Snow B-7800 & B-2910 snow blower

[Apollo]

Hey ray............Just to throw in some ideas.

I just recently bought a BX1500 with the kubota 50" front mount 2 stage snowblower.

The BX1500 cost me $7800.00 with the 54" mower deck and the snow blower with quick hitch and mid mount pto cost $2050.00

If you bought the tractor without the deck you should be able to buy it for $6500 to $6800 and $2050.00 for the blower grand total of around $8800.00 It does a great job on all types of snow. Don't let the horsepower ratings guide you completely. These diesel kubota motors have alot of torque and are equal to 25hp gas motors easy.

For the money I don't think you can beat the price of a BX1500 with front mount blower. If you cant find those prices where you live now email me and I will let you know the who the dealer was that sold me mine. He is within 5hrs driving distance from your soon to be new home.

Congrats also on the new place, I personally love snow and most of my relatives think im sick with a disease because of it haaaaaaaaa.

I attached a pic of the blower which has a nice big wide opening and a good size fan on it.

 

[Apollo]

Here is a pic of the tractor which still has the bucket on it. I will add one of the blower on it soon as I put the it on next weekend.

 

[RayMunising]

That's a good looking setup you got there Apollo! And the price sure is nice compared to its bigger brothers!

One thing that really impressed me in the comments the original poster (kenta) made was how his b2910 could deal with 5 foot deep snow by raising the blower 1-2 feet while blowing the snow and his tractor would walk through all the snow (3 feet) the blower wasn't getting on the first pass. Sounds like that b2910 is just about unstoppable!

That's a little more capability than I need but 3 foot deep wouldn't be unusual. Can you raise the blower up say a 12-18 inches while it's running and do you think you could drive though 12-18 inches of snow without getting stuck?

I'd like to save $$$ by not buying more tractor than I need but buying less tractor than I need would be a nightmare. The snow up in Munising is just like the Energizer Rabbit ... it keeps coming and coming and coming. Whatever I buy that's what I'll be using for the next 30 years so I'd like to get something that won't be a hardship for me or the equipment.

I appreciate your thoughts!
Ray

 

[Apollo]

We havent had that much snow yet so i couldnt answer that although the traction is great with it. But I have went snowmobiling many years up in the U.P. and realize that its not a "Snow fall" as much as its a "Snow dump" up there. By the end of the season you literally have tunnels thru some parts of the city.

The 2910 might be just what you need for those extreme situations.

 

[RayMunising]

Yes they certainly get dumped on up there but I think my major problem will be drifting. They typically have 3 foot on the ground by March and so my driveway will end up being a 3 foot deep trench through the snow. I've got a view of the lake (which is nice!) but a little breeze off the big lake and I bet it'll fill in completely. I could go to bed at night with a clean driveway and wake up in the morning with nary a trace. It's a dry fluffy snow they get up there which is bad for drifting but easier to snowblow.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Ray

 

[TMcD_in_MI]

Hey Ray,

I have an 800 foot driveway across a mostly open field in northwest lower mich which means lots of drifting, especially when the banks build up. I am on my third tractor - blower rig. At first I used an old ten horse JD 212 lawn tractor with a 42" single stage blower because it was all I had. If the snowfall was a few inches, I could zip right through it, but when we got those hard-packed 3 foot drifts in January and February it was all I could do to make the first pass down the driveway - lots of back and forth, and no hydrostatic. It was not fun, but the little JD kept on plugging. I still use it to cut grass. Amazing!

Next I graduated to another old tractor, a Kubota L185DT with 17 horsepower and a 5 foot rear blower. It was lots better, but as you have pointed out, 17 hp is not really enough for a 5 ft blower. Deep drifts were still a problem.

After three years I recently sold the Kubota and bought a 32 horse JD 4310 with a front mounted blower. I used it a few days ago on our first real snowfall and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. What a machine! The snow was heavy and wet and it just flew out of that blower like it was fluff. Since it was the first pass down the gravel driveway, it threw lots of stones and gravel, too. No problem at all.

If I was the one moving to Munising, I would do just what you are thinking - either get a tractor in the low 20 hp range with a 4 ft blower or near 30 hp with a 5 ft blower.

Good luck with your decision.

Tom

 

[art]

It's a real safe number especially with the hydro. The B isn't moving as much weight as the L so they both well.

 

[RayMunising]

Thanks Tom!!! Invaluable advice from someone who's been there done that and I really appreciate the input. I'd like to go with a 5 foot on a b7800, b3030 or l3130 but if it's too much for me to handle $ wise I'll go with a 4 foot but still keep the hp ratio about the same.

More questions if you don't mind:

The JD 4310 is the green equivalent to a L3130 correct? What's the JD equivalent to a b2910/b7800? I lean towards orange but for the most part there's just 2 dealers close to Munising (one orange and one green) so I'm really going to chose the color based on the dealer.

How high can you have the blower raised while blowing?

How slow do you have to go while blowing (worst case)? Maybe it's too early in the season for you to answer that one since it sounds like this is your first season with this setup. The reason I ask is I was thinking that MAYBE I'd go with a manual transmission. I have HST on my little garden tractor so I recognize the benefits of it but I still like the idea of a manual. BUT the slowest ground speed is 1 mph at pto speed. That seems kinda fast for some conditions. No creeper available unless I went with the GST. Riding the clutch or reducing the engine speed in order to reduce ground speed is not the answer in my opinion so I was wondering if there was a need for a speed slower the 1mph when snowblowing serious snow.

I hope you keep this board informed of your blowing experiences over the course of the season.

Thanks!!!
Ray

 

[RayMunising]

Thanks Art. I'll shoot for around 20hp pto for 4' or 25hp for 5'.
Ray

 

[RayMunising]

Hey Peter,
I was thinking about what you were saying about a lot of people up north using garden tractors w/blowers and I don't doubt that for a minute BUT most of those yoopers have enough sense to have a driveway that is about 20 foot long! Me, being the thick headed troll that I am think a 1300 foot driveway would be nice LOL. Your advice probably makes the most sense of all and that was "see what the locals use" and I'll certainly do that. I just hope I can find one with a long driveway that doesn't winter over in Florida!
Take care,
Ray