I want to hear from owners of Kubota front mount blowers

[Catfish Man]

I suspect I'm being fed bad information from a dealer. He either is not very knowledgeable about the products he sells or he wants to talk me into equipment he already has in inventory so he doesn't get stuck with it in the off season.

I routinely ask questions that I already know the answer to. This tells me if I can trust the person that I'm dealing with (I learned this years ago dealing with cars). This guy didn't pass my test, so I don't trust him, but he did plant some doubt in my mind.

So I have a few questions:

1. Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe to mount the front end loader?

2. Do you feel the blower subframe is in your way when doing other tasks, (bush-hogging, road grading etc)

3. Do you feel the front mount blower is worth the extra money over the rear?

4. If your tractor and blower was stolen, would you replace it with another kubota front mount?

 

[themichelob]

1. No
2. No
3. Absolutely!!
4. In a heartbeat--my unit has been indestructible and performs great!!
Regards, Mike

 

[leonz]

I suspect I'm being fed bad information from a dealer. He either is not very knowledgeable about the products he sells or he wants to talk me into equipment he already has in inventory so he doesn't get stuck with it in the off season.

I routinely ask questions that I already know the answer to. This tells me if I can trust the person that I'm dealing with (I learned this years ago dealing with cars). This guy didn't pass my test, so I don't trust him, but he did plant some doubt in my mind.

So I have a few questions:

1. Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe to mount the front end loader?

2. Do you feel the blower subframe is in your way when doing other tasks, (bush-hogging, road grading etc)

3. Do you feel the front mount blower is worth the extra money over the rear?

4. If your tractor and blower was stolen, would you replace it with another kubota front mount?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


About your dealer and his issues;


He did not bother to tell you driving any size mule takes practice practice practice and the more practice you have the more familiar you are with a car or tractor.


1.ON some brands and some models the bloody thing has to come off.

2. unless you have brush guard they are magnets for crap in heavy brush and the tractor can and will get hung up at times especially in ditches. (been there done that with simple belly mount mowers)IT does happen.

3. No way in HE double hockey sticks. The other thing he did not bother to enlighten you on is that most front mounted snow casters are limited in mounting to a specific machine and may no be useable on an upgraded trade.
AND they have little resale value.

a A rear mounted snow caster can be mounted on an upgrade without spending more money as you would have to on a replacement front mount snow caster.

4. I would not, I would buy an all weather cabbed unit with a rear mount and automatic transmission if I had the money/income.

a. you may have lot of bad weather times with heavy wet snow being so close to the Atlantic coast and a snow caster with rotating drum that bypasses the chute and spout eliminates clogging and casts the snow much further.

b a snow caster with a higher horsepower prime mover is the only way to overcome instances of heavy wet snow occurances or repeated passes with a smaller power unit during the snow event.

Keeping a tank of diesel fuel at the homestead is a must especially in the winter months as 275 gallons of treated diesel fuel cut with kerosene and filtered by a RACOR diesel cylcone fuel filter is your friend as it eliminates the water and crap down to 2 micron if desired and the filter cartridges will filter 10,000 gallons of diesel(if there is water in the fuel the cartridges will mushroom and plug and eliminate any water entering the injection pump of the tractor).



Most front mounts have a smaller cross auger area and fan whre this is not the case in most all rear mounts.

As I mentioned before if you invest in a tractor with a cab and a mid point PTO you can purchase a Pronovost Front PTO Hitch with a reverseing gearbox that allows you to mount a snow caster and for example a flail mower
to mow with. The front three point hitch will allow you to mount landscape rakes, back blades, post hole diggers- mounting and using a rotary cutter and using it safely is problematic as the rotary cutter may need to have the mower reversed strictly depending on the discharge gaurding and front chains or rubber flap to prevent impacting and throwing things which is non issue with flailmowers mounted in the front or rear.


a. If you invest in a tractor you can purchase one with a swivel seat that allows you to turn to the right in the seat or buy high end swivel seat up grade.

b. The rear mounted snow caster is riding on the ground preferably with caster wheels to prevent digging in when turning or sucking up mud.

c. the minute you let off the pedal the rear mounted snow caster creates enough drag that it will not runoff unless you have an extremly steep angle of attack and ice.

d. lot of of folks use mirrors and our member 4shorts has a back up camera with his mule and he loves it as it has great clarity in all conditions.



EDIT:

e. The biggest thing he did not inform you of is lower ground clearances wth front mounts and that in not good thing with unpaved areas.

