Looking for advice on which direction to go

[KubotainNH]

Is this the Steiner you found? Steiner 43 Max Tractor with 54" Snowblower
I like how it articulates. With the snow we are having right now see if you can watch it blow some snow.

BTW, I wouldn't be afraid of a 30 year old Kubota, they were well built beasts. I'm interested to see what you come up with. I sure wouldn't want to use a walk behind on that size driveway. This is why I have a plow on my Jeep but have been thinking of putting a motor on a 4' wide blower that I pick up with the FEL of my tractor. Great for pushing back snowbanks.

This is my buddies setup: Frankenblower shot with Nikon D71 - YouTube

 

[dnw64]

Is this the Steiner you found? Steiner 43 Max Tractor with 54" Snowblower
I like how it articulates. With the snow we are having right now see if you can watch it blow some snow.

BTW, I wouldn't be afraid of a 30 year old Kubota, they were well built beasts. I'm interested to see what you come up with. I sure wouldn't want to use a walk behind on that size driveway. This is why I have a plow on my Jeep but have been thinking of putting a motor on a 4' wide blower that I pick up with the FEL of my tractor. Great for pushing back snowbanks.

This is my buddies setup: Frankenblower shot with Nikon D71 - YouTube

Yes, that's the Steiner.

Latest listing shows it in snow with a blade on it. Nor sure if they sold the blower to someone else (they are a Steiner dealer so good possibility). I haven't had time to go look at it so I haven't tried calling them, but I told them I was "very interested" and to let me know when it was ready to sell (they had it in the shop when I called - not sure if I mentioned that in this post).

I really like the articulation and maneuverability as well, would work well in my driveway. One of the things that's a negative on some of the 25-30HP S/CUTS is how big they are. I really like the compactness of the Steiner for 27/30HP.

A plow truck is the ideal for efficiency IMO, as long as you have a place for the snow, and no blind corners.

Cool Frankenblower. I'd love to do something equally crazy, but just don't have the time. Need a pretty much ready-to-go solution.

 

[KubotainNH]

Yes, that's the Steiner.

Latest listing shows it in snow with a blade on it. Nor sure if they sold the blower to someone else (they are a Steiner dealer so good possibility). I haven't had time to go look at it so I haven't tried calling them, but I told them I was "very interested" and to let me know when it was ready to sell (they had it in the shop when I called - not sure if I mentioned that in this post).

I really like the articulation and maneuverability as well, would work well in my driveway. One of the things that's a negative on some of the 25-30HP S/CUTS is how big they are. I really like the compactness of the Steiner for 27/30HP.

A plow truck is the ideal for efficiency IMO, as long as you have a place for the snow, and no blind corners.

Cool Frankenblower. I'd love to do something equally crazy, but just don't have the time. Need a pretty much ready-to-go solution.

I see. Yes, the plow is great up until the snow banks get too big and the driveway gets smaller. That's where the blower on the bucket would be helpful. In the past I've done it with the tractor bucket but it is brutal and time consuming. The loader arms do not have enough reach with just the bucket on.

BTW, that blower in the video was mounted on the front of the tractor with double v-belts and electric clutch going to the front of the motor, all OEM. He burned out the clutch twice and hated taking the loader off. That is why he added a motor to the blower itself and made the blower easily removed from the bucket. Loves it this way as he can keep the RPM's of the tractor down and still throw the snow a good distance. This is his thread on adding power steering to his L185, I did the same with my B6100 - http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/138014-power-steering-90-minutes.html.

 

[dnw64]

I called the dealer on the used Steiner, left a message with someone on Thursday, no reply at this point,

Today my son and I did a lot of driving/looking and our last stop (and closest to home...) revealed a 2008 MF GC2400 with front mount blower (and belly mower, which I don't particularly care about) for $9k. It has 400 hours, loaded tires and seems to be in quite good mechanical shape. I was even able to try out the blower in the remains of our recent 18" storm, on an untouched area of their lawn. It's about the perfect size for me, and adequate power. I'm 99% there, probably will call and confirm tomorrow.