How far and high can I throw snow?

[RoyJackson]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Next issue will be can I find one in Alaska with all the shortages.

All I can tell you is, prices have gone up significantly...

 

[DaveinValdez]

Aware of that! Diesel is $4.50 a gallon and our electric bills have doubled up here. Some of the native villages are at more than $10 a gallon.

 

[RoyJackson]

Perfect! Surfing the web in your warm cab, while you blow snow!

No web surfin', but I do listen to music...

 

[Kioti Dave]

Had a B7800 with front mount blower. Would throw relatively dry snow maybe 30 feet out and 15 feet high. Much more effective than pushing or moving with bucket. Wet snow, maybe 20 feet out and 10 feet high. Don't have blower on NX4510 and really miss it.

 

[number two]

Maybe it's time for that payloader to get you thru the rest of the season?
Good Luck!

 

[robstaples]

Customized a rebuild to be hydraulic powered from rear unit. Commercial units for skidsteers are available. Key to throwing long distance is tip velocity of impeller and impeller spacing( slip space) Set my system up to be able to spin fast. I have an up to 20 gal / min pump. I lined my blower impeller and chute with slipper plastic ( UHMWPE) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene. Nearly 50 feet for wet-heavy-but-not-slush snow.
( loved visiting AK except for swimming)

 

[Captain Dirty]

A bit of geometry.

With a bucket on a FEL the higher you lift the bucket, the closer it moves toward the front axle. When I used buckets to "scoop back" plowbanks, I would run the grille guard into the bank, dump the bucket, and watch much of the snow cascade down the near side of the pile. Letting the front tires ride up on the snow meant the entire machine pitched backwards so the height/reach curve did not change much.

I now have a SSQA-attached angle plow; the center of the blade is 2-1/2 to 3' in front of the SSQA plate and over 6' in front of the front axle. (6" is the depth of vertical curvature of the blade.) Others' measurements will vary. The greater reach allows me to push the tops of the banks further back and then push lower part of the bank back and higher.

In the "No free lunch" department, the further the plow blade is in front of the tractor, the greater the weight effect. Plowing becomes more difficult as there may be so little weight on the front axle that steering is impossible unless you raise the plow to transfer the weight. Having the plow (only) float will help as will an underslung or cross draw plow, but both these "solutions" reduce the reach.

 

[manzer7]

I am just plain running out of room to put snow. We've had about 250" so far, still about 80" below our normal. I am stacking it everywhere. I have Kubota B2601 with 24-26 h.p. and am thinking of a 3-point rear mounted blower. 50" probably.

There are times that the blower will be useless with our snow. Half the time it is wet mashed potatoes. You go to pick it up with the bucket and it falls out. Or, you go to stack it and it just rolls back down. I can only stack about 6-7' high. At times with the 54" bucket it is so heavy the hydraulics can't pick it up.

But for the times I can blow the snow my questions are: 1. How high might I expect to blow the snow and pile it up? 2. How far can I expect to blow it, distance wise?

Thanks guys. Time for some Tylenol. Five hours of pushing and stacking today.

Hello there out across the country. The height thing is very important for safety around power lines. Just make sure that your blower does not reach that high !! You don't want to get zapped !!

With no power lines around - any height is good as long as its with-the-wind !
Be safe and have fun !

 

[Kschwennsen]

Heated driveway would work too. When we had the 100" year I just piled all along the driveway and pushed the tops over with the bucket when I needed more room. Just plan ahead and clear away way more than you need to and see how the winter progresses. Use forks to break up hard packed.

 

[5030]

I am just plain running out of room to put snow. We've had about 250" so far, still about 80" below our normal. I am stacking it everywhere. I have Kubota B2601 with 24-26 h.p. and am thinking of a 3-point rear mounted blower. 50" probably.

There are times that the blower will be useless with our snow. Half the time it is wet mashed potatoes. You go to pick it up with the bucket and it falls out. Or, you go to stack it and it just rolls back down. I can only stack about 6-7' high. At times with the 54" bucket it is so heavy the hydraulics can't pick it up.

But for the times I can blow the snow my questions are: 1. How high might I expect to blow the snow and pile it up? 2. How far can I expect to blow it, distance wise?

Thanks guys. Time for some Tylenol. Five hours of pushing and stacking today.

All depends on how much balls your little tractor has and the moisture content of the snow as well as the size of the blower (width and design).

I can easily toss dry fluffy snow over 125 feet with my M9 with 92 pto. Wet heavy snow will never go that far, not with the power I have available at least. me, I much prefer my front mount plow over the blower because my blower is a fuel hog and even ORD isn't a cheap date today. 30 gallons at the local co-op was 101 bucks the other day.

 

[hube2]

I am just plain running out of room to put snow. We've had about 250" so far, still about 80" below our normal. I am stacking it everywhere. I have Kubota B2601 with 24-26 h.p. and am thinking of a 3-point rear mounted blower. 50" probably.

There are times that the blower will be useless with our snow. Half the time it is wet mashed potatoes. You go to pick it up with the bucket and it falls out. Or, you go to stack it and it just rolls back down. I can only stack about 6-7' high. At times with the 54" bucket it is so heavy the hydraulics can't pick it up.

But for the times I can blow the snow my questions are: 1. How high might I expect to blow the snow and pile it up? 2. How far can I expect to blow it, distance wise?

