Another "what would you do thread"

[Ex1900Driver]

Hi...

I am currently not an owner of any sort of tractor but I am looking to buy one.
I don't currently have any sort of budget, I am starting to do all the research.

I live in the mountains outside of Denver at about 8000 feet and I live on a 65 acre mountainous property.
Our Driveway is 3000 feet long and the private road that myself and 6 other residents are responsible for is close to 3 miles long.
Its a dirt/gravel road with a couple of pretty sharp bends a
couple of steep grades.
To give you an idea of how much snow the last storm
we had dumped just over 4 feet of snow.

I am looking for a tractor to plow that road with. It has to be
four wheel drive, and be able to carry a pretty substantial
snow plow on the front of it. I was thinking something in the
75hp range, and in the future adding a large snow blower to it.
In the summer I would be also using it to grade and maintain
that road.

I was looking at the Kioti DK55, 75, 90 range.

What do you guys and girls think??
Enough power, or not enough...

I will be keeping this tractor a long time so I want to
make sure I get something that I wont have to upgrade
any time soon... well with the exception of implements
and attachments. So resale value is not as important as
perhaps to other people.

OK.. educate me. What do you all think??

Thanks in advance for the help, information, opinions and advise!!

GDC

 

[6sunset6]

Front mounted blower, Cab, turbo charged I think not sure, 4 wheel drive for sure, I am thinking 55 hp ( what do I know) but that is a really long driveway and you want to go down and back once. so a fairly wide blower.
That needs a lot of HP. Also you need to get rid of the snow, hence the blower. It takes a highway dept plow to handle a wing to push yesterday piles back to make room for tomorrows snow.
You will probably need chains as well.
Bigger

 

[Gizmo2]

Welcome to TBN.
I would get a BIG tractor, a lot bigger than I use, sorry can't help on this one.

 

[Wis Bang]

Plan for the future, investigate the power requirements for the largest snow blower you can use and add 10% - 20%. I think you will end up with something large enough to be considered construction equipment. You are looking at close to 7 miles round trip through the kind of snow that shuts down 'flatland' highways, you want serious stuff to do that safely.

 

[MarkV]

Think I would be looking at turbo charged for your altitude also. A wide stance is also going to be important for stability on your terrain. Better order tire chains with the tractor.

Welcome to the forum.

MarkV

 

[Soundguy]

with altitude a concern.. get a turbocharged vs naturally aspirated model.. DO go with 4wd.. and I would have sugested HST trans.. but in the size range you want they are less common.. and when you find them.. spendy.

I see a machine hitting nearly 40000$ with implements..if you want that size, 4wd and the goodies..

soundguy

 

[RickB]

90 gross engine HP MINIMUM; something with either a manual shuttle or power shuttle depending on your preference. You want the number of reverse gears to equal the number of forward gears. Cab a must. Torbocharged, almost a must. R-1 tires and rear chains, a must. FEL with 3rd function hydraulics, a must. Loader with self-levelling; buyer preference (I would not have self levelling).

If you need to move 4' of snow at a time, this machine is none too big. Figure on a frame mounted front plow (not loader mounted) to clear that 3 miles of roadway. A loader mounted plow will destroy the loader at this duty level. It can be engineered to replace the FEL during the winter. The budget probably needs to be closer to $60K.

 

[ChuckinNH]

I think with that muh road, you will want front mounted blades, or snowblowers for sure. Not all tractors are set up for that so make sure that the ones you look at are. On the other hand, you might be comfortable doing that in reverse.......... I wouldn't be. I think too that you will be wanting a cab after very little experience.

 

[flusher]

Hi...

I am currently not an owner of any sort of tractor but I am looking to buy one.
I don't currently have any sort of budget, I am starting to do all the research.

I live in the mountains outside of Denver at about 8000 feet and I live on a 65 acre mountainous property.
Our Driveway is 3000 feet long and the private road that myself and 6 other residents are responsible for is close to 3 miles long.
Its a dirt/gravel road with a couple of pretty sharp bends a
couple of steep grades.
To give you an idea of how much snow the last storm
we had dumped just over 4 feet of snow.

I am looking for a tractor to plow that road with. It has to be
four wheel drive, and be able to carry a pretty substantial
snow plow on the front of it. I was thinking something in the
75hp range, and in the future adding a large snow blower to it.
In the summer I would be also using it to grade and maintain
that road.

I was looking at the Kioti DK55, 75, 90 range.

What do you guys and girls think??
Enough power, or not enough...

I will be keeping this tractor a long time so I want to
make sure I get something that I wont have to upgrade
any time soon... well with the exception of implements
and attachments. So resale value is not as important as
perhaps to other people.

OK.. educate me. What do you all think??

Thanks in advance for the help, information, opinions and advise!!

GDC

Don't know squat about snowblowers for tractors (I never snows here on the floor of the North Sacramento Valley), but want to get educated.

I found this website

Beaver Valley Supply Company - Schulte Snow Blowers

Looks like you have several options:

---a PTO-driven blower on the 3pt hitch in standard tractor configuration and plow in reverse

--- a hydraulically driven blower on the FEL arms (or front-mounted 3pt hitch) using a pto-driven hydraulic unit attached to the rear 3pt hitch

---a PTO-driven blower on a front-mounted 3pt hitch with a long drive shaft running from the rear pto to the front of the tractor

--- a PTO-driven blower mounted on a 3pt hitch attached to the front of the tractor and powered by a front-mounted pto shaft (IIRC some European tractors have this kind of setup).

What do you have in mind?

