Trying out ratchet rake's snow edge.

Only a couple 3 inches to clear, but this was my first chance to give ratchet rake's snow edge a go. Actually, this was my first time plowing with a loader bucket altogether, I previously was using a snow blade on my garden tractor.

[@TheProCut17]

looks like a neat implement, we don't get much snow here in TN

[@pondacres]

Lucky dawg.

[@davidmitchell6974]

I’ve had mine for six years going to change edge this year for first time . Kubota L3400 R4 tires rear loaded with beet juice . Works well .

[@pondacres]

I sold mine just last week because I have the plow now, but yeh the snow edge does work quite well. What state are you in? 6 yrs of use from that wear bar, that's quite respectable!

[@davidmitchell6974]

@@pondacres Eastern Connecticut paved driveway .

[@moniquepowell9499]

I'm from Connecticut as well. Waterbury to be exact! What bout you?

[@davidmitchell6974]

@@moniquepowell9499 Sorry I took so long to reply - I live in Scotland

[@twinbrookacres]

Looks good. I use a pto snowblower primarily. I have a gravel dooryard (driveway) and I clear part of my lawn for snow storage, using the bucket as well. So, that would not work for me, but I did order some Edge Tamers. They will be in tomorrow. Some guy from Louisiana Showed them in his video! :-)

[@pondacres]

Hmm, that Louisiana guy, I think I heard of him haha. I'd be all over those edge tamers if I had a gravel drive! You using the snowblower on the gravel?

[@twinbrookacres]

@@pondacres Yes I do. I try to leave an inch or two of snow early in the season until the ground freezes. That way I don't pick up the stones.

[@LouisianaTractorworks]

That snow edge works pretty good on the loader. I wonder if you can use it on a gravel driveway. By the end of winter you will be an expert working it. lol Have a good one Pond Acres!

[@pondacres]

Nah, not this for a gravel. I'd throw on Edge Tamers for a gravel drive. Cheap and simple, quick and dirty! :)))

[@1yehny]

I use edge tamers on my gravel driveway.

[@houndsmanone4563]

That snow edge performs quite well. Is it a plastic or poly blade on the edge. It sounded quiet with no scraping or digging into the asphalt. Full-watch.

[@pondacres]

Hey man, yeh the grey wear bar part is some sort of poly. It's working out well on the blacktop, I plowed 3 times with it so far, with my technique improving each time.

[@Tyler_Koehn]

Very interesting. I'm not familiar with it. Is it to protect the surface? I subscribed

[@pondacres]

Yeh, it's to protect the blacktop. I also found the bucket functions a bit like a snow pusher with this thing on and the bucket curled down.

[@theowiththeo]

Little nervous with hydraulics extended like that . On driveway probably fine but anywhere else they could bend especially in reverse.

[@pondacres]

Yup exactly, bucket curled down like that on an unknown driveway...just begging to hit something solid and bend the cylinder rods. But I know my driveway doesn't have anything like that to hit. Anyways, this is old news, I sold it, I use a plow now.

[@jophoto934]

Would a rough uneven driveway tear it up?

[@pondacres]

It would produce uneven wear, at least. I would just use the bucket w/o it on a driveway like that.

[@miltonfreedman4225]

Are you in 4WD all the time or only when you need it?

[@pondacres]

Hi Milton, I try to use 4wd only when I need it.

[@miltonfreedman4225]

@@pondacres Thanks. How high is the plow? How are you holding up? I'm sure you still have family in the Ukraine. My heart and thoughts are with you. How can this be happening in 2022?

[@pondacres]

​@@miltonfreedman4225 Thx for asking, yes they're ok for now, thanks God. My cousin prepared early on and got my aunt and his family farther west, closer to Lviv. The Russians bombed those parts too, but not right where they are. Yes, it's hard to imagine Russia doing this to Ukraine, but here we are. Honestly, I didn't think this would happen even back when Putin was lining up his troops on the border...I thought it was just the west being hysterical with all those predictions that Russia was about to invade.

[@pondacres]

You mean how tall the snow edge's wear bar is? I think it's like 2". I don't have it anymore, I sold it last year now that I have my plow setup for the tractor.

[@miltonfreedman4225]

@@pondacres No I mean the snow blade. My mistake I put the question on the wrong video. I meant the height of the snow blade.

[@johnnyfudpucker6187]

how much did it cost?

[@pondacres]

It was $300 at the time.

[@MrFakit]

Having you bucket at that steep of an angle is dangerous, you hit a manhole cover or something solid you may be injured and your tractor will take some expensive damage

[@pondacres]

Well it's my own driveway, I know every inch of it, no hazards. But I agree, with the bucket curled down, you can bend your cylinder rods if you catch on something. A plow with trip springs, I wouldn't use anything else on an unk driveway.

[@mikegraziano1562]

When the bucket fills up in deeper snow storms the bucket is hard to empty, even shaking it won't shake the snow loose so you always have a bucket a 1/3 filled. This edge also doesn't do well when there is a wet snow & tire treads leave snow that hardens up, I end up having to take the unit off to scrape off the snow down to the tar.

[@pondacres]

Yeh, the mounting screws inside the bucket do act like anchors when the snow fills up in the bucket, true that. Well, this year I build a plow for the tractor, so we'll see how that goes.

[@davidmitchell6974]

Use some silicone spray and spray the inside of the bucket that will help remove the snow

[@mikegraziano1562]

@@davidmitchell6974 Tried that, the screw handles & screws hold in the snow if it's a sticky snow, powdered snow is not so much of a problem. I've also found that it comes loose sometimes even though I used a plastic leadshot hammer to tighten down the screws.

[@davidmitchell6974]

@@mikegraziano1562 half inch drive ratchet fits in square hole to tighten

[@mikegraziano1562]

@@davidmitchell6974 I was talking about the connection to the bucket, not the plastic edge loosening, unless the newer ones have something different now, mine's about 3 yrs old...thanks for the reply!

[@markridgley2239]

You have no problems. Level driveway. Those tires are crap on a hill.

[@pondacres]

I also plow my side drive sloping >15 deg, it's fine. 4wd and locking differential, Mark.

[@mrbrown3462]

There's nothing wrong with the R4 tires in snow. The people who have problems with them are people who don't know how to use their equipment. We been plowing mountain roads for decades with 2wd backhoe on r4 tires and our old road grader with a big Vplow on the front has r4 tires no chains not loaded just the weight of machine and we have never had any issues other than ice that no matter what tire there is gonna be problems. We also have a Kubota BX I run all over the mountains with it collecting sap on r4 tires again no chains no extra weight only thing I do with the Kubota that we don't do with our other equipment is let air out of the tires let them bend and flex and spread out and grab what they are going over. Most people run there tires rock hard and try to run there tractor wide open as fast as it goes and they spin a tire and instantly tires are junk and no good when really it's the idiot in the seat.

[@pondacres]

Roger that, Mr. Brown! You know what, I heard it all about how R4's are bad for plowing, turfs are better, blah blah blah, just something people hear and repeat I think. Well I had turfs on my garden tractor, was plowing snow with that, and it sucked...even with loaded tires and locking diff, there just wasn't enough weight there. R4s on a scut, works great. Oh no, a little slippage! Use your 4wd then. Ok, sometimes you'll have to use that with the locking differential too, that's what all that stuff is there for! Oh yeh, and definitely tire pressure, people pump those things to max load rating, then wonder why they spin out. You're riding on balloons, that's why! Also, the ride sucks with them inflated to max.

[@franklackie2469]

Exactly