Snow BX snow thrower vs loader?

Scrounger · Feb 15, 2007

Regardless what everyone will say its money question. I use the FEL and RB on my BX2230 to clean a lot of snow. It works well BUT I end up with lots of piles all over. If I had the money, a rear blower and FEL would be my choice. If I had tons of extra money it would be a front Kubota blower but since I have a Woods BH ob my BX, I don't think the Kubota front blower would be able to be installed due the additional sub frame that is mounted.

In a nutshell, if you have the green, you will never be unhappy with a blower. We only see 40" max a year in my area of PA, so I can live without it. If I was anywhere in upstate NY, I'd have a blower.

Musclford · Feb 16, 2007

Scrounger said:
Regardless what everyone will say its money question. I use the FEL and RB on my BX2230 to clean a lot of snow. It works well BUT I end up with lots of piles all over. If I had the money, a rear blower and FEL would be my choice. If I had tons of extra money it would be a front Kubota blower but since I have a Woods BH ob my BX, I don't think the Kubota front blower would be able to be installed due the additional sub frame that is mounted.

In a nutshell, if you have the green, you will never be unhappy with a blower. We only see 40" max a year in my area of PA, so I can live without it. If I was anywhere in upstate NY, I'd have a blower.

I agree that if money was no object, I too would buy a front mounted blower..
But cost is a huge concern of mine and my neighbor has the 2230 with the front blade.. He has to remove the deck to use it (Even if he wants to push dirt for some reason) The FEL is SO dang easy on the BX it isn't funny..and with the exception of angling it, I can do everything he does and more........... I can carry snow away and pile it...when he couldn't.. Very helpful when the icy stuff gets built up in front of the drive from the plows..

And what I tend to do is when the snow gets banked so high, I merely raise my FEL 3 or so foot up, and push the top snow further.. Granted I haven't had 2 10" snows within the same week so I'll have to wait and see, but I've used the FEL so much around my property already the I can't see owning this thing without it..

If I could pick up a rear moutned blower for 500.00, I can easily see myself doing that... 1 good season, and I could justify it by cleaning drives... not counting my own..

Good luck,,,

Choices, choices.....Only you will know what best fits your application...

Phil

fishpick · Feb 16, 2007

Scrounger said:
If I was anywhere in upstate NY, I'd have a blower.

That's what I'm thinking... here's my story...

We live in Upstate NY where we just got around 20" of white joy.

So - last night we went and looked at the house we bought and move into in June... The driveway is just a hair under 1/3 of a mile long... A nice drift in the current owners driveway consumed and stuck 2 full size tucks with plows - over 8' deep this drift was... needed a full sized loader to pull them out and plow them out...

SO - I'll have a plow truck... but for this drift that forms yearly (they didn't put up the snow fence this year) - what makes more sense - a front mounted blower or a rear blower - and how big - on my BX24.

proudestmonkey · Feb 16, 2007

fishpick said:
That's what I'm thinking... here's my story...

We live in Upstate NY where we just got around 20" of white joy.

So - last night we went and looked at the house we bought and move into in June... The driveway is just a hair under 1/3 of a mile long... A nice drift in the current owners driveway consumed and stuck 2 full size tucks with plows - over 8' deep this drift was... needed a full sized loader to pull them out and plow them out...

SO - I'll have a plow truck... but for this drift that forms yearly (they didn't put up the snow fence this year) - what makes more sense - a front mounted blower or a rear blower - and how big - on my BX24.

I'm no expert, but with that kind of drift to deal with, no snowblower will do any good at first. You'd need to use your FEL to cut a path and dig down. So, maybe a rear blower so you can leave your FEL on to dig into large drifts. That'd be my suggestion.

LBrown59 · Feb 16, 2007

Musclford said:
My neighbor has the 2230 with the front blade.
1* He has to remove the deck to use it (Even if he wants to push dirt for some reason) 2*The FEL is SO dang easy on the BX it isn't funny..and with the exception of angling it, I can do everything he does and more..........
3* I can carry snow away and pile it...when he couldn't.. Very helpful when the icy stuff gets built up in front of the drive from the plows..
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

1*By having a front blade on my Cub Cadet and my Bolens I don't have to remove the FEL or The 60''MMM from my BX23 in order to use a front blade.
2*If I need to angle plow I use the Bolens Or CC.
3*Who wants to take the Front plow off and reinstall the FEL on a BX so you can do that on a 6 degree day like it is here now?

