I’m thinking about investing in some rear tire chains and using this 580se backhoe to plow and move snow. Since it’s only 2wd, I’m not sure how well it would get traction to push snow or if it would steer without sliding around. Any thoughts? Thanks !
It will move snow surprisingly well with chains on. I couldn't go anywhere with my 2wd 310A in the winter. Then I bought some chains for the rear only. Now I can plow going up hill, downhill, anywhere I want on my property. I use my steering brakes when the front end wants to push instead of turn. If you want better turning, you can put tire chains on the front tires as well. I also run tire chains on the rear tires of my bobcat for snow plowing, pushing a 7' 6" snow plow. That is a snow moving machine with chains on. I got my truck stuck in a drift in a field and I was able to drive right through with the bobcat plowing a path. Cleared a path right down to the frozen ground and was able to get truck right out.
The key is good quality chains. Like the X link style. Even better if they have carbide on them. go anywhere..
Tire chains would be awesome Plowed for years with an old 2wd ford backhoe with no chains worked fine
Won't the chains mark up your pavement?
Not mine, I dont have any.
Same here
Not that it's exactly the same but I tossed some chains on my smallish garden tractor, originally to help get enough grip to rip out honeysuckle, prior to having the backhoe, and it's amazing what kind of traction they provide. Yes, they'll mark up pavement, possibly pretty heavily on a hoe, but they do really grip well.
My 4x4 hoe doesn't get much traction on front ties, and will slide easy on a hill. Real pucker factor going on sometimes
if it's as flat as we all assume, and you're not using an angle blade or wider snow pusher, then I wouldn't bother with chains, that thing has so much weight and torque that you'll push any snow you get in KS without even noticing it. If you were on hills, had an angle blade, or were in a snowbelt, then it would be different. I've seen pictures of sanders that dribble sand directly in front of or onto the tires for traction. I'd put gather some dry sand and rig up something like that if you're worried about getting stuck on ice, and don't want to use the backhoe bucket for a push.
Hell yeah that machine will push snow...I'm in western New York (i.e.snow central) and my 580C with chains is a snow plowing monster, with a cab and heat just need to get the feel of how much down pressure to set the front bucket on the ground to maintain steering in the driveway...if you're doing big open areas you can steer with the pedals.. Big old ring chains aren't the most comfortable ride but the diamond pattern chains are more comfy if you're looking to invest in new ones...Biggest thing is to keep the chains fairly tight so they aren't slapping on your fenders....If you choose to forego the chains just remember any incline or ice episode requires the jewelry even with 4WD or you're just a big ole' hockey puck on wheels....
A lot of the old tractors just had 2 wheel drive. Just unlock the brakes to help steer, and away you go.
On the C that I had, wasnt enough clearance between inner fender and tire to put chains on.
My 580k works great,two wheel drive!
Depends on how much snow and how deep. But I plowed farm roads with 2wd backhoes without much issue. Icy slopes had me wishing for chains. But I would plow down, spin up, and then plow down till finished. I used the brakes to steer with. If you plan on putting a pusher on it or something like that it might be different. I preferred backhoes over skid steers, they pushed better due to the weight. Skid steers skidded, and did not steer or push.
Chains on the skidsteer completely change that. Only chain one axle though so your front wheels can slide during a turn. I had no issues plowing my long, hilly drive with a bobcat last year.
Last winter I used mine to pull a semi-truck out of a ditch and then plowed about a mile of road. I found it best to float the bucket. Oh no chains and on a hill.
I think it’s like using all wheeled or track equipment, they will do all you need until you start spinning the tires or tracks. If that happens, be patient, stop, backup, reset, and go again. Spinning/slipping does nothing but wear things out and breaks stuff when it grabs.
