B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal

   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #1  

solrheat

New member
Joined
May 23, 2006
Messages
6
Location
New Durham, NH
Tractor
B3030HSDC
Hey Folks,

Buying a new house in NH at the back of 6 acres on top of a gently sloping hill. 1200 feet of hard packed gravel driveway and most of acreage is field grass. Already decided (after 30 seconds of imagining snow plowing/blowing a 1200 foot driveway at night in a nor'easter) on the B3030 with cab. So, do I get and use the 60" snow blower or the front blade for snow plowing and do I get the 72" mid mower or a rear mount bush hog for grass cutting? I also need to have a pallet fork attachment to unload an occasional delivery for my solar heating business, so do I get the loader without the bucket and just the pallet forks or add it to the bucket and keep it for whatever? I suppose I'll also need the box scraper to maintain the driveway. Don't want to go overboard with attachments, but want to get the necessities up front so I can get the best 'package deal' pricing. Thanks for any ideas or past experience in this.
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Hey Folks,

Buying a new house in NH at the back of 6 acres on top of a gently sloping hill. 1200 feet of hard packed gravel driveway and most of acreage is field grass. Already decided (after 30 seconds of imagining snow plowing/blowing a 1200 foot driveway at night in a nor'easter) on the B3030 with cab. So, do I get and use the 60" snow blower or the front blade for snow plowing and do I get the 72" mid mower or a rear mount bush hog for grass cutting? I also need to have a pallet fork attachment to unload an occasional delivery for my solar heating business, so do I get the loader without the bucket and just the pallet forks or add it to the bucket and keep it for whatever? I suppose I'll also need the box scraper to maintain the driveway. Don't want to go overboard with attachments, but want to get the necessities up front so I can get the best 'package deal' pricing. Thanks for any ideas or past experience in this.
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #3  
Congratulations on the new house. Buy a snow blower and you'll never have to plow snow while it's snowing. You simply wait for the storm to end and blow the driveway one time. I used to plow, anything over a foot is a chore, the snow blower doesn't care if there is 6" or 6'. I've used a 7' rear mounted blower for the past 7 years, I'll never go back to a plow. If you are mowing grass get the belly mower, if it's brush and weeds, get the rear mounted brush hog.
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #4  
Congratulations on the new house. Buy a snow blower and you'll never have to plow snow while it's snowing. You simply wait for the storm to end and blow the driveway one time. I used to plow, anything over a foot is a chore, the snow blower doesn't care if there is 6" or 6'. I've used a 7' rear mounted blower for the past 7 years, I'll never go back to a plow. If you are mowing grass get the belly mower, if it's brush and weeds, get the rear mounted brush hog.
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #5  
I have the 2782 snowblower for my B3030, have not used it yet but i can tell you its a well made machine!
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #6  
I have the 2782 snowblower for my B3030, have not used it yet but i can tell you its a well made machine!
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #7  
You might want to consider a 6' Rear Blade instead of a Box Blade to maintain your driveway. You can angle the rear blade and it does a good job of leveling the gravel while at the same time building a "crown" on the center of the drive. That will help the wtaer to run off better. A box blade might be better if you are building a driveway, but they are not very good at leveling. They tend to follow the dips and high spots which is what you will want to remove.

For light snowfalls up to 6" a rear blade with skid shoes will do a fine job of removing snow, as well.

The B3030 is a great little tractor. I love mine. I think the 72" MMM is a good choice. When you do any landscaping, plan it so that you can mow it with your tractor and MMM and you will have one machine that does it all. Keep your trees spread out and make any turns and bends no tighter than the tractor can turn, which is pretty tight. I do all of the mowing on my 3.5 acres with my B3030 and 60"MMM. I don't even own a push mower since I don't have any trimming to do except a few spot that require a weed wacker. Makes yardwork fun and fast.

Get the Quick Attach option for the bucket and pallet forks. You will want a bucket because you will soon find out how handy a FEL is for yard maintenance. It is just like a powered wheelbarrow. Saves a lot of back work.

