My First Tractor will be a Ventrac 4500Y.

[John Joseph McVeigh]

Each of my sessions took about an hour, some more, some less, depending on the snow depth. So, I had more cumulative seat time than you did, but I did not have to crane my neck, which it sounds like you needed to do.

With the deepest snow, about 12 inches, I could not exceed 1.2 mph in the forward direction without snow coming over the top. I suspect that having an upper auger in place would help in that regard. I do not know whether the KX523, if equipped with an auxiliary auger, could handle 30 inches of snow depth in a single pass. The maximum rated value without an auxiliary auger is 26.5 inches. I do not see a rating for a KX523 equipped with an auxiliary auger.

I understand from our resident scholar (JackIL) that the auxiliary auger does help with snow that would otherwise slobber up over the top of the intake shroud.

This is my second season with the KX523 snow blower. In my limited experience, the rate at which one can move forward depends both upon the depth of snow and upon the consistency of the snow. One can despatch light, fluffy snow noticeably more quickly than one can despatch denser snow. The snow that fell in this area was fairly dense. I understand from reading various weather sites that it expressed around a 10:1 liquid water equivalence, while in areas of higher elevation, the equivalence was more like 13:1, 14:1, even 15:1.

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

Each of my sessions took about an hour, some more, some less, depending on the snow depth. So, I had more cumulative seat time than you did, but I did not have to crane my neck, which it sounds like you needed to do.

With the deepest snow, about 12 inches, I could not exceed 1.2 mph in the forward direction without snow coming over the top. I suspect that having an upper auger in place would help in that regard. I do not know whether the KX523, if equipped with an auxiliary auger, could handle 30 inches of snow depth in a single pass. The maximum rated value without an auxiliary auger is 26.5 inches. I do not see a rating for a KX523 equipped with an auxiliary auger.

I understand from our resident scholar (JackIL) that the auxiliary auger does help with snow that would otherwise slobber up over the top of the intake shroud.

This is my second season with the KX523 snow blower. In my limited experience, the rate at which one can move forward depends both upon the depth of snow and upon the consistency of the snow. One can despatch light, fluffy snow noticeably more quickly than one can despatch denser snow. The snow that fell in this area was fairly dense. I understand from reading various weather sites that it expressed around a 10:1 liquid water equivalence, while in areas of higher elevation, the equivalence was more like 13:1, 14:1, even 15:1.

 

[prs]

Thanks. Snow here was not quite ski powder, but not too much heavier than that. We more often get medium to heavy snow of lesser depth. Thank Goodness!

You are correct, I had to turn my neck to the right while backing and that can be MURDER. I took a single naproxium sodium tablet before beginning and thus suffered little.

prs

 

[kevin37b]

Each of my sessions took about an hour, some more, some less, depending on the snow depth. So, I had more cumulative seat time than you did, but I did not have to crane my neck, which it sounds like you needed to do.

With the deepest snow, about 12 inches, I could not exceed 1.2 mph in the forward direction without snow coming over the top. I suspect that having an upper auger in place would help in that regard. I do not know whether the KX523, if equipped with an auxiliary auger, could handle 30 inches of snow depth in a single pass. The maximum rated value without an auxiliary auger is 26.5 inches. I do not see a rating for a KX523 equipped with an auxiliary auger.

I understand from our resident scholar (JackIL) that the auxiliary auger does help with snow that would otherwise slobber up over the top of the intake shroud.

This is my second season with the KX523 snow blower. In my limited experience, the rate at which one can move forward depends both upon the depth of snow and upon the consistency of the snow. One can despatch light, fluffy snow noticeably more quickly than one can despatch denser snow. The snow that fell in this area was fairly dense. I understand from reading various weather sites that it expressed around a 10:1 liquid water equivalence, while in areas of higher elevation, the equivalence was more like 13:1, 14:1, even 15:1.

I can not believe you do not have a cab on that machine . IF you ever do you will wonder why it took so long to spend the money .

 

[kevin37b]

Each of my sessions took about an hour, some more, some less, depending on the snow depth. So, I had more cumulative seat time than you did, but I did not have to crane my neck, which it sounds like you needed to do.

With the deepest snow, about 12 inches, I could not exceed 1.2 mph in the forward direction without snow coming over the top. I suspect that having an upper auger in place would help in that regard. I do not know whether the KX523, if equipped with an auxiliary auger, could handle 30 inches of snow depth in a single pass. The maximum rated value without an auxiliary auger is 26.5 inches. I do not see a rating for a KX523 equipped with an auxiliary auger.

I understand from our resident scholar (JackIL) that the auxiliary auger does help with snow that would otherwise slobber up over the top of the intake shroud.

This is my second season with the KX523 snow blower. In my limited experience, the rate at which one can move forward depends both upon the depth of snow and upon the consistency of the snow. One can despatch light, fluffy snow noticeably more quickly than one can despatch denser snow. The snow that fell in this area was fairly dense. I understand from reading various weather sites that it expressed around a 10:1 liquid water equivalence, while in areas of higher elevation, the equivalence was more like 13:1, 14:1, even 15:1.

I can not believe you do not have a cab on that machine . IF you ever do you will wonder why it took so long to spend the money .

 

[prs]

I realize you are addressing McVeigh, but as perspective I can tell ya that a cab tractor is worse than useless in tree country. Those low hanging limbs are unkind to navigation. The same reason the ROPS folds to clear the over head clutter.

prs

 

[murphy1244]

I used a rain cover for a poor mans cab. Cheap but works.

 

[joecoin]

...


On Monday, a lot of snow came down from pine-tree branches that overhang portions of the driveway, so there was some clean-up to do.

Several large pine branches came down across the driveway overnight Friday/Saturday. On Saturday morning, I would periodically have to dismount from the tractor, trudge over to where they were, and drag them off the driveway. They were generally too heavy and too cumbersome to lift. Some of them were about 20 feet long, and arm-thickness, with lots of side-branchescovered with snow. That was fun...

John,

You have that beautiful Ventrac and yet you are man handling fallen branches. Disengage the snow thrower and push those branches out of the way!

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

I realize you are addressing McVeigh, but as perspective I can tell ya that a cab tractor is worse than useless in tree country. Those low hanging limbs are unkind to navigation. The same reason the ROPS folds to clear the over head clutter.

prs

Yes, I have to deal with low-hanging branches. I also have some steep slopes to deal with in mowing season, and the Ventrac cab raises the center of gravity and degrades the tractor's ability to handle the slopes. Removing the cab and storing it for the mowing season would present issues. I'm going to try the Poor Man's Cab.

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

John,

You have that beautiful Ventrac and yet you are man handling fallen branches. Disengage the snow thrower and push those branches out of the way!

The way that the branches were lying, pushing them would have proved onerous. What I could have done was get one of my towing straps and used it and the tractor to drag them, but I decided to just bite the bullet as the towing straps were back up the hill in the garage.