Not enough tractor or bad strategy?

[kevinj]

Good point. I was thinking single lane out and back. I'm just jelious because I'd love to have a 3pt blower in the back and the blade on the front. Would be a sweet combo. :thumbsup:

Why would one want a blade up front when you can have a blower? I have heard others like that setup.

I prefer to have no banks to promote drifting.

I am on my 4th winter and NEVER wished I had a blade on the front. If I wish to scrape slush in the spring then I use a back blade.

 

[ray66v]

Depends on your needs. A front blade is low maintenance, low cost and can do double duty with dirt in the summer. After 32 years with a front blade, that's still my choice.

Yes, and you left out, most of the time a plow is faster, and it does not blow snow in your face when it's windy. :thumbsup:

 

[kevinj]

Yes, and you left out, most of the time a plow is faster, and it does not blow snow in your face when it's windy. :thumbsup:

I have a cab:thumbsup:

Yes, in some situations a plow is faster. In mine it is slower and the banks make the drifting that much worse.

I have a drive down around the walk out and my shop is down there so when the snow blows over the buildings in can get deep!!

 

[kevinj]

Depends on your needs. A front blade is low maintenance, low cost and can do double duty with dirt in the summer. After 32 years with a front blade, that's still my choice.

I did not write that very well, some up above wanted a blower on the back AND blade up front.

If you have a blower I am not sure what value the blade would be as there should be no snow left to push with a blade!!!!

 

[Mace Canute]

Had my first real snow and I failed to get out of my 1/4 mile lane. We had about 8 inches come down, I cleared that ok..then the wind came in. Overnight some parts of my lane piled up to 20-25 inches. I worked at it for about 4 hours and by time i got one spot clear the wind would cover it back up in a few hours. I had a hard time getting up my hill to try blading on the way down. After the wind died down I went back out and had a heck of a time. In the end I was bailed out by my neighbor with his Deere 8300 and massive rear bucket. It was very emasculating. Sitting there on my GC I felt like I just walked out of an NFL locker room shower.

I have a Massey GC2400 with an FEL and 4ft rear blade. The Blade would load up with snow and stop the tractor, the FEL was ok but I had nowhere to pivot and dump. I admit it, I am a city boy who just moved to the country and i have no idea what i am doing but I am willing to learn.

What am i doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Should I switch to a blower set up? Should I get a bigger tractor? Should I bribe my Neighbor with my excellent cooking?

HELP!!

My vote would be to relegate your GC2400 to yard work and get a decent sized tractor with a blower.

One bit of advice I haven't seen mentioned (I might have missed it) is knocking down the ridges on each side of your road after you have cleared it. Back when I was a kid on the farm, I would often do this on our little country road, after it had been blown out, from our farm to where it joined a better, more traveled road. We had an old telephone pole, about 25 foot long that I would drag up and down the road behind our WC Allis Chalmers. It would not only knock down the ridge, it would pack the snow down on each side and smooth it out so the whole road cross section was kinda saucer shaped rather than a square cut through the snow. This made a big difference in the amount of snow that would get trapped on the road since the wind would carry it through the smoothed out banks rather than dump it into a trough. It was fast to do, since I would travel in high gear...all of 9 mph!

 

[Kal130]

Well could be worse, just saw an Amish plowing his drive with a horse and a homemade v plow.

 

[ray66v]

I have a cab:thumbsup:

Yes, in some situations a plow is faster. In mine it is slower and the banks make the drifting that much worse.

I have a drive down around the walk out and my shop is down there so when the snow blows over the buildings in can get deep!!

Front blower, with a cab, will work. :thumbsup:

Unless you have a gravel drive :thumbdown:

If you have a plow attached to the loader arms, the snow is never too deep, and you never have piles that are too high.

 

[gladehound]

Why would one want a blade up front when you can have a blower?

A plow up front and blower in the back would be sweet because...

1. I'm not in a drift zone and we often get < 1 foot of snow at a time so you can fly with a plow. I often plow at 8 mph. I don't think my 19 hp engine could blow a 6 foot path that fast!!! :laughing: A few days ago I did 7 driveways in 1 hr 30 minutes. If I were blowing I still would have been on number 1 !!!
2. Sometimes you are in a situation where you want to move snow but because of obstacles there is no easy way to plow it. Then you simply turn around and blow it out.
3. Sometimes you want to move a pile back that is too big to push so you could blow it.
4. Every once in a while we get a wet 2-3 foot snow at a time and I'm speculating that I would not be able to push the plow through that much snow so I could use the blower if it were too much for the plow. But this is my first year with the front blade so I'm not sure what it can handle.

 

[Gizmo2]

A plow up front and blower in the back would be sweet because...

1. I'm not in a drift zone and we often get < 1 foot of snow at a time so you can fly with a plow. I often plow at 8 mph. I don't think my 19 hp engine could blow a 6 foot path that fast!!! :laughing: A few days ago I did 7 driveways in 1 hr 30 minutes. If I were blowing I still would have been on number 1 !!!
2. Sometimes you are in a situation where you want to move snow but because of obstacles there is no easy way to plow it. Then you simply turn around and blow it out.
3. Sometimes you want to move a pile back that is too big to push so you could blow it.
4. Every once in a while we get a wet 2-3 foot snow at a time and I'm speculating that I would not be able to push the plow through that much snow so I could use the blower if it were too much for the plow. But this is my first year with the front blade so I'm not sure what it can handle.

Don't cut your tractor short here. My old JD 650 would handle 2 feet of snow rather well with a 5.5 ft blade, engine was 17 HP but weighed about the same as the newer JD 2720. Miss the 650 but not the 8 speed manual transmission or the no power steering.

 

[automech]

That is a long drive to not have something out front to clear snow fast with. I have a BX that I use to clear a 600 ft drive with. I have only a rear blade, but is is a 5 footer, not a 4. I got a 5 so that when it is fully angled, it is bigger than the tractor wheels. I face it backwards and back up when the snow is too deep to drive forward through. I had to add weights to the blade to keep it on the ground or it rides up over the snow when it is deep. I have cleared 18 to 24 inch storms with it and the FEL. Generally up to a foot is no problem, just back down the drive once, turn around and back up the other side. Done. I think I could have gotten the 6 foot blade for snow pushing. If I had your drive, I would have the front blade, power angle and lift, and a rear blower. A cab would be on my list if the first 2 things didn't break the budget.