Need guidance on tools for constant snow removal

[FatTire]

We reside where Z is moving to. We do not go through very many thaw/freeze cycles and banks generally don't get that hard. We hardly ever receive warm, high moisture snows either.

Arly,,,, snow is my business,,,, A

Arly I recognize you from the Grooming Talk forum. I mostly just lurk there as RED130, once in a while I comment.

 

[FatTire]

The bank on his road. With my wife and 6 year old for scale.
It is deceiving, because of wind the opposite side of the road the banks are half as tall.

View attachment 499232

That'd be my justification for a Unimog with snowcutter. Forget the tractor.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Once you use a front mount blower, rear mounted ones are just so, well, backwards!

Around here, a blade is only good for so long. You quickly run our of space to push snow plus the roads drift in to the height of the windrows. It seems like you are fighting a loosing battle.

So you know, using a snow plow when you can do so is much, much faster than using a blower. While I rig my tractor for winter with both a blower and a plow, I use my blower only when I cannot push the snow around--a�nd then that is mostly due to uneven terrain conditions (I don't want to slide into a ditch or down a hill).

That said blowers have their place and after getting quoted $5-10,000 for a new blower, I ended up saving a bundle on an old 86" wide McKee that works just fine and is a good fit for my 60hp Cat2 tractor.

Skip to about 5:30 to see the blower part of this video. If you skip to 10:40, you'll see an example of my using my blower to push back snow banks with my blower--not because I cannot push the snow with my plow, but since I do a lot of on-road transporting and don't use chains, my tractor does not have good off-clamber traction and I don't want to slide into the drainage ditch.

You have several people who have suggested a plow up front and a blower on the back which is what I have (60hp tractor, 30" high plow, and 30" high blower). You also have several people suggesting a blower up front and a maybe a blade on the back.

The coolest way to have a blower up front is a self-powered blower. But since your driveway is only 200 feet, unless you find a used one for a song, it really isn't an option. That said, IMO, a PTO driven blower is a hassle for the swap to your loader.

Without knowing your budget, if all I was doing to moving snow around, I'd get a wheel loader. Time for you to offer more information. A 200 foot driveway isn't that long if you're retired and have nothing to do and all day to it, you can save a boat-load of money with just a loader-mounted plow and skip a blower altogether. I am on board with a cab rather than an open station machine, but I'm not certain if you wouldn't be better served by a skid loader rather than a tractor (assuming you want to skip right over the expense of a wheel loader because you're not clearing snow commercially).

 

[check]

If you are going to live there, and can clear intermediate piles of snow before they get too high, then you don't need such deadly equipment.

I have two driveways, one of which is about 100 feet long and the other of which is about 500 feet long. I have a Kubota BX25, with the bxpanded.com bucket expander on the front bucket (which doubles the heaped capacity), and a 51 inch B2789 blower on the rear. Works great for me, as I can clear up to 24 inches of snow with the blower, and I have never had a windrow that was so hard that I could not work it with the front end loader bucket. And this is 2 1/2 hours north of Toronto, where there is plenty of snow.

Also, when I have a smaller amount of snow to work, I just use the plow on my ATV, and it zooms through the job in no time at all.

 

[mogwild]

This would probably work

 

[Z-Michigan]

Without knowing your budget, if all I was doing to moving snow around, I'd get a wheel loader. Time for you to offer more information. A 200 foot driveway isn't that long if you're retired and have nothing to do and all day to it, you can save a boat-load of money with just a loader-mounted plow and skip a blower altogether. I am on board with a cab rather than an open station machine, but I'm not certain if you wouldn't be better served by a skid loader rather than a tractor (assuming you want to skip right over the expense of a wheel loader because you're not clearing snow commercially).

Thanks Eric. A lot of stuff in the replies has been a bit unrealistic, IMHO. I thought I was well off, but I'm not in a position to spend $50k+ on a tractor setup (or some other dedicated snow machine). If I had that much spare cash I'd be looking seriously at the Bobcat Toolcat!

I have used tractors quite a bit on a prior farm, and will be doing a lot of ordinary summer-time tractor tasks with it, including field mowing, rototilling, cultivating, moving dirt, and possibly moving hay bales. We're actually looking to operate a small and specialized fruit/veggie farm in the hopes of profit (hopes!). Snow removal is simply one of the winter tasks I'll have, not the only tractor chore or even the only winter-time task. A skid loader or pure wheel loader wouldn't handle my other tasks well. I briefly considered Power-Trac but for various reasons I'm not going that route either.

I appreciate all the replies. I'm 99% sure at this point I'm going to start with a PTO snowblower, and if I seem to have a use for a front blade, look at getting a front blade later on.

 

[jchewie]

I'm near the Soo, have a similar length driveway, plus I keep another 300 feet total of single car width open to the barn and propane tank.
You average 220 inches of snow, we average 120 inches of snow.
This is my fourth winter here. In this area, many people plow, many snowblow, and only a few have a pushbox for the loader and a blower for the rear.

The first two were brutal (abnormally cold with much higher than average snow) with a walk behind.
We bought an open station tractor with a 6.5 foot rear blower that needed serious repairs after one winter of use. It worked very well, when it worked.
I was back to the walk behind this winter. Temperatures have been mild, which has made it a little easier.

I'm a couple miles inland from Lake Superior and the land surrounding my house has no trees. The wind is almost always blowing.
I do not have to worry about banks being built up. Run the snowblower, and it all blows away. Neighbors that plow or push have banks to deal with.
A much different situation than when we were in town, with trees and houses, I had to clear the yard a couple times to have a place for the snowblower to throw the snow.

My humble advice, if you have the money, buy a reliable tractor with a cab, a front blower, and a good heavy rear box blade

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Thanks Eric. A lot of stuff in the replies has been a bit unrealistic, IMHO. I thought I was well off, but I'm not in a position to spend $50k+ on a tractor setup (or some other dedicated snow machine). If I had that much spare cash I'd be looking seriously at the Bobcat Toolcat!

I have used tractors quite a bit on a prior farm, and will be doing a lot of ordinary summer-time tractor tasks with it, including field mowing, rototilling, cultivating, moving dirt, and possibly moving hay bales. We're actually looking to operate a small and specialized fruit/veggie farm in the hopes of profit (hopes!). Snow removal is simply one of the winter tasks I'll have, not the only tractor chore or even the only winter-time task. A skid loader or pure wheel loader wouldn't handle my other tasks well. I briefly considered Power-Trac but for various reasons I'm not going that route either.

I appreciate all the replies. I'm 99% sure at this point I'm going to start with a PTO snowblower, and if I seem to have a use for a front blade, look at getting a front blade later on.

A cab-on UTV with a plow could also be a rolling deduction and good for material handling. Alternatively, a cab on UTV and a snow blower and you're all set for less money.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Thanks. A Bobcat 3650 UTV was tempting me. However, I need the capabilities for a rough cut mower, rototiller, and conventional tillage tools (cultivator, possibly plow) which pretty much limits me to to conventional tractors with a 3pt hitch.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Have you seen some of the repair bills on UTVs that were used for snow removal?

I do prefer to use a plow over a blower. It's just more fun and engaging. It's just not an option around here for reasons mentioned.

One thing is for sure. Snow removal has become much more expensive.