Snow Equipment Owning/Operating 2 wheel drive

[clancey]

New to the tractor world and looking for advice. Own a cottage property with almost one mile of driveway. We get quite a bit of snow in our area. I am looking for a tractor for mainly blowing snow, road maintenance (box blade) and hauling out firewood. I am finding that some of the bigger 2 wheel drive tractors are quite a bit cheaper. What do I need. In a perfect world I would like a smaller, newer, 4x4 tractor (28hp) with a loader but dont know if they are big enough to handle the snow. Will a higher hp 2wd tractor handle snow blowing? What is more important, hp or traction?

 

[vabiker23518]

Clancy, welcome to the site!
Others with more experience than me will chime in I'm sure, but in my experience with a 2WD Bolens and now a 4WD TYM, go with the 4WD. I don't do snow removal, but in working around my land, the difference in traction between 2 and 4WD is worth the price! MY TYM is a 233, the smallest they make and it does everything I ask of it in keeping up fire lanes and deer food plots plowed and producing.

 

[RoyJackson]

New to the tractor world and looking for advice. Own a cottage property with almost one mile of driveway. We get quite a bit of snow in our area. I am looking for a tractor for mainly blowing snow, road maintenance (box blade) and hauling out firewood. I am finding that some of the bigger 2 wheel drive tractors are quite a bit cheaper. What do I need. In a perfect world I would like a smaller, newer, 4x4 tractor (28hp) with a loader but dont know if they are big enough to handle the snow. Will a higher hp 2wd tractor handle snow blowing? What is more important, hp or traction?

4WD (more accurately, 4 wheel assist) would be advantageous, but folks have been doing all the tasks you describe with 2WD tractors for years.
You definitely want chains for the rear wheels with either the larger 2WD machine or the smaller 4WD one.

As far as what's more important, HP or traction...in my case, it's traction, but I don't have a snow blower.

A question...how have you, or the previous owner of the cottage, been clearing out snow in the past?

Welcome to TBN!

 

[clancey]

We have owned the cottage for about 3 years, and my wife & I spend all our free time there summer & winter. It is our paridise. We snowmobile down in the winter, the road hasnt been kept open in previous years. As we will be empty nesters within 3 years, our intention is to sell our primary residence and live there year round. Snowmobiling out everyday isnt practical and we need to keep the road open. Getting lots of suggestions as what i need for equipment and lets face it, its a big investment and i want to buy right. As i said, there are some really good deals on the bigger, older 2wd tractors (ford 7600 for example) as opposed to the newer smaller 4x4 ones. These tractors have around 4000 hrs on them. Is that something to be concerned with?Guess my question is will the 2wd do the job? Or on the other hand, will the smaller (25-30) newer 4x4 be sufficient for that amount of snow. We can get up to 2 feet in a storm not to mention drifts. I live in Atlantic Canada. thanks for the reply.

 

[foggy1111]

This is an interesting call. As said the 2WD tractors can do what you want....but the newer 4wd tractors have more maneuverability and get great traction too. Many have a mid PTO that will allow a front mounted snow blower. They typically are a bit more user friendly for a novice operator.

Big Question: Do you want a snow blower for the front or rear?? With a mile of driveway I think your going to want a front mount. That would lead you to a newer CUT tractor with 4WD and a mid PTO.

The other thing you can do is to put a front mounted plow blade on the tractor and a snow blower on the rear. The blade is faster / more efficient for light snowfalls.....and use the blower for heavy snows or to remove the windrows from bladeing. The best of both worlds IMO.

 

[RoyJackson]

Guess my question is will the 2wd do the job? Or on the other hand, will the smaller (25-30) newer 4x4 be sufficient for that amount of snow. We can get up to 2 feet in a storm not to mention drifts. I live in Atlantic Canada. thanks for the reply.

Have you determined a budget? Obviously, you'll want to spend as little as possible, but have you come up with a dollar amount yet? Believe me, we TBNers can spend other folks money with no problem whatsoever.