 

[srs]

I have about 1/2 mile of gravel driveway between me and the county road, parts of it are pretty steep.


Question 3. Catfish said he had a 1/2 mile of driveway. That is a long distance using a rear mounted blower. Looking over your shoulder might be too much for him and his wife to use. I do agree a factory cabbed tractor is the way to go though. On the other thread someone mentioned a pickup truck with plow. Perhaps if Catfish bought an old beater pickup truck (4 wheel drive, chains) with plow then I could see a rear blower for the tractor to hit any spots that might be extremely deep. But this then means maintenance of both a tractor and pickup truck. I wish you luck in your decision Catfish. Stanley

 

[Catfish Man]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


About your dealer and his issues;


He did not bother to tell you driving any size mule takes practice practice practice and the more practice you have the more familiar you are with a car or tractor.


1.ON some brands and some models the bloody thing has to come off.

2. unless you have brush guard they are magnets for crap in heavy brush and the tractor can and will get hung up at times especially in ditches. (been there done that with simple belly mount mowers)IT does happen.

3. No way in HE double hockey sticks. The other thing he did not bother to enlighten you on is that most front mounted snow casters are limited in mounting to a specific machine and may no be useable on an upgraded trade.
AND they have little resale value.

a A rear mounted snow caster can be mounted on an upgrade without spending more money as you would have to on a replacement front mount snow caster.

4. I would not, I would buy an all weather cabbed unit with a rear mount and automatic transmission if I had the money/income.

a. you may have lot of bad weather times with heavy wet snow being so close to the Atlantic coast and a snow caster with rotating drum that bypasses the chute and spout eliminates clogging and casts the snow much further.

b a snow caster with a higher horsepower prime mover is the only way to overcome instances of heavy wet snow occurances or repeated passes with a smaller power unit during the snow event.

Keeping a tank of diesel fuel at the homestead is a must especially in the winter months as 275 gallons of treated diesel fuel cut with kerosene and filtered by a RACOR diesel cylcone fuel filter is your friend as it eliminates the water and crap down to 2 micron if desired and the filter cartridges will filter 10,000 gallons of diesel(if there is water in the fuel the cartridges will mushroom and plug and eliminate any water entering the injection pump of the tractor).



Most front mounts have a smaller cross auger area and fan whre this is not the case in most all rear mounts.

As I mentioned before if you invest in a tractor with a cab and a mid point PTO you can purchase a Pronovost Front PTO Hitch with a reverseing gearbox that allows you to mount a snow caster and for example a flail mower
to mow with. The front three point hitch will allow you to mount landscape rakes, back blades, post hole diggers- mounting and using a rotary cutter and using it safely is problematic as the rotary cutter may need to have the mower reversed strictly depending on the discharge gaurding and front chains or rubber flap to prevent impacting and throwing things which is non issue with flailmowers mounted in the front or rear.


a. If you invest in a tractor you can purchase one with a swivel seat that allows you to turn to the right in the seat or buy high end swivel seat up grade.

b. The rear mounted snow caster is riding on the ground preferably with caster wheels to prevent digging in when turning or sucking up mud.

c. the minute you let off the pedal the rear mounted snow caster creates enough drag that it will not runoff unless you have an extremly steep angle of attack and ice.

d. lot of of folks use mirrors and our member 4shorts has a back up camera with his mule and he loves it as it has great clarity in all conditions.



EDIT:

e. The biggest thing he did not inform you of is lower ground clearances wth front mounts and that in not good thing with unpaved areas.

You sure do make a lot of assumptions about what that dealer did and did not tell me. I didn't notice you there.

I'm not new to tractors just new to snowblowers, at this point I have specific questions for people that are actually running a KUBOTA FRONT MOUNT SNOWBLOWER.

 

[Catfish Man]

I have about 1/2 mile of gravel driveway between me and the county road, parts of it are pretty steep.


Question 3. Catfish said he had a 1/2 mile of driveway. That is a long distance using a rear mounted blower. Looking over your shoulder might be too much for him and his wife to use. I do agree a factory cabbed tractor is the way to go though. On the other thread someone mentioned a pickup truck with plow. Perhaps if Catfish bought an old beater pickup truck (4 wheel drive, chains) with plow then I could see a rear blower for the tractor to hit any spots that might be extremely deep. But this then means maintenance of both a tractor and pickup truck. I wish you luck in your decision Catfish. Stanley

I can't justify the cost and upkeep of a truck for just plowing, (for my specific application) that money would be better spent towards a cab for the tractor.

thanks for the replies

 

[Ancbill]

I have a front blower on my BX. It is awesome, if something happened I'd replace with the exact same thing. Easy to creap up on objects blowing the snow away from them. I use my rear blade to pull the snow away from my garage, then blow it out of there!

