Please help my neck....

[grsthegreat]

Well, the 60" Erskine pull type blower was over $4800 delivered, so that is not an affordable option for me. Hard to believe it should be twice the cost of a standard blower.

I decided to get a backup camera and try that out with my back blade to see how I do using the camera and driving in reverse. Cost was less then $70 from Amazon so not much of an investment to try the concept out. If it works, then a standard 3 pt hitch blower makes sense for me.

i looked into the pull style blowers also, but with the type of snow i move and the amounts, i could not drive over the piles towing a blower. I go thru piles 24 plus thick. When i clean up the building that shed and block horses out of their stslls, the snow csn be 4 feet deep

 

[oosik]

Radio1 - sorry I didn't catch your question sooner. My Ford 1700 was open station. For that matter so is my 2009 Kubota M6040. But if the snow is blowing back all over me as I plow with my rear blade on the Kubota - there are bigger problems that a driveway full of snow.

 

[shooterdon]

Radio1 - sorry I didn't catch your question sooner. My Ford 1700 was open station. For that matter so is my 2009 Kubota M6040. But if the snow is blowing back all over me as I plow with my rear blade on the Kubota - there are bigger problems that a driveway full of snow.

Unless you need to get to the hospital and the driveway is full of snow!! Or that hot babe at the VFW is stuck in her driveway and needs your help and you cannot get out!! LOL

 

[oosik]

I'm not worried about too much snow in the driveway to get out. Been out here 38 years and it's not yet happened. The closest to that had nothing to do with snow fall. We had our normal 16" on the ground and got a hellacious wind out of the SW. Drifting in two spots on the mile long driveway. Still, I was able to, quite easily, blow thru the drifts in my Jeep.

My first tractor was a brand new 1982 Ford 1700 4WD. It wasn't heavy enough to bust the berms that form from plowing with the back blade. Therefore - the 3-point blower. God knows - I learned to hate that blower. Clearing the yard, driveway and mailbox area would take three plus hours. By the end of one episode the shoulders and neck would be in pain for the following day or so. And, try as I might, I would always end up covered in blown snow.

Now my 2009 Kubota M6040 weighs 10,100# and the heavy duty Rhino rear blade will bust back any berms that may form. Plus there is no longer any blown snow to drift back and cover me.

 

[Fallon]

i looked into the pull style blowers also, but with the type of snow i move and the amounts, i could not drive over the piles towing a blower. I go thru piles 24 plus thick. When i clean up the building that shed and block horses out of their stslls, the snow csn be 4 feet deep

Same. Here in the Denver area we get lots of wind. There are often packed snow banks or wet slushy snow I couldnt drive through with my old L3200 or even the new L4060.

 

[oosik]

There is ONE thing I've found that helps when you use a 3-point blower. Keep your head, neck and shoulders WARM. I have two hooded down jackets. Eddie Bauer & Alpine Design. Plus a pair of down mittens. When it was really cold - I'd just stay inside. But if I did go out it was - hooded down jacket, down gloves & down pants. I'd wear a wool stocking cap under the down hood. I have a pair of Karmak(Canadian) pacs I wear in the real cold also.

It left me sort of immobilized but you don't need to much mobility when all you will be doing is sitting on the tractor.

One year I tried my neighbors big cabbed tractor. Not enough air circulation, or something. The windows would steam up and have to be wiped down - every so often. Nice to only need a sweat shirt and jeans though. About the time the job was finished - the window fogging seem to quit. I think, begin with a partially open window and not so much snow on my boots would have helped also. Maybe I just wasn't familiar with the heating/venting system on his tractor.

 

[Dave M7040]

There is ONE thing I've found that helps when you use a 3-point blower. Keep your head, neck and shoulders WARM. I have two hooded down jackets. Eddie Bauer & Alpine Design. Plus a pair of down mittens. When it was really cold - I'd just stay inside. But if I did go out it was - hooded down jacket, down gloves & down pants. I'd wear a wool stocking cap under the down hood. I have a pair of Karmak(Canadian) pacs I wear in the real cold also.

It left me sort of immobilized but you don't need to much mobility when all you will be doing is sitting on the tractor.

One year I tried my neighbors big cabbed tractor. Not enough air circulation, or something. The windows would steam up and have to be wiped down - every so often. Nice to only need a sweat shirt and jeans though. About the time the job was finished - the window fogging seem to quit. I think, begin with a partially open window and not so much snow on my boots would have helped also. Maybe I just wasn't familiar with the heating/venting system on his tractor.

Some info for your neighbor with fogging cab windows. In the 1960's, many cars in Canada were using these stick on frost shields. In some provinces they were a legal requirement.

I have a friend with an unheated cab on a B7100 Kubota. I found there is one place which still makes and sells these old style frost shields .
Custom Tarps & Filters - Frost Shields

Now, with the shields installed front and back, my friend is pleased at being able to see out his fogged windows. He may order more for the door windows.

I first investigated heated windows from this company. I think a best solution if you can afford them and have the alternator to power them.
Clear View Aftermarket Defrosters and Defoggers

The heated wires stick to the window and can be cut in length to make a custom fit. From memory, each window would draw about 25 amps but the product comes with a controller which moderates the current draw.

My friend had tried a strong fan like an 18 wheeler tractor might have but it did not improve the frosting. You need to either heat the air or exhaust your breath and sweat outside otherwise, fogging windows are inevitable.

Dave M7040

 

[PILOON]

In my DIY lightly heated cab I installed 2 computer type muffin fans one of which is mounted on a magnet for easy positioning.
Moving air will greatly eliminate fogging of window..

 

[oosik]

It was a rather "exciting" experience - using the neighbors big cabbed tractor. There are 4 or 5 places on my mile long driveway where a "mistake" can put you off the driveway and down a twenty foot drop. Being unfamiliar with that big tractor, having the windows fog, not being able to see like I could with my open station M6040 - I only used it that one time. It certainly reinforced my belief - if I ever got a cabbed tractor it would require an all new learning experience on my driveway.

BTW - for the OP. If you really want to go "whole hog". Get yourself an electric heated vest. I have one that I use on my BMW motorcycle. It will require that you have some form of plug in available. I have a 12V outlet on the Kubota. I can put it under one of my down jackets - turn it up on high - end up feeling like a roasted hot dog. It can be -15F and you are sweating like a pig in an open station tractor.

 

[shooterdon]

oosik,

Even in the summer, my neck is unable to take being turned around looking back. If you do not suffer from neck issues, it is difficult for you to understand. On the other hand, others with "minor" neck problems may benefit from keeping the neck and shoulder area toasty warm as you suggest.

In my case, if the rear camera idea does not work, a rear blower is unworkable.

After 4 years, my beater pickup truck is having plow issues. It was a hillbilly install (minimal ground clearance) and that does not help. It is OK when it is working (put a new motor on it last week and it stopped working yesterday so it is back in the shop) unless I push too far into a bank and get the frame into the bank...then it gets stuck. With heavy snowfalls like this year there is a tendency to do that. Just poor discipline on my part.

The advantage of the blower is moving snow out and 30' away even if we get a 12-18" dump, and not getting the 6-8' banks I currently have in many places. We currently have 24" on the ground and another 5" coming. It is a lot of snow to deal with and the year is not over. In a "normal" year the pickup plow does the job, is comfortable, and is fast. The disadvantage of the blower is that it is slower most of the time. With 12" or more, the truck is slow too but we normally get 3-8".