Snow Attachments 3PH Snow Blower + Cab + Rear view mirrors?

[bam747]

A general consensus seems to be that using a rear mounted 3PH snow blower over long distances can be a litteral pain in the neck/back since you need to turn around as much as possible to see where you're going.

So...

Any reports from people with cabs and then using the external left and right hand rear view mirrors and/or internal rear view mirror instead of turning around to watch where you're going?

On the surface, given the relative slower speeds involved with a snow blower, this might be a workable solution to save your neck and back. There are probably going to be times when a direct view of the rear 3PH snow blower is required, but the mirror trick might work for long straight or slightly curving runs.

And yes, given the two back to back blizzards of '06 along the front range of Colorado, I'd have given almost anything to have had a good snow blower running off a nice turbo charged 50 PTO HP CUT with a cab! And of course it'd have hydraulic rotation and deflection controls. AND I'd still like to have the FEL to bucket giant drifts away from buildings!

 

[bam747]

So no one is using rear view mirrors on a cabbed tractor to watch/direct a rear 3PH snow blower? No one?

I know it's probably not the ideal setup. But I don't want to give up the FEL for a front mount snow blower. I figure if for some reason the rear 3PH snow blower doesn't cut it, I'd want to have the FEL immediately available.

 

[Oleozz]

I have a cab tractor and can imagine doing what you are describing but, and this doesn't help, I've never tried it. When I'm plowing in the field, turning ground over, I am constantly turning around watching the plow and it is hard on the neck. Thank goodness for that small lower window. Just as a side note, in this part of Pa we've had no snow, and I am seeing 8 ft, double auger snow blowers with hyd chute and distance selling for half price. One was a Woods, the other was a Loftness.

 

[jimmy1]

Bam, I have the same situation as you, no cab, a rear 3ph snow blower that I use because I don't want to give up the FEL. My drive is only 300' so I can get by by puting the seat back as far as it will go and turn myself sideways while backing into the snow. I do however think what you describe is quite workable in the right situation. If your drive is long and resonably straight I see no reason why you could not use mirrors that allow you to see your snow blower. It should really be no different than backing a truck using the mirrors. The only issue I see would be until you have a good base you may not be able to determine your depth of cut, once the base is there and the blower is set there should be no problem. Better yet if your drive is paved.

I do not have a remote deflector but do have the hydraulic shoot and that is very handy, you would love that.

Just my thoughts.

Jim