Compact Tractor Snow Removal Setups
When the winter months hit, one of the most fun (and productive) things you can do with your compact tractor is plow snow. Whether you use your loader, a snow blower, a blade, or something else entirely, a ccompact tractor is one of the best tools money can buy for snow removal. So check out these great snow removal setups for your compact tractor and see which is right for you. For help setting up your tractor for snow removal, post a question in our popular snow removal forum.
The classic front blade (also known as a snow blade, snow plow, or dozer blade) can be mounted directly to the tractor via a sub frame, or to the front-end loader either with or without a bucket installed. This option will give you the ability to push snow and deflect it when the blade is angled. A front mount blade gives you the best visibility of your clearing path. A hydraulic-powered angling mechanism will provide the best ease of use, while a manual adjustment will be most economical.
Tips:
- Add a rubber or plastic cutting edge and a set of skid shoes to prevent damaging paved driveways or concrete walkways.
Pros:
- Proven technology used for more than a century
- Front mount provides superior visibility
- Deflects snow to the side and also pushes
Cons:
- High initial investment for hydraulic-powered models
10 Comments
Very informative info. I’ve been using my old Farmall Super C with a rear blade to clear snow from my driveway. I’ve turned the blade around and back bladed several times. This is a real pain in the neck trying to turn around and see what your doing. I’d love to have a front blade some day but finding one to fit is not going to be easy.
I have a front bucket on my Kubota, and a gravel driveway. I generally pack the first few snows so that I form a snow/ice base and don’t pick up the gravel & put it onto the lawn. HOWEVER, the front edge of the bucket is either angled slightly down, in which case it digs into the base and the gravel anyway, or it’s slightly up, and rides up on the snow, more and more, until there can be 8 inches left under it. Even if I happen to get it perfect, as soon as I hit any non-flat spot, the front of the bucket will dig in again. The answer is a skid-shoe or ski of some kind. Any proven designs?
Todd
Landscape RAKE!!!!!!
Todd:
It takes years of practice, but if you set the angle right and engage the float function on your FEL, it will do a very good job of skimming the snow from your gravel driveway. I’ve been retired to the country for 12 winters, and I’m just now getting it right. Hint: set it for what you think is right, and then rotate it up just a little bit, about 1/2″ on my indicator.
I had a front plow fabricated from an IH scout plow to mount on the front of my L2550 kubota. It really seemed like a nice setup, however I found that when the snow was deep and or heavy, the blade was too far out from the front of the tractor that when the blade was angled it was difficult to keep going straight because the front end kept sliding off to the side. Keep the distance from the blade to the tractor as close as possible to avoid this problem.
I use a blower in the front and a grader blade in the back.
the blade gets me close to garage doors etc. The blade also can scrape a bit while blowing which makes it so I don’t have to adjust blower skate heights.
That cab looks nice but I see no way of getting engine heat unless there is a heater core in the roof.
Old Heat Housers™ had canvas side panels to hold heat from the rad forced back by the fan to the driver. Kept some parts warm, no roof though.
I have a 7 foot rear mounted blower. When the snow is the right consistency, it works very well except that it is very difficult to run in reverse and I always have to mess with the chute so that I don’t pack the rear cab window with snow. When i first got the snowblower, I didn’t have a cab. It was not the place to be. I also have th e front bucket, and a rear blade and I have tried the landscape rake. Every one has it’s pluses and minuses. The thing that makes the most difference is chains. I think they are essential. This year I want to add front chains. I think tractors suck in snow and once it ices up they are really bad. The plow on the front seems to move the front of the tractor sideways if the snow is deep or wet. Front chains should help that. When using the bucket a big snow load will force the front of the tractor up in the air