RickB
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2000
- Messages
- 15,205
- Location
- Up the road from Dollar General WNC
- Tractor
- Just a Scag
My 'golden years' will be spent in a place where snow blowers aren't needed.
I just had to blow 30" of snow with a 74" blower run by 42 PTO HP from a gear drive tractor...
You mention golden years, so I will add my two cents... I didn't get a cab tractor 13 years ago because the brand I wanted started with factory cabs on one model higher than I decided upon. After years of freezing I wish that I had gotten the cabbed tractor then. I recently traded it in for a larger cabbed Kubota and couldn't be happier (and warmer).
Wow, 30" in one pass is a real job!
If I were expecting any more than 12-15" I would plan on multiple passes during the storm, so theoretically, 15" of snow on a 74" blower with 21 PTO-HP would be the equivalent. 1.4 MPH sounds slow at first blush, but that's 2 feet per second, and a reasonable snowblowing speed IMO. And then again, the number of times I will need to blow even 15" at a time probably averages once a year or even less.
I appreciate the data point.
I will definitely want a cab, but the vast majority of factory cabbed tractors are simply to big to fit in my garage, and there is no way I'm parking outside or building a new place for it.
I will probably just do a universal fit soft cab like a Bercomat etc. While heat would be "nice", the biggest thing for me is to get out of the wind/snow. With a decent setup I will generally only be out a half hour or so, and I can dress warmly enough for that pretty easily. Then again, once I make the first step, maybe I will get too spoiled and want more... Time will tell.