Plowing snow with my A

[PretendFarmer]

So I have a 6 foot blade on the front of my A. The tractor is equipped with wheel weights. It plows snow ok with no chains on the tires, but with ice on the ground under the snow, I get a good amount of wheel spin and I got stuck a few times today.
I slapped on the tire chains, plows snow extremely well like that, however the ride is very rough. When I say very rough, very bouncy, rocks back and forth....sucks.
So, I am thinking about adding some kind of weight to it, and taking the chains off.. I will place a board on the draw bar and stack bricks on it. How much weight can I place on there? The board will be on the drawbar, from side to side, and as far forward on it as possible.
 

[Janicholson]

Put 12psi max in the tires. Very hard tires will be miserable. In the summer it might be OK to use 15 to 17psi. Jim
 

[gene bender]

Justleave the chains on as ice will still cause a problem. I have the chains that have just simple crossbars they ride much better than the ones that have the x-crossings. I dont have much hard surface to plow so my ride isnt bad sooner have a rough ride than get stuck.
 

[Ed Hotaling]

It doesn't matter how much weight you put on. The only thing
that will get you moving on ice is chains or cleats of some sort to
dig into the surface. I had a 606 with loaded tires (heavy tractor,
very heavy tires) and it was useless on ice. I now have a Ford
with loaded tires and at least a half a ton of counterweight on
the rear. It still spins on ice because the rubber tires can't dig in
to get traction. If there's just a small spot with ice, I get a good
start and let the momentum carry me through. If the driveway is
all ice, I fall back on the garden tractor with the snow blower and
tire chains. When working the tractor with chains, just drive slow
and maybe put a good soft cushion on the seat.
 

[PretendFarmer]

[SDE]

Coworker said that his brother had put alot of weight on a "B". It caused a large casting to break. Wheelweights would be best. I don't remember how much weigh the brother put on it, but it must have been alot.
SDE
 

[BOB HAWBECKER]

not to start a fight but i remember your 6FT blade was not really designed for the farmall A

you all may trash mine but the old girl works real well.

you see the problem is that blade hangs out to far and the back tractor gets light.

sorry your blade is not really for your A looks more for pulley set up for the ford 8n good day.
 

[BOB HAWBECKER]

picture

 

[pgo12]

i have been plowing with my SA for about 16 years..put 2 sets of weights on the back with tire chains on and youll have no problems....pg
 

[IH fan]

It sounds to me like your tire pressure is too high if it rides that bad. I remember Dad backing the pressure down when he put chains on his old Cs and Super C. Lower it too much and the chains will wear into your tires though. Seems Dad had about 10 psi in the C/SC tires with chains and 12 without.
 

[d beatty]

I like the loader on our Farmall B better that the blade we had before.
 

[mkirsch]

You could stack as many bricks as you can fit under there. Bricks aren't very heavy. Drawbar will easily hold 400-500lbs.

I still think you're going to end up needing chains. Sometimes you have to tolerate a little discomfort to get the job done.
 

[MN Mike]

in northern MN the only solution I've found for ice is to put on chains. I've never been able to put enough weight on the back of my 340 to deal with splippage on ice. the ride is rough but I get the job done and don't get stuck which keeps the frustration levels down
 

[NoNewParts]

if you live in serious winter country,
you'll need those chains.
like said, drop your air pressure some.
I've found that they ride better with MORE chains.
lots of cross links.
I'm cheap, so I just put 2 sets of used chains on
each rear.
The idea is to keep chains on the ground continuously
as the tire turns,
not rubber-chain-rubber-chain, thump, thump