Loader Snow removal.

[Gasifier]

Using my new Mahindra 3550 4X4 HST for snow removal.

Wondering what you folks who use hydrastatuc tractors generally run your RPMs at. I have been adjusting and getting use to the HST. Recently settled on about 1500 RPMs in Medium gear range.

Any other snow practice or tips with just using a bucket from anyone would be appreciated. I have done it with several different machines but always looking to learn. Thanks.

 

[George2615]

I have a QA 7 1/2' plow on my loader. I plow in mid range at 2200 RPM.

 

[nybirdman]

Welcome from Black Lake(south of the Burg).It depends on load;I run a 8ft.Curtis snow plow mounted on the FEL and today with the foot or so of heavy snow had to run about 2,000 rpms to keep from bogging the HST.On my L4240 Kubota I normally run in medium and toggle up and down(HST+).Very rarely I have to go into low range.
I think you will find that a bucket is about the worst snow removal tool there is;better than a shovel for sure.You may want to look at a decent sized rear blade.Looks like you have a BH, so that may be a pain.
Better bet may be find an old truck plow and run on the front.

 

[Looking4new]

I run at 2200 rpm in medium EXCEPT when doing some really heavy pushing or trying to climb the pile. Then I use low range.

 

[LarryD]

Honestly, it's been 6 years since I had to push any snow with the bucket. This past weekend there was 5" on the ground so hardly worth breaking out the tractor.
I don't have chains (and can't justify them for our annual snowfall) so my biggest pain was moving back up slight slopes, but slow won the day. The bucket worked fine for clearing 1100' of drive and another 700' feet of trails for feeding the horses. A couple weeks later it was all gone. If it was a routine task for me I would definitely find a good blade for the front of the machine...I might have even picked up the snow blower listed on CL for $2k recently.
I did enjoy the work though...

 

[Gasifier]

Welcome from Black Lake(south of the Burg).It depends on load;I run a 8ft.Curtis snow plow mounted on the FEL and today with the foot or so of heavy snow had to run about 2,000 rpms to keep from bogging the HST.On my L4240 Kubota I normally run in medium and toggle up and down(HST+).Very rarely I have to go into low range.
I think you will find that a bucket is about the worst snow removal tool there is;better than a shovel for sure.You may want to look at a decent sized rear blade.Looks like you have a BH, so that may be a pain.
Better bet may be find an old truck plow and run on the front.

Hello again nybirdman! Hope all is well with my neighbor tractorbynet member! I'm only a few miles away from you! LOL The bucket does fine, except it takes a little longer because of spill over. But that's okay. Scrapes things down nicely. Maybe sometime in the future I'll decide on a plow for the tractor or truck. But for now, with the mild winters and lack of snow, I'll get by with the bucket. I have run an old truck plow converted to QA on a prior machine I had (Bobcat B300) and it worked well.

The backhoe is a quick attach and comes off pretty easily. But I've never wanted to move snow while backing up. The hoe serves as a nice counter weight. But maybe in the future I will come up with a better ballast. Probably don't even need it for snow removal though. My tires are loaded and it's already a pretty heavy tractor.

 

[RNeumann]

Mahindra 1538 here. I set the RPM at 2000. Medium gear to push down hill and low going up the drive if I'm pushing. Also low if I'm moving big piles or the frozen spring stuff.

 

[Gasifier]

I have a QA 7 1/2' plow on my loader. I plow in mid range at 2200 RPM.

Interesting. Nice set up you have there.

 

[Gasifier]

I run at 2200 rpm in medium EXCEPT when doing some really heavy pushing or trying to climb the pile. Then I use low range.

Nice machine. That cab looks cozy.

