Snow Attachments FEL Plow blade or rear snow blower?

[woodswolf1]

I have a cub 7260. I have over 200ft of drive to do, plus a mile of private lane and other driveways. Its in a woods and the trees come right up against the drives and lane. I use a rear 6ft plow and my FEL. If we get much snow (central IN), it piles up along the way and I have to carry it off and dump it. I still pick up gravel now and then, but I"m much better than I was!
I have often thought about a blower for the rear, but hate the idea of having to work backward for hours at a time. How about manueverability?? We have some tight turns on some of the driveways. Even with just a 6ft plow, I have to finagle some. I"m also afraid of flipping gravel into someone's windows. When I was a kid, the neighbor pelted my Mom's kitchen windows wiht his blower.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

6 inches or less, I plow with the back blade only and use the FEL to finish the ends of the drive and turnouts. Only takes 3 passes to clear the drive. Total seat time about 60 - 90 minutes.

6 to 18 inches, I drop the FEL in float mode with the bucket level, and use the back blade. FEL loads up and acts as a V plow (yeah, some comes over the top), clearing a path for the tractor, the back blade wings it to one side or the other. Takes twice as many passes to clear the drive due to the v-plowing leaving windrows. Seat time about 2 and a half hours.

More than 18 inches I don't know yet. I suspect I'm going to have to use the FEL to clear 50 feet or so at a time; and use the back blade to finish. Since my drive is 1400 feet long, it's probably going to take all morning or evening.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Here in North Central Indiana I plow with just my 7' Meyer Plow and my 7' Rear Grader Blade as seen in my avatar. My 28HP Jinma has no problem moving snow. Most I had at one time to plow was 17" back in 05. Last year was a heavy year also but this year not so much.

I plow about 10 drives. Shortest is my buddies moms which is 100' Mine is 280' and some are as long as 800'. I also do a 1 mile road both ways. I can do all this in about 2.5 hours including running my walk behind snow blower on my side walks and using a shove a little to clean things up.


Chris

 

[ecky]

After weeks of weighing the pros and cons of a tractor, I finally bit the bullet and bought a MF 1529 . But now, I find myself weighing the pros and cons of FEL plow blades vs rear snow blowers---and I need to decide quick!

First of all, my driveway is about 1/4 mile long, is steep (although I'd be going with gravity), curves a couple of times and opens up pretty wide at the top by the garage. The tires are weighted and we will have chains.

A front snow blower is not even an option at this point mostly due to cost, but partly because it seems like a good idea to keep the bucket on the front: is this true? The obvious con to the rear mounted snowblower is having to turn around the entire time, will having a hydrostatic transmission make that any easier? I haven't had a chance yet to look at cost, I'm hoping they are comparable to plow blades.

I've heard that plowing is quicker, but the downfall is the piles of snow that accumulate... which I can deal with. Will plowing with the FEL damage the arms at all? Also, how does weight of the plow factor in? Do I need to consider the lift capacity? (i.e. my lift capacity is 1300 lbs, is a 600 lb plow too heavy?). As far as cost, I think I'll be in the ballpark of $3K.

While belated for the original question, I will put my 2 cents in. I am in total agreement with the consensus - go with a blower. I have 1200 feet to plow, and through poor house design considerations, a roof full of snow dumped onto our driveway every now and then. When that happens it is usually mild, followed by a cold spell. Often the cold spell gets to the very large pile of snow before I do. The result is a large hard mass of snow. The blower won't cut it on its' own. I need to use the FEL to break up the mass and transport some of it, the blower cleans up the rest.
As to plowing the driveway, the bucket will work in a pinch, but in my case it is not wide enough. I tend to lose steering control as well. And, of course, it does not take long to get a pile of snow in front of the bucket. It really is a pain. The blower is definitely the way to go - hands down. For those worried about stones, I know of a local operator who cut a barrel in half and welded the two ends together. He then puts this under his blower after the first snowfall - assuming it is not a major dump. He "drags" the blower with the barrel setup underneath. The weight of the blower helps to pack down the snow and provide a very good base (stone-free) upon which he can then plow the rest of the year. Seems like a great idea to me. Just a thought.
I also have a rear blade (clearly not used when the blower is connected). It is nice for scraping down but certainly not great when you have a decent snowfall for all the reasons listed in other postings (i.e. large snow banks etc.)
I should point out that I have a front blade that tilts left / right. I used it last winter instead of the FEL (it is one or the other). I put the bucket on this winter. That pretty well tells you my thoughts on a front blade versus a bucket.
Someone mentioned the beauty of a hydraulic control for the chute. It is nice for sure. My setup (a used blower) came with an electric motor that works the chute. It certainly means no hydraulic fluid shooting all over the place when / if a hose blows. Not advocating one over the other, just saying that in my experience, the electric chute is great. No mess to connect or disconnect. I have a toggle switch that controls the direction.
Hope this is of value to some of you out there. I have a JD1070 (4wd) with JD FEL and a HI blower. Cheers.

