Am I asking too much of my BX 2230?

   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #1  

jam2004

Silver Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
185
Location
central NJ
Tractor
Kubota BX 2230
Just got done trying to get rid of about 1.5 feet of snow here in central NJ. I used my BX for the second time in the snow. The first time was for about 3". Dropped the rear blade and away I went on my 350' driveway.

This storm was a bit different. I did the preliminary run yesterday with about 4" on the ground and it worked great. Woke up today and here's what I experienced:

1. FEL only pushed snow so far before it stopped.
2. Build up of snow on angled 48" blade caused the front to veer off course.
3. Spinning blade and going backward worked the best but also stopped after large build up.
4. 4WD with rear chains was no match for the areas I neglected to plow during the preliminary run. Almost got stuck a couple of times.

Am I expecting too much from my little orange friend, or should I chalk it up to unusually high snowfall/inexperience? I watched my neighbor use his HD snowthrower with little trouble. His driveway is a fraction of mine though. I don't think a front mounted snow thrower makes fiscal sense considering a big storm around here is usually 8".

jam
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #2  
Make sure there isnt to much down pressure on the loader,set your loader to the angle you want ,then push all the way up on the lever to put the loader in the float position,works for me,hope this helps,Craig.
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #3  
Ive got a BX 2200 with a half mile driveway to plow and have experenced the same difficulties as you. I sold my Speedex front mounted plow which did a great job on up to 10 inches. I now have a 6 foot rear blade and can only plow up to 5 inches without difficulty. We just have to know our tractors limitations. Brad
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #4  
Every tractor of every size has its limits. You may find that you can easily move 10" of light snow but bog down with 3" or 4" of wet slushy stuff. As you said this is only the 2nd time using it in the snow, you'll figure out with experience what you can and cannot do. I found when using a blade, I had to go out in the middle of some of our larger storms to do an initial clearing before it got too deep. I've been using a blower for the past 10 seasons, but have used rear blades and the FEL during that time too. I prefer the blower (mine is a rear mount because like you, I could not justify a front mount due to cost). For me, spinning the rear blade around and pushing in reverse is the most effective way to use a blade.
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #5  
18" is a lot of snow to move no matter what you're using! To use the FEL effectively to move this much, you probably need to develop a technique where you're angling short distances across the driveway, then lifting and dumping. After you move the bulk of it, you can make long runs the length of the driveway to clean up the spillage.

As you realize, these big storms are an infrequent event, and I suspect your BX will do fine with most of the snowfall you get. You just need to adjust your plan of attack for these freak storms with big dumps.

I was so happy to get snow last night so I could have seat time today. I wish we had received 18", we only got 4! And I'm in the mountains, we need it.
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #6  
Jam,

Just have to take small bits and go slow. I went with a rear snowblower and FEL and used that for 2 seasons. I switched to a front snowblower this year and the BX is a snow eating machine. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Yes it was a lot of $$$, but I was tired of backing up all the time, sore neck so I picked up a used blower. Keep your eye on e-bay you sometimes can pick up some good deals. Someone on TBN got a front snowblower for$1000 on e-bay, it was in Warren county.!
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thanks. Kinda what I thought the responses would. 1.5 feet is too much to ask unless you have a blower. Tom-I think we got more here in Monmouth than you did in Warren. Yes?
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230?
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Craig,

How does the float position differ from the standard FEL position? I didn't even know about it. How do you get the FEL to go back to the regular position after it floats?

jam
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #9  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ........................... Someone on TBN got a front snowblower for$1000 on e-bay, it was in Warren county.! )</font>

Tom, I wouldn't have purchased it if I had known that you wanted it. I only purchased it to help the guy out, because he was desperate to sell it!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif After this last storm, I only wish that I hadn't purchased it. I felt like the abominable snowman with all the snow that kept blowing back in my face. Every time I thought that I was throwing the snow in the direction the wind was blowing, the wind would change direction and I would get covered. I can see a Curtis Cab in my very near future. I am just glad that I only use the blower for clean up work after I finish plowing the road into my home. If I had to do all of the snow removal with the Kubota, it would be more seat time than my poor old body could handle. I will agree with you that the BX2750 snowblower is the best snow eating machine that I have ever used. The most fun that I had with the snowblower was chasing the wife with the chute blowing snow at her while she was trying to clean off the cars. For some unknown reason she just can't understand why we have garages that are capable of holding 8 cars, but only one car resides in it. Every year I promise to make room for her car, but never seem to find the time to do it. This morning she threatened that if I didn't do it, that she would...... What would a Junkman do without all that junk??????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
   / Am I asking too much of my BX 2230? #10  
Jam,

We got 14" of snow.

On the FEL , float you push the stick all the way up. This will take away the pressure on the FEL it will just go up and down with the surface the FEK is on. To take it out of float just pull the stick down and you are out of float.
 
 
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