 

[Gasifier]

Honestly, it's been 6 years since I had to push any snow with the bucket. This past weekend there was 5" on the ground so hardly worth breaking out the tractor.
I don't have chains (and can't justify them for our annual snowfall) so my biggest pain was moving back up slight slopes, but slow won the day. The bucket worked fine for clearing 1100' of drive and another 700' feet of trails for feeding the horses. A couple weeks later it was all gone. If it was a routine task for me I would definitely find a good blade for the front of the machine...I might have even picked up the snow blower listed on CL for $2k recently.
I did enjoy the work though...View attachment 498729

Nice Larry. How many horses do you folks own? My wife just bought her first two in the last year. She is really enjoying having them! I just finished building the 36x54 horse barn in the late fall of 2016.

 

[Gasifier]

Mahindra 1538 here. I set the RPM at 2000. Medium gear to push down hill and low going up the drive if I'm pushing. Also low if I'm moving big piles or the frozen spring stuff.

Nice tractor RNeumann. What other chores do you use it for?

 

[Thomas]

2000 rpms mid range works fine for I'm no real hurry.
Bucket... I like to tilt bucket back little than float mode

 

[Looking4new]

Nice machine. That cab looks cozy.

It is. T-shirt weather inside with the front window open 4".

 

[skyhook]

Using my new Mahindra 3550 4X4 HST for snow removal. View attachment 498671

Wondering what you folks who use hydrastatuc tractors generally run your RPMs at. I have been adjusting and getting use to the HST. Recently settled on about 1500 RPMs in Medium gear range.

Any other snow practice or tips with just using a bucket from anyone would be appreciated. I have done it with several different machines but always looking to learn. Thanks.

Haven't tried the bucket for snow yet, I also use a plow. But I asked this very question to a friend of mine who uses bucket for snow and here's what he told me....Start in the middle, go back and do the side over-spill and when it starts to spill out, go to the middle. Keep doing this until yer done.

 

[dnw64]

IMO buckets work fine for smallish parking lots, but if you're doing a road/driveway it gets old really fast. I used to have a Ford HDI with a bucket and after the first winter I bought a plow that was designed without any hydraulics* from a State auction, welded a couple of pieces of big angle in the bottom of the bucket at the right spacing for the plow frame and used a chain attached to a clevis on top of the bucket. My driveway was about 1/4 mile long and that made a tedious job enjoyable.

*you had to get off and manually change the angle. It was a pain to do, but it rarely needed to be changed.

 

[Brotherdan]

Using my new Mahindra 3550 4X4 HST for snow removal. View attachment 498671

Wondering what you folks who use hydrastatuc tractors generally run your RPMs at. I have been adjusting and getting use to the HST. Recently settled on about 1500 RPMs in Medium gear range.

Any other snow practice or tips with just using a bucket from anyone would be appreciated. I have done it with several different machines but always looking to learn. Thanks.

That is a great looking machine. Mine has me use a higher RPM, especially while new..it's supposed to help things get seated inside the motor. My RPM gage has a green area that I think is in the 2000 to 2500 range. I hope you get replies more specific to your tractor, but my guess is you may be doing yourself a disservice by turning the engine too slowly.

 

[dogpatch06]

55HP Turbo Yanmar running at 2000. It's Hydrostatic drive.

 

[dogpatch06]

 

[dogpatch06]

On an additional note. If it has that particulate filter run it higher. I did my first regeneration at 47 hours and that's from me probably letting it warm up too much so the cab is nice a toasty. 5 min max now.

 

[nybirdman]

Hello again nybirdman! Hope all is well with my neighbor tractorbynet member! I'm only a few miles away from you! LOL The bucket does fine, except it takes a little longer because of spill over. But that's okay. Scrapes things down nicely. Maybe sometime in the future I'll decide on a plow for the tractor or truck. But for now, with the mild winters and lack of snow, I'll get by with the bucket. I have run an old truck plow converted to QA on a prior machine I had (Bobcat B300) and it worked well.

The backhoe is a quick attach and comes off pretty easily. But I've never wanted to move snow while backing up. The hoe serves as a nice counter weight. But maybe in the future I will come up with a better ballast. Probably don't even need it for snow removal though. My tires are loaded and it's already a pretty heavy tractor.

I would never advise to use a rear blade for pushing anything.They are made to pull,very handy around tight areas.