Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Snow plow vs snow bucket for a tractor

[manac]

Have a MM2 8’ 6” straight plow for the truck (crew cab, long bed), kinda like plowing with a barge. Just picked up a NH Workmaster 70, 72” bucket.
Already have a 74” pto blower.
Location Connecticut 6-72” per year.
Don’t want to run chains and think I’d need to with a plow.

Which would you do, fabricate a SSQA adaptor and electrics for the plow or pick up a 8’ snow bucket? Or I could live with the material bucket.
Or there are some SSQA 11’ angle plows for $1500 being surpluses here.

I'm like a kid in the candy store with a SSQA on the front of the tractor.

 

[nybirdman]

Plows for roads,buckets/pushers for parking lots.Depends where you are plowing.I have an 8flt.SS mounted FEL plow for my needs.

 

[RjCorazza]

Have a MM2 8’ 6” straight plow for the truck (crew cab, long bed), kinda like plowing with a barge. Just picked up a NH Workmaster 70, 72” bucket.
Already have a 74” pto blower.
Location Connecticut 6-72” per year.
Don’t want to run chains and think I’d need to with a plow.

Which would you do, fabricate a SSQA adaptor and electrics for the plow or pick up a 8’ snow bucket? Or I could live with the material bucket.
Or there are some SSQA 11’ angle plows for $1500 being surpluses here.

I'm like a kid in the candy store with a SSQA on the front of the tractor.

I have similar equipment. Crew cab (8' bed) boat with plow, smaller 40hp tractor with 7' ssqa plow, bucket, rear blower.
My go to setup is the 7' ssqa plow and a 7' rear blade.

An 11' plow is a lot of width for a Workmaster 70, both pushing and lifting with the fel. I suspect that size plow would need to be frame mounted.

 

[zzvyb6]

Plow if it's driveway or roadway and if you can run in lanes. Pusher if you have a place to mound up snow accumulations. Direct mount if you only have 2 hydraulic circuits from a loader. If QA mount, get an electric 3 function. Direct mount took me more time to hook up. I thought the QA mount might be more difficult to maintain steering, but turned out not to be the case. I also had a 7' snow pusher box, worked great, but no place to stash the snow on a long driveway.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. Straight as an arrow and pretty level. Over the years I've used two methods for snow removal. 3-point mounted blower. Worked great but gave me neck and shoulder pains.

Now I have a 3-point mounted rear blade. It works great and no more body pains. However - due to lack of snow - haven't had to plow for the last four years.

 

[shooterdon]

Be wary of what people recommend.

Things to bear in mind:
Average snowfall a year
Gravel or paved surface
Type of snow you usually get (wet/powder)
Maximum amount you might get at a time
Can you get out and remove snow part way through a major snow event...for example dealing with moving 18" of snow is different than moving 6" three times.
Do you have enough space to push/move snow.
Do you need to make a lot of angle adjustments if plowing.

I have used a plow truck, rear blade, front tractor blade and pull blower. There is NO perfect solution.

 

[LouNY]

I have found the FEL mounted plows to hang to far forward to do a good job unless your driveway is perfect. the snow pushers or light material buckets are not as far ahead of you but only good for straight pushing.

 

[D'oh]

Why not a 7 1/2' Wide Out or the likes? Best of both worlds?

I plow a Lot next to another Old Timer Plower who made his "Swing End Gate Straight Blade" It has moved lots of snow and Piled Mountains of it also.

Kinda like this, but he added Hydraulic Wings, depending on how many ports you have.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I have a similar tractor and I have a 87” rear pto blower. We get more snow than you. My Driveway is gravel and not too long, about 600-700’. It is pretty level, as level as things can be around here. If you have more money than time, then buy a pull forward rear pto blower. They work great and can do a driveway quickly. Second for speed is a plow on the front of the tractor. Never had one, but have used a back blade a lot for snow when it is not too deep.

your current pto blower will be your most cost effective way to remove snow. Since you don’t get much snow, i would save money for something else and not buy anything else. You will not need chains unless you have steep grades. I have never needed chains on any tractor in any location for snow and don’t see chains on any tractors around here during winter. We got over 25’ of snow last year. I also like to have a bucket on front all winter, you’ll never get stuck with a bucket on front. Had to get a tractor unstuck that had a SSQA plow on the front last year and it was a pain to use the plow to get leverage to get out.

 

[manac]

Thanks for all the replies. The point that a truck plow on a loader is kinda kludgey Is a good one. I’ve used that setup and it’s ok, would have to switch to the slower snowblower when it got heavy.

I’m just looking for another arrow in the quiver sort of thing. The best tool for the amount and wetness of the snow.
We don’t get a lot of snow until we do, the occasional Nor'easter or blizzard has to be dealt with.

Not at all interested in a pusher, a bucket’s ability to pick up snow and move or pile it is much more useful to me.

