Snow Advantages/Disadvantages of Snow Plow/Blower/Scraper Blade

[check]

My tractor will easily drive over snow a foot high.
If it ever got higher than that, then I would use the angle plow in front.
Personally, I love the rear pull, over the the push type, "but" if I had a front pto ( which i don't)
I definitely would have gotten a front blower.
On a side not, The City that does the roads and sidewalk's, etc....near me,,
are prohibited from using rear push type blower's,, for safety reason's,
they are mandated to use front blowers only. Makes sense to me too, you can actually 'see" whats going to be blown, same as the rear "pull" type.
Do a price check and compare the pull type versus the push, and ask yourself why the pull are more expensive.

A FOOT HIGH!! I'm jealous. My little BX25 cannot drive through a foot of snow. So, it is the blower for me. Mind you, I can go through 2 feet of snow easily with my B2789 rear blower.

 

[Maibox]

Nice set-up, Mailbox, just curious on the front blade,
do you "float" the loader or is it set at a certain height when you blade.
Another member here was concerned about the weight of the "loader and blade"
combined when plowing, in that it would "dig" too much on graveled roads.
My front blade has angle and has a float on it, just the weight of the plow and harness
connect with the road, I know this isn't an issue on pavement.

My driveway is paved. I let the blade float and use the curl to set the angle. If I am too aggressive on the edge I lose steering. It is a heavy setup. Front blade is about 750 lbs, rear blade is about 450 lbs, tires are filled. It is a lot for a 39 hp tractor but so far, so good.

The road to my house is gravel so when I push across it I don't float to prevent digging. I do have skids but haven't adjusted them since my driveway is paved.

 

[skyhook]

A FOOT HIGH!! I'm jealous. My little BX25 cannot drive through a foot of snow. So, it is the blower for me. Mind you, I can go through 2 feet of snow easily with my B2789 rear blower.

Ya, i hear ya....But i have the L4200.

Thanks for the info, Mailbox. I also have a rear blade, but was too afraid to use it on snow,
I use it to grade, I guess if it was adjusted right, you could use it to pull, or push snow.
I'm thinking on making a "back" blade at the back of my rear pull blower, you know,,
to get close to those garage door's.

 

[Hdoilcan]

This is some good information. When my tractor arrives I will use a back blade until we have a bigger driveway and then I'll invest in a front angled plow.

 

[GManBart]

For they $ some folks are spending on new/bigger tractors, and blades, they could have bought a truck with a plow that would do a better/faster job. I like a tractor with a blade for small storms, but when it really comes down, I put the plow on my truck...heated seats rock.

 

[grsthegreat]

For they $ some folks are spending on new/bigger tractors, and blades, they could have bought a truck with a plow that would do a better/faster job. I like a tractor with a blade for small storms, but when it really comes down, I put the plow on my truck...heated seats rock.

sometimes/.... then again, tell this to my friend that destroyed the transmission on his truck last winter. Also, a tractor can dump the plow in the summer and do alot more on a ranch than the old truck.

Tractor plow can also PILE the snow up real high on high snow days.

A few years ago i was hired to clear the driveway of a neighbor that was having a plow truck do her driveway. After some real hard blows, her driveway was impassable due to the large piles of snow at her garage and end of driveway. the truck had no place else to put it.

 

[crazyal]

For they $ some folks are spending on new/bigger tractors, and blades, they could have bought a truck with a plow that would do a better/faster job. I like a tractor with a blade for small storms, but when it really comes down, I put the plow on my truck...heated seats rock.

For several years I only had a plow truck. In the beginning of the season it works great. But as the snow depth grows I would spend as much time pushing snow deep into the woods as I would plowing the drive. Although we would get one or two mid winter melts that would reduce the snow some by late January I had no choice but to drive the snow as far as I could from the drive. often that would mean getting stuck (my plow truck is a 2 1/2 ton international 4wd dump). The last year before I got the blower I switched to using the dozer. The only problem is that steel tracks on ice are not what I would call fun on the hills. Now with the front mount blower I use the plow truck the first few times each season to get as many rocks off the drive and then switch over to the blower. Since the blower leaves no banks I will use the truck when I'm in a hurry.

 

[GManBart]

sometimes/.... then again, tell this to my friend that destroyed the transmission on his truck last winter. Also, a tractor can dump the plow in the summer and do alot more on a ranch than the old truck.

Tractor plow can also PILE the snow up real high on high snow days.

A few years ago i was hired to clear the driveway of a neighbor that was having a plow truck do her driveway. After some real hard blows, her driveway was impassable due to the large piles of snow at her garage and end of driveway. the truck had no place else to put it.

Your buddy destroyed the transmission on his truck plowing just his own driveway...is it ridiculously long?

I wasn't suggesting a plow truck instead of tractor altogether, I was just saying that for the money some people are talking about spending, they could add a plow truck in addition to the tractor they already have, and spend a lot less money.

For example, if you have a Kubota L3800 that does great for everything else you need it to do, but it won't run a big enough snow blower, or blade to move snow the way you'd like, it would be kind of crazy to drop $50K on an L6060 unless you're really dealing with serious conditions that are somewhat unusual. Obviously that's mostly driven by local weather, your land, etc.

 

[Piston]

For they $ some folks are spending on new/bigger tractors, and blades, they could have bought a truck with a plow that would do a better/faster job. I like a tractor with a blade for small storms, but when it really comes down, I put the plow on my truck...heated seats rock.

Although a little off topic, I have to agree with GmanBart. I ONLY use the tractor for plowing because of the fun factor involved. There is no question that my 1 ton diesel F350 with 9' blade is quicker at snow removal in my part of the country. Although, I almost never use the truck unless I'm out plowing with my father for his business and just need to get it done. I think the one caveat to this, that would be faster and more effective, is a 70-100hp tractor with a commercial duty inverted rear blower. Of course, the blower alone would be right around $10k

Course, if you don't have/want a plowtruck, the tractor is the next best thing, and 10 times more fun, even without a cab! That's gotta be worth something

 

[Piston]

Your buddy destroyed the transmission on his truck plowing just his own driveway...is it ridiculously long?

My father has been plowing for just over 40 years now, all commercial. Although I can't say anything about the first 15 years, I know over the last 3 trucks and 20+ years, he's only gone through one transmission, and that was on a '89 GMC Sierra with 180k miles on it. He used that truck until 220k. A LOT of "breakdowns" from plowing are all operator error. He has friends that go through one transmission ever year or two, those guys don't hold contracts and don't make money.

To get this thread back on topic, here is a picture of my tractor buried in a bit of snow. This is one of those times a blower would have been really nice! :laughing: I had left my tractor on my land in NH along with my trailer, figuring I wouldn't need it for a few weeks. Well of course I needed it and it was covered in snow, so I had to plow a path for a couple hundred yards through the field to get the trailer onto the driveway, so I could load the tractor and bring it home.

I had no issues driving the tractor around in the snow, but I figured I'd need to plow a path to pull the trailer out. I used the bucket to push the snow out of the way and, as has been mentioned a few times, it wasn't the best tool for the job, but it was all I had with me aside from the stump grinder, and I don't think that would have been too useful





I'm not sure how my rear blade would have done in this situation, but I really would have liked to try it. I don't think it would have been too effective because the snow was 18" high, and my blade is only 19" high. Plus I didn't have my chains on at the time.