Snow-How much can I do w/o more $

[MWB1564]

Hi guys, I've had my CK30 hst for almost a year now and it's been great. I'm looking ahead to my first encounter with snow with this thing and I'm wondering how much I'm going to be able to do safely as far as moving snow without investing in chains, snow plow or blower, etc. I've got the intermediate lug tires, (not the most aggressive kind) a bucket, box scraper, and backhoe. I've got about 300 ft of drive way to clear and its hilly. The max inches of snow I would get would be 18 but more likely 6-12 at any one time. Can I make this do the job without investing money in more implements that I may only use once a year? Thanks.

 

[dex3361]

Welcome to TBN. To answer your question the better blade to use is a scraper blade on the rear(they work well up to about 16"), with the FEL on the front. If I had to work snow on the hills I would have chains front and rear. I will put my chains on if it gets bad. We dont get a lot of snow here but last week we had about 16" of wet heavy snow and all I ever use is the rear scraper blade in conjunction with the FEL.

 

[gerard]

Agree re: blade best implement for your purpose if you have room to windrow off the sides. Also chains are cheap. Rear's would probably suffice, less than $200. If you were flat I'd say try and muddle through w/o chains. Going up hills on snow/ice covered terrain is hard enough without having the added drag of a blade. (And the R4's aren't known for great traction)

 

[JoelD]

Hi, I'm not sure how much snow you get? You mention 6-12 at any one time with up to 18. Does it snow frequently?

I get a bunch of snow here in NH.

My drive is 250 foot with sllight uphill (coming towards house).

I've never used chains on my tractors, only my riding lawn mower which had a blower.

From my experience, the best set up has been a 16HP ariens lawn tractor, with chains, rear weight and 36 inch two stage snow blower. That machine would throw the snow 35 feet easy.

I sold the machine and miss it.

I have a plow truck and my kioti TLB, as well as a 32 inch 12 hp walk behind blower. I've also got a little wheel horse 7hp tractor with single stage blower (currently not running, rehab project).

Nothing, but nothing is better at clearing snow than a snowblower. The huge advantage is it throws the snow up and out of the way, no snow banks to deal with.

The big negative to the plow truck is that plows create snowbanks and I can quicky run out of room at the top of my driveway. Also not as good as snow blower at getting into tight places.

The negative to the tractor is a loader bucket fills quickly with snow. The positive is the cutting edge gets right down to the pavement.

The thing I liked a lot about my ariens was it was small enough to get into every corner but large enough to clear the driveway quickly and throw the snow a mile.

I rarely use my plow truck because of the snowbank issue.

Because my driveway is relatively short, I think the absolute best set up for me would be rear threepoint blower and loader for final clean up work.

I've never tried a rear blade.

Chains would make a big difference coming up my hill, just has not been a large enough problem to require yet.

Joel

 

[JonKioti]

I have a 54" rear mounted snowblower. I used it on my CK-20 with turf tires and no chains for a year with no problems at all. One portion of the driveways I clear is very steep; just take your time as necessary.

Ditto Joel on the benefits of a snowblower.

I have also invested in a blade from Michigan Iron. That one has power lift and power angle; even putting a snowblade on your loader will significantly help as the loader bucket will fill up with snow and not allow you to push to one side easily.

Be aware that you will wear your loader scraper edge on the corners if you use it a lot for snow clearing on pavement.

I've never tried the box blade for snow; the backhoe will make good ballast.

Enjoy!

Jon

 

[Thomas]

It can be done but it may take some time.
Curl bucket upwards little than use float go slow,becarefull not to over push/dump or travel near edge of road,for good chance sliding into ditch etc than stuck.

Chains are cheap compare to wrecker calls.

 

[jimmyj]

All good advice. I have a CK30HST and a 400 foot drive, half of which is uphill pretty good. You can use the FEL only if money is tight. In order of use most to least at our place:

1. Rear blade
2. ATV with front plow (60")
3. FEL
4. Box blade sometimes but not much (it gets jammed up with snow).
5. Walk behind 32" blower
6. Shovel

I did use chains on my 2wd tractors but never on the 4wd. The R4's are slippy a bit sometimes, but not much and even on really icy surfaces I have been OK with a little careful driving and low speed. Chains are cheap though, if I slip any more often I will get some (and they work like magic).

If my banks get high I will push the snow to the sides and do a pass with the walk behind blower to throw it up and over. If I did make another snow removal investment it would be the subframe mounted plow with hydraulics from Michigan Iron.

Good luck!

 

[Gittyup]

A lot of people use a boxblade with pretty good results. Though with your hills, chains are probably going to be needed. Try what you have first before spending more money.

Though a used scraper blade isn't too expensive. And, in my opinion, a snowblower is inferior to a scraper blade except when you have a lot of snow, or no room to windrow. The blade is much faster and won't cover you in blow-back.

If your drive is stone, you might want to look at the solutions people have contrived to keep from removing the stone while they plow/blow. This might influence which way you go as well.

 

[MWB1564]

Thanks for all the great replies. Maybe chains are cheaper than I thought. I would definitely pick up a pair for $200. Can anyone recommend an online seller, and exactly what type give the best traction? Thanks again.

 

[gerard]

Thanks for all the great replies. Maybe chains are cheaper than I thought. I would definitely pick up a pair for $200. Can anyone recommend an online seller, and exactly what type give the best traction? Thanks again.

I've bought both my sets from tirechains.com and was happy with both. For R4's, which I think you said you had, I'd look at the duogrips. I paid $160 for 11.2 24 R1's but that was 8 years ago so I'm sure they went up some. The pattern limits the chain dropping between the lugs which will happen if you get a ladder type set up. The V chains are also nice (they have little carbide "v" s facing out. More expensive, more traction, more tear up on pavement. double rings also seem like they would work but I've never used them. Don't know how they compare in cost to a duogrip set up.

When you get them I found the easiest method is to throw a floor jack under the draw bar and life both rear wheels off the ground. Hook the chain on a lug and spin the wheel. Gravity keeps the chain taught and evenly distributed so the whole tire is draped with the opening on the bottom. Make the two connections, put on bungi's or tensioners, drive a bit and see if you need to adjust. Not too bad, probably takes me 15 minutes per tire.