jcmseven
Veteran Member
Fellow Posters,
I have a simple-minded question for the group. This is a class crosser, so forgive me if the forum is not exact. I have a 4520 tractor with the 400x loader. Last year I bought a 3720 which I sold to buy my current machine. I bought a 72" boom blade to mount on the front loader of the original machine for grading and primarily snow removal. I still have it. I have never used it for grading, so it sits waiting on the snow. The past two years I have lived here, there have been only three-four snows per year, and a maximum of 6" at once. The locals promise that this is unusual for this area and a more snowy winter is sure to come. I live on a one mile paved road which I plow for our neighborhood. It is about 14' wide and some of it is on 15%+ degree slopes. I also plow all my closest neighbors' driveways (five) so they can get out. I will occasionally plow some for the neighborhood, so my winter plow volume is fairly high. My dealer just gave me a sweet deal on an HPX Gator, so my question is: should I buy a blade for the Gator and try to sell my existing blade, which takes up a lot of space, or should I forget the Gator blade, and get the new mounting shoes and third SCV, and angling lever for my existing machine, since it would need those upgrades to use my current blade? My concerns are: my tractor would move snow great, but could be pretty sketchy on some of the steeper hills, and is wider than the blade when it is angled. The Gator blade is the same width, but does not seem so heavy duty, so I wonder if it can deal with the volume well and if the Gator has the weight to move snow on steep hills and on steeper drives. I do not want to be wasteful, so whichever I do will be my choice; the Gator, I will sell my current blade setup; the tractor, I will not bother to purchase any blade for the Gator. Thanks for the insight.
John M
I have a simple-minded question for the group. This is a class crosser, so forgive me if the forum is not exact. I have a 4520 tractor with the 400x loader. Last year I bought a 3720 which I sold to buy my current machine. I bought a 72" boom blade to mount on the front loader of the original machine for grading and primarily snow removal. I still have it. I have never used it for grading, so it sits waiting on the snow. The past two years I have lived here, there have been only three-four snows per year, and a maximum of 6" at once. The locals promise that this is unusual for this area and a more snowy winter is sure to come. I live on a one mile paved road which I plow for our neighborhood. It is about 14' wide and some of it is on 15%+ degree slopes. I also plow all my closest neighbors' driveways (five) so they can get out. I will occasionally plow some for the neighborhood, so my winter plow volume is fairly high. My dealer just gave me a sweet deal on an HPX Gator, so my question is: should I buy a blade for the Gator and try to sell my existing blade, which takes up a lot of space, or should I forget the Gator blade, and get the new mounting shoes and third SCV, and angling lever for my existing machine, since it would need those upgrades to use my current blade? My concerns are: my tractor would move snow great, but could be pretty sketchy on some of the steeper hills, and is wider than the blade when it is angled. The Gator blade is the same width, but does not seem so heavy duty, so I wonder if it can deal with the volume well and if the Gator has the weight to move snow on steep hills and on steeper drives. I do not want to be wasteful, so whichever I do will be my choice; the Gator, I will sell my current blade setup; the tractor, I will not bother to purchase any blade for the Gator. Thanks for the insight.
John M