An older tractor might be cheaper, if you can to the servicing and repairs that may be required.
Other then you know you have to clear, is speed a priority? Bigger machine will do it faster, but at a price.

I'm not in an area that gets a lot of snow every winter. But we do get a substantial snow (N'Easter) every few years that can be 2-3 feet.
Per your first post, you wrote you get a lot of snow...and a mile of drive to clear. That is a lot of snow removal, regardless of what sized tractor you get. One thing I strongly recommend is getting out early and frequently enough that you don't have that major snow removal when it ends.
You should consider a cab tractor, by the way...

 

[clancey]

Thanks for the advice both foggy & roy. In a perfect world, i would love to have a CUT with a front mounted blower and a heated cab. I am not really that concerned about speed. My outdoor work (cutting firewood, maintaining my property) is my leisure. My wife and I both realize that to live in our little piece of heaven we need to make some sacrifices, one of them being buying a tractor. Only problem is i consider the tractor a bonus, not a sacrifice. Think my next step is to go to a couple of dealers, see what kind of incentives they are offering and decide what i can swing. I think in answer to one of my questions, you are saying that if i do decide to go the CUT 4x4 option a 25 to 30 hp unit should do the job?

 

[RoyJackson]

I think in answer to one of my questions, you are saying that if i do decide to go the CUT 4x4 option a 25 to 30 hp unit should do the job?

Yeah, 25-30 HP is about the minimum I'd go...and, even though I'm not a big fan of cabbed tractors, that would be a better way to go for the snow removal.Might be a hassle if you intend to use it in the woods though...

 

[IndyIan]

A mile of driveway is a long way to blow backwards with a big tractor with two passes. What's your total snowfall? and does the driveway drift in?
If you have a 4x4 pickup already and your driveway doesn't drift in much, probably a plow for it is best. Especially if you can get some speed up and always push the snow up and over the banks with the plow. If your driveway is very tight and winding then you might have to go to a blower to deal with 5 or 6 feet of snow over a winter or if it drifts in alot.
For in the woods, I'd think 4wd and smaller is best unless you want to make roads for a 2wd farm tractor. If you're just doing 4 cords a year for yourself, even just an ATV will do the job with the right trailer with little trail work.

I'm in a similar situation as you but needed 4wd for my hills and ended up deciding a 40hp tractor do my driveway and move some dirt and still be able to pick my way through the woods without building a highway for it. I did do all my firewood with my ATV before now with no problems and my plowing my 1/4 mile driveway but it was usually very tight in march as I couldn't move snow over the banks.

 

[clancey]

My driveway starts off by going down a hill thru the woods then follows a winding level path beside open fields at the edge of the woods. We get probably 6 feet of snow at least and all of my driveway is drift area so the truck plow option wouldnt work. I have also considered the atv option for getting into the woods as most of my wooded property is waterfrontage along a river and not very deep. Dont really need to get into the woods. My main use for a tractor is snow blowing & road maintenance. Very little of the driveway is actually my property, it is right of way to my property and is used by farmers to access their fields. Having said that, it gets chewed up real bad in the spring and fall with them hauling their equipment in. Not bashing them, they gotta do what they gotta do but if I want to prevent destroying mine & my families vehicles, its up to me to maintain it. Also, i am the only one that has a residential property there so i cant count on any help. By the way, thats a nice tractor you have, cabbed?

 

[foggy1111]

25+ PTO HP should run most blowers for what you are looking for. Figure approximately 5 PTO HP per foot of blower. Keep in mind this may require about 5 more ENGINE HP to get the needed PTO HP.

If it were me.....I'd think long and hard about a front-mount blower for the length of driveway you talk about here.....and I'd buy enough HP. The good thing about a tractor and blower is that they are a long-term "investment". Buy the RIGHT ONE....and it will serve you for 20++ years.

