HB580 Broom experience???

[John Joseph McVeigh]

Why wear out a broom when there is clearly (in the nice pictures) enough snow for a blower which is available for use?

If the snow depth is sufficient, I will use the blower. If there is only an inch or three, I use the broom.

I also use the broom for clean-up, if necessary, after using the blower.

My broom rotor shows little sign of wear.

 

[TNMark1]

Just for the record, I recently bought the broom and the snowblower... I have not picked them up yet.... Probably going to do that the middle of May....

Last year we had up to about 15" of snow at a time. I've got a 60" blade and was lazy and left the duals on the wheels... It did OK and would push maybe 6-8" of snow before the weight of the snow made the tractor slide down the blade.... So it would snow and I'd go out and clean for 2 hours and then snow more then clean it again.

There was a section of road that I didn't clean and went back to do it at the end of the storm and you had to clean it by going across the road at 45 degree angles instead of straight down it. Hence I bought the snowblower... The Ventrac with low ground clearance isn't great in deep snow, so a blade is worthless on a driveway which isn't paved (or its deep) and thats another use for the snowblower...

I also clean about 1 mile of state road (yes the state doesn't clean it) and its easy to get stuck making it wider and running off the edges..... Snowblower will help there....


I'm probably not going to use the broom much because of the "high cost" and also the fact that most of our snow melts in a few days...

Waiting on winter again....

Vernon if you want to play, come on over... I'll probably be next door to you cutting my former MIL's place in mid May....

Thanks all

Mark

 

[murphy1244]

The snow blower works very well. I went and got a Femco top with a golf cart rain cover for blowing. Makes a world of difference.

 

[prs]

Mark, as you have probably noticed, I have plenty enough to "play with" here. Although this early drought has saved quite a bit of fuel so far.
The 45 degree snow removal was very familiar to me.

prs

 

[BKBrown]

Get a set of tire chains for the Ventrac 2 link spacing v-bar chains on either front or rear (or both) will keep you going straight and it is not easy to get stuck unless you high center.

The Ventrac with low ground clearance isn't great in deep snow, so a blade is worthless on a driveway which isn't paved (or its deep)

I also clean about 1 mile of state road (yes the state doesn't clean it) and its easy to get stuck making it wider and running off the edges..... Snowblower will help there....

Mark

 

[TNMark1]

BKBrown..... Where are the chains from??? I guess I need to search the web some...

Got the broom today.... Swept a lot of crap off the road from recent storms (gravel, dirt, sticks, etc)..... Does a great job... But if there is dirt packed into asphalt from being run over by cars, it doesn't do much.... Dirt on asphalt also creates a dust storm you would not believe....

Had a few tons of gravel that washed into the yard... Scooped some up and thats not to bad... I also broomed some out... Dealer says the broom will dethatch lawns... It has clearance issues on rougher ground and when the broom bottoms out on a high spot, the hydraulic motor doesn't turn it.... It did pretty well moving gravel around. Grass will come back someday... With the rain thats coming down now, I'm guessing it will all happen again...

Mark H

 

[prs]

Yep. The remark I made above about drought. I should of knocked on wood. We sure are The Soggy Bottom Buys now! Life in the deciduous rain forest.

prs

 

[steveta]

Try using it with full weight transfer. It should prevent some of the scalping and pressure on the broom.

 

[TNMark1]

Steveta...... I did run it on #4 full weight transfer.... Maybe I should try it on NO weight transfer... PRS lives near me .,... He can confirm its wet here now.... Maybe next week.... Of course I could read the manual, but I'm guessing after we get past 14 pages of safety there is MAYBE 1 page on how to use it...

Mark H

 

[prs]

If all else fails, read the instructions. lol

The manual will suggest a weight transfer setting. The transfer springs seem to counter balance about 230 or so pounds if I recall Jack's video correctly, so if the broom is a good bit heavier than that I would use MAX setting, so long as it did not float or bounce too much.

I don't like making a lot of dust. Maybe catch a time when the pavement is wet after a rain and then sweep it.

prs