Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Need snow removal help

[Parkanzky]

I have a tractor the same size as the OP and I have a front mount snowblower for it. I very seriously cross-shopped the 2032R and the B3350. I think he's got plenty of tractor for his needs. If snow was as big a part of my use as his, I'd have gone with the Kubota because of the fantastic 63" front-mount snowblower they sell for it. It's incredibly heavy-duty.

If I were him, I'd purchase that snowblower as soon as possible. 63" will clear a >10' path in one trip down and back, even with a little overlap. That's plenty wide to drive an SUV up and down. I know he's worried about having the FEL on to clear drifts, but the joy of the snowblower is that you don't end up with drifts anywhere. The road is less than a mile, so he should be able to clear a path down and back in about an hour if he can maintain 2 MPH. If they really get hammered with snow, then he might have to slow down a bit and it will take him a couple hours. Still way less time than he's devoting now messing with the plow and blade.

The other disadvantage to the plow/blade when he gets as much snow as he does is that it is just going to continuously build-up at the side of the road. He'll have to do something to push back the banks at least a few times during the winter as the cleared path narrows, and imagine having to do that on both sides of a mile of road!

 

[kco]

I have a tractor the same size as the OP and I have a front mount snowblower for it. I very seriously cross-shopped the 2032R and the B3350. I think he's got plenty of tractor for his needs. If snow was as big a part of my use as his, I'd have gone with the Kubota because of the fantastic 63" front-mount snowblower they sell for it. It's incredibly heavy-duty.

If I were him, I'd purchase that snowblower as soon as possible. 63" will clear a >10' path in one trip down and back, even with a little overlap. That's plenty wide to drive an SUV up and down. I know he's worried about having the FEL on to clear drifts, but the joy of the snowblower is that you don't end up with drifts anywhere. The road is less than a mile, so he should be able to clear a path down and back in about an hour if he can maintain 2 MPH. If they really get hammered with snow, then he might have to slow down a bit and it will take him a couple hours. Still way less time than he's devoting now messing with the plow and blade.

The other disadvantage to the plow/blade when he gets as much snow as he does is that it is just going to continuously build-up at the side of the road. He'll have to do something to push back the banks at least a few times during the winter as the cleared path narrows, and imagine having to do that on both sides of a mile of road!

That is what happened to another of my neighbours during our record snowfall last week. He has a 1,500' driveway that he is able to maintain with a good 4WD truck and plow setup. But he called that day for me to knock down large piles(with the loader, I could not do it with the pull-type blower) on the corners and to take one swipe up and down the rest of the driveway to blow the windrows over the banks on the rest of the driveway. One other year he asked me to just knock down the corner piles to make room for more snow. A blower has definite advantages if you live where you consistently get heavy snowfalls or smaller dumps that accumulate(i.e. little melting) through the season.

Differing usual conditions in different areas probably determine the most appropriate snow clearing setup. That said, I think some kind of blower setup(rear push, rear pull, or front) can handle a wider range of conditions.

 

[kco]

Impressive, kco! Without a cab, what do you do about keeping your coffee warm?

We could use some of that snow please . . . last year was bleak and this one is shaping up to be even worse.

A cab would be nice but would not let me do the majority of my work, which is in the bush. It was not that cold and warmed to about freezing through the day. That made it worse because it snowed lightly all day(we got another 6" through the night) and I got soaked. It is much more comfortable at -5 C. It was a bit better after lunch because I changed and put on gore-tex.

I spent over 10 continuous hours(plus 1/2 hour for lunch) that day. It is the most sustained work my tractor has done. The throttle was wide-open most of the time and I just kept it at 540 PTO RPM by varying the HST pedal.

But a funny thing happened at the end of the day. I was travelling home in the dark at 17:30 when I met another neighbour with his DK45 cab/blower tractor at our only side road intersection. He was returning from clearing other neighbours. I was soaked and very miserable. He came out of his nice cab in his shirt sleeves, and we chatted a couple of minutes before I shivered off home. I didn't ask if he had warm coffee in there!

 

[skyhook]

kco, I never knew it snowed in BC,
though it only rained and rained...
If "I" had a choice between a rear push or a rear pull blower, I would definitely go for the rear pull.
The only thing I don't like about blower's, is that their slow, a front mounted blade can be "driven into" the side snow banks, pushing them back, making more room for snow. Using the bucket to remove those "hills of snow" that accumulate at road ends afterwards.
A QA bucket and blade is about all you need, the blower is just a nice accessory to have.IMO

 

[DHD]

As long as we are talking snow blowers...
For my Kubota B7800, over the years I've owned two rear push snow blowers a Puma 64" and a Frontier 64".
I traded up to the Frontier 64" in order to get the larger diameter impeller.
My older Puma 64" had a 4 blade 20" diameter impeller the newer Frontier 64" has a 4 blade 24" diameter impeller.

A larger impeller diameter allows the snow to be thrown a greater distance.
It also means, if you don't need to blow snow as far, your pto speed can be less.

For my Kubota B7800 to run 540 pto, my engine rpm would be 2600 rpm.
90% of the time when I'm snow blowing, my engine rpm is a little less than 2000 rpm.
That's just blowing snow off to the side as I snow blow down the driveway.
I do have large apron areas that require me to blow the snow directly behind and I end up having to re-blow snow again to clear the area.
Two apron area about 50 -60 feet deep.
These are the areas in which it's advantageous to cast snow as far as possible in order to decrease the amount of snow that needs to be re-blown.

Having used the both Puma w/20" impeller and Frontier w/24" impeller in these exact same situations, the larger diameter impeller has a significant advantage.
I noticed now that the newer Puma 64" wide snow blowers comes with a 24" diameter impeller rather than the 20" diameter like I had.

