Front snow blade and weight of rear snowblower

[oldafretired]

I'm going to use my front snow blade as the primary snow mover and a rear snowblower as a backup. The front blade is a Hiniker that weighs around 430lbs. How heavy can the snowblower be before it starts affecting the handling of the tractor when using the snow blade? The tractor is an MX5800 with filled R4 rear tires. I had a 650lb ballast box in the rear last winter for traction and the tractor handled OK using the front blade and chains on all 4 tires.
I was thinking of getting a blower in the 600-700lb range and stay away from anything heavier.

 

[leonz]

Anything heavier than the rated lift capacity of the three point hitch can affect the mules handling which is what you need to examine. You need a snow blower wider than the track of your rear tires to avoid having issues with clearing snow but not so much larger that the PTO will be taxed at lower speeds of travel.

Having a wider snow blower will let you clear faster by taking half cuts on the second and third passes after the first slower pass in the snow pack

 

[George2615]

I run a similar setup on a smaller tractor. XR3037HC with loaded R4's, chains on all 4, QA plow on front, Lorenz blower on back.
Tractor with loader & loaded tires approx. 5500 lb.
QA plow 650 lb.
Lorenz blower 625 lb.
Total about +/- 6775 lb. plus the weight of the chains.
Prior to the snowblower I ran a 930 lb. rear ballast barrel.
As weight on the 3 pt. increases you will lose weight (traction) on the front wheels of the tractor which will affect steering in snow.
IMO I think your front and rear equipment weights on your tractor will have plenty of traction. Many of us run that same setup.

 

[oldafretired]

Yup, I'm concerned about steering control especially when the front blade is angled. My L3901 with front blade had a backhoe on it. The front end was way too light and I had to take the backhoe off to use the front blade. I just don't want the same problem with the MX and a rear blower. I think I'll just get a light blower since the front blade will be primary and don't want to have the front too light. Thanks!

 

[joeyd]

I just picked up an 84" QA snow blade for my tractor and will run it just like your set up. V-bars on all 4 tires, loaded rears and a 68" Meteor snow blower on the 3pt. I told all my neighbors that I just guaranteed a normal to less than normal winter since I bought the blade. :laughing:

 

[oldafretired]

I just picked up an 84" QA snow blade for my tractor and will run it just like your set up. V-bars on all 4 tires, loaded rears and a 68" Meteor snow blower on the 3pt. I told all my neighbors that I just guaranteed a normal to less than normal winter since I bought the blade. :laughing:

Hey, I got a 84" front blade too and decided to go with a Pronovost Puma 84 to get the bigger fan which might hopefully help with the heavy wet snow here. The blower is on the heavy side so I hope I can still steer with the blade angled a bit.

You're probably right in that when prepared for snow, we won't get much of it this winter in NID. LOL

 

[joeyd]

Oldafretired,

Where in NI are you? I am off Hwy 97 on the way to Harrison. We are about 1000 feet above the lake and pick up more snow than in CDA.

 

[oldafretired]

Oldafretired,

Where in NI are you? I am off Hwy 97 on the way to Harrison. We are about 1000 feet above the lake and pick up more snow than in CDA.

I'm north of you at Spirit Lake. I drove north on Highway 3 from St Maries to the I-90 last year so came pretty close to Harrison. That's a very nice area with the chain lakes.