Another thing I would suggest is Turf Tires. They are the best tires in the snow and they will be easiest on your lawn. The attached picture shows what a B3030 will do with a RB and 6" of wet snow.

Good luck! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

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   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #8  
You might want to consider a 6' Rear Blade instead of a Box Blade to maintain your driveway. You can angle the rear blade and it does a good job of leveling the gravel while at the same time building a "crown" on the center of the drive. That will help the wtaer to run off better. A box blade might be better if you are building a driveway, but they are not very good at leveling. They tend to follow the dips and high spots which is what you will want to remove.

For light snowfalls up to 6" a rear blade with skid shoes will do a fine job of removing snow, as well.

The B3030 is a great little tractor. I love mine. I think the 72" MMM is a good choice. When you do any landscaping, plan it so that you can mow it with your tractor and MMM and you will have one machine that does it all. Keep your trees spread out and make any turns and bends no tighter than the tractor can turn, which is pretty tight. I do all of the mowing on my 3.5 acres with my B3030 and 60"MMM. I don't even own a push mower since I don't have any trimming to do except a few spot that require a weed wacker. Makes yardwork fun and fast.

Get the Quick Attach option for the bucket and pallet forks. You will want a bucket because you will soon find out how handy a FEL is for yard maintenance. It is just like a powered wheelbarrow. Saves a lot of back work.

Another thing I would suggest is Turf Tires. They are the best tires in the snow and they will be easiest on your lawn. The attached picture shows what a B3030 will do with a RB and 6" of wet snow.

Good luck! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #9  
Hi,

I have a rear blower and it works great but I think a front one would be better for a 1200 foot driveway. The advantage with a rear blower is: you keep the loader on. It gives more weight (more traction in snow) and if you need to use the bucket, you have it already mounted on.

About a MMM, that's a good choice. I have a 60" and it does a good job, no scalping and the possibility to add a bagger if needed (you cannot with a 72").

I recommend a quick attach coupler to switch between the pallet fork frame and the bucket. I assure you, you'll want both. As for me, I think I use the forks more often than the bucket. An important point here is when using pallet forks be sure to have a good ballast mounted on the 3 point hitch if you don't want to tip over. I know what I'm talking about! I usually use a BH75 backhoe as a rear ballast and don't lift too much. It's written 600 lbs on the pallet fork frame. I tried different charges and found that 800 lbs is a maximum (with a BH75 mounted on). At 900 lbs, the rear wheels got in the air when I lowered the forks a bit too fast. Believe me, it's not a good feeling at all.

Sorry for the box scraper, I don't have any. So no info on this one.

I'll look if I can find some photos.

Ok, I found some. Here's a 64" rear blower. I think there's a better photo of it in my photo gallery.
 

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   / B3030 Mowing and Snow Removal #10  
Hi,

I have a rear blower and it works great but I think a front one would be better for a 1200 foot driveway. The advantage with a rear blower is: you keep the loader on. It gives more weight (more traction in snow) and if you need to use the bucket, you have it already mounted on.

About a MMM, that's a good choice. I have a 60" and it does a good job, no scalping and the possibility to add a bagger if needed (you cannot with a 72").

I recommend a quick attach coupler to switch between the pallet fork frame and the bucket. I assure you, you'll want both. As for me, I think I use the forks more often than the bucket. An important point here is when using pallet forks be sure to have a good ballast mounted on the 3 point hitch if you don't want to tip over. I know what I'm talking about! I usually use a BH75 backhoe as a rear ballast and don't lift too much. It's written 600 lbs on the pallet fork frame. I tried different charges and found that 800 lbs is a maximum (with a BH75 mounted on). At 900 lbs, the rear wheels got in the air when I lowered the forks a bit too fast. Believe me, it's not a good feeling at all.

Sorry for the box scraper, I don't have any. So no info on this one.

I'll look if I can find some photos.

Ok, I found some. Here's a 64" rear blower. I think there's a better photo of it in my photo gallery.
 
 
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