I try really hard not to get my tractor stuck. Had a $350 wrecker bill to pull me out one time. Slid on glare ice off an embankment into the trees trying to help a neighbor.
That could be a great topic: Manac’s Snowplowing Wrecks.

 

[LouNY]

I have a similar tractor and I have a 87” rear pto blower. We get more snow than you. My Driveway is gravel and not too long, about 600-700’. It is pretty level, as level as things can be around here. If you have more money than time, then buy a pull forward rear pto blower. They work great and can do a driveway quickly. Second for speed is a plow on the front of the tractor. Never had one, but have used a back blade a lot for snow when it is not too deep.

your current pto blower will be your most cost effective way to remove snow. Since you don’t get much snow, i would save money for something else and not buy anything else. You will not need chains unless you have steep grades. I have never needed chains on any tractor in any location for snow and don’t see chains on any tractors around here during winter. We got over 25’ of snow last year. I also like to have a bucket on front all winter, you’ll never get stuck with a bucket on front. Had to get a tractor unstuck that had a SSQA plow on the front last year and it was a pain to use the plow to get leverage to get out.

I'm glad that you can move all the snow that you get with no chains and that you never get stuck with your tractor because the loader bucket always gets you out.
However I run chains on my tractors in the winter, I would guarantee that without chains your tractor would be wadded up in a tree on my driveway.
As far as a loader bucket always getting you unstuck you have been luckier then most to apparently have never been stuck in a precarious situation were the bucket couldn't get the purchase necessary to move you far enough and allow you to get a second bite without sliding back to were you where.
Any time you wish to try to descend my driveway or some of our field roads without chains on snow or ice you would be more then welcome to try. I'll even video tape the results.

 

[Jims1025R]

Plow a long driveway if you have room to accumulate the snowbanks for the amount of snow you expect over the season, and drifting across those snowbanks will not be a problem. Blow the snow if you don't have room for banks, or drifting will be a problem. Pushing snow with a bucket assures banks, and is a poor idea for a long driveway.

Some front end loader frames are suited for pushing a blade, others not so much. Don't wreck a less "pushworthy" loader using it other than the manufacturer intended. If you decide to push with a loader, make sure it's got a good float setting, and the blade is correctly angled and has shoes to float well. Buckets are poor for this, as it is not an intended design feature. If the bucket digs in (or blade set wrong, and digs in) it may buckle the loader frame enough to lift the front wheels, and steering is difficult.

My ideal set up, having been doing it various ways for 30 years for a 700 foot sheltered driveway in central Ontario, is now a quick attach blade on the front end loader (which is designed for it), which I can swap quickly to a bucket, and a rear mount blower on a hydrostat tractor.
I can quickly plow, blow the banks or windrows, and change to a bucket if I need to scoop out.

Neck strain notwithstanding, rear blowers are fine with a hi/low hydrostatic transmission. They are not so great with manual transmission; you usually cannot blow in reverse hi, so you're limited to reverse low, which is slow for blowing - 'works, just takes time... When I had the previous manual transmission tractor, I adapted my blower to the front end loader, in place of the bucket (but a slow changeover). Easy on my neck, and eight possible forward speeds, rather than two possible rear speeds. It was complex, and slow to change, but worked well, but with my new hydrostat tractor, front blade, rear blower works best.

 

[DK35vince]

Neck strain notwithstanding, rear blowers are fine with a hi/low hydrostatic transmission. They are not so great with manual transmission; you usually cannot blow in reverse hi, so you're limited to reverse low, which is slow for blowing - 'works, just takes time...

Most shuttle shift or power reverser gear drives have just as many reverse gears as forward gears.

 

[manac]

My NH 2120 and now WM 70 shuttle shifts are equal number of speeds forward or reverse. My stepdad had a JD 1050 with 4 forward 1 reverse or 12 X 3. It ran a blower well enough.

 

[LouNY]

Mine and all the power shuttles I'm familiar with all are actually faster in reverse then forward for the same gear.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I'm glad that you can move all the snow that you get with no chains and that you never get stuck with your tractor because the loader bucket always gets you out.
However I run chains on my tractors in the winter, I would guarantee that without chains your tractor would be wadded up in a tree on my driveway.
As far as a loader bucket always getting you unstuck you have been luckier then most to apparently have never been stuck in a precarious situation were the bucket couldn't get the purchase necessary to move you far enough and allow you to get a second bite without sliding back to were you where.
Any time you wish to try to descend my driveway or some of our field roads without chains on snow or ice you would be more then welcome to try. I'll even video tape the results.

Well, I would but you’re a little ways away… My post wasn’t intended to be a pissin’ match. So if you need chains great, glad you have them. I have never needed them and I see a lot of tractors move a lot of snow without them. I have chains in my truck for 6 months of the year and use them often. My tractors are heavy and I don’t have any issue. Been moving snow with my tractor for a long time. Biggest storm was 90” in 48 hours. No chains, just a lot of fuel and time.

Funny thing about Internet forums, the are people in other places that do and say things different.