606 said:


> Some of my neighbors thought I was nuts when I was pushing the snow 15-20' into my lawn from the beginning of winter. My piles are now 5-10' from the driveway and I'm losing ground fast but hopefully will make it until we get a few good thaws - although MN is having one of the worst and coldest winters in 4 decades.


This. Always start the season pushing it back as far as possible, whether we're talking about piles or width along a long run. I've been very aggressive about keeping my width and it has paid off.



Colonel Monk;1769367 said:


> Can't make it happen for this year on account of funds, but should be able to make it happen for next year. I've seen old 6 ft jeep plows for sale without hydros for 100-200 bucks.


You already have a plow...all you need is a mount for it.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

MtnCowboy;1775187 said:


> What has worked for me might not work in your situation. But it has worked very well in keeping berms tame on a narrow mountain road in big snow country. Check here: http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=113942


Pretty cool setup. That was my original idea, for this year anyway.... but on a greater scale and bigger timber. We had a slight thaw and so I might just escape this year...

I'd say, plowing with ATV the only problem I see is scalability - the snowfalls are the same, so using a smaller plow it's just not going to reach the top of the bank with large snowfall. I wonder if a continuation of your blade so that it's high on one side (like your county road plows) would help handle deeper snow?

You would still probaby get to the point where your banks need to be "benched" but it might take longer, and the higher the bank the narrower the spot that needs to be benched.

I'm pretty set at this point on using plow on tractor FEL for next season to bench the banks. Who knows if we will have a winter that requires it, but I'll be ready nonetheless.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

theholycow;1775432 said:


> This. Always start the season pushing it back as far as possible, whether we're talking about piles or width along a long run. I've been very aggressive about keeping my width and it has paid off.
> 
> You already have a plow...all you need is a mount for it.


Yeah, the problem is I did go as far as possible.... It's a wooded drive, so you can only go as wide as the trees allow. And where there isn't trees, it's wetlands and can't plow into there either very far.

I could use the plow from our plow truck, but it's 7'6" or 8' and kind of a monster for this little Kubota. And unmounting/remounting all winter is a pain. I'd rather find a good used blade for the Kubota around 6' and just have a dedicated blade for piling snow and benching the banks.

There are quite a few for sale for a few hundred bucks, I'd buy one right now if the propane bills hadn't ruined my budget for the winter. It will have to wait.

When you do see just a blade for sale without the truck mount and hydros they are usually very cheap.


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## jomofo (Apr 26, 2008)

Howdy Colonel..

I'm in the same boat as you... We have about 3 miles of mountain road to maintain, and all of it is either deeply wooded and narrow, or subject to significant drifting. In both cases, narrowing of the road during the season is an issue. We have a couple of larger trucks.. My 2500 with the 9'2" and a unimog with a 9' blade. We have a few smaller trucks also, but the fact is that no truck can move a 6' tall, 10' deep pile of frozen drifted snow. The only way to open it up is with a bucket. We have two skids that are usually enough to get it done. It does take time... no two ways about that.. But that's just the way it is. Wait for a warmer day and start pushing the piles off the side of the road. For the really big drifts, another neighbor will sometimes bring out his loader. In the long run, you'll never be able to keep up with big snow with a plow attachment, as when you're limited by trees, the piles will form however far you can push them. Best option there would be an extendable blade on a grader, where you could retract the blade to avoid the trees. But short of a $100K piece of equipment, it sounds like that tractor would probably do everything you need it to... When you catch a break in the weather, just go out and work on it for an hour. Doesn't all need to be done at one time. Start on the bad spots and you'll be surprised how fast it goes.


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## vtzdriver (Jun 12, 2006)

You don't really need to shove everything back with your tractor. I maintain a .75 mile camp road and use a similar tractor to attack the bank every 40-50 feet or so.
Turn the tractor into the bank and use the bucket to cut a triangular section of the bank and shove it up and back. Then, when you plow, the blade will clear at each of those cuts. You'll need to do it every time you get a decent snow, but I can tell you I haven't needed professional help (at least in terms of heavy equipment !!) this winter.
If I did, I would have the local road grader use his wing to shove everything back. One shot and done!!