LBrown59 · Feb 16, 2007

fishpick said:
That's what I'm thinking... here's my story...

We live in Upstate NY where we just got around 20" of white joy.

So - last night we went and looked at the house we bought and move into in June... The driveway is just a hair under 1/3 of a mile long... A nice drift in the current owners driveway consumed and stuck 2 full size tucks with plows - over 8' deep this drift was... needed a full sized loader to pull them out and plow them out...

SO - I'll have a plow truck... but for this drift that forms yearly (they didn't put up the snow fence this year) - what makes more sense - a front mounted blower or a rear blower - and how big - on my BX24.

How about a blower on a pick up truck > ?

kwolfe · Feb 16, 2007

fishpick,
I would also say rear blower. If looking behind you doen't give you any trouble, I would think that having the blower and FEL would be the best setup. You could level the drifts with the FEL and then use the blower to send the snow far away.

ByronBob · Feb 16, 2007

kwolfe said:
fishpick,
I would also say rear blower. If looking behind you doen't give you any trouble, I would think that having the blower and FEL would be the best setup. You could level the drifts with the FEL and then use the blower to send the snow far away.

I plan on getting this exact set up when money allows. After this am I need a RMSB to help the FEL.

It's getting too deep to manage with a FEL alone.

Northland · Feb 17, 2007

I think it's a question of how much snow you get at a time, type of snow, the amount of snow for the winter, what your property/drive is like and money.

We have had 50" of snow (lake effect snow of Lake Superior) in the past 10 day or so. I am using a 60" bucket on my FEL along with a 6' rear blade. The combo works great for 6" or less of snow at a time but we got 16" twice in the past week and the rear blade bogged down so fast it was useless so I had to use the FEL and that took more time and didn't leave a nice clean finish like the rear blade. I also want to keep a trail around my property cleared for walking the dogs but that has proved impossible as the amount of snow has my B7800 tires spinning uselessly. So, I ordered the v-bar ladder tire chains from tirechains.com. I am going to put them on tomorrow and I figure that will solve all my problems other those ever growing mountains of snow around my driveway.

The FEL allows me to safely and efficiently clear the snow around my deck, garage, house and all the snow I have to pull off my metal roof with a roof rake. If I had a front blower on my B7800 I would have to do a lot more shovellng by hand then I do now. I do believe a rear blower with the FEL up-front is the best solution, at least for my needs, but like the rear blade the blower won't be so great when you get a major dump unless the tire chains give me the traction I need. I just have to break-down and spend the $ on the blower...maybe next year.

LBrown59 · Feb 17, 2007

What you need is a Flame Thrower !

Northland said:
I think it's a question of how much snow you get at a time, type of snow, the amount of snow for the winter, what your property/drive is like and money.

We have had 50" of snow (lake effect snow of Lake Superior) in the past 10 day or so. I am using a 60" bucket on my FEL along with a 6' rear blade. The combo works great for 6" or less of snow at a time but we got 16" twice in the past week and the rear blade bogged down so fast it was useless so I had to use the FEL and that took more time and didn't leave a nice clean finish like the rear blade. I also want to keep a trail around my property cleared for walking the dogs but that has proved impossible as the amount of snow has my B7800 tires spinning uselessly. So, I ordered the v-bar ladder tire chains from tirechains.com. I am going to put them on tomorrow and I figure that will solve all my problems other those ever growing mountains of snow around my driveway.

The FEL allows me to safely and efficiently clear the snow around my deck, garage, house and all the snow I have to pull off my metal roof with a roof rake. If I had a front blower on my B7800 I would have to do a lot more shovellng by hand then I do now. I do believe a rear blower with the FEL up-front is the best solution, at least for my needs, but like the rear blade the blower won't be so great when you get a major dump unless the tire chains give me the traction I need. I just have to break-down and spend the $ on the blower...maybe next year.

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