You have to be real careful plowing in float position going forward. Hit something solid and the cylinders slam closed and can bend in the process. Same thing will happen on a skid steer with the bucket dumped so it scrapes up hard pack snow and ice. Not as big a problem on a loader though. I cringe when I see a skid steer with the bucket tilted vertical and the front wheels 6" off the ground and it's being driven forward as fast as it will go. Guaranteed the bucket cylinders are going to bend sooner rather than later. I've tilted the bucket down to loosen hard pack but only went forward a few inches at a time. Usually it breaks up in large slabs that are easy to clear.
There is a lot of weight in a full size backhoe. With tire chains there is a lot of push. You haven't mentioned steep driveways. I've plowed with a lot of different machines, among my favorites is a big backhoe. The challenge is irregular terrain. Driveways I own are nearly a plane. That is to say flat, though sometimes tilted. I have two neighbors with bowl driveways. A loader cutting edge is always parallel to the rear axle. Irregular driveways, one corner of the bucket is always scalping. It can be frustrating. A snow pusher is wider than the bucket, tilts a bit to compensate, and has a "rubber" edge to avoid crashing stops.
Ok thanks for those comments and suggestions. Last year I did a little plowing on a 100’ section of straight dirt road just to see how it did. I wasn’t so satisfied with the results. Three things I noticed were: - forward traction wasn’t an issue, I had a little slipping with the steering. If there was a frozen base or an incline chains sound like a real good idea. Maybe I’ll buy a bucket of 1/4” chain and make a set for the front tires at least, these are almost totally smooth. - it’s was hard for me to know exactly where the scraper edge of the bucket was so as to pick up all the snow and none of the dirt road. I probably need to adjust the “return-to-load” setting so the edge of the loader bucket returns to the plane of the bottom of the tires without me having to attempt to adjust the bucket edge based on not being able to actually see it but looking at what’s left as the bucket passes. - since the bucket isn’t a plow and has no tilt or angle , I was doing a lot of push and fill bucket w snow, backing up, turning to side , dumping on roadside, return to straight, repeat. It made me appreciate having a plow so I could set the plow position and then just go.
It's a feel thing. I plow with a loader, and a boxblade that the bucket shoves into. This time of year where I am, the ground isn't frozen enough yet. When I leave the pavement, I have to curl the bucket back a bit so the box runs a bit harder on the shoes, I can't see it, but I am used to the feel. Same as when I need my bucket. The auto level is a bit greedy for the pit, so when it kicks out, I snap it back a bit, and it will skim the grass. A new guy was asking me how to tell if his box was tipped too far ahead. I said to look at your side plates, they slide up square. If they are off the ground on the back section you see, the front is tipped down to far, and your shoes a way off the ground. tip back until they touch. Told him the same, you get used to it.
another thing, do you use your brakes to help you steer?
Latest 580SuperN came too narrow to put tire chains on. I was able to mount the tires inside out (opposite side) I now have about 3" clearance for the chains. I'll have to keep them tight with no hanging chain in the side chains. Years back, I bought a JD 410, it weighed about 14000 LBS. I reasoned it's heavy & the neighborhood isn't too steep, I'd do fine. I early on learned a thing or two about the fall line. Don't need to be very steep to take a wild ride on a machine weighing 16000.
Once the ground freezes it’s worse for sure. My JD 310B is 2wd and it did just OK on slight slopes but extremely inefficient on steeper slopes. Could push very little snow and had to push the backhoe itself a lot. I eventually got a set of Duo chains and it made a world of difference! It gives you so much more control at lower speeds and pushes/piles like a track loader does in dirt. My machine doesn’t have the recommended clearance, but with the chains on tight and using the lower gears it didn’t rub anything. I checked them often at first and tightened/adjusted them, then just kept an eye on them. I’m only pushing around my relatively small property so I can/need to go slow. Of course, the faster the machine goes and the more slack in the chains, more clearance is required.
Deere sells tire spacers for the rears. The spacers sit between the hub and the rim. The kit provides new lug studs that are longer to accommodate the spacers. If you buy them from Deere, you'll pay $1000 a set. You'll also need the tool to remove the old studs and install new ones. Amazon, $269. The spacers will give you enough room to mount chains. I bought a set of TRYGG chains for front and back from White Mountain Chain in Idaho. White Mountain's pricing was almost 50% less expensive than everyone else, and they are an authorized dealer. Buy SMT Flexis for pavement. They also make logging chains for skidders that drive through mud. All of their chains are monsters.
