I just bought a
BX23s and I plan to buy a rear mount because it's cheaper and I'm thinking the FEL might be useful to break up the Sierra cement we deal with in N. California. I will be plowing 200' of driveway, at a family vacation cabin, some of it very steep. (Asphalt and concrete).
We pay a guy 700 a year to clear 2 parking spots and 80' feet of driveway,(flat rate, no matter how much or how little snow accumulates) some years he has no work, this year we had storms delivering accumulations of well over 6'. (estimate last winters total snowfall was over 23')
Is my logic sound? The backing up part doesnt bother me, will I get better traction backwards? I saw someone say you're not supposed to push with a 3 point, I push the gannon box backward pretty hard with no ill effect (yet). Just wondering what others with more experience think.
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The first thing I have to ask is where the mule is going to be parked? If its parked at the top of the access do you plan on using snow shoes if the weather gets cranky??
Your logic is sound but do not expect to dig frozen snow banks out with the front end loader they are not built for that-only loose materials.
Having the Snow Caster on the rear aids in gaining traction simply because its on the ground and on the skids and acts like an anchor going in either direction. Having the rears loaded with liquid ballast aids in increasing the tractive effort as it has more ability to create and maintain adhesion to the ground.
If you have 2 link V bar chains or 2 link grader chains for the rear wheels all the better as a four link cross chain will sit inside the tread of the R4 tires and be of little to no use to you. You should also have snow chain tensioners for each rear wheel. Some of the TBN members have chains on all four wheels of the mules they use for their snow removal.
If you do not have the rears loaded it will just skid around and act like a beached whale and it will really get stuck until you are more familiar with how your mule operates AKA drive it a lot and I mean a lot!! with the loaded tires and snow caster all summer until you can do everything from second nature then put the chains on it.
You need traction and to have adhesion to create tractive effort you need adhesion=you need weight and lots of weight. Are the rears loaded with liquid ballast? You will need good snow and mud chains even with R4 tires as they will not help much on slopes as they will act like slick tires-this is why I said you need 2 link chains=one cross link set for every two side links of snow and mud chain.
If you have the creeper gear on this mule you will love having a snow caster as you will get rid of everything on the first pass and not have any snow banks.
Filling the bucket with sand will aid in keeping all four tires from spinning with chains on the rear tires to some extent.
Three point hitches are ment to be used for pulling ground engaging implements that is what they are designed for as the majority of them are single acting implement lifting mechanisms.
As far as the snow caster is concerned have you decided on anything like a brand or clearing width yet? Just remember that the longer you wait to place and pay for an order the longer it will take to get to your door.
Do not rush out to buy it just yet as you have the dilema of heavy wet snows to deal as a matter of local practice and a rear mount snow caster with rotating impeller drum that bypasses the chute and spout will aid in removing heavy wet snows as it bypasses the chute and spout and eliminates clogging as long as it is used slowly and at the full 540 RPM Rear Power Take Off engine speed.