 

[Creamer]

Living in NE Indiana and could not imagine messing around with a blower. Even with turf tires and no chains I can plow my 0.25 mile long driveway in less than ten minutes unless we get more than 6 inches. More than that it will take a little longer. Don't have to hardly look backwards - just angle the blade and drive forward - put it in fly and let it roll. At the end I jsut step on the brake and do a donut for a quick turn. Sometimes I plow more than I have to just because I get done to quick! Only about 3 times in the 20 years I have lived there that I would have liked a blower.

I can't imagine a front blade either. I love having the sue of my scoop for a few odd places and can push very well with the bucket in float.

Just a warning though. Having frozen sod sticking up higher than the edge of the driveway or parking lot can be a real shock to the system when hitting it with an unsprung blade. I got lucky one time when my seat bolts broke. Fortunately they had absorbed most of the energy so I was still in place enough to push in the clutch! Couldn't imagine having hit that going forward at ten mph.

 

[smfcpacfp]

I wonder if the original poster actually did buy anything.

If you have to move a lot of snow frequently, and it doesn't melt a lot in between snow falls you will want a rig like mine (front blower with a heated cab). If I had a few snow events and melting in between, I would just hire someone to plow, or snow blow for me. We get 10 to 30 feet of snow each year and I have to snow blow 20+ times each winter. I had to snow blow last Friday, yesterday (Monday) and at least once tomorrow as we are expect 1 to 2 feet of wet snow.

I would never consider a rear blower because of the discomfort factor. The front blower undercarriage adds a couple thousand dollars to the cost but amortized over time, the cost is quite small. I have yet to hear a guy with a front blower say they wish they had a rear blower, but I have heard many rear blower guys say they wish they had a front blower. It depends upon your threshold for pain vs. pleasure. Snow blowing with a heated cab and a front blower is a pleasure. Snow blowing with an open station tractor and a rear blower is a pain, so I am told.

If you are just snow blowing why would you want a loader? I have never had a need for one in the winter. My snow blower blows the snow 50 feet into the woods. If I were using my tractor for loader and snow blowing operations in the winter, then a rear blower and loader makes sense.

Kubota B3030 HSDC snowblowing Jan 2012 (HD) - YouTube

 

[HUCKthe1]

I am little late to get on this but had to add my two cents. I did not have the money for any extra attachments years ago and used nothing more than a box blade and FEL. I would use the blade to move most of the snow to the ends of my driveway (150') and then move it out of the way with the FEL. This takes time and it would take me 45-60 minutes to do a good cleanup depending on the about of snow. You can do the same with a regular blade but the box blade seems to move it better.

I have purchased a rear mount snowblower since then and love it just like the others here. A little hard on the neck but I can get my driveway done in about 15 minutes now. The other benefit to a blower is it gets the snow away. We have high winds and drifting snow is a problem. If you pile snow up, it will drift that deep. The best thing is to get the snow away and always blow or plow downwind. FEL also help get you out of a sticky situation or if you get stuck.

I bought my blower a few years ago and it has been the best insurance against snow. Hope this helps in your decision or gives you ideas how to move the snow.

 

[celtsrevenge]

First, I have a Yanmar ym-2210d. Is there a front mounted blower that can be powered by the rear PTO? If so, please direct me to a source. I live in the foothills of Colorado, and a 3ft. dump is pretty common. I bought a SnowSport plow which mounts into a 2" front mounted trailer hitch on my Toyota FJ. It can move a lot of snow and only cost $1500. It is a manual plow, no hydrolics, but it does not involve any permanent attachments to the FJ (other than the 2" hitch), and does not tear up the front end of the vehicle. I make big piles from my 4/10ths of a mile drive. I then move the piles with the tractor's FEL. Works well, but a blower would be quite cool. Happy winter all!

 

[leonz]

Id your tractor a Gear drive or hydro? Ifits a hydro you will be losing a lot of power just to operate the transmission.

The Erskine folks have a rear to front P.T.O. set up for front mounting of shaft powered integral implements. Michigan Iron works I think is the other one.

A rear rear mount snow blower with all the bells and whistle and a rotating drum like the Pronovost 720 TRC will cost you less money than a PTO conversion kit.

 

[koopster]

WILDKAT ATTACHMENTS by Mid-State Equipment I have had many attachments from these folks. They always are willing to dicker. I love their wildkat grapples. All have stood up well. I actually plan to buy one of these quick attach plows. I like having a blower and a blade up front. Works great to push the top of a pile over the bank or to backscrap from a garage door.

They are USA made, short money when you think of spending time and resources to make up something of your own. To tip, just tip your FEL wrist backwards. An electronic soleniod valve will allow you to switch between FEL valve and ports for angle control of the plow, should you not have an aux valve on your tractor.