Do you have the "skid shoes" adjusted so when the blade is down there is a small gap on the bottom of your blade to the ground?? Other then doing that as far as I know that about all you can do. It sounds like your using the float position right.

 

What I do is push the lever forward so that it clicks and the quick-attach slowly lowers until it comes in contact with the ground. I am assuming that this is the proper use of the float?

this is correct. The only way you could overcome this, is by installing a spring or two to take the load off - but that wouldn't be easy.

Are your skid-shoes adjusted properly?

 

Your description is exactly how you use float. And, your description of what happens on uneven ground, and especially uneven and unfrozen ground is exactly what will happen due to the weight of the blade and quick hitch.

Adjusting the skids as mentioned by Kansas John Deere may help, but if your ground is uneven enough (and it doesn't take much) even that will not work. You will need to actually use your raise and lower lever to feather the blade height, raising it a little for instance and plowing while leaving an inch or so of snow on your lawn. I do this to make a path to my wood pile. I don't really need bare grass, and with frost heaving and general terrain change, I would do more harm than good if I tried. If your lawn is really uneven, you may need to actually ride your hydraulic lever, adjusting up and down as you drive. Good reason to get a spinner on your steering wheel. You can manage driving and blade with two gloved hands, let your feet manage your speed, and if necessary the locker.

If you are in Duluth, you will get plenty of practice, so take your time, stay warm, and enjoy.

 

Actually I was going to go out today and adjust the skids. It looks like I will just keep doing what I have been doing, feathering the lever.

Yes Jere39 I have already seen some snow. At least 20"+ this year.

 

The skid shoes on my blade don't help much at all. Usually the loose gravel aren't frozen enough under the snow and the shoes just make deep grooves in the gravel. I adjust the lift and try to leave an inch or so when I push snow, but getting gravel in the grass is always a problem.

 

The 47 is a heck of a heavy snowblower, so no doubt you have it digging into your lawn and driveway. I have a 49, which is about half the weight.

A buddy of mine (not a Deere person) has a heavy snowblower on his little Ford and had the same problem of it digging into his lawn and gravel driveway. He solved it by getting a set of (very) used shoes for it and welding some wide (guessing 4" or so?) bar stock steel to the bottom of them, with the tips curled up like mini steel skis. The skis are about a foot long and help that heavy blower ride over the lawn and driveway rather than digging into it.

Can't say this will help you, depending on your situation, but it sure helped him!

--Justin

 

One thing I do that helps is to leave an inch or two, and then back drag with the blade in the float position to get most of it off of the drive. The blade doesn't dig in when going backwards. I know that won't work very well with your blower......:hide:

 

Now that I have had a chance to use the blower a few times this year I have been doing some experimenting.

The float position is not very effective!

The first time this year all the blower did was dig up gravel or grass. The ground started to freeze and the snow created a good hard base which is what I like. So I figured I would try float now. What the tractor does now, in float, is have very little if no steering control. The downward pressure is so great that it takes the weight off of the front tires so I have no ability to steer. I just keep going straight when turning the wheel.

What I do now is constantly adjust the height as I drive. This works fine since I have been doing it for some time and I am able to set it very accurately as I go.

I am just wondering why the float position is not a true "float" which would be only the weight of the blower or blade and it is actually down pressure? Maybe there is an adjustment that we dont know about, or do you????

 

I am just wondering why the float position is not a true "float" which would be only the weight of the blower or blade and it is actually down pressure? Maybe there is an adjustment that we dont know about, or do you????

Mulch,
I'm not sure why you are experiencing downward pressure besides the weight of the attachment. My current x728, and my previous 445 float modes were exactly that, essentially a drop of the blade to the ground, no down pressure at all. With the tractor parked at idle, or turned off, and the front attachment in float mode, I can lift my attachment by hand and am definitely only lifting the weight of the attachment. In the 15 years of operating one or the other of my tractors I've never had any reason to search for an adjustment to this feature. I use my front blade a couple dozen times a year for snow, gravel grading, moving firewood logs, and generally blazing new paths through the woods to cut and haul firewood.

I'd definitely look into the possibility your float mode on your lower hydraulic lever is not functioning properly. Are you convinced that the lever is staying locked into float mode. It should be clealy staying forward when locked in, as opposed to returning to center where it aligns with your other lever?

See these pictures from seat of my x728 sitting in the garage (lighting may not be perfect):

Levers centered, no up/down/left/right pressure requested:

Lower lever (the up/down control) locked into Float position:

 

On the 2305, drop the blower till it just touches the ground. Then with a quick down motion the it will go into "float". If you do it slowly, it will lift front tires totally off the ground. However it you are doing the stuff the grader throws up, that is a good thing.

I am not sure how the 485 is set up.

 

As I read this thread I realize I have had the same problems with my 140 with a 54" er. But trial and error gets it to where you can do it without to much digging. The back blade method works well also. But on the other hand eventually your lawn and driveway will be level.

