which machine for Colorado?

[Westyparker]

My wife and I are moving to Colorado. Our cabin is at 7400 feet and we get an average of 60" of snow. Our driveway is 1/4 mile long with some short parts with a fairly steep 15-18 degree pitch. I have read a goodly amount about all the different makes. I'm trying to figure out which machine would be right for the job. I will be doing tree/firewood work as well but that doesn't seem to put a lot of demand on a machine like the plowing does. Thanks

 

[mguitas]

:welcome:

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TractorByNet!

I moved your thread to the Buying/Pricing/Comparisons forum.

 

[GManBart]

I have no idea of what dealers you'll have near you, but get something with a turbocharger, or it will be sluggish!

With that much snow, I'd consider a snow thrower over a plow....you quickly run out of places to push it with a plow.

I'd definitely lean towards a cab there as well, and that realistically puts you at least into the high 30hp range. You're definitely going to need 4wd, and likely chains for the tires....I needed them here this year, and it's quite flat ground.

 

[jeff9366]

Over a mile high you may want a tractor with an engine turbo-charger. If you go with a naturally aspirated engine be sure to purchase ample horsepower to compensate for altitude power loss.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[ttriff]

but get something with a turbocharger, or it will be sluggish!

Nope it's not a problem. I'm at 8400' with a CT445 and have plenty of power. Neighbor has a CT450, there's little difference between the two.

Other neighbors have Branson, JD, etc., none are turbocharged.

Yes you will definitely want a cab, 4 wheel drive, and a snowblower.

 

[GManBart]

Nope it's not a problem. I'm at 8400' with a CT445 and have plenty of power. Neighbor has a CT450, there's little difference between the two.

Other neighbors have Branson, JD, etc., none are turbocharged.

Yes you will definitely want a cab, 4 wheel drive, and a snowblower.

Power loss at altitude isn't negotiable, it's going to happen. At 7,400ft, the OP will be down around 22%, and at your altitude you're down over 25% (makes your "45hp" tractor into 33hp, or a bit less).

I'm guessing you've never driven your tractor down from 8,400' to SL to compare how it performs differently? I know I've done that with cars/trucks and the difference is pretty dramatic.

I moved here from a few hours south of Denver (around 7,100ft) so I'm very familiar with power loss at altitude...well that and a pilot's license that requires computing that sort of stuff for takeoff performance.

You can either start with a more powerful naturally aspirated engine to ensure you have enough power left to do the job, or go with something smaller that has a blower to let you maintain more of (in some cases all) what it starts out with at SL. It sounds like the reduced power you have with your Bobcat is sufficient for your tasks, which is great, but it still has a lot less power than it would at SL....no way around it.

 

[newbury]

My wife and I are moving to Colorado. Our cabin is at 7400 feet and we get an average of 60" of snow. Our driveway is 1/4 mile long with some short parts with a fairly steep 15-18 degree pitch. I have read a goodly amount about all the different makes. I'm trying to figure out which machine would be right for the job. I will be doing tree/firewood work as well but that doesn't seem to put a lot of demand on a machine like the plowing does. Thanks

What is this

tree/firewood work

you write of? A 10' piece of 20" diameter red maple weighs about a half ton. Or five 2' chunks 20" in diameter.

Calculate accordingly.

 

[MHarryE]

Not only are you down on max power, many of the parasitics stay the same (except fan - you don't have the air for it to draw so its power consumption is down). My last years before retiring I was plagued by marketing types who came to meetings with info saying things like 97% of the earth's population is at less than 1500 foot elevation so don't worry about them. Customer goes ahead thinking the selling company knows what it is doing and the machine won't do the job. Lesson learned is that you need to cover yourself by doing research. Turbos compensate for the lack of air but they also spin faster than they do I denser sir due to lack of air resistance and this faster rotation speed can cause failures so you really need to talk to people in your area who have learned lessons the hard way.