 

[mjncad]

Welcome Ex1900Driver:

I'll defer to others opinions concerning HP; but a cab is a must especially if you are up in the canyons (e.g. Golden Gate, Coal Creek, etc) with the howling winds, at your altitude a turbo would be good, 4WD a must, R1's unless you are worried about tearing up some of that 65-acres (I wish I had R1's instead of the R4's I have), front mount snow-blower (I don't know how twisty and narrow the road you have is; but working in reverse in poor visibility is tiring and dangerous), a loader, plenty of hydraulic remotes, a grapple for brush and rocks may be useful, a rear blade to complement the front mounted blower, chains probably, a brush cutter if you have pasture/meadow.

A good dealer for parts and service is important. The only Kioti dealer near me was a jerk, so I wrote them off my shopping list back in 2001.

How else can I spend your money?

 

[MarkV]

GDC, I was curious how you and the neighbors have been dealing with snow presently? Living here in the south I just can't imagine three miles of road covered four feet deep in snow.

MarkV

 

[Treemonkey1000]

With sloping driveway and hills on top of ice and snow I think I would be wanting to have something with tracks instead of wheels

 

[charleyfarmall]

Others advise here is good. You do need a 4wd turbo Cab tractor, R1's, especially for a 3 mile road in winter. It will be too cold and difficult on an open station machine. Shuttle or power shuttle is a must. A rear 3pt hitch snowblower is an option, but will be a neck breaker if you are doing 3 miles in reverse. Don't bother with a self leveling loader. It's not needed for moving snow, and the extra arms will hurt visibility too much.

You are going to need 75 engine hp minimum. The DK75 is ok, they are a little basic but fine. Look at low hour TN75-85's, TDD's, JD 5425 etc. The JD 5083 is a very well priced new tractor and at my dealer cheaper to buy than the Kioti.

Consider that you may need to pull vehicles out of the way so the tractor needs to have some weight. Skip Kubota's, I think. Nice tractors that will need a lot of ballast.

I've done lots of snow plowing. Fun with the right equipment, miserable if not. It is time consuming. It may still be better to pay someone...

 

[RickB]

With sloping driveway and hills on top of ice and snow I think I would be wanting to have something with tracks instead of wheels

Clearly you have little to no experience with tracks on ice.

 

[Colby Forest]

We're new to this tractor thing too, but here's my 2 cents: We're looking to move snow too, about a 1/4 mile, so a lot less than you have too, but we do live in Northern Maine. We're looking at a rear snowblower because 1st, they're cheaper than the front ones, and 2nd, we're thinking a loader on the front would be good for busting through snowbanks left by highway plows, saving wear and tear on the blower, and providing ballast. Also the utility tractors we're looking at (60hp engine, 50 or better pto) don't have a midmount pto available for a front snowblower. (Any front snowblower we've seen has required a mid-mount). Too avoid a stiff neck, learn to blow snow with mirrors?

 

[amkfken]

I also happen to reside in Colorado at 10,000 ft elevation, last year the COUNTY road was closed for 63 days, only got opened with a snowblower (county purchase after 2 cats were abandoned trying to open the road!).

After that example, I got a front mounted blower for my little M-F tractor for my driveway use--love it!

All previous advice is excellent-bigger is better, don't even think about a rear mounted blower, your neck can't handle miles of driving in reverse!

Gonna cost mega bucks, hiring it done doesn't work well, ask my homeowners board, (7 miles of private roads), must live there for instant and constant snow removal, can't wait for someone to show up!

 

[JoelD]

Here's my thought. If you are going to be moving that kind of snow, frequently, I'm thinking I'd go hardcore.

Do what the pros do and get a used city truck with 12-14 footer and wing plow. Will make fast work of your clearing chores.

Another option is to contract out and not deal with any of the equipment issues.

A snowblower, even large, will take a long time to do three miles. Great for cleaning up when banks are too big, but super slow compared to a large plow truck.

I'd give serious consideration to a used plow truck, with wing plow or contracting out.

Good luck,
Joel

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I'd want the county to do it with real snow equipment - you do pay taxes I assume. Otherwise I've no real idea but it better be a snow eatin and blowin machine cause in a bad winter your not gonna pile that much. Just for fun though this unit is about $33k for 4wd and 310 hp. Buy chains for all 8 tires and your good to go. Oh even has new AC!

-Ed-

 

[ChuckinNH]

If I were going to look at a rear mounted snowblower for doing a lot of road, I would look very carefully at how the different models, and makes feel while sitting sideways in the seat. For me, the front, and rear pedals on the hydrostatic are much easier to use in that position than the side to side pedals found on other makes, though I do like the side by side arrangement when going forward very much. Some, like the New Holland Boomers have seats that swivel a number of degrees, and that would make extended rear mounted implement use easier too.

 

[GreenWannabe]

We're new to this tractor thing too, but here's my 2 cents: We're looking to move snow too, about a 1/4 mile, so a lot less than you have too, but we do live in Northern Maine. We're looking at a rear snowblower because 1st, they're cheaper than the front ones, and 2nd, we're thinking a loader on the front would be good for busting through snowbanks left by highway plows, saving wear and tear on the blower, and providing ballast. Also the utility tractors we're looking at (60hp engine, 50 or better pto) don't have a midmount pto available for a front snowblower. (Any front snowblower we've seen has required a mid-mount). Too avoid a stiff neck, learn to blow snow with mirrors?

Erskine Attachemnts (Skid Steer Attachments - Erskine Attachments, Inc.) makes a front mounted blower that runs off the rear pto. They also have a rear mounted blower that is pulled forward rather than pushed backward. Good luck with your search.