I've tried to imagine how I might snow blow these same apron areas with a rear mount pull snow blower.
I guess I'd need to snow blow up over my cab so that the blown snow would pile in front of my tractor,
then drive threw the piled snow, into an even bigger pile at the end of the apron area ?

 

[Parkanzky]

As long as we are talking snow blowers...
For my Kubota B7800, over the years I've owned two rear push snow blowers a Puma 64" and a Frontier 64".
I traded up to the Frontier 64" in order to get the larger diameter impeller.
My older Puma 64" had a 4 blade 20" diameter impeller the newer Frontier 64" has a 4 blade 24" diameter impeller.

A larger impeller diameter allows the snow to be thrown a greater distance.
It also means, if you don't need to blow snow as far, your pto speed can be less.

For my Kubota B7800 to run 540 pto, my engine rpm would be 2600 rpm.
90% of the time when I'm snow blowing, my engine rpm is a little less than 2000 rpm.
That's just blowing snow off to the side as I snow blow down the driveway.
I do have large apron areas that require me to blow the snow directly behind and I end up having to re-blow snow again to clear the area.
Two apron area about 50 -60 feet deep.
These are the areas in which it's advantageous to cast snow as far as possible in order to decrease the amount of snow that needs to be re-blown.

Having used the both Puma w/20" impeller and Frontier w/24" impeller in these exact same situations, the larger diameter impeller has a significant advantage.
I noticed now that the newer Puma 64" wide snow blowers comes with a 24" diameter impeller rather than the 20" diameter like I had.

I've tried to imagine how I might snow blow these same apron areas with a rear mount pull snow blower.
I guess I'd need to snow blow up over my cab so that the blown snow would pile in front of my tractor,
then drive threw the piled snow, into an even bigger pile at the end of the apron area ?

When my tractor was delivered, there was a problem with a sensor that prevented the PTO from operating. I had to clear snow a couple times with the bucket and box scraper while I waited for it to be repaired. Then, the PTO was fixed and I have cleared snow with the blower.

Based on my experiences, I think that I have the right setup for me.

In my case, I wouldn't mind a rear blower because my drive isn't terribly long, but there's no way I'd back up and down a mile long drive when there are better options available. That's a really long way to go in reverse, even with a camera or mirrors.

I'd also not do a pull-type blower. I'd rather not have to drive through everything I wanted to clear. Especially after a big storm with a foot of accumulation and deep drifts.

The OP already has a great rear blade to pull snow out of garage entrances or turnarounds and to pull snow away from the road so he can clear the end of his drive (I back my box scraper to the road, pull the snow into the drive, then blow it into the woods. That keeps me from having to drive out into the road). Pair that with a front-mounted blower matched to his machine and he can dig himself out in no time.

 

[speedyvelo]

Guys, we have not had too much snow yet, and the only storm we had, I used every one your tips and that was an invaluable help. Thank you.

Now comes another request for help. I have never used the FEL, which tips you have in how to use it for snow removal? I know how to remove the front blade and install the FEL, and also I am aware of not lifting the center of gravity too high in an inclined terrain, and that is all I know. So please do not hesitate to describe very basic operation (like move the tractor forward etc )

Than you again guys.

-=terry=-

 

[mikehaugen]

Scoop (or push) snow, place somewhere else... how about that?

Sorry, I am not nearly as explicative as the other members on here. (Or as helpful). Really it all depends on what you want to accomplish. Are you trying to use it in combination with the rear blade to clear an area, or are you trying to push back or stack piles higher? There are definitely techniques to clearing with one, and which one is best for your situation depends on different things. It's really best to experiment. The only advice I have is if it is gravel, keep the cutting edge up off of it... usually people curl the bucket back and let the "heel" ride on the gravel with the edge a couple inches off the ground. (Some may advise against this because of bucket wear however) If it's paved you can scrape with the cutting edge. Oh and use your float function.

 

[leonz]

Guys, we have not had too much snow yet, and the only storm we had, I used every one your tips and that was an invaluable help. Thank you.

Now comes another request for help. I have never used the FEL, which tips you have in how to use it for snow removal? I know how to remove the front blade and install the FEL, and also I am aware of not lifting the center of gravity too high in an inclined terrain, and that is all I know. So please do not hesitate to describe very basic operation (like move the tractor forward etc )

Than you again guys.

-=terry=-

=================================================================================


Hello Terry,


I am going to assume they sold you a light materials bucket SO:

Scoop only loose snow or recently plowed snow and then carefully,
very carefully raise the bucket only in an area where it is safe to do so!!!

Snagging tree limbs with the boom can lead to broken windows or broken
hydraulic fittings/hoses.

YOU have to remember when you raise the boom the bucket occupies
much more space and the arc of the boom on some machines like skid loaders
can cause the loads to spill back over you.


What you really need to do is move piles of snow all day to get the experience of
moving with bucket loads of snow and ice.

Saying that, be sure to have some WD40 or cooking spray with you so you can
spray the bucket interior and be able to dump all the material out of the bucket.


OH and do not raise the boom very high when you are stacking snow and or
dumping it.

You just need time to learn how to do this.

 

[speedyvelo]

Mikehaugen thank you for the tip. I have a hydraulic front blade and a back blade which I will use to plod snow, so I will only use the FEL in a couple of areas where snow often drifts.

Leonz, I do not know the quality of the FEL I have, it is a Kubota 60 inches and it is the one that comes with the B3350. I heard is excellent, but personally I do not have anything to compare. I was planning to use FluidFilm that you suggested in another message (If I use fluid film I do not need WD40 correct?)

Thank you guys
-=terry=-