Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Newbie with a 3 mile snowplow challenge

[leonz]

A hover craft would work but it would have limited seasonal use and would only allow for 2-5 passengers if a non commercial unit is used.

The other issue is control of the hovercraft. They work very well
on the open water of the english channel because of the wide open area.

With the snow it it becomes an issue of sinking as the hovercraft would be continually blowing air and snow out from under the rubber skirt and it would cause it to tip and or sink as there would be less snow due to the airblast under the curtain.


The hovercraft launches on both sides of the channel are made of huge concrete
aprons that slope into the channel to permit them to launch and recover quickly
with the vehicle and pasenger traffic.


The smaller hydraulic and mechanical drive snow blowers the the V8 unit which is all hydraulic and the Hanson Snowblower which is no longer manufactured have problems with the lack of torque.

The other issue which is paramount is the open auger system which should be a closed auger to prevent flooding the impeller and reducing its efficiency where a metered amount of snow will be thrown much father with less fuel using a solid auger.

If they wanted to do it they could purchase a diesel powered two stage snow caster that can be mounted on a rubber tired back hoe bucket with a 4 ton capacity for $80,000 plus the cost of the back hoe.


A front mounted three point atachment kit for a large two stage snow blower using the front crank shaft is about $18000 USD these days. It can be done but the rear mounted snow blower will work better simply because of the amountof torque available where a front mounted PTO with a crank shaft mounted PTO will be limited in torque where it would be good for mowing, raking and windrowing hay or shredding brush.

The Sicard unit in the video is a small snow caster in the scheme of things and they are made much larger but the issue will be money unfortunately.

 

[madmax12]

A hover craft would work but it would have limited seasonal use ans would only allow for 2-5 passengers if a non commercial unit is used.

The other issue is control of the hovercraft. They work very well
on the open water of the english channel because of the wide open area.

With the snow it it becomes an issue of sinking as
the hovercraft would be continually blowing air
and snow out from under the rubber skirt
and it would cause it to tip and or sink as there would be less snow
sue to the airblast under the curtain.


The hovercraft launches on both sides of the channel are made of huge concrete
aprons that slope into the channel to permit them to launch and recover quickly
with the vehicle and pasenger traffic.


The smaller hydraulic and mechanical drive snow blowers the the V8 unit which is all hydraulic
and the Hanson Snowblower which is no longer manufactured have problems with the lack of torque

The other issue which is paramount is the open auger system which should be a closed auger to prevent flooding the impeller and reducing its efficiency where a metered amount of snow will be thrown much father with less fuel using a solid auger.

If wanted to do it they could purchase a diesel powered two stage snow caster that can be mounted on a rubber tired back hoe with a 4 ton capacity for $80,000 plus the cost of the back hoe.


A front mounted three point atachment kit for a large two stage snow blower using the front crank shaft is about $18000
USD these days. It can be done but the rear mounted snow blower will work better simply because of the amountof torque availabel where a front mounted PTO with a crank shaft mounted PTO will be limited in torque where it would be good for mowing, raking and windrowing hay or shredding brush.

The sicard unit in the video is a small snow caster int he scheme of things and they are made much larger but the issue will be money unfortunately

I hadn't even considered the snow removing capabilities of a hovercraft. Bonus feature! :thumbsup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYExr16qMGA

 

[Lt CHEG]

check out the youtube vids of 150+ hp tractors moving 5' snow with blowers. you can hear them pull down.

Fendt 930 + Beaulieu 10 feet snow blower - YouTube

thats a 250hp PTO machine moving 5' snow.

I dont know what other type of machine you would choose to do that job. That clearly seems to be what is needed to get that job done.

Based on the OP's initial requirements (3 miles at 5' snows) i dont know how you guys can suggest anything other than 150+ hp tractors. anything else seems stupid small to suggest.

I think it could be done with a 120ish horsepower machine but it would certainly take longer. I envisioned that as a minimum the plow on the front could be used to keep the road open during the storm and then as soon as the storm is over the blower could be used to cast away the banks. I was thinking that the blower could always take a half bite of the bank and make more than one pass. It wouldn't be ideal, but I think as long as it was done that way every storm it could work as a minimum. Having said that 150+ horsepower machines would certainly be ideal and what I would without a doubt recommend.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Why do you continue to recommend the most expensive equipment possible?

It's not that we're recommending the most expensive equipment, we're recommending what it takes to be sure that the job gets done properly every time. In the OP's scenario he is literally responsible for people's access to the outside world and their access to emergency aid. That is an enormous responsibility AND liability. He can't take the risk that a storm will overwhelm his equipment, he literally needs equipment which can handle everything. Or he can contract it out to someone else and require them to have a suitably large liability policy. I would be willing to bet that the OP's liability policy would still go up though as he wouldn't be self sufficient. It might not be cheap but running a business the correct way rarely is. For that matter it may turn out to not be profitable enough for them to keep the business open during the winter to cover the costs. No matter what though this isn't the kind of job where you just stick a plow on a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup and call it good.

 

[94BULLITT]

It is funny how these threads keep going after we have not heard from the OP in a while.

 

[leonz]

I certainly hope he was not trolling and simply pulled his bait out of the
collective lake of knowledge at TBN.


It will most likely end up in committee and they will start rowing in circles.:banghead:

 

[North Country]

It's not that we're recommending the most expensive equipment

$100,000+ articulating tractor, snowblower & plow vs $25,000 purpose-designed snowblower.

You guys have a thing for tractors.

 

[madmax12]

$100,000+ articulating tractor, snowblower & plow vs $25,000 purpose-designed snowblower.

You guys have a thing for tractors.

And helicopters and hovercrafts

 

[Lt CHEG]

$100,000+ articulating tractor, snowblower & plow vs $25,000 purpose-designed snowblower.

You guys have a thing for tractors.

I think you're comparing apples to oranges. The $25000 piece of equipment that you are recommending is used 36 year old piece of equipment. That $100,000+ tractor, blower and plow wouldn't cost nearly as much if the OP was to purchase 36 year old equipment either. I feel confident that a new tractor, plow and blower would probably cost similar money as a new purpose built snowblower plus would be easier to find parts for and would be useful for other tasks besides snow removal. However I would certainly have no problem recommending a new snowblower like the 36 year old version that you recommended. The key word being new, or at least nearly so. Trusting something as critical as maintaining road access to a lodging facility is not a place to take the cheapest way out, lest you are willing to risk the liability of your 36 year old piece of equipment failing at the worst time,

 

[North Country]

It's interesting how the possibilities the OP asked for advice on didn't involve clearing the road at all, and people are saying he's got a "critical" need to keep the road clear and insist that nothing less than a bazillion dollars worth of tractor will do.

I wonder what the county uses to keep the road clear today? Maybe he should just buy their surplus equipment at auction.

If it's a new bi-directional articulating ag tractor with 8 ft blower, I'll eat my hat.