Here's the major problem. If you plow with the front loader bucket, you have to float the bucket. If you hit any pressure against the bucket from the front, the high pivot point where the loader bucket attaches to the tractor will force the front wheels of the hoe off the ground. I can't speak for anyone else, but the thought of not having steering or lateral stability on an icy slope scares me silly. I solved this by buying an old, junk snow plow, and mounted the quick attach for the plow onto a fork lift frame that matches my Deere quick attach. The plow mount pivots to follow the contours of the ground, so you can lock the loader arms in place (not float them). We'll see how it works when the snow flies.
I've had many tractors, only one new set of chains. They were the worst ever. They were a pattern where all of the links were the same, elongated ovals. two cross chains were linked with two longitudinal connectors, Essentially squares held in place by cross chains. Seemed like a good idea. They worked well in mud or deep snow. Driving slow on plowed paved road from one driveway to another, they'd somehow tangle & POP! they'd break a cross chain, leaving this mass of chain to beat up the fenders. I have a set of Canadian skidder chains, A series of caulked 12" rings are held in place by four short chains. Again, they are best in deep mud or very deep snow. On any hard surface they give a very rough ride. Simplest are double ring chains. they work OK on everything but steep glass hard grades. I'd sure love to have modern ice pick chains, never used them, but they sure look impressive!
The scary guy is the one with the backhoe plowing wide open going straight ahead wit the wheels turned all the way to the right. and waiting for the steering axle to get traction back and him going into the ditch. First time I plowed with a back hoe, I didn't know about steering with the brakes. I jumped in, and went down the road to do a little cleanup job (my loader was in the shop for a service when I had finished my route). Someone had unlocked the brake peddle, I came to the stop sign, the road was snow packed, and I went end for end.
We used to run a power angle blade like this on the backhoes. Our New Hollands were 4x4 but they could be hard to steer. The power angle could help steer. I think they were an 11 foot. They sold one with a backhoe, one backhoe was stolen of a job, and they put the blade for it on an L45 loader, and the other one is sitting in the field with the V plow for my grader with trees growing all around it.
You don't have to plow in float position. On gravel I like to have a have a layer of packed snow for a base so I don't mess up the gravel.
my 580SE pushes snow just fine. might weld a hook up in the back of the bucket, like i did on my allis 816. I would mount a 7 ft truck plow ijn the back of the bucket to push snow
I rigged a 9' plow to mount below the bucket. I could lock the loader with plow pivot pins as close to the ground as possible, the plow could float. It pushed ok straight, but I couldn't angle the blade hardly at all. Balance is all off with a backhoe, not near enough weight on the front. Front wheels don't steer effectively, and it is so long maneuverability is a problem.
Have any of you tried Grip Studs? https://www.gripstuds.com/index.php I have had good luck with them on a couple of past machines. Check them out. I think it’s the 1910T I usually order. I have run several kinds of chains as well. And they will give you better traction in mud and snow. But with clearing the snow in front of you the studs really help with what’s left behind. Packed snow and ice. I have no pavement though. Just crushed stone.
Those look interesting gasifier, how scary is it intentionally screwing things into your tires?
Its a little scary. LOL But, like they tell you on the website and in the installation instructions, be sure you have adequate tread thickness. The provide the details on each style for penetration depth. They don’t go in too deep. Good for ice and hard pack.
Just put some in my backhoe tires. Not a lot. But enough to help with traction on the slippery stuff.
Emmitt518; Is the snowplow in the photo you posted yours ? It looks good to me. If it doesn't have power angle on it, it would be really neat to have it converted.
Those are pretty aggressive looking studs. The snow tires on my loader have holes for studs, but 99% of my plowing is on pavement. Customer might not like those.
Nope. I wouldn’t suggest if going on pavement or concrete.