contemplating a 3pt snowblower.....

[docsfarm]

Found a used dettson 3pt snowblower. 7' with hydraulic chute. Anyone know anything about them? are they any good? 1400$ too much?
I would be running on my Mahindra 5035.
41.5 HP at the PTO.
Is this too much unit? My driveway will be approximately 1/3 mile or so.
Thanks!!

 

[RjCorazza]

Can not comment on dettson, but 7 foot is certainly within your tractors ability.

 

[Reb954]

I don't know anything about Dettson either so can't help you there.

As far as having enough power, it depends on how much snow you get, how wet it is and how many reverse gears you have.

I used to run a 7' blower on a Ford 4400 with 42 PTO hp. I had to let the blower catch up quite often but that tractor only had 2 reverse gears.

 

[JerryK]

I ran a 78" JRW rear blower with my 5035 HST with no problem. The clue is the HST, which allows you to vary speed to match snow depth/etc. The 5035 operator station is wide enough that you do not have much problem sitting sort of side saddle, making it easier on your neck. I have a little 1526, and the operator station is tight... and hard to turn to back up.

 

[RNeumann]

Unless you don’t have the space to push the snow blowers are slower for day to day clearing. You don’t talk about the rest of your setup so maybe you already know this. However, it’s interesting to watch folks buy a blower cuz it’s the “fanciest” or top of the line snow implement. They soon realize facing backwards and going very slow isn’t ideal.

 

[Budweiser John]

Unless you don稚 have the space to push the snow blowers are slower for day to day clearing. You don稚 talk about the rest of your setup so maybe you already know this. However, it痴 interesting to watch folks buy a blower cuz it痴 the 吐anciest or top of the line snow implement. They soon realize facing backwards and going very slow isn稚 ideal.

Exactly. Unless you have a cabbed tractor you will also freeze your -ss off in windy conditions. After fifteen winters I just placed an order for a front mounted snow blade with a hydraulic Angeling cylinder. Driving and looking backwards while operating a rear mounted blower gets real old real quick.
B. John

 

[fishhead]

Exactly. Unless you have a cabbed tractor you will also freeze your -ss off in windy conditions. After fifteen winters I just placed an order for a front mounted snow blade with a hydraulic Angeling cylinder. Driving and looking backwards while operating a rear mounted blower gets real old real quick.
B. John

Exactly which is why i drive forward with my 3pt blower

 

[2458n]

1978 had a real snowy winter in Northwest Ohio. Still some low hour snowmobiles and three pt. blowers left on farms 40 years later.

 

[Stomper]

Exactly. Unless you have a cabbed tractor you will also freeze your -ss off in windy conditions. After fifteen winters I just placed an order for a front mounted snow blade with a hydraulic Angeling cylinder. Driving and looking backwards while operating a rear mounted blower gets real old real quick.
B. John

What He said^^

Only took me two days to realize driving slowly backwards covered in snow, really sucks, and that I want a front blade. I will only use my 3pth blower if I absolutely need to.

 

[RoyJackson]

I could find only a few used Dettson snow blowers in a Google search. I suspect the company may be out of business.
However, as long as it operates OK (so you do want to see it running before you buy), there isn't much that can go wrong...and if anything does, you can probably fix it if you're handy.

Price is good, if it's in reasonably good condition.

I have a 72" rear blower (not a Dettson). Good unit, moves the snow way out of the way so once you've made a pass, it's done. Facing to the rear isn't that bad...best way (IMHO) is to twist in the seat as much as you can. I have a reverser transmission, so once I select a gear and set the throttle, I don't need to be doing much but steer and rotate the chute as needed.
As others wrote, for smaller accumulations (6" or so), plowing is faster. But occasionally, PA does get some major snows.

As far as the cold and snow...cab is better, but if you dress properly, it isn't too bad. Sooner or later, you will get covered with snow...wind changes...things like that. That's why I traded up for a cab tractor, BTW...Vermont winters are too **** cold!

