Snow plow or snow pusher

[joe04785]

Just looking for opinions on a snowplow or snow pusher for compact tractor? Looking to buy one, but not sure which one. Any advice would be great.

Thanks

 

[RedNeckRacin]

what would you be trying to clear? What about typical snow fall amounts?

 

[Thomas]

Not sure what type condition your plowing...long drive etc.?
Only down fall I found out when I had mine you can't angle when plowing nor wing it back.

 

[George2615]

I have a 7'6" snow pusher, a 7'6" PA plow, and the 66" bucket to choose from. My tractor is 36HP, weighs over 5K with loader, loaded tires, and chains. The snow pusher or the PA plow move the most snow the fastest because they are wider than the bucket. IMO for heavy deep snow you will need lots of weight and power to use a pusher on a long driveway. That much snow in a pusher box will make your tractor work. The angle plow does a good job too but if you angle the blade too much the front of the tractor can get pushed sideways by the snow. I have added a back blading cutting edge on my pusher (not shown in picture) but find I need to make it taller since snow spills over the top of the blade so I have to do two passes when back dragging.

 

[joe04785]

Our storms here usually consists of 8 - 10 inches at a time. We occasionally get 16 inches but not very often. Our winter total is usually 120-130 inches. Driveway is not long. Reason why I'm asking this is cause I don't have a third function valve for front hydraulics so I kinda think it would be a pain to get out and angle it.

 

[George2615]

Reason why I'm asking this is cause I don't have a third function valve for front hydraulics so I kinda think it would be a pain to get out and angle it.

I ran hoses from one of my rear remotes under the tractor to the front for the angle function of my plow.

 

[NS Gearhead]

I vote for the plow. Much more versatile. I spent the last three winters using a manual angle plow on my Jeep. You get a routine down where you change angles the least. I think I'd do it twice per snowfall with a 300' driveway, 10 car parking area, and three neighbors I take care of.

 

[nybirdman]

Pushers are for parking lots and large equipment.You will soon run out of traction/power with a smaller tractor.FEL mounted plows can stack very high.I plow about 2 miles total of drives and woods road,a pusher would do me no good.
Go with a SSQA and you can quickly put your bucket back on if needed.

 

[Tractor Tom]

I've found the plow to be far better than the bucket for snow moving. I have rear remotes and lines running forward for hydraulic angle. I'm not sure about a snow Pusher, I've never used one. I got the plow mostly for clean ups and light snow falls. What I have found is that the plow is far more versatile then the bucket, in fact I haven't had the bucket on this year. Between the Plow and the Blower that's all I use, even for heavy wet snow.

 

[6sunset6]

I agree CUTS are too small for a pusher. I have a 78" power angle plow on the front and a 64" blower on the rear. 35 HP NH Before I got the blower I used to plow at 6" sometimes in the middle of the night. Now with the blower I wait till it stops snowing. Get the bulk out with the blower and clean up with the plow. Sometimes make room for new snow by blowing out the piles. Note of caution If you use a blower on a tractor either make sure you know which way the wind is blowing or have a cab.

 

[joe04785]

Thanks for all the replies. Problem is I only have one set of rear remotes that I use for the blower. Anyone know how much it costs to add another set for ck35? Any other options besides another remote?

 

[SweBota]

A v-plow is the best of both worlds, as it will scoop, windrow AND break a path in snow that will otherwise get you stuck, but if you only have one driveway to clear, and can use a blower for deep snow, it may not be worth it compared to a diagonal blade.

Anyway, use a diverter valve on the bucket curl to create a 3rd function on the loader. Its cheaper and better ergonomically since you can operate everything with the loader joystick and a switch attached to it.

Prepare for adding a second diverter as you never know when you will need a 4th function. There are 8/3-diverters that creates 2 new functions, and 6/2-diverters that create one, but can be stacked together in series for adding more circuits.

12 VDC 13.2 GPM SAE 8 SOLENOID DOUBLE SELECTOR VALVE


/Marcus

 

[joe04785]

Thanks for all the info.

 

[3238dpw]

HLA Snow
This what I think is the best of both worlds.

I've worked for a municipality for 16 winters plowing roads and for a contractor plowing parking lots since then.
for the average person doing any stretch of road or driveway you need a plow. The pusher is for moving snow from here to there. The plow will windrow it off the side of your driveway. Think of it like the plow will just side shift it over one tractor width. You want the snow next to your road or drive not at the end of it. As someone said earlier the only place for a pusher is in a parking lot or at least a large area of asphalt.

 

[Airedale]

I have both a 7 ft plow and a 6 ft pusher, I also have a rear mounted blower all used with a TYM 453 cab tractor. This winter I have been using the pusher exclusively. The pusher is great for short runs around buildings and around my house, the best part about it is it does not tear up my lawn or driveway like the plow sometime does especially when the ground is not frozen. For long runs it is not as good as a power angle plow but being only 6 ft wide it does not bog down unless the snow is really deep, the trade off is I may have to make a few more passes but I will take it. When the snow is really deep I attack with it the 61/2 foot blower.

Bottom line for the pusher is if you have short runs and are plowing back snow over your lawn it works great.

Al

 

[PILOON]

A pusher with long wings is great for parking lot type situations mainly since you can load it up without spilling over the sides but you need a heavy vehicle to push that load.
For roads you want an angled blade to fling it aside (usually to the curb).
Highway plows generally are right side only as that is where the snow must go.
On divided highways often they plow as a team so one plow is dedicated to left side and the others rightsided.
Private contractors use an adjustable rt/lt plow as they need to go either way with the same vehicle.
Those V plows that do it all but then look at the $$, better be in a high class neighborhood that can cover your fees!
I have seen that ideal plow that costs like maybe $10k on a truck or tractor for private contracts but funny enough they always look pristine and the contractor usually goes broke B4 he can pay it off.
Trouble is competition is always willing to cut the prices and from my observation snow contracting is about the most cut through business there is. At least around here.

 

[Ralph Copp]

I use an 8ft pusher and 86" snow blower. The blower works good but is slow and hard on fuel. The pusher is much faster and does a good job cleaning up. The blower is a must if you don't want high banks nearing the end of winter. I just added a back drag on the top of the pusher, should help cleaning up closer to any buildings and knocking down the high banks at driveway entrances.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a 96" snow bucket as well as several other smaller buckets, a 7-6" plow and a 8' snow box. I have tried all of them on my L3700 SU. The snow box is far to heavy unless on absolutly flat surfaces. The plow is decent and allows me to push snow back and up farther than the bucket. The 96" snow bucket works best for me overall on the tractor. The box is better on the skidsteer.

 

[arrow]

You could do this and see for yourself if it works out for you. $40 is a cheap enough experiment. My bucket is 60" wide but this set up saved an hour off of a normally 3 hr snow plow job. I use a back blade for the long driveway parts and the blade acts like a bit of ballast. The rear scraper blade will not work in deep snow but a couple passes with the "pusher" gets it to where the back blade will do the job. A pusher gathers a lot of snow and as someone mentioned, a big pusher and a 4000 lb tractor may be nt a good mix in deep snow. A 22" snow storm did not stop the tractor once with the 60" pusher and saved from a third to half of he time with just the bucket depending on depth of snow event. I have an acre of "landing" area and the one 150' drive so a pusher works well for me.

If I had a long drive like a quarter mile or so, the snow plow wins the day.

 

[Ralph Copp]

Good idea. And like you said, not much expense.