Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Moving Snow

[SouthernX]

1) If trying to push snow on cement or asphalt which do you prefer to use, a blade or a FEL, and why?

2) I have R4 tires on my tractor. When pushing snow is it a must to use chains to expect to get good traction. Or to put it another way, without chains am I just going to sit there and spin?

3) As to operating a tractor in snow what advice or horror stories do you have to share. I've never operated a tractor on snow on hills. Is this just a really bad idea or do some of you do this on a regular basis? I get this feeling that it wouldn't take much to get a tractor on hill to start sliding out of control. I sure don't want to get in that position (talk about scary! )

 

[SouthernX]

[ snip ]

3) As to operating a tractor in snow what advice or horror stories do you have to share. I've never operated a tractor on snow on hills. Is this just a really bad idea or do some of you do this on a regular basis? I get this feeling that it wouldn't take much to get a tractor on hill to start sliding out of control. I sure don't want to get in that position (talk about scary! )

And by hills I mean moderate to steep ones; like the ones found in the Arkansas Ozarks.

 

[SacandagaBrad]

1) If trying to push snow on cement or asphalt which do you prefer to use, a blade or a FEL, and why?

2) I have R4 tires on my tractor. When pushing snow is it a must to use chains to expect to get good traction. Or to put it another way, without chains am I just going to sit there and spin?

3) As to operating a tractor in snow what advice or horror stories do you have to share. I've never operated a tractor on snow on hills. Is this just a really bad idea or do some of you do this on a regular basis? I get this feeling that it wouldn't take much to get a tractor on hill to start sliding out of control. I sure don't want to get in that position (talk about scary! )

On 3, you already hit the nail on the head - CHAINS! A lot of different ones out there, make sure you get a set that have enough cross sections so they don't all settle down between the bars on your R4s.

I use both the FEL and rear blade. And a blower for deep stuff. I do not like to "plow" with the FEL, its inefficient and rough on the mounting system in uneven conditions, but I do use it to scrape slowly when I need down pressure and also use it to pile banks. An angled back blade works well for me to plow large areas, you can either push backwards or drive over the snow forward and pull it.

My machine gets more use during the winter than any other time, like always keep it slow and safe, that's all.

Brad

 

[smfcpacfp]

My best advice is to get a snowblower, and not a plow if you have significant, long lasting snow like I do. It usually starts in mid November and doesn't stop until mid April. The first picture below was taken on April 11th of this year and the second, a day later after two snow storms on consecutive days:

Throwing snow avoids all of the drama associated with pushing snow. You won't ever have to move it a second time. I could not fathom how much time it would have taken to move the snow in the second picture with a FEL (5 feet of wet, heavy, dense snow). Actually the second area would have to have been plowed all along and the grass below it would have been dead most of the spring.

You won't get ticketing for pushing it into the roadway as happens up here, or get sued by the county if your pushed snow in the roadway causes damage to a county plow truck.

 

[yankeerider]

1)
2) ... When pushing snow is it a must to use chains to expect to get good traction. Or to put it another way, without chains am I just going to sit there and spin?

3)... As to operating a tractor in snow what advice or horror stories do you have to share. I've never operated a tractor on snow on hills. Is this just a really bad idea or do some of you do this on a regular basis? I get this feeling that it wouldn't take much to get a tractor on hill to start sliding out of control. I sure don't want to get in that position (talk about scary! )

After 18 years I still haven't seen the need to have chains on the turf tires of my 4WD JD 755. With my 9N with ag tires, I bought chain the first winter. In my opinion, it all depends on whether you've got 2wd vs 4wd (and rear diff lock.)

Hills: It depends on the nature of the snow. When the snow falls in cold temps, the snow is dry and can provide surprising traction. If the temps are close to or slightly above freezing, the tires can instantly turn the snow to ice and you can get a wild ride downhill if you haven't been careful to manage your traction by scraping all the way to bare ground.

 

[jbrumberg]

Icing up, freezing rain, leaving a packed snow base can cause a lot of on slopes. Jay

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

Were we live we only get about 20-30" of snow for the whole season usually in 3 or 4 storms. I use R4's without chains and use a combination of the FEL and a rear blade. I turn my rear blade backwards so the convex side is facing forward. This keeps the gravel on the driveway and does a decent job of removing most of the snow. You are right about the hills - the first year at my farm I got too close to a small dropoff at the edge of my drive and I went for a sleigh ride down into my pasture. I had to sit there and wait for it to stop sliding - I was able to drive back out with the 4WD. I would look to get chains if you have alot of snow or steep areas that you need to traverse. - Mike

 

[Lunk]

1) If trying to push snow on cement or asphalt which do you prefer to use, a blade or a FEL, and why?

2) I have R4 tires on my tractor. When pushing snow is it a must to use chains to expect to get good traction. Or to put it another way, without chains am I just going to sit there and spin?

3) As to operating a tractor in snow what advice or horror stories do you have to share. I've never operated a tractor on snow on hills. Is this just a really bad idea or do some of you do this on a regular basis? I get this feeling that it wouldn't take much to get a tractor on hill to start sliding out of control. I sure don't want to get in that position (talk about scary! )

I've used a rear Blade, and I've used a FEL. Rear blade was a pain in the neck - Literally, but did a fine job. The last few years I used a '65 Ford 2000 2wd utility tractor with a crappy, clumsy, no down-pressure Fasco loader with a 7' el-monstro size snow bucket. With rear chains on Ag tires and a ballast box on the rear, there wasn't a snow that it could not handle traction-wise, and we got over 100" last winter. My asphalt drive is 300' long, with a slope to it, and a large parking area.

I enjoyed using the loader, as clumsy as it was. My new tractor is 4wd with R-4's and a sweet loader on it. It will be ballasted properly (as heavy as I can make it in the rear), and I am electing to avoid chains unless they prove to be needed. That, and to drive only as fast as conditions warrant to avoid "issues" with control, are what I believe to be keys to success.

I've used a blower before, and without a cab on my unit, wouldn't invest in one. My tractor spends too much time in the woods for a cab to be practical, and I want to move the snow, not wear it. Blowers do put snow where you want it though, and do a fine job of cleaning pavement.

Front blades are awesome, but I don't see a need for one at this time. For the ultimate in snow removal, I've found that nothing beats a 4wd truck with a BOSS plow on it, but using the tractor is what it's all about, isn't it?

 

[Mech]

I have a FEL mounted blade that works very well for me. Plowed 10" yesterday. Never needed chains on my R1's but don't know about R4's.

 

[radioman]

Using chains on a tractor on blacktop is not the greatest idea if it flat and short. If you do plowing on gravel drive, then chains is the way to go weather its flat or steep. I havent put a plow on my tractor on front or back yet but right now i am using a poor man's snow pusher (couple boards screwed together to make a L shape pusher) just to protect my blacktop from fel from scratching the blacktop if i used alot of downpressure. I have turfs on blacktop. Before i had the tractor, i used the snowblower and it was nice not to have snowbanks when the snow got deep. Problem is - I live so close to the lake , it always windy that even with a cab on walkbehind , snow managed to find my face . If I went the blower route on my tractor, then getting a fully enclosed cab would be ideal setup. Until then - i gonna keep plowing.