Dozer vs. Snow Blade?

[DanBov]

What are, if any, the differences between the dozer blade and the snow plow blade? Can I use one for both plowing snow and moving or grading soil?

[Kent]

Yes, you can use one for either purpose. The 42" snow/dozer blade is a lighter duty blade with 3 holes in the mount where you can manually angle the blade by pulling a pin. The 46" heavy duty dozer blade (shown below) is much heavier (114 lbs vs 66 lbs) and has a spring-loaded trip feature should you hit something like a curb, crack in the sidewalk at high speed, etc. It also has 5 adjustment holes that you can adjust without leaving the seat.... The heavy-duty ones are harder to find, more desirable, and much more expensive new and used.... Either one will allow you to spread dirt, mulch, etc. There's specs on both in the AC B-series attachments section, linked below. While the details of these blades may have changed with later models, the same basic differences exist.... [A href='http://www.simpletractors.com/attachments/snow_dozer_blades.htm'][img src='http://www.simpletractors.com/images/b_attachments_images/dozer_blade1x1.jpg'][/a]

[SmilinSam]

I have them all and used them all extensively so here's my 2 cents on the differences adding to what Kent already has mentioned. Pluses: 42"- Lighter weight and much easier and faster to lift and use with a manual lift lever. Recommended for use with the dual lift lever setup when hooking it to the right side lever.(the 46" dozer is just too heavy to use with a right side lever) Minuses: 42"- have to get off the tractor to angle the blade and only three angle stops. Less weight means you have to put more pressure on it in ice and packed soil. Pluses: 46"- Heavier, digs into the ice and dirt better. Spring loaded , will trip forward if you hit something hard rather than jarring tractor. Angles from the seat without having to get off the tractor. Built heavier and will take more punishment. Has 5 angle settings instead of just 3. minuses: 46"- Is heavy to lift. Recommend counterweight and a collar weight on the older tractors. Works great with a hydraulic lift. Good with a electric lift, but slow. Not recommended with a right lift lever. (short lever does not have enough leverage and cannot use a counterweight with it) My experience

[SmilinSam]

I would agree w/Kent. I have found (with the help of the guy that got me hooked on Simplicity's) that the hitch on the heavy duty blade needs to be sectioned (cut on a 30 degree angle and front section rewelded ON TOP of the back section). The reason being, when you put the blade in a full 45 degree angle the end closest to you digs in to 'beat the band' while the other end is 'hanging in the breaze'. We have seen it on the 3414, 3010, 7016 and my Sovereign. Making this section makes the hitch parallel to the ground allowing the blade to be the same while on different angles. The other thing I've tried is using a Delrin/UHMW cutting edge (I have brick pavers). I can plow the pavers (3000' of them)without scratching them up, then plow the road. If anyone's interested I can probably sort out some pics. JP

[Karl_Brandt]

I have 2 46" Dozer/Snow blade on my Simplicity 3416H.Does a very good job at plowing snow,takes a lot of snow to stop the tractor. My blade is Hydraulic lift and Hydraulic angling.The other Blade is on my AC 912H and is heavy to lift.[A href='http://www.simplicityva.com']http://www.simplicityva.com[/a]

[Karl_Brandt]

Sam,The Hydraulic pump is the same one that drives the tractor , Vickers pump.I have linked a web page from my site that shows all information on my Simplicity 3416H Hydraulic lifting blade. [A href='http://www.geocities.com/simplicityva/winter/hydraulic.html'][img src='http://www.geocities.com/simplicityva/winter/Image025.jpg'][/a]

[SmilinSam]

Thats pretty neat handiwork Karl. How do you drive the hydraulic pump?