Thanks guys. Time for some Tylenol. Five hours of pushing and stacking today.

My experiences with my blower is that it throws wet mashed potatoes farther than light potato flakes.

I use a blower for the specific reason on not creating piles of snow because piles of snow create bigger drifts. I have a Woods SB54S blower. It will blow snow 50 feet or more. Not sure how high it goes, but I'd have to say it's at 10 to 12 feet high at the top of the arc if I have the deflector all the way up. How far/high the snow goes depends on how I have the deflector set.

 

[nfisheremti]

it really all depends on your equipment. i run a larger tractor than you, but i used to run a b2400. when i used that it took more planning than the L3800 i use now. but in general, i start the season, blowing as far as the blower send it, i only move it up to clear the edge, and keep going until the pile is a little above eye level. then i push the piles back as far as i can, and start again. typically we get about 300" of powder per season (not this season, we're waaaay low) at my place. i've never had to truck it away or anything like that.

 

[CobyRupert]

Like asking how far can someone throw a rock?
- Who is doing the throwing and what size rock is it?

There no one answer because there’s no one type of snow or snowblower.
The moisture content (density) of snow varies greatly. I’d estimate it can vary 10:1, if not more.
Besides snow type, the throw distance could also be a matter of horsepower, fan speed, feed rate, and/or fan blade clearance.

 

[RKP in SB]

I am just plain running out of room to put snow. We've had about 250" so far, still about 80" below our normal. I am stacking it everywhere. I have Kubota B2601 with 24-26 h.p. and am thinking of a 3-point rear mounted blower. 50" probably.

There are times that the blower will be useless with our snow. Half the time it is wet mashed potatoes. You go to pick it up with the bucket and it falls out. Or, you go to stack it and it just rolls back down. I can only stack about 6-7' high. At times with the 54" bucket it is so heavy the hydraulics can't pick it up.

But for the times I can blow the snow my questions are: 1. How high might I expect to blow the snow and pile it up? 2. How far can I expect to blow it, distance wise?

Thanks guys. Time for some Tylenol. Five hours of pushing and stacking today.

Have you considered the Kubota RTV-X 1100C with the front PTO K-Connect blower/plow system? We don't get QUITE as much snow here in northern Michigan as you do there, but 200" or so of lake effect snow isn't at all unusual. I have an RTV-X 1100C, but I couldn't bring myself to spring for the K-Connect system (it's expensive!) when I bought my machine. I just have the Kubota-branded plow and although it's a great plow, when you get to the end of winter you usually end up with the banks pretty high and our little 900' long private road getting narrower and narrower. I think I'm going to buy the K-Connect system and get it installed over the summer so I'm ready for next year. I know this- on a 15*F morning with the wind howling and the snow coming sideways (like today), it's awfully nice to be dealing with the snow from the comfort of that heated cab!

 

[5030]

Last time I checked, everything was getting more expensive.

 

[oosik]

Give me one good reason why you prefer Alaska?

He gave you three - sree251. I lived in AK for 20+ years. I'll give you a forth - very few Californians and idiots live up there. One winter - they can't take it - they go back south.

 

[oosik]

I had and used a five foot 3-point hitch blower on my first tractor. 1982 Ford 1700 4WD. I NEVER tried to use it when the temps were above +25F. The snow is too heavy, some times sticky, didn't blow well.

Below 25F the snow was chunky and hard. Go slow - grind it up - blow it a loooong ways.

 

[STAYSAFE]

I pay no property taxes. No sales taxes. No state income tax. There's three!

....and the perm fund check......I caught a 105 lb Halibut, charter fishing out of Valdez......paid for the whole 3 week trip from L48. DaveinFulton

 

[RoyJackson]

I had and used a five foot 3-point hitch blower on my first tractor. 1982 Ford 1700 4WD. I NEVER tried to use it when the temps were above +25F. The snow is too heavy, some times sticky, didn't blow well.

Below 25F the snow was chunky and hard. Go slow - grind it up - blow it a loooong ways.

When the snow is wet or sticky, use PAM or an equivalent anti-stick...makes the snow flow through and life much easier...

 

[BobInSD]

I pay no property taxes. No sales taxes. No state income tax. There's three!

For awhile there you actually had negative taxes due to the subsidies from the oil compananies. Is that still a thing?

And add there is beauty all around, game, fishing wide open spaces, and it isn't California.

If I could talk the missus into it I'd be there tomorrow. We had -18F here this morning, and it was a pretty morning, but nothing like Alaska. If it's going to be that cold I want some scenery

Alaska is great, I've been a few times, even in winter!

An advantage of a 3 point blower is that if you need to move a pile, you can blow off the top at the high lift setting first, then take a second, and maybe third run at it. A hydrostatic transmission makes all the difference, as you can just crawl into it. Just avoid ice chunks embedded in the bank. You can blow slush, it's not great, but works. Just clean the blower out before it freezes in there!

When I switched from loader to blower another big plus was that the loader left a nice sharp bank along the cleared space, which almost immediately drifted in with our winds. The blower disperses the snow, so there isn't a sharp edge to start the next drift.

Wow. I didn't know that. And you have Sarah Palin also.

While I was a fan of Sarah I don't think I'd trade away our current governor. We're definitely not in California!