Snow Attachments front snow blade or blower for BX23?

[m3rd]

Thinking ahead for next season I am considering either a front snow blade or front mounted blower for my BX23. I have been plowing this season with my Bolens HT23 with a 60" front blade and it seems to do satisfactory work. I have plowed 100' driveways with garage aprons with 12" snow in about 15 minutes. I live in NJ and we typically get 2- 3' /winter with 6" average per storm. I started a little side business of plowing local residents so I may need to clear 10 driveways/strom next season.

I have only used walk behind snow blowers so I have no idea on speed and ease with a blower on a tractor. Is the travel speed with tractor mounted blower the same as a walk behind?

I know the cost of the blower is twice that of blade. Also the blade can be used for grading.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[thcri]

I use my FEL and it works ok. But I do know that a blower would make my job a lot faster. But I don't mind the seat time. If you have kind of started a business then I would go with a blower and get it done faster. Your blade is ok until you hit the heavier snow.

Now a blower will be expensive especially a front mounted one.

murph

 

[viking65]

I don't know if you have considered a rear blade but I have been more than pleased with the job it does. I clear a 500' asphalt driveway with a 6' rear blade on my Cub Cadet 5234D which is a 4wd diesel sub-cut very similar to your Kubota. I have used it going forward and in reverse in snow up to 9" so far with no problem. It really does a great job and I have learned to do it pretty quickly. I posted some pictures of my tractor with the rear blade in the photos section under "other tractor brands" then Cub Cadet. I only paid $160 for the 6' King Kutter rear blade at TSC (because it was weathered) then painted it Cub Cadet yellow. You'll save a lot of $$$ to buy other toys, I mean tools, for you Kubota.

 

[jim_wilson]

If you are thinking of doing this as a business you could add a blower to the back (on the 3pt) and a blade on the front for about the same price as a new front mount blower from Kubota. There has been a lot of discussions about the merits of front vs rear mount snow blowers here on tractorbynet and I think it boils down to what your requirements are. You can get a bigger blower for the 3pt than you can for the front (54" rear vs. 47" front). The biggest drawback to the front mount blower that I see is the fact that you lose the FEL - which in my particular situation I need to clear snow and pile it to the side.
After spending this winter using the FEL and rear blade on my BX23 to clear the snow on my driveway I have come to the conclusion that the absolute best setup for clearing snow is to have a snowblower on the rear, the FEL mounted on the front, and a blade on the front that either mounts to the bucket - or mounts to the FEL arms thru quick connects so I can swap back and forth between bucket and blade as quickly as possible. This way I can leave the tractor setup like this all winter and be able to handle every possible snow situation. The way my driveway is setup I will probably use the plow to do most of the actual clearing then use the blower on the back to clear out the piles that the plow creates. I honestly think that a plow clears snow faster than a snowblower does in most situations - but the blower is indispensible when you need to get rid of the snow piles or get thru really deep snow that the plow won't handle.

 

[jim_wilson]

Hi Viking - I took a look at your pictures in the photo section - where did you get those front mount weights that I see on your Cub? I have been looking for some weights for the front of my BX23 and can't seem to find any.

 

[viking65]

I bought them at my Cub dealer. I also had to buy the weight bracket that the weights are supported from. Your Kubota dealer should have them or can probably order them.

 

[tomnky]

You might want to do some pricing , I think You will find the blower is not that much more than a front mounted blade

 

[Ken_CT]

I have the 60" Front 4 Way Hydraulic Plow (BX2763) with Quick Hitch (BX2751), & skid shoes on a BX23. I keep the backhoe on (tires loaded) and have no trouble plowing a 450' drive. The upper part is trap rock & the rest is process stone. I have to back blade the trap rock until it gets a layer of frozen snow on it, but the rest is plowed normally. Once everything was frozen I took off the skid shoes. I have turf tires & the traction is no problem at all. If I'm pushing a lot of snow with the blade angled the front will sometimes slide over a bit. Just back up and push it again. My dealer is looking into a set of front AGs (loaded) w/rims that I can put on for winter use that should stop the front from sliding. The front sliding doesn't happen a lot, but if the front AGs aren't too much I'll give them a try.
If it's windy the snowblower will kick up a lot of snow in your face that you don't get with a blade. As you can see in the attached pic, there is a bit of a hill, but the turf tires have better traction than I thought they would. It easily pushes snow the way I'm facing.

 

[tomnky]

You are looking at Somewhere around $280.00 to $300 if You buy the set of bar tires & wheels.
I just bought a set last December, I also have the bx2763 .
We have not had a total of 1" of snow the whole winter so I can't say how the bars will perform , looks to me like they would have to be better than the turfs though.
Just My $.02 cents worth.

 

[Ken_CT]

Thanks tomnky,
That's about what I figured. There have been a couple of threads about filling your own tires, doesn't seem too difficult, so maybe I'll try filling them myself and saving a couple of bucks. I wonder if just filling the turfs (front) would help. I don't have a problem with traction, just the front slipping sideways with the plow angled, and that would give me more weight on the front.