Snowblower John Deere 4120 Snowblower Sizing

[TugCaptain]

After lots of help from this form, I solved my track width issue with the addition of 4" skid steer wheel spacers on each side from skidsteersolutions.com. I was able to retain some stability from the wider footprint, run chains in the winter and match the front tire width for trailering and row-crop purposes.

Here are the specs with my two position wheels and R4's:

-Factory minimum spacing is 71.5"

-Turn the wheels around and you get a rediculous (albeit stable) 92.6"

-With the skid steer spacers at 4" per side I'm at a nice compromise of 79.5" with the wheels at their narrow setting. I'm now able to run 7' attachments with plenty of overhang and most 6' units don't bother too much (like a brush hog)

The question now for those with snowblower experience is what size to get...The frontier 74" is 2.5" inside the rear tires and the 84" obviously has plenty of overhang. I'm at the lower limit for recomended horsepower with the 84" model and well within spec for the 74". With anything else I have used, I find this tractor to be under-rated as it seems effortlessly power a huge 7' rotary cutter, 7' tiller, etc.

What are your thoughts? The 74" frontier blower is much smaller overall than the 84" unit and therefore a lot less money, however I don't want it to be a pain trying to clear up next to a fence line or foundation if it doesn't cover the rear tires. Do you think I'll even notice the 2.5" on either side?

I'd love to hear from someone that has tried an 84" blower with this tractor, but that is hard to find after an extensive search. Most seem to run 74" blowers even on the higer horsepower 4x20 series.

Thanks for your time!

 

[Martian]

After lots of help from this form, I solved my track width issue with the addition of 4" skid steer wheel spacers on each side from skidsteersolutions.com. I was able to retain some stability from the wider footprint, run chains in the winter and match the front tire width for trailering and row-crop purposes.

Here are the specs with my two position wheels and R4's:

-Factory minimum spacing is 71.5"

-Turn the wheels around and you get a rediculous (albeit stable) 92.6"

-With the skid steer spacers at 4" per side I'm at a nice compromise of 79.5" with the wheels at their narrow setting. I'm now able to run 7' attachments with plenty of overhang and most 6' units don't bother too much (like a brush hog)

The question now for those with snowblower experience is what size to get...The frontier 74" is 2.5" inside the rear tires and the 84" obviously has plenty of overhang. I'm at the lower limit for recomended horsepower with the 84" model and well within spec for the 74". With anything else I have used, I find this tractor to be under-rated as it seems effortlessly power a huge 7' rotary cutter, 7' tiller, etc.

What are your thoughts? The 74" frontier blower is much smaller overall than the 84" unit and therefore a lot less money, however I don't want it to be a pain trying to clear up next to a fence line or foundation if it doesn't cover the rear tires. Do you think I'll even notice the 2.5" on either side?

I'd love to hear from someone that has tried an 84" blower with this tractor, but that is hard to find after an extensive search. Most seem to run 74" blowers even on the higer horsepower 4x20 series.

Thanks for your time!

A 4120 could easily handle a 7' blower. You wouldn't want to have a blower that would be inside of the wheelbase as your wheels would be in the nice thick snow and I'd be afraid of loosing traction. Either way I would go with the 7' (84") all day.

 

[TugCaptain]

Well thanks for the reply, I would think it could handle the 84" unit, but most every large CUT (JD 4000 or otherwise) seem to run the 74" blower...maybe it's just the cost factor.

Just curious...do you have or have used a machine this size with a blower? Not doubting you, just wondering where you came up with your reply

Thanks for your time,

 

[Martian]

Well thanks for the reply, I would think it could handle the 84" unit, but most every large CUT (JD 4000 or otherwise) seem to run the 74" blower...maybe it's just the cost factor.

Just curious...do you have or have used a machine this size with a blower? Not doubting you, just wondering where you came up with your reply

Thanks for your time,

I do not have any experience with that machine and snowblower but from all my experiences with Deere the tractor power is rated low and the blower power will be rated higher than needed. To be at the lower end will still be plenty of power. And the reason others get the smaller is to save some money as it will cover their wheelbase but with the spacers on yours it won't. If you find a dealer with one I'm sure they'd allow you to try it.

 

[lungdoc]

I have a 78" blower on a 4320 and could go larger, though another thing to remember is parking and manoeuvring near vehicles etc. A wider blower would give me issues in our building for parking.