Rear Inverted Snowblowers 2019

[Hilbilly]

Strange that a concept that has been the STD way since the late fifties in Europe are still "new" to the US.

Here in Norway nobody uses, and have never used blowers that you need to use in reverse with a few special cases as an exception, today you have blowers for front 3pt that can be used at the rear but then it quit normal to use a tractor with double command so you turn your seat 180 degrees and drive backwards.

This thread was started to discuss blower options for 60 HP tractor and has been focused on that size and smaller so I don't see how a dual command station tractor is relevant. I'm pretty sure they are a LOT more money and I don't know if they are even available in this size tractor. No point discussing options for a 200hp tractor in this thread.

As for front PTO or front mount blowers goes, they are available in different ways. I can get the Kubota front mount system installed with a mid mount PTO for around $16,000 (an old price and likely more by now). Or I could get a Frontlink front PTO for more money. Here is a quote from a 2013 article about front mount PTO's by Frontlink. "Paulsson said his most commonly sold system in Western Canada is a front p.t.o. and three point hitch combination designed for snow blowing, which sells for $14,000 to $16,000, depending on the tractor and options." I couldn't tell from the article if they were referring to small tractors like the ones in this thread or much larger AG tractors. That price is also 7 years ago and I'm sure it hasn't gone down. So realistically I could get a front mount blower for somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000. So I can occasionally blow snow from my driveway. NOT going to happen. I am not a commercial operator. I am a homeowner looking after my driveway.

I also agree with DarkBlack. I want to be able to use the FEL for either my snow bucket for moving piles of snow or my plow for areas where the blower can't be used. While I would prefer to have a blower in front and drive forward, I think an inverted blower allows for better use of both ends of the tractor and is likely the way I will go. But I will still keep the rear facing one because of the need I've had in the last few days, for a blower that enters the snow before the tractor, like the 5' and 6' banks of snow I blew through or away from buildings.

My needs may not be the same as others and that is the beauty of forums like this. We can all benefit by sharing our experiences before investing in an implement that may turn out to be the wrong one for our needs.

I appreciate the information that KCO has provided because his conditions look to be very similar to mine and his tractor is in the same size range. Therefore his input is very relevant to this thread and my particular needs.

 

[Hilbilly]

Well I got a price for the Pronovost P-INV-80 snow blower. Shipped to a City 1 hr from me, the total price, including taxes was over $11,000. My desire to have one disappeared.

I decided I'm getting an inverted blower and got prices from a few dealers around me for the Brands they carry. The only inverted blowers I can find within a few hundred miles are Meteor and Farm King. So it came to be a decision between a 78" Meteor or an 84" Farm King. None of my local dealers can get deals on Meteor blowers and none of them have any in stock or access to any near them. That meant I would have to pay for shipping from the other side of the country. Best guess was $1,000 to $1,500 for shipping and the Meteor was about $500 to $600 more than the Farm King. So the overall price difference between the 2 was in the order of $1,500 to $2,100 and they both have the same fan sizes. Meaning they will process the snow at about the same speed. I even contacted MK Marten to find out if their 5 blade fan would process a higher volume, allowing me to travel faster. The answer was; they found that the extra blade proved to move the snow more efficiently and run smoother than the 4 blade fan but if there was any increase in volume, it was marginal.

Looks like I will be ordering an 84" Farm King inverted blower sometime tomorrow, unless any one here has some bad experiences with that brand that they would like to share.

I finally got around to uploading a video of my current blower cutting through a snow bank to get to my sander. Here it is 75" Meteor Snow Blower on Kubota L6 - YouTube

 

[razor]

Have you tried getting prices from snowblower dealers in Quebec or Eastern Ontario? I find they have better prices even when you take the shipping costs into account. Most of the best snow blowers are made Quebec.

 

[OrangeMuscle]

Hillbilly, too bad you live so far from me. I'd give you a sweet deal on my 78" inverted meteor thats only been used 3 times. I am still not happy with the results of the blower. I will try like heck to figure out how to adjust the top link to get it to scrape better. Unfortunately havent had snow in a while, and none on the 10 day forecast. Also, I foolishly thought since it was inverted I would hardly be turning my neck around. This is not true. I am looking backward probably as much as if it were a rear facing blower.

 

[Hilbilly]

Hillbilly, too bad you live so far from me. I'd give you a sweet deal on my 78" inverted meteor thats only been used 3 times. I am still not happy with the results of the blower. I will try like heck to figure out how to adjust the top link to get it to scrape better. Unfortunately havent had snow in a while, and none on the 10 day forecast. Also, I foolishly thought since it was inverted I would hardly be turning my neck around. This is not true. I am looking backward probably as much as if it were a rear facing blower.

I was wondering what happened to you. Haven't seen you post for a while. Sorry to hear you haven't resolved your issue.

I was wondering about that. I watched a bunch of videos of inverted blowers and noticed the operator was turning around a lot to look at the blower. I know when I'm blowing snow I can tell if I'm going too fast by seeing the snow pile up and push out the sides of the blower or over the top. Not sure you how that would be judged if you didn't turn around. Unless you just watched the mirrors to see if there was spill over. But the mirrors get fogged up or wet when it's snowing so it's pretty hard to see what's going on. However, that might just be getting use to using the blower. I know I struggled with my plow for the first bit but now have it figured out pretty well.

My driveway is gravel so the scraping part is not really an issue for me.

Razor, What part of Canada are you in?

I talked to a Pronovost dealer in Alberta (closest dealer to me) and was quoted $1,500 to ship a Pronovost P-INV-80 to Kamloops, which is an hour from me. The dealer said the Puma 80 IV would likely be a little less since it is lighter but didn't expect it to be much less. I really would like something with a bigger or deeper fan to process the snow quicker, so I can travel faster but I'm not willing to spend $11,000 to get the extra speed. I love my new cab tractor and will just have to enjoy the extra time I get to spend in it.

 

[Hilbilly]

OrangeMuscle,

If you're trying to get your driveway cleaned off to the asphalt, maybe one of those rotary brooms would work for you. I've seen some videos where people use them. As a matter of fact I watched one a week or so ago with 2 vehicles clearing a parking lot. The first one was a skid steer with a snow pusher and that was followed by one with a rotary broom. looked like they got it pretty clean.

 

[airbiscuit]

Any Normand Dealers near you?

 

[Hilbilly]

Just checked their website and the closest dealer is 2958 miles from me.

 

[MJ1964]

Just checked their website and the closest dealer is 2958 miles from me.

If you have a "Bush Hog" brand dealer near you then you might be in luck. If you look at their website it appears they sell rebranded Meteors.

Bush Hog(R) SBPT Pull Type Snow Blower

 

[Dave M7040]

Smyth Welding dealer in Red Deere Alberta 780 km away.

Dave M7040