 

[Piston]

Exactly which is why i drive forward with my 3pt blower

That's the ideal setup right there:thumbsup: Which model do you have? You need to post some action photos

 

[buickanddeere]

Much superior to using a blade

 

[fishhead]

That's the ideal setup right there:thumbsup: Which model do you have? You need to post some action photos

i have a pronovost P-74-INV - its on a JD 3720- i really like it- level or down hill ( my drive is steep) i can go 7 mph with 6 or 7 inches of snow uphill a bit less.

My driveway (includes a shared road) runs through some gully areas that are shaded, narrow with sides that rise up so the blower really helps there.

I'll see what i can do about pics, might need my helper for that. I did just plug the tractor in so maybe i can get some in a bit

 

[Piston]

i have a pronovost P-74-INV - its on a JD 3720- i really like it- level or down hill ( my drive is steep) i can go 7 mph with 6 or 7 inches of snow uphill a bit less.

My driveway (includes a shared road) runs through some gully areas that are shaded, narrow with sides that rise up so the blower really helps there.

I'll see what i can do about pics, might need my helper for that. I did just plug the tractor in so maybe i can get some in a bit

Sounds really nice. Top of the line unit for sure. We'd all love to see some pics of that setup. Your helper will figure it out easy enough!

 

[oosik]

I've got a large yard, mile long gravel driveway and mailbox area that I clear of snow. For 25 years I would use my 3-point blower when the frozen berms would close in on things. My first tractor - Ford 1700 4WD - was not heavy enough to clear these berms with its rear blade.

Believe me - using a 3-point blower is "neat" for only the first half hour. Its excessively slow, blows snow everywhere, particularly on you if you have open station and after a couple hours of operation - your neck and shoulders will be so stiff/sore it gonna take a week for you to straighten out.

My new tractor plus HD rear blade will sweep away the frozen berms like they were made of cotton candy. With the Kubota and rear blade it only takes about 2 to 2.5 hours to do all the snow work. It takes about half an hour to clear the new neighbors driveway.

I've never heard of that brand of snow blower. I would be concerned about finding parts for an OOB piece of equipment.

 

[fishhead]

[oosik,
i hear what you are saying but a rear pull blower is a different animal
last night i did a quick job on my 1/2 mile road and 1/2 acre drive, probably took 25 mins all told including some scraping with the bucket on some problem areas. 5 inches of med moisture content snow- for most of the road is was doing 7.5 mph in b range. on the steep uphills it dropped to around 5 mph- took a little longer than normal because i tried to hand hold my phone and record video- added some time due to not driving straight, luckily i did not wreck. Today i did a nice job on the shared road 4 drives 2 med 2 large and 5 pullouts. it took about 1.5 hours at a leisurely pace.

Prior to this i used a front blower on an open station bota - human popsicle time, just as i imagine a rear push would be. Driving forward the blown snow does not get near me. And if i turn the spout down shortly before reversing i get very little in reverse. Super easy and i touch the snow once. Would not want to deal with 3 ft of dense snow with it but what we usually get is small storms day after day, probably like where you live. I do use a rear blade early and late season when its snotty, but it takes longer.


QUOTE=oosik;4944670]I've got a large yard, mile long gravel driveway and mailbox area that I clear of snow. For 25 years I would use my 3-point blower when the frozen berms would close in on things. My first tractor - Ford 1700 4WD - was not heavy enough to clear these berms with its rear blade.

Believe me - using a 3-point blower is "neat" for only the first half hour. Its excessively slow, blows snow everywhere, particularly on you if you have open station and after a couple hours of operation - your neck and shoulders will be so stiff/sore it gonna take a week for you to straighten out.

My new tractor plus HD rear blade will sweep away the frozen berms like they were made of cotton candy. With the Kubota and rear blade it only takes about 2 to 2.5 hours to do all the snow work. It takes about half an hour to clear the new neighