P500 Snow Plow Cutting Edge

[trigger]

Yeah I know, not really the season for this but I've noticed some of the control joints in my concrete driveway have taken a beating by the snow plow skids. Saw where someone had put a rubber cutting edge on theirs and wondered how it works for them? Is anyone else doing this? If so, what did you use? I've done some research on it and there's poly ones as well. Does one wear better than the other? Some of them are expensive as hell too, which I'm not totally opposed to as long as I'm not the guinea pig. I'm also ordering up a plow strap for the winch. The synthetic does fine but I just replaced mine for the second time in 6 yrs. Strap just makes more sense.
Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Admin]

 

[Squeegee]

Maybe try a piece of Petra flex or piece of rigid conduit? My old plow I put a piece of conduit on it and it helped not tear up the yard. Also try the search button at top right 🤣🤣

 

[trigger]

Maybe try a piece of Petra flex or piece of rigid conduit? My old plow I put a piece of conduit on it and it helped not tear up the yard. Also try the search button at top right 🤣🤣

Yeah, I saw the thread with the piece of tubing thing. Said it was mainly for unpaved areas, I'm plowing concrete and the skids are taking chunks out at control joints. I just wondered if anyone had fabbed one for themselves and what they used.

 

[Squeegee]

Yeah, I saw the thread with the piece of tubing thing. Said it was mainly for unpaved areas, I'm plowing concrete and the skids are taking chunks out at control joints. I just wondered if anyone had fabbed one for themselves and what they used.

The pipe route does ride up on the snow a bit unless your plow is heavy enough. Maybe see if you could find a piece of elevator belt?

 

[hallic]

Wait wait wait.... You mean there's a mod trigger *hasn't* done to his P5 yet?

+1 on the plow strap, they super cheap and last for ages, easy to replace.
I've got a chunk of 3/8" thick HDPE I'm going to make an edge with sometime in the next ... whenever the hell I get around to it. Hopefully before it snows, lol. Can update if/when I remember to get it done.

I'm under the impression that a soft-ish material like the HDPE wont cut through the ice or hardpacked snow as well as a steel edge will, but the city just replaced the concrete at the end of my driveway, and I don't want to tear that up if I can help it.

 

[trigger]

Wait wait wait.... You mean there's a mod trigger *hasn't* done to his P5 yet?

+1 on the plow strap, they super cheap and last for ages, easy to replace.
I've got a chunk of 3/8" thick HDPE I'm going to make an edge with sometime in the next ... whenever the hell I get around to it. Hopefully before it snows, lol. Can update if/when I remember to get it done.

I'm under the impression that a soft-ish material like the HDPE wont cut through the ice or hardpacked snow as well as a steel edge will, but the city just replaced the concrete at the end of my driveway, and I don't want to tear that up if I can help it.

Lol, yeah I'm still learning hard lessons on the plowing thing. After replacing my synthetic line for the second time, the strap is the cheaper way to go for sure. I actually have a sheet of HDPE in the garage but question how well it would hold up. Just don't want to go through all the BS to find out that it doesn't work so well. Saw one video where a guy used some of that stall mat stuff from TSC to make an edge for his but pretty sure that stuff isn't reinforced and probably wouldn't last very long. Seems to me that pipe would just ride on top and not cut in very well. That's why I figured I'd ask here instead of going through the trial and error process. Could just take the skids off but that may not be the right approach either. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Jerryg]

Some people have used 3/4" horse stall mat with success. I have been wanting to try that as well.

 

[Red500]

I would've thought that the nerfbars would've taken care of all that.

 

[NTCPrezJB]

I would've thought that the nerfbars would've taken care of all that.

The nerfs probably handle the short power slide snow clearing just fine but if the drive is more than 30’ long even Trig’s mighty P5 can’t slide sideways long enough to keep the nerfs doing their work. Sometimes you just have to know the limits and work to the strengths of the machine.

 

[Red500]

I didn't think those nerfs had any limitations.

 

[The Green Goat]

My personal plan is to install a poly edge for this winter. I plowed the neighbor's newly paved driveway for them last winter and had a brief scare that I gouged the hell out of it with the steel edge (I didn't). That was enough to push me towards researching poly cutting edges.

 

[Mudder]

Maybe cut a strip of thick conveyor belt? I once got some take-off pieces the local gravel yard gave away. Had to use a sawzall to cut it.

 

[trigger]

Don't know if it's a brilliant idea but an idea nevertheless... what about the factory skid plate I have sitting in the garage? I'd have to make it in two pieces to cover the width and it's not very thick but it would be free. Could even double it up, it's not like I'm going to use it for anything else. Thoughts? 🤔

 

[The Green Goat]

Don't know if it's a brilliant idea but an idea nevertheless... what about the factory skid plate I have sitting in the garage? I'd have to make it in two pieces to cover the width and it's not very thick but it would be free. Could even double it up, it's not like I'm going to use it for anything else. Thoughts? 🤔

It'll work til it doesn't.

 

[trigger]

It'll work til it doesn't.

Well for the price they want for that sh**, I think I'm going to try it. 👍

 

[Jerryg]

Well for the price they want for that sh**, I think I'm going to try it. 👍

I would definitely double or triple it. And bolt it tight.

 

[hallic]

...what about the factory skid plate...

Ehh... I'd say 2x or 3x it. I went on one ride "stock" when I first got my machine and bounced off a rock or two (nothing near as crazy as the T.O.) and have at least 1 crack in the stock skidplate.

Long as you're cutting it up, cut up the whole thing so if/when it does snap a piece off, you can just bolt on a "spare"

 

[driller]

The factory skid plate material seems like a good idea. In my experience, the snow conditions dictate how well a non-steel edge performs/lasts. Relatively smooth pavement with light snow is easy service compared to rough pavement and icy packed conditions. If it's packed snow/ice, only a steel blade will get down to the pavement.

But I've found it really only matters for a day or two. Once the snow is off the pavement and the sun comes out, mother nature warms up the pavement enough to clear any lingering ice/snow.

 

[John Mc]

This thread has a comment from someone using the rubber stall mat on the cutting edge to protect their concrete driveway. If you can find sections of that mat in your area, @Scoop posted in another thread, an updated link to someone selling precut sections of that rubber mat: Rubber Wear Strips

 

[Scoop]

That first link is to my thread, @John Mc. It's not from a stall mat - it's conveyor belt from the other link you included.

It's nearly 10 years old and pretty much looks as good as it did the day I bought it.