I haven't removed the blower and subframe yet, so I can't offer advice there.

 

[RFB]

Kubota B3000HSDCC with Kubota B2782A Snow Blower

1. Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe to mount the front end loader?

No.

2. Do you feel the blower subframe is in your way when doing other tasks, (bush-hogging, road grading etc)

Not whatsoever.

3. Do you feel the front mount blower is worth the extra money over the rear?

ABSOLUTELY, and I run both so I have some context to make that determination (two different tractors).

4. If your tractor and blower was stolen, would you replace it with another Kubota front mount?

Yes

 

[Catfish Man]

sweet

 

[kebdvm]

I have an L3240 with 72 inch front mount snow blower. You can attach the front end loader with the subframe, but with the subframe you do not have your front brush guard mounted. The subframe does drastically reduce the amount of ground clearance to about 6 inches or less. I use the loader with the subframe mounted but remove the subframe for serious loader work. It only takes less than 10 minutes to mount and dismount the subframe. Having the blower out front makes my neck much less painful. I would do it again despite the extra cost versus a three point mounted blower. :thumbsup:

 

[moship]

1) Not on my tractor and FEL combination.
2) It does reduce ground clearance. The subframe comes off so easy it is not that big of a deal to change out come spring. I have used the FEL with the subframe on.
3) Yes!!!! I had a rear mount blower and there is no comparison. There is no way I'd ever go back to a rear blower.
4) Yes

I bought the blower and subframe used and it came with the hyd. chute rotation and electric chute diverter. I probably would not have purchased these options given their cost, but they are really nice to have after experiencing them. The blower is very heavy duty and definately commerical grade. The snow throwing capability is impressive.

Good luck!

 

[RFB]

kebdvm

Oddly enough, with the B3000, the Brush Guard is integral to the Snowblower as it uses the brush guard as part of the subframe system. It hooks onto the lower lip of the brush guard in similar fashion to front weights.

 

[nfowler]

2011 B3030HSDC with LA 403 FEL & B2782A front snowblower & B2791A front quick hitch:

1. Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe to mount the front end loader?

Technically, no, but you can't lower the FEL because the metal cross guard protecting the hydraulic pipes for the FEL hits the top of the QH hydraulic ram. My dealer said you could do this, but delivered the tractor with this guard and pipes dented in exactly this spot, and the QH had orange paint at the point of contact. Not good.

2. Do you feel the blower subframe is in your way when doing other tasks, (bush-hogging, road grading etc)? You loose considerable ground clearance for no gain. The QH is easy to remove: remove the drive shaft, loosen one T-handle bolt and remove one large pin and it drops off (onto a dolly if you've planned ahead!). NO tools required.

3. Do you feel the front mount blower is worth the extra money over the rear? I have a 1200 foot driveway with steep shoulders; I can't imagine the hassle of trying to drive backwards to do that. The front blower works amazingly well. It loves to eat snow and throw it 50 - 60 feet into the woods. I can place it precisely guided by markers with the tractor under cruise control.

4. If your tractor and blower was stolen, would you replace it with another kubota front mount? Without a second thought.

BTW, on the B3030HSDC, the front brush guard is NOT involved in the mounting of the snowblower QH; they both independently attach to the tractor's front frame.

YMMV,

N. Fowler

 

[RFB]

Mr. Fowler,

The reason that I answered no to the question "...Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe..."

is because I was referring to the actual subframe receiver under the tractor rather than the Quick Hitch itself.

You are correct regarding the QH both in regards to deconfliction as well as ease of removal.

 

[crazyal]

Look at my Avitar, also here's another picture of my 4240 the day I got it.

If you look you can see how much ground clearance you'll have with the subframe on. But it comes off easy (the second time). The first time I tried following the directions and found it's much easier to use a floor jack and some blocks of wood. I put it on in the fall and take it off in the spring. Using the fel is not as easy though. The front of the hitch sticks out so you can't get as close to things.

I've never had a rear blower but I know that I wouldn't want one. Backing up is much harder than driving forward.