In the past...it seems lots of us got our money back (resale value) after using use of the tractor for many years. Not so sure going forward tho.....:confused2:

 

[lungdoc]

I'd go 4WD with chains - with 2WD and a hill you may get stranded and also may run into trouble if you put a wheel off the side which is easy enough to do. I'd consider a plow for truck for the routine plowing/smaller snowfalls with a rear blower on the tractor to clear the banks and the big dumps. We do that (pay for the truck plowing, do the tractor blowing myself) and it works well.

 

[flyingcow]

I don't know what part of Atlantic Canada you're from. But i am just south of Houlton, by about 40 miles. If you're going 2 wheel drive i wouldn't go any less horse than 70hp? or so. I've had a 70hp MF(paid $6000), a 125hp MF($6500) and a 145hp MF(paid $4100. older Massey's but reasonable priced.

I have a 650ft driveway. Behind the bigger tractors i used a 9ftx4ft blowers. But backing up a mile? Be a little hard on the neck and back. Find a reasonable priced 90-100hp tractor(2WD), w/cab. front balde on front with blower on back? Probably have more into the attachments than the tractor? Or one of these?Michigan Iron & Equipment: Kioti Dealer


Or a rear pull blower? A 2Wd 80-100hp tractor with chains will wade a lot of snow. Good set of wheel brakes a must.

If you go 4WD, I don't think you want anything less than 50-60hp unit. You can get into some serious money this way, but good financing will give you a new unit and no headaches. i forget the unit number, but i was looking at a 60hp 4Wd John Deere unit. Hydro, good heavy unit. Alot of tratcor for the frame.

IMO 30hp range is too small. But tend to be on the big side of things. I like my TN75 new holland, but the 125/145hp MF had big azzed cabs. Could sit sideways stretch your feet out. But they were a bugger to start in the sub-zero weather, if something went wrong.

 

[LBrown59]

What is more important, hp or traction?

What good is the HP it you don't have the traction .:confused2:

 

[Todd_C]

I live one mile off the road up a decent incline on a gravel road in SW VA and in my opinion you will need more than a 30hp 4wd tractor in Canada. I had a NH TC 30 and now I have a NH TC 40 4wd with a FEL and chains. In my opinion weight is also important to me when it comes to snow removal. In 2010 my area got hit with a few feet of snow within a week. I do not have a snow blower and my rear blade became useless. The extra weight and ground clearance offered by a larger chassis tractor is important. I got stuck several times with my tractor because the snow was over the front tires in a few places. I used the FEL to push the tractor out of the drifts. My neighbor has a 30hp 4wd tractor and we were both using the FEL on our tractors to push the snow. He would stop and spin long before my tractor. I have another neighbor who has a 65hp Ford 2wd tractor and his did a decent job. There were a few places that I could go that he couldn't get too.

Several of the big names offer economy grade tractors with 4wd in the 50-60hp range. I think a 40 hp 4wd tractor is the bare minimum in your situation in Canada. Most of the members on here will offer you great advice. Buy the right tractor the first time so you don't find yourself selling a smaller tractor later at a possible loss.

 

[whistlepig]

I may get beat up for saying this but I think a 2WD tractor with chains will push more snow than a 4WD with out them.

 

[foggy1111]

I live one mile off the road up a decent incline on a gravel road in SW VA and in my opinion you will need more than a 30hp 4wd tractor in Canada. I had a NH TC 30 and now I have a NH TC 40 4wd with a FEL and chains. In my opinion weight is also important to me when it comes to snow removal. In 2010 my area got hit with a few feet of snow within a week. I do not have a snow blower and my rear blade became useless. The extra weight and ground clearance offered by a larger chassis tractor is important. I got stuck several times with my tractor because the snow was over the front tires in a few places. I used the FEL to push the tractor out of the drifts. My neighbor has a 30hp 4wd tractor and we were both using the FEL on our tractors to push the snow. He would stop and spin long before my tractor. I have another neighbor who has a 65hp Ford 2wd tractor and his did a decent job. There were a few places that I could go that he couldn't get too.

