[rrmccabe]

LOL

The old 345 continues to get a work out

Last winter I saw a blade on Craigslist that should fit my 345. I have a blower and really did not need it but for $70 I figured why not. We are building a new house and the company that delivered the I Joist tracked mud from one end of cul-de-sac to other so I figured I needed to clean it up before neighbors blew a gasket. So decided to put the blade on. It did a perfect job on the street (sorry no after pics) but what surprised me is how much dirt it would move.

On 1 acre around the house we have dirt everywhere drying so we can do final grade. Its rained a lot here !!

I had to move the trailer and after doing so ended up pushing some dirt around. The limiting factor is the belt driving the hydro and the tires will never spin but if I keep going and push too much dirt I can make the belt squeal.

Below is a picture of the dirt scattered around.

Never would have guessed it would grade so well.

Will get a video later and post it to youtube. HDAPS work great.

 

[stladrill]

Look like you're having fun.

 

[Jim_WV]

Well the price for the blade was well worth it then, will probably come in handy at times. Looks like you had some good seat time with it :fing32:.

 

[farmer69]

Looks like you have some heavy work to do with your mower. Hope it holds up to the tasks. Not sure they are made for that type of work.

 

[cleanmaxxbrian]

Looks like you have some heavy work to do with your mower. Hope it holds up to the tasks. Not sure they are made for that type of work.

345 is most defiantly up to the task...it is just an older version of the X540...

 

[farmer69]

I know how rugged they are as I own a GX345. In saying that I would not want to do that work with mine, I would use my loader tractor.

 

[rrmccabe]

LOL, that dirt you see in the picture will get graded with a CAT loader !


I am only doing finish grade work with it. Used it 6 hours today pushing dirt getting ready for grass seed.

The 345 is not up to that big of task

 

[slkpk]

So how is the house coming along? You got it finished enough to move into it? slkpk

 

[PA318Guy]

Yep, in the fall I just push the piles of leaves from the lawn sweeper into the woods, I never touch a hand rake anymore! Blades are great!

 

[rrmccabe]

House is just starting to move. We had terrible rains this year and rain set us back about 2 months getting foundation in. They are framing the second floor now and should have it all dried in with siding and windows in about a week. Still planning on moving in this year.

I had Cindy take a video of me doing some grading with it. This is area with a bunch of saplings I had the Cat operator push over. I did final grading getting it ready for seed.

Like I said, I am surprised what it will push. Neighbor got 5 loads (50 tons) of dirt to fill where rains wash over his drive this weekend and they dumped it on the concrete and I pushed it all over the side for him with the tractor. Took about 5 minutes per load.

Sure beats shoveling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5hKQS84qpY

 

[Milenko]

Pretty darn impressive. I didn't expect you'd be able to push that much dirt.

Can you set the blade height with the deck adjustment knob? I've been looking for a blade and/or snowblower and wondered if I could set either of them up a bit to keep from digging into the driveway.

 

[k91]

Looks like fun thanks for sharing :fing32:

 

[slkpk]

Nice job and looks pretty darn good. slkpk

 

[stladrill]

Good job! Nice video :fing32:

 

[PA318Guy]

I kept waiting the the chinese guy to pop up and say, "RR you go to far this time!"


Nice video!

 

[wmupaprmkr]

"plays well in the dirt", that's mighty impressive!

 

[rrmccabe]

Can you set the blade height with the deck adjustment knob? I've been looking for a blade and/or snowblower and wondered if I could set either of them up a bit to keep from digging into the driveway.

Yes you can. But in the case of snow you can set the shoes high so the blade or blower auger rides high.

Grading dirt having hydraulic lift is pretty important too. Nice to tap the lever slightly to raise/lower as you set the level.

As I said.. I am shocked it did so well.

 

[Rolex1979]

I really enjoyed that vid makes me think its time to start working my X540 more than I have been. They have the same hydro right ? thanks for posting that vid do you have any more of you working your mini beast ? :thanku:

 

[Mcgee10]

I sure wish I had some pictures of my 345 bulldozer. In 2001 when we built the house I had 6-- 15 yard dump trucks of top soil in 6 very large piles. The neighbor said I would never be able to level all that dirt with that tractor. It took me 3 days and I had fun doing it but we got it done. The 345 makes a fine dozer, dirt is the only thing I use the blade for.
Have fun with that.

 

[rrmccabe]

They have the same hydro right ? thanks for posting that vid do you have any more of you working your mini beast ? :thanku:

Similar Hydro. You are going to want HDAP or Ag tires because the limiting factor in dirt is going to be grip.

You can find other videos in my Youtube account of it working and dragging trees around and blowing snow.

I take good care of it but it gets worked HARD.