When snow gets dumped on you it almost never goes away as fast as it came, so sometimes we have to take measures into our own hands. Unless you want to spend a few days with a snow shovel in your hand, the best way to get rid of unwanted snow is with a tractor and a scrape blade. A scrape blade usually is mounted on the 3 point hitch of a tractor, and is wide enough to extend past the tires on both sides after it is set at a slight angle.
1. Angle For Windrows
When you are scraping a road or the middle of a parking lot, it is important to remember to angle your blade so that the snow will windrow off to one side. If you try to keep the scrape blade straight the snow will eventually start to move to both sides, but the amount of weight you will have will definitely hinder your performance. If you angle the blade, the snow will roll of to the side, keeping the weight down and the center path nice and clear.
2. Forward And Reverse
Know when to go forward and when to go in reverse. The scrape blade can be rotated 180 degrees, allowing you to push snow for short runs as opposed to dragging and windrowing on longer runs. If you are clearing out parking spaces, reverse is going to be a better option for you, if you are scraping a road, a long run in forward gear will probably work better.
3. Offset
If you find yourself scraping beside a road, whether it be for snow or not, use the offset feature. The offset feature allows the scrape blade to go off-center behind the tractor so that you don’t have to put your tractor in the mess you are cleaning up.
4. Know The Weight of Snow
Most people think of snow as pretty and fluffy, and don’t think of it as the dense heavy mess it becomes when you scrape it up. A single cubic foot of snow can weigh as much as 20 lbs., and that is only a small piece of what your tractor will be pulling. Understand that it only takes a few seconds for your tractor to take on a few hundred pounds of the white stuff, so be careful.
5. Keep The Speed Down
Since the entire ground will be blanketed with snow, you can’t see obstacles that are laying just below the surface. Even a small crack in the concrete can do damage to your scrape blade or tractor if you are travelling too fast, keep your speed down and remember it’s not a race.
Comments
2 responses to “5 Tips On How To Use a Scrape Blade”
Absoulutely, the slow speed keeps it even and the surprises down since you can’t see what’s under the snow.
Keeping the speed down is great advice. I haven’t used a scrape blade personally, but I’ve watched by grandpa use his countless times. He makes it look so easy to use and maneuver. I hadn’t noticed his speed until your comment. Looking back on those big snowy days, I noticed that he worked very slow and consistent when removing snow. He was able to remove snow effectively and safely.