Snowblower Front end mount used on hardpack driveway

   / Front end mount used on hardpack driveway #11  
Bah. I leveled some ground with the snowblower last year. Chucking gravel and frozen dirt for half an hour. No problem.
 
   / Front end mount used on hardpack driveway #12  
Re: Front end mount snowblower used on hardpack driveway

I am interested in purchasing a front end mount snowblower for a L5740. I am being told by the dealer that I may not be happy since my driveway is not paved, it is a hardpack surface and about 500' long. I am looking for feedback from others who use a front blower on similar surfaces and points to consider.

Gee, I hope not - I just put down 6" of hardpack (or nitpack) on 1100 feet of driveway that is going to be snowblown using a 6' rear-mounted blower.

Actually, 2-stage blowers (and your blower will be 2-stage) are specifically designed for non-paved surfaces. Single stage blowers (technically snow-throwers) are used on paved surfaces (and so can 2-stage, obviously).

You could always just install a sub-gravel heater that melts the snow as it falls...maybe that's what your dealer has in mind.

Incidentally, this was last year's rig for the same driveway (but with crappy sandy gravel) w/ the extended off-road skids I made. Even the big skids sunk into the wet gravel surface until the gravel froze, though I can say that even this little blower did a great job at throwing the sand and gravel 30 feet into the woods (with no ill effects):

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JayC
 
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   / Front end mount used on hardpack driveway #13  
Going on recommendations from older posts here, I fabbed a pipe base for my blower box. It helps it roll over my gravel drive. I'll still occasionally machine gun some gravel but that's part of the fun.

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   / Front end mount used on hardpack driveway #14  
Re: Front end mount snowblower used on hardpack driveway

I am interested in purchasing a front end mount snowblower for a L5740. I am being told by the dealer that I may not be happy since my driveway is not paved, it is a hardpack surface and about 500' long. I am looking for feedback from others who use a front blower on similar surfaces and points to consider.

I plow most of the time in the winter for the past 40 plus years (started going with dad when I was 5),(learned to drive a plow in a hospital lot, before a car for my road test), for 12 years I have drivenNYS Thruway Plows Municipality plows, and privately I drive 2 that were bought at auction, and I also maintained my own plow, and made sure I used the feet on gravel driveways; or when pushing snow back across the grass to avoid digging up lawns....

Last year is the first year I have ever used " a Personal Blower " at my house... (I was given the blower free) Snow throwers have adjustable feet on the sides... adjust them until they are at a height that does what you need.... the down side I learned last winter may have been more the unit then the operator, but I had issues with use in heavy / wet snows, as well as finding stones from drive in middle of lawn this year, as I used blower for propane / oil tank delivery paths, vs. driving a plow / back hoe path across lawn

Every Kubota I have ever seen has always had a bucket on it... why not look into a blower attached to the bucket / arms, or a 6' blade like I have seen people do as well before?

I guess if you have a warm tractor cover, and the time to do it with a small tractor go for it, vs. tearing lawn up, or having a " reckless plow jockey " do such... a friend of mine has a ruined lawn in CT due to one

Bill
 
 
 
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