Blower vs Plow

[johnk]

454,
Looks like you're loaded for Bear. Bring on the Snow. Frankly speaking... It really won't be that long before it arrives once again and puts that ICY grip on us. I'm just trying to depress everyone.....Nice setup!

 

[6sunset6]

Thats exactly what I have A plow on front and a blower on back. I use both. The plow is on a QA cause I move firewood around with the bucket or sometimes forks and a big firewood crate. I would send pictures but it does not have either of them on it now. I just put a hydraulic cylinder on the chute . Posted that someplace previous. Cab would be nice .not yet.

 

[WayneB]

I have a rear mounted snow blower and it works fine for me. My driveway / road is around 1000 feet down hill with a few curves. I am going really slow so it is no problem backing up with the blower. I wear my snowmobile helmet with a heated visor and it worked fin last winter. Be prepared to get hit with blown snow as there will be a bunch of it! Cab would be nice with heater!

Wayne

 

[knute_m]

I have about a half-mile of driveway to maintain. We bought this place three years ago. Some is real steep -- so steep I need to use 4WD in my pickup during good weather. I don't have a 3-pt snow blower anymore. If I still had a blower, I wouldn't be able to get up the hill. When I had it on more level ground, I still only used it every three or four years, as most of our snows are 15 inches or less. The rear blade does a good job, and it is real fast.

I bought an older 28-inch walk-behind blower with chains. I figure that if I can't make it up the mountain with the tractor and blade, the old walk-behind will make a path up the mountain and down the mountain almost as wide as my loader.

I've also got chains and loaded tires on the tractor. They are a must for winter.

 

[DrainPondDesign]

We have 900' of uphill gravel drive through some cuts that leave little space to push snow. Our first winter was mild but the drive was only one plow width wide by spring with no place left to push the snow. We bought a 30hp cab tractor with front blower, rear weight box & chains which does a great job of blowing the snow back into the trees. The blower also cuts right through town plow snow banks so we no longer feel the need for a plow or loader to move snow.
The downside is the expense but for us the alternative is snowshoes as we're a long way to anything.

Stay warm

 

[art]

I often like to look at the direction the driveway runs, does the snow normally blow length wise or cross? If it is across then the front blower is a must! As well as a cab! The front blower will give you down pressure unlike a three point so a loader has little advantage as far as scraping.

Pushing snow makes banks and from banks you have drifts! Blowers don't make banks to drif from and it's often been said that with a blower you only have to move it once!

 

[js5020]

I have a plow on the CUT and a blower on the Gravely, hands down I use the blower, no banks, no yard clean up,,,,, go ahead and snow I can blow it 40 feet in whatever direction I choose. I use the plow to help out the neighbors and have a reason to start the tractor in the winter.

 

[Ed_C]

Does tire selection make a difference? Are chains necessary? I suppose you need more "grip" with a plow as opposed to the blower.

 

[Grrrr]

Does tire selection make a difference? Are chains necessary? I suppose you need more "grip" with a plow as opposed to the blower.

I would think you would want as much grip as you could get with either setup. Not just for pushing power but to maintain control when going up hill.

I think you would want chains and filled tires if your driveway can take them.

I know ags will go pretty well in snow (especially with chains) but I think that R4s and chains would be good too.

 

[KennK]

Last winter was my first with my JD3320. I had a rear blade and the front end loader, and I was amazed how well the rear blade did. I drove forward, rather than backward, and used the FEL to do some cleanup.

I'd bought chains for the rear tires, but didn't need to use them.

Like someone said, as long as I stayed on top of the snow and didn't let it pile up too deep the rear blade is well.