Well, it's all finally together. I'll condense the story here: I've been debating for a year now about how best to plow a 300 yard road. Don't have a huge budget, so last winter I just used the loader. Quickly found the R4 tires to slide everywhere, so a set of chains were added (to the tune of $450). Then half-way through winter, I bought a 72" rear blade. I was surprised how expensive it was (about $800) for the Frontier blade. Did an OK job, but would tend to 'pull' the rear-end of the tractor into the snowbanks. So, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether to go with a loader-mount blade or the frame mount.
As many have posted, the 54" factory blade is very small. So I bought the quick-hitch and had a local company fabricate a bracket for an 84" light-duty Fischer-style blade. I figure if it overpowers the tractor, I can always cut it narrower - but having the extra height compared to the factory blade should save me from repeating each pass. I can always do a snowblower in the future, if the budget allows - and assuming I can't keep up with big snows. As it is, an 18"-24" storm only comes along about twice a season, at least in one dumping, so I ought to be able to stay ahead.
Well, the final straw came last week with the posting of the Original Tractor brand cab. It was on sale for $650 (regularly $750) on ebay, so I took the plunge. Very happy with it, at least for today (which was 60 degrees). It's definitely louder inside the cab, so ear protection is a must. It's also slightly flimsy, so care will have to be in order, especially when the temps really drop. I expect the lexan will break below 0 degrees. A far cry in cost from the soft-side or hard-side Deere cabs, but you definitely get what you pay for - those Deere cabs are really nice. Not sure how well it's going to hold up after a couple of seasons - not to mention the care needed to remove/reinstall annually. Total time to install was about 4 hours by myself - could have gone quicker if I wasn't so distracted by election day results and paid more attention to reading the instructions, instead of assuming I knew what they meant.
As many have posted, the 54" factory blade is very small. So I bought the quick-hitch and had a local company fabricate a bracket for an 84" light-duty Fischer-style blade. I figure if it overpowers the tractor, I can always cut it narrower - but having the extra height compared to the factory blade should save me from repeating each pass. I can always do a snowblower in the future, if the budget allows - and assuming I can't keep up with big snows. As it is, an 18"-24" storm only comes along about twice a season, at least in one dumping, so I ought to be able to stay ahead.
Well, the final straw came last week with the posting of the Original Tractor brand cab. It was on sale for $650 (regularly $750) on ebay, so I took the plunge. Very happy with it, at least for today (which was 60 degrees). It's definitely louder inside the cab, so ear protection is a must. It's also slightly flimsy, so care will have to be in order, especially when the temps really drop. I expect the lexan will break below 0 degrees. A far cry in cost from the soft-side or hard-side Deere cabs, but you definitely get what you pay for - those Deere cabs are really nice. Not sure how well it's going to hold up after a couple of seasons - not to mention the care needed to remove/reinstall annually. Total time to install was about 4 hours by myself - could have gone quicker if I wasn't so distracted by election day results and paid more attention to reading the instructions, instead of assuming I knew what they meant.