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## jomofo (Apr 26, 2008)

vtzdriver;1777108 said:


> You don't really need to shove everything back with your tractor. I maintain a .75 mile camp road and use a similar tractor to attack the bank every 40-50 feet or so.
> Turn the tractor into the bank and use the bucket to cut a triangular section of the bank and shove it up and back. Then, when you plow, the blade will clear at each of those cuts. You'll need to do it every time you get a decent snow, but I can tell you I haven't needed professional help (at least in terms of heavy equipment !!) this winter.
> If I did, I would have the local road grader use his wing to shove everything back. One shot and done!!


My only concern in doing it that way is the limited capacity. Spring is right around the corner... the days of 10" storms are over... 40", here we come! wesport


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## mnglocker (Dec 24, 2008)

Time to pony up for a blower on that Kubota.


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## cdmckane (Oct 14, 2014)

Big-Foot;1768606 said:


> Some of my neighbors thought I was nuts when I was pushing the snow 15-20' into my lawn from the beginning of winter. My piles are now 5-10' from the driveway and I'm losing ground fast but hopefully will make it until we get a few good thaws - although MN is having one of the worst and coldest winters in 4 decades.


I push 50-60' back at first snow fall, then build piles there. Wife likes to have company over so I need room to get everybody in, parked, and out, plus room to put the snow. It's probably a bit overkill, but it works


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

vtzdriver;1777108 said:


> You don't really need to shove everything back with your tractor. I maintain a .75 mile camp road and use a similar tractor to attack the bank every 40-50 feet or so.
> Turn the tractor into the bank and use the bucket to cut a triangular section of the bank and shove it up and back. Then, when you plow, the blade will clear at each of those cuts. You'll need to do it every time you get a decent snow, but I can tell you I haven't needed professional help (at least in terms of heavy equipment !!) this winter.
> If I did, I would have the local road grader use his wing to shove everything back. One shot and done!!


Howdy

I did try this last winter later on, and it worked decently. Basically, making a hole for the my plow to unload in. Problem was, not doing it soon enough there was still alot of snow falling in behind me in between cutouts. I alleviated that a bit by angling the plow forward a little - so what happened was I push more of it with me until reaching the cutout.

I'm pretty confident that a small blade on my bucket, offset to the right side, will bench the bank well enough for me to keep plowing if it happens again. Having the plow on the loader will also make piling snow easier. Oh, and BTW, I wasn't saying I'd use the tractor to push banks back, just BENCH them, knocking the top over into the woods, so my western could throw snow over the bank once again. The Kubota weighs about the same as the plow truck (4000#) but it's not as fast/powerful in the sense of throwing snow. Moving the banks with it would be tough, but I think just benching the banks would be easy.

Hoping not to have a repeat of last winter - news said last night, that the conditions that caused the polar vortex aren't here this year, so that it's not likely to have as bad a winter.

We will see


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

mnglocker;1777206 said:


> Time to pony up for a blower on that Kubota.


Would like one, but we generally don't get as much snow as last year, and so our plow truck is generally enough. AND, as you know, it's heated in the truck which kinda makes it better.

Might get one someday, we need a better place to store the tractor. It's in our workshop right now, which makes doing any work impossible, and snowblower would not fit in there. Have plans to build a shed roof for tractor parking, and a few years from now we are going to build a monster pole barn - but both of those things are future projects.

For this year, I'm hoping the Creep (old plow jeep) lasts another season, and I'm going to get a 6 foot plow and frame and adapt to mount to the Kubota bucket in case of another big winter.

CM


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

A blower probably wouldn't do you any good anyway unless you used it while the snow was still fresh. Once the snowbanks harden up a bit, using a blower would be really really slow. I have blowers for both the tractor and skidsteer, but use the buckets on both to push back the banks. You could always break up the snow with the bucket and then blow it back, but that wouldn't really help you in your situation.


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## jordanFTW (Oct 31, 2011)




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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

Nice bench.


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## Colonel Monk (Feb 12, 2014)

Cool.

Been talking to a guy about buying his old Meyer 7ft for a good price. Gonna take one last look on craigslist today for a 6 footer (was worried about overdoing it) and then buy it. Probably be a few weeks before I've got a frame ready for it but if the deep snows come again this winter I'll be ready.


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