Snow Snow removal: bucket, blower, plow?

[motownbrowne]

If you want to move snow on the cheap, your best option is a back blade, as others have suggested. A light duty one is perfect for snow. Not great for gravel, but fine for snow. My snow moving rig is my New Holland TC29D set up with no loader, a light duty 7' back blade, and tire chains on the front tires. I can move a lot of snow in a hurry. I set the angle off to the side and drive forward. I only have to look behind me if I am backing up to something, or when i sometimes turn the blade around to push banks back. 95% of my operation is done in a forward direction. That's the way everything is designed to be used. We don't usually get more than 6" at a time, and this setup works great for me. If they're forecasting more than 6", I generally go out in the middle of the storm and get the first layer cleared. I wish I had a front mounted blower to work in conjunction with the blade (windrow with the blade, then blow), but for what they cost, I will have to pass for the foreseeable future.

If you want to take it a step higher in the budget, a loader mounted plow will work and allow you to watch what you're doing. One for that size tractor will have to be pretty small though. If you're handy with a welder, I bet you could adapt a truck mounted plow to your tractor frame, which would be a very nice setup, but obviously more involved, and you would probably not be able to use the loader while the plow frame is mounted.

 

[jcmaurice6]

For me a dedicated front mounted snow blade and a back snow blower in rear is the best. The snow blade for everythink less then 6 or 8 inch and for finishing, so 75% of the time. When bigger storm the blower is greath because it don稚 accumulate snow on the side. But for finishing, because it is dirt road, never use the snow blower.

 

[Thomas]

You kinda hit nail on head w/hammer,one thing for sure blower snow be gone and no worries about pushing back snow banks least of chance getting stuck.

 

[ray66v]

If you intend to buy a cab, a blower is a great solution.

I will never blow snow again without a cab.

No cab? Then, a plow is better. A loader mounted plow is even more better. :thumbsup:

 

[grsthegreat]

i went 14 years with an open station tractor and a rear snowblower. i looked like a snowman ever time i used it. i finally broke down and got a front mount hydraulic snowblower, a front plow and a cab tractor. my neck was giving me fits after 6 hours of driving backwards. got too old and broken down. Id say a front mounted plow works awesome until you get too much snow and run out of places to push it. I don't know where your located so have no idea how much snow you get. we get roughly 120" per season on average, so i run out of push room fast. that's when the blower comes in handy. the blower takes twice as long to move the snow, but it shoots it 40 feet so i don't worry about drifting.

 

[oosik]

For 35+ years I cleared the snow off my mile long driveway with a rear blade only. The trick is to get one as heavy as your tractor and pocket book can handle. And get it wide enough so that it covers the width of your rear tires when angled.

Its worth your time to do a little math and some accurate diagraming. Draw the rear blade to scale in the offset position( if it offsets) and have the blade at a 45 degree angle. Draw a line at this offset and angle from the outside of one rear tire to the outside of the other rear tire. This will give you a pretty close approximation of how wide the rear blade should be.

Example - outside to outside on my rear tires is 80". My 96"(8') Rhino blade when offset and angled will JUST cover outside to outside. Remember this blade can also be used on your driveway in the summer.

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[Bravo Xray]

I'd suggest using what you have for now. Just because you have a bucket doesn't mean you have to continually dump it. Unless the snow is very heavy and deep, I just push it as far as I can, often all the way to the end of the drive. Then overlap the next pass, and so on. It might take a little experimentation to get just the right curl on the bucket so it won't grab gravel, but once you figure that out, floating it should be smooth sailing (or plowing). If that isn't good enough for you, you can always buy another attachment later. I used this method for many years on a .7 mile gravel road up the side of a small mountain with great success, and only had issues when the snow was over two feet deep and wet. Still use it on lots of gravel and paved lots today. For me, it's a lot easier than trying to turn around to watch a back blade of rear mounted blower. YMMV.

 

[texasranger556]

Rear blade for cheapness, paid $100 for a 72" blade. We rarely get more than 18" at once, so between the loader and rear blade I can clear our road fairly quick. More than 18" I'd probably consider a blower.

Before I had the blade I used the bucket. As others have said, just push as far as you can then steer toward the ditch. Depending how deep the snow is, can clear 10-20' at a time or more. Then turn around and push into the ditch on the other side of the road.

 

[irvingj]

1) How much snow do you get?
2) what type of surface - gravel, dirt, pavement?
3) type of snow-- lots of wet stuff or mostly powder?
4) terrain- flat or sloped? (steep?)
5) places to push snow - will you end up with a driveway that's 5 feet wide eventually? Neighbors' driveways close by?

Answers to these questions will have a definite bearing on your choice of snow weapons....

 

[mcfarmall]

Lightweight, wide rear blade to drag the snow to a landing. Bucket or blade on the FEL to clear the landing and pile the snow up. Cheap and effective. Liquid tire ballast and a set of chains...you'll be unstoppable.