Best combination of farm equipment for snow management

[RaydaKub]

A FEL will clear just about any snow you want to clear, but it is terribly slow. The blade (especially on a pickup) will be by far the fastest (and probably most comfortable). But the snow blower will let you pretty much get rid of the snow once and for all. You can run out of room with a blade pretty easily, or a FEL for that matter.

Be careful of the chains on the paved road though. The gravel might warrant them, but you might tear up the pavement with the chains. As for the front / rear snowblower choices, the fronts are going to be much higher priced because they are more "custom fit". A rear mount is generic 3 point. I believe one of 4shorts mods is a closed circuit TV w/ rear camera so he has the "cheaper" blower without the neck strain and keeps his FEL handy at the same time.

 

[Piston]

I made my previous suggestion based on what you mentioned you would be using, a UTV and tractor. I did not think you were interested in using the truck for snow removal, however, to back up what others are saying, if you have a pick up truck, especially a heavy deisel, there is simply no better and faster way to remove snow...IF...you know what your doing. (especially with gravel roads)

My father has plowed for 40yrs now and is now using a 1ton deisel pick up with a 9' plow which used to be my truck. He's never had a storm he couldn't plow, and can do so much faster than any snowblower I've seen.

At the risk of turning this into another "snowblower vs truck with plow" thread, I'll leave it at that. My personal preference is as I mentioned in my first post, the pull behind blower while leaving the FEL on the tractor. I see this as the idea setup. (again, that is if you dont' want to put a plow on your truck)

 

[treman]

4shorts set up is pretty much the cats pajamas if you do not want to or cant use a truck. I have a coworker that uses the same setup ( power angle plow on front and blower on back) of a l5740 and it works great. you can plow everything in a reasonable amount of time and if you get to areas that are real deep you can use the blower. Also one thing he does is plow a lane and then when he gets to the end he spins around and uses the blower to displace the excess snow instead of making a large pile. This is really nice as then he is left with no pile and minimal furrows of snow for drifts to form off of.

 

[JoeL4330]

I didn't see mention of it, but if you opt for a snow blower on a tractor, I would make sure the tractor was: 4wd, chains on all four wheels if you have any hills, and HST (or a creeper gear) or you'll need to stock clutches and learn how to change them out (IMHO). Cab is highly desirable but pricey and there are makeshift alternatives. Snow blower mounted on the front is nice on the neck but, again, pricey and, hard to find a blower that covers your wheel width ...especially if you have turf tires, which (again, IMO) are much better in snow and work better with chains. If you opt for a truck plow, you can arrange it so that it also works on the front of your tractor. If you go with a plow, then conventional wisdom is "plow with the storm"...the snowblower option means you can wait for the sun next morning. Last piece of unsolicited advice: find out what similarly situated neighbors are doing/using.

 

[4shorts]

Thanks guys for your comments on my tractor. For me it's the perfect set up. The rear blower don't get used much. The only time I use it is inside a fenced compound that I have to keep free of snow. With out the blower I'd have to go in and take ever bit of snow out of the compound with a bucket because there's no place to push it. With the blower I back in and blow the snow over the fence and what used to take 1.5 hours can be done with the rear blower in 20 minutes.
For me personally I'd never get by using a front mounted blower. One reason Is they are just to slow going for my needs plus we get a good bit of wet snow and plugging would be a real issue. With the front angled snow blade it's fast as you can go. Only once was the snow to high to butt through with the blade so I made the first cut with the rear blower and the rest was done with the blade. The blade is a poly type blade so the snow can't stick to it. I do find the rear blower great in driveways where there's no room to push the snow. I don't use chains but I do have rear wheel weights on the machine. 800 lbs worth.
I like the fact that I can drop the blade and pick up my bucket in a few minutes. It's the ideal machine for MY needs. The cab is really nice to have. Yes the cab is a good bit extra on the cost but if your keeping the tractor for many years the cost will be minimal over the life of the machine and you'll have total comfort in with and summer with heat and AC.

 

[flyingcow]

I like 4shorts set up. Think it would work well with your horse farm. The big parking area will clear easy with that type pf set up. Long driveway, windrow snow into middle with the speed of the blade then blow the snow out into woods. But kick it up a notch use this blower? Pronovost- PXPL Snowblowers

 

[radioman]

If you dont want a truck or cant afford one, A tractor with a plow mounted on front and rear blower with a heated cab will the cat's meow to have for nearly your lifespan as long you keep tractor running. I bet that once you have a machine that does it all in warmth - you will never go back as it can handle anything weather throws at you.
Plow for wet stuff- forward regular snow clearing quickly, rear blower in tight spots, no place for snow and deep stuff. If you do it right, you can use the plow to back drag your walking areas to clear snow instead of getting out and use a walk behind. You will find after many snowfalls, its get old so staying on one machine is all you want.