 

[JoelD]

You sure do make a lot of assumptions about what that dealer did and did not tell me. I didn't notice you there.

I'm not new to tractors just new to snowblowers, at this point I have specific questions for people that are actually running a KUBOTA FRONT MOUNT SNOWBLOWER.

Catfish, I would appreciate someone who took so much time to provide so much information?

He did post much information to help with an informed decision.

 

[JimP]

So I have a few questions:

1. Do you have to remove the snow blower subframe to mount the front end loader?

2. Do you feel the blower subframe is in your way when doing other tasks, (bush-hogging, road grading etc)

3. Do you feel the front mount blower is worth the extra money over the rear?

4. If your tractor and blower was stolen, would you replace it with another kubota front mount?[/QUOTE]

Had Kubota 2410 with subframe (quick hitch) and Kubota blower

1. no, but the bucket could hit the front of the subframe at some combinations of subframe lift and bucket position. This may be tractor specific. Note that the subframe hydraulics have to be removed from the loader control for the loader hydraulics to work.
2. snowblowing no; BUT I would not leave the subframe attached when going off road. The 2410 is a small compact and ground clearance with subframe on is very low. The subframe will gather brush when hogging and likely hang up on uneven surfaces. I did ground the subframe a couple times when loading on a trailer or driving into the cellar. Subframe went on in the winter and came off in the spring. Mount dismount time was about 1/2 hour.
3. yes.
4. no. I later purchased a plow and seldom used the snowblower after that, plow was faster. I replaced the 2410 with a 5240 cab and went snowplow only. I did look at a few used front mount blowers but couldn't justify the $5k+ cost for our snowfall.

 

[Don87]

My tractor is smaller than what you are looking at, but it uses the exact same quick hitch and blower as the Kubota BX.

So I'll take a stab at the questions also.

1). On my Massey, I can mount the FEL with the quick hitch attached, some BX owners say they need to remove theirs(requires driveshaft removal, and one 'T' bolt loosening is all).

2). Yes. On my Massey, the Quick hitch is only about 3 inches off the ground, better to remove it since it is so easy.

3). Yes. It is so much easier looking to the front, rather than the rear. While I haven't blown snow from the rear, I have tilled, plowed, cultivated and I don't like the neck strain.

4). Yes and no. Mahindra has the new MAX series out. I would probably purchase one of those, along with the front mount blower. ( I only need a subcut or very small cut for my 2 acres)

Hope this helps.


EDIT: With your driveway threading through the woods like it does, get a blower. Hard to plow snow banks back with trees in the way.

 

[Catfish Man]

Catfish, I would appreciate someone who took so much time to provide so much information?

He did post much information to help with an informed decision.

He has already made his opinions known in the other thread, I don't see why he see's the need to restate the same stuff.

This thread was intended to get specific information about a specific piece of equipment.

I'm not new to internet forums, I have even owned my own forums, I understand the dynamics of forums and forum posters, that's all I have to say about that without being rude.

 

[nfowler]

Dear FRB,

"I was referring to the actual subframe receiver under the tractor rather than the Quick Hitch itself."

There appears to be some confusion over nomenclature here. I've just reread the Operator's and Parts Manual for the Male Quick Hitch and Subframe B2791A, and I could not find anywhere Kubota referred to the small rear support bracket, that you correctly mention can be permanently attached to the tractor frame amidships and not interfere with the installation or operation of the FEL, as the "subframe".

However, Kubota more or less consistently refers to the large removable assembly as either the Subframe or the Subframe & Quick Hitch if they are making a distinction between the movable part (QH) and the fixed part (subframe). The term "Quick Hitch" seems to be reserved by Kubota for the part of the large removable assembly that moves under the influence of the hydraulic ram, the male part of the hitch that actually engages the attachment including the attachment locking mechanism.

In two prominent places, Kubota refers to the entire removable assembly as the "subframe": in the repeated warning at the beginning of each section discussing a specific tractor model for which this assembly is appropriate: "WARNING: The subframe and the front loader must never be installed on the tractor at the same time."

And on the Attaching Instruction decal on the QH itself: "1. Insert the subframe into attachment completely."

Elsewhere, Kubota uses the same term "subframe" describing the installation and removal of the entire removable assembly.

I still believe that, in the spirit Catfish Man asked the original question, my reply #13 was correct for my situation. In particular, my FEL bears witness to the consequences of my dealer not heeding the above warning, something Catfish Man needs to be aware of.

N. Fowler