Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Moving Snow

[thcri]

I went the loader route right away. My neighbor has a blade that he uses for about the first and second snow. After that, and the snow has had some time to harden a blade just can't move it any more. That hardened snow pretty much prevents him from pushing it back. He will then put a snowblower on his front end.

I have always just used a FEL, yes you have to dump at the end and you do have to go back over where you were to pick up the spillage. Bu that does give me some more seat time.

I also like the loader because you can lift the snow up into higher piles.

But the way it has been for me the last two years I haven't even needed a shovel to keep the drive clean.

Murph

 

[skent]

In Maryland, I never needed a loader much for snow. I have a 1950 Case DC with a loader, but the tractor has a hand clutch and does NOT have live Hydraulics.
So the clutch must be engaged for loader to work. Blizzard of Jan 1996 I spent lots of time on that old beast. I guess it was as fed up with me (LOTS of clutching) and it drank gas like an empty sewer.
Ended up buying the Kubota. HST makes it all worth while.

 

[gordon]

I've got a question about using chains on all four tires. Ok it's said that having the extra traction causes drive train stress when using chains on all four tires. Also someone brought up the point about using chains on only the fronts for years without a problem.

So if in four wheel drive on the tractor and you only have chains mounted on the front wouldn't that cause less stress on the tractor because it would still have a lead condition on the tires? Right? Instead of a lag condition which would lead to power hop.

Guess I lied I've got another question for people who have run chains on all four tires. Has anyone had any failures to speak of because of tire chains?

Still haven't bought any chains for mine yet but I'm real close to getting a pair or two after the last snowstorm. Problem is the state plows don't make it down my road for a couple of days after the storm. So I end up plowing out so I can get to work until the state trucks run.

In that last storm I pushed snow for 36 hrs straight in a backhoe that the defroster was busted on. Not fun.

Thanks
Gordon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color="blue"> So if in four wheel drive on the tractor and you only have chains mounted on the front wouldn't that cause less stress on the tractor because it would still have a lead condition on the tires? </font>

Hi,

Seems to me that chains only on the front would cause the front tires to hog the load, and that this could stress the front drivetrain, which is not near as beefy as the read drive.

I don't think I would run chains only on the front of my 4wd tractor...too afraid of breaking something in the front driveline...I have chains on the back and they do make a difference on my R4 tires both in snow and on wet grassy slopes.

I've thought about chains for the front wheels but probably will not do that as the risk of possible drivetrain damage just seems more than I want to take...

36 hours pushing snow??? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Sounds like you are a prime cadidate for a snow blower! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

In this neighborhood for as long as I can remember and those older and before me, we always used chains on the front only. I don't care if it's my little Mahindra 4110 model or the JD 710 that I run weekly. Sometimes I get a real treat and get a 624/644 JD loader instead of the big backhoe. I have a huge route to plow, one school w/1200 parking spaces alone. Three more banks, couple of restaurants, etc,etc. Quite the number of miles between all these jobs. Personally, I wouldn't want to run like I do especially a 710, this many miles between jobs. I do it because I am told too for one, and secondly, every town and state highway dpt's around here does the same. NEVER ONCE, and I've been doing this since 1968, have I ever heard of any kind of problem while moving snow. NEVEER ONCE have I seen, or heard of any mechanical problems with the machines. I HAVE seen many a time where private operators chain front and rear AND DO have serious problems. We all use a specific type chain called St. Pierre rollers on the fronts. You wouldn't catch me going out chained front and rear..

 

[gordon]

Thanks for the info! worth a try front tires only. I can see where chaining the front and rears at the same time could cause a bind up sitution with too much grip on hard surfaces.

I guess something to think about is the LEAD on the front axle. It always is pulling ahead of the rear axle so I guess there is alot more strain on it than we give it credit for. Has anyone had a problem with power hop using only rear chains in 4wd?

One heck of a route you plow. All the hours I spend at work plowing are on a 400+ acre complex of buildings, parking lots, sidewalks and roads.

Gordon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

we have aq lot of hills and dales and therefore, a lot of places one slides off and may not be seen till next day. Over the years, the old timers figured out quickly that chains front and rear (in this scenario) proves very dangerous at the least.. Chians on front and you can control the machine at least 95% of what you want the machine to do. Chains front and rear, and you lose more than half that. I can't tell you why because I have no explaination for it. You can or may not take my word for it, chains front and rear ( at least in our area) our types of roads, etc, you have one heck of a time controling the machine. It's like the rear wants to be boss and the front does also,, so now they fight each other. Remember, I said all of us run one type chain only, which also is critical to safe operating.

 

[micromike]

When I was growing up there was a guy who ran a ford bronco all winter plowing many of the bussinesses in town. He ran chains front and rear. You could see him plowing it seemed for days on end when we had a big snow storm. Later, I bought a jeep CJ5 and put a plow on it. It was really to light to push snow so I put chains on front and rear and ran it several years with no problems. It made a huge difference in it's ability to push snow.

It very well may NOT be a good idea to use chains front and rear and I was just to dumb to know the difference. Maybe I was just lucky. Would I chain both axels now? Probably not.

Mike

 

[gordon]

So the roller chain makes that much of a difference on the road over other chain types?

Gordon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Yes they do, and they save from destroying the tires, and they give great pulling power traction. They have a lot of slop in them, and they give easily to little problems like man hole covers and unseen obstacles. As I said before, the old timers do it this way and have since tractors/backhoes and old scissor style killer bucket loaders have been around. This is not to say there can be another or better way. One of those things old New England Yankee's operate by. Doing this way since time, why change it? When the boss tells me, get in that 710, you know what and where to go, that's pretty much the whole story, isn't it? I also said earlier, if I owned those 710's/410's/310's/624-644 and 2 744's that he does, I wouldn't wnat to tramm the mileage that I have to with chains and even just the fact of that much tramming a machine, period. My personal 4110 Mahindra has R4's. I have a 1600 ft long driveway and no problems. If I had to though, i would go and see Henry who owns St. Pierre chain co and get a set for my front tires. Wew've had 82" of snow so far, I don't anticipate having to get chains. I also have plenty of area to push-pile. At the accounts that I do, none of them have that luxury, which is another reason I have to run these front chains. We can pile unbelievably high with these machines.