Several of the big names offer economy grade tractors with 4wd in the 50-60hp range. I think a 40 hp 4wd tractor is the bare minimum in your situation in Canada. Most of the members on here will offer you great advice. Buy the right tractor the first time so you don't find yourself selling a smaller tractor later at a possible loss.

If you don't try to PUSH everything with a FEL OR PLOW....and instead operate a BLOWER over a driveway that has been BLOWN clear with a snow-blower (as the OP stated)....then you do not have as big of tractor or as much weight and power. You really don't have to spin your tires when using a blower and 4wd if you have good tires IMO. Same is true in Canada as the USA.

 

[RoyJackson]

I may get beat up for saying this but I think a 2WD tractor with chains will push more snow than a 4WD with out them.

I think you're right...
Just gotta learn to use those steering brakes. Since I got chains, I leave it in 2WD. However, we didn't get any substantial snow (> 6" accumulation) last year.

 

[IndyIan]

My driveway starts off by going down a hill thru the woods then follows a winding level path beside open fields at the edge of the woods. We get probably 6 feet of snow at least and all of my driveway is drift area so the truck plow option wouldnt work. I have also considered the atv option for getting into the woods as most of my wooded property is waterfrontage along a river and not very deep. Dont really need to get into the woods. My main use for a tractor is snow blowing & road maintenance. Very little of the driveway is actually my property, it is right of way to my property and is used by farmers to access their fields. Having said that, it gets chewed up real bad in the spring and fall with them hauling their equipment in. Not bashing them, they gotta do what they gotta do but if I want to prevent destroying mine & my families vehicles, its up to me to maintain it. Also, i am the only one that has a residential property there so i cant count on any help. By the way, thats a nice tractor you have, cabbed?

No cab, we spent abit more than we wanted to already and I've got all my ice fishing clothing already, so I figured I would keep the tractor simple as I could.
What's your budget for this? 8, 18, or $28K? For 8k I think you just get an old 2wd farm tractor with a 7 or 8 foot blower and do lots of yoga so you can bend your neck 180 degrees. 18K gets you a 30-35 hp used CUT with a front mounted blower which you might have to do 3 or 4 passes. $28K should get you an almost new cabbed bigger CUT with a front blower that could get the job done in 2 passes. Also I guess you really need to find a tractor with lots of creeper gears or HST, as 2 or 4 miles at .5mph or .89 mph starts to become significant time and you definetly can't be slipping the clutch the whole time for heavy snow and a tractor without a low low gear. Your leg will fall off...
I guess for driveway maintenance you'll want a front end loader but if your just buying gravel probably all you'll need is a rear blade and perhaps a box blade. If your lot is mostly level and fairly dry you probably don't need 4wd either.

 

[flyingcow]

My driveway starts off by going down a hill thru the woods then follows a winding level path beside open fields at the edge of the woods. We get probably 6 feet of snow at least and all of my driveway is drift area so the truck plow option wouldnt work.


I am still in the camp of a bigger unit than 30-40hp. Mainly because you are following headlands of fields. He's not exaggerating when you talk 6 ft high of drift. On a windy night, by the time you make one pass it will be drifted back in before you return. On the chance you want to open up driveway for someone to come home, it may be impossible to get the vehicle in before the road closes back up. But, thats life living a mile off the beaten path. I have snowblowed 5 and 6ft drifts, be quite a job with a blower 2ft high. And going out in the middle of a storm to clear a mile long driveway, just because your unit is small, could create a dangerous situation.

I would keep in good graces with a local farmer that has the big blowers, might need 'em once in a while. Just had a thought, you might be able to talk to the local farmer about moving your access out towards the middle of field once the ground freezes. It would get you away from the line fence and away from some of the drift issues. Stake out the two paths. Blow open the original road early on, than blow the one in the middle of the field once the drifting becomes a serious issue. If it's sod ground, you could smooth up with your tractor before ground freezes. But, the farmer may not go for it. Is it a defined, in a deed, path for access?