 

Here is what I did. With the GT parked in the garage I put the lever in float. It lowered so that the blower came in contact with the floor and then stopped. I was able to grab the blower and move it around, back and forth. What I mean is that the lift did not put so much downward pressure on it that it was pinned to the garage floor. I was not able to lift it the blower though so there was some constant down pressure and yes I am able to lift the blower by hand, maybe not far but enough to determine if it is floating. Next, with the lever in float and the blower on the floor I pulled the locking pins to the blower and the hitch instantly went all the way to the floor un-hitching the blower. This tells me that there is always some downward pressure. There may not be as much as when using the lift manualy but there is enough to take weigh off of the front wheels, as seems. It appears that technically we do not have a "float" position as much as we have a "slight down pressure" position.

Maybe someone can confirm my findings?

 

Was this without the tractor running? There is no way for the hydraulics to apply pressure if it's not running. Is there a difference in the amount of down pressure in the float position with the tractor running vs. being turned off?

 

Couple things come into play here. First is that the resistance of pushing the blower, when in float, causes the tractor to try to "climb" onto the blower. That transfers tractor weight to the blower. The other thing is that the 47 is one heavy monster anyhow so just its' own weight will make it dig in.

You might have a bad valve but I think that is really remote.

 

Mulch,

I just read in another thread a few days ago, that along the way a change was made to the "float" valve on the big "X" tractors. This was to correct the problem that you are having with too much down pressure in "float". So these guys with newer X700-series tractors will have a different experience with "float" than what you are having -- in other words, their "float" works as expected, and your "float" has more down pressure.

Let me see if I can find that post.... okay here it is: Float Mode

 

Yes this would explain a lot of the confusion between us since most of the responses are coming from guys that have X700's series tractors.

I am not going to dwell on this subject for to long since I have adapted to not using the float and and doing fine without. The main reason for the concern is that I was curious that something may be adjusted incorrectly and also I am one that if something is broke I want it fixed...

I wish that there was a technical bullutin from JD that addressed this. If anyone is able to find info let me know.

 

I can't see how the float position would work for a blade or blower. The equipment will go down to far unless there is skid pads to stop it. I know on our farm loader tractor the only time we use float is if we are backing up and trying to level dirt or gravel. Going forward it is only going to dig in. If you tip the bucket up to prevent it from digging it will just rise up on top of the dirt or gravel. We very seldom use the float position.

 

I had all the problems listed and more. Plus a shoe box full of cuss words;; I took the leveler pads off and welded a 2x4 Inch steel plate on the bottom ground the sharp edges off, and it seems to work much better.. The factory shoe is for when you are working on a solid surface, Cement/asphalt/ blacktop. In grass or something soft they are not so good.. Life is good.

 

Obviously many people have different expectations, have different surfaces, have different attachments and tractors, and get various results. And that is probably what we should expect. It is also cool that some clever folks have solved their issues in ingeneous ways.
I do currently own a newer x728, but I plowed my 3000' driveway with a JD445 and 54" blade for 14 years before the upgrade. Maybe I am just a very lucky guy, my wife tells me I am, but I've run my blade on float with no problems for all those years. I did replace the plow shoes about yearly till I had a friend weld a significant chunk of hardened steel to the bottom of some of my worn out shoes, now I am set for life.

Here is a picture of the 445 earning its keep:

Good luck to all you front attachment users, both floaters and featherers,

 

Your doing it correctly with the float.

I use my power blade on my 300 for snow, and the only time I use float is when I am dragging the driveway in reverse. If I really want to dig deep, then I will add some downward pressure and drag in reverse as well. Some times on high spots in the driveway I go forward, but set the blade where I want it, and take small bites in several passes till I get it where i want it.

Snow removal for me, is I set my blade feet on the bottom all the way up on my blade. All of our driveways are sand, and only two neighbors have paved approaches to their garage, one is concrete, and one is asphalt. I dont set the blade on the ground all the way, I will "skim" it very close so i do not bull doze the sand too. I will remove snow going forward. The approaches I do, I set the blade on the pavement and push away. It does not scratch it or damage it, but it makes some noise. I have read, and to my understanding the adjuster feet on the bottom of the blade is to save and protect the cutting edge from extra wear and tear. Since I have owned my blade I have tried it with the feet down, but all it does is leave little tracks in the driveway where they touch. The sand is soft, so if they dig, then the blade will dig.

One other thing I do is in the fall when I am done mowing, and get my GT ready for snow, is I go around to my neighbors driveways and go ahead and drag, and level their driveways out with my blade. Getting the grass out of the driveway where the tires dont run in the middle, and filling in the low, uneven spots makes it a whole lot easier on me when I go back months later to move the snow. I do my own drive way, and 4 elderly neighbors around me. I don't do it for money or anything like that, I do it to help, and also I like the seat time. :fing32:

Our driveways are all sand, and so is the streets. Usually I will wait till the road grader comes around to jack the streets up, and I will "move" some of the soft loose stuff from the street in front of the drive way, back into the driveway. You know...just taking back the sand that washed out into the street from the summer rains.

:trink40:

~F~