Snow Advantages/Disadvantages of Snow Plow/Blower/Scraper Blade

[tractorgp]

I use a rear mounted Kubota blower on my BX25 and would have trouble removing snow without it. I back out of my small garage and remove snow as I go. For heavy snowfalls it would be pretty well impossible to get out with the bucket alone. I have also used the BXpanded plow with variable results. This video shows all three in use:

There are other snow removal videos on my Youtube channel. Not sure the link will work as not familiar with this kind of posting... my channel on Youtube is https://www.youtube.com/user/nlinventor

 

[Wyocowboy]

This is a great thread and thanks for starting it. I am a big fan of snow blowers since I live in eastern Idaho near the WY/ID border at the base of the Tetons. At home I use my JD X300 with a two stage 42" blower. Works great! As was mentioned, a lot depends on where you are and how much average snowfall you get. One thing I have learned from living in Jackson WY for 30 years and ID for 8, is that you can never guess what mother nature will throw at you. When I move snow I move it as far away as possible so I have room for more. Drifting is an other consideration. For 6 and a half years I was the foreman at a ranch in Alta, WY. Average snow fall 100+" a winter. We had a New Holland TN75 with loader and front mounted blower. We had a mile and a half of winding road and a laarge parking area at the main house. The blower was hydraulic with no shear pins. If you picked up a rock the blower would stop, reverse the flow and the rock is out! Plus, if you have drifting you can raise the blower and work the snow down. We also had a scraper blade and rear mounted Loftness blower that was PTO driven. Rear mounted is ok if you have a fairly straight area to clear and a strong neck! I am not a fan of rear mounted snow removal equipment . The cost is more for a blower but if you live where you have lots of snow and drifting, IMHO it's worth the money. Especially, when it comes to roadways. An angled blade will only get the snow so high and if you have a tree lined lane or road, soon the road gets narrower and narrower. Any way, get thread. Good luck to you all. Have safe winter!

 

[check]

I have a blower on the rear, and bxpanded bucket expander on the front, so I can move those piles of snow as the season drags on, and the windrows get higher and higher. It would of course be nice to have a front blower, but I need the front bucket, and the front blower for the BX 25 by Kubota is much weaker than the rear blower, and is a lot more expensive, and more involved to put on. I need to look into the possibility of using a rearview mirror and/or a rearview camera, in order to reduce the strain on my neck from looking backwards. There are some good discussions on the topic of rear cameras on TractorByNet.

It might also be nice at some point to get a quick attach so that I can easily take my front bucket off, and put a blade on. However, I'm not sure this is worth the added expense. As well, the motivation is not that high, since I already have a nice 60 inch plow on my ATV that works very nicely. I use the ATV most of the time to do a quick plow and clear the area out, and then go to the more heavy duty stuff with the blower. A nice combination, Since the ATV plow works very fast!

 

[Jim_Johnston]

Just fabricated a quick attach for my Kubota B3030. Used an old 6' Meyers blade that I found on Craigslist. For now I will manually angle the blade. If it works I will invest in hydraulics. Also will be interesting to see if I will need chains.

 

[hugho]

Agree K&LN. We live in deep snow country in WY and I have moved snow here for 40 years. I have used tandem axle dumps with a surplus hwy plow, tractors and backhoe buckets, smaller tractors like our Massey and 4wd Kubota with a 7' blower but what we use now is our cummins with its Hiniker plow. Simple ,fast. In a heavy year we need to use our backhoe loader to lift and push it back of course a few times. I sold the big blower which was overkill for our 1-2' snowfalls. Their only value is for deep drifts and we rarely have enough wind to generate drifts. In years past we got a lot more snow but even in big dumps the pickup is slick and tractors are expensive!

 

[check]

An advantage of a front blade over an ATV plow is that you can raise the blade up high and push those big piles over, whereas the ATV plow blade can only raise a little bit. But, my ATV is still a lot faster and has a lot better traction.

 

[grsthegreat]

This is a great thread and thanks for starting it. I am a big fan of snow blowers since I live in eastern Idaho near the WY/ID border at the base of the Tetons. At home I use my JD X300 with a two stage 42" blower. Works great! As was mentioned, a lot depends on where you are and how much average snowfall you get. One thing I have learned from living in Jackson WY for 30 years and ID for 8, is that you can never guess what mother nature will throw at you. When I move snow I move it as far away as possible so I have room for more. Drifting is an other consideration. For 6 and a half years I was the foreman at a ranch in Alta, WY. Average snow fall 100+" a winter. We had a New Holland TN75 with loader and front mounted blower. We had a mile and a half of winding road and a laarge parking area at the main house. The blower was hydraulic with no shear pins. If you picked up a rock the blower would stop, reverse the flow and the rock is out! Plus, if you have drifting you can raise the blower and work the snow down. We also had a scraper blade and rear mounted Loftness blower that was PTO driven. Rear mounted is ok if you have a fairly straight area to clear and a strong neck! I am not a fan of rear mounted snow removal equipment . The cost is more for a blower but if you live where you have lots of snow and drifting, IMHO it's worth the money. Especially, when it comes to roadways. An angled blade will only get the snow so high and if you have a tree lined lane or road, soon the road gets narrower and narrower. Any way, get thread. Good luck to you all. Have safe winter!

hello from coeur d'alene area of Idaho. I used to work on a cattle ranch in Montana that had 100+ in of snowfall a year... it did get tedious. had to keep all the critters fed no matter what

 

[jdenbigh]

In my part of West Virginia we don't usually have big snows so I use a back blade and a FEL. On gravel, I reverse the back blade and push or pull with the convex side so as not to tear up the gravel. Works well.

 

[scesnick]

I didn't read all the responses but i thought throw my opinion in the mix.

I live on top of a windy snowy mountain and my road/driveway is 2.5 miles long. As you can guess, I have a 64" Blower, a 7ft. scraper blade and a 7ft front snowplow.

The blower takes forever but since 1.2 miles of my dirveway is wooded, it works well by throwing the snow down in the woods when we get a ton of snow, which is often.. There comes a point when there is no where to put the snow when plowing that section.

The front blade works well when it is deep and the road is open like the second part ( 1.3 mile) of my road/drive. It takes about an hour if I run the whole road with the front blade. I can also pile it up pretty good with the front blade.

The rear scraper blade works well in about 10" or less snow. Just drop it and go. One trip down and one back and i am doen. about 30-40 minutes. FYI- I never use the scraper balde in reverse, I don't feel like replacing my 3pt. arms.

We get a LOT of snow in my region. A few years back we got a grand total of 264 inches !! ( that is when I finally broke down and bought my MX5100 and blower)

 

[golden arches]

Sorry, but I had to add my 2 cents worth.
After plowing for 48 years I have used everything.
2 wdd ford w front and back blades
2 wd ford w front blower and rear blade
Various Case loaders
Various Case dozers
International and Fors dumps 10, 12 foot highway plows
Blazer, dodge and chevy 4wd

I have come to the following opinion... The skills of the operator makes them all work well.
What I use today and like the best
M/F 3760 fwd w/ fel. Factory cab with heater and ac makes me a great operator.
Ram 3500 Cummins 4WD And SnowDogg v 8.5 VE doesn't hurt either.Warm is happy
When the Ram wont handle it the Massey does.

Plowing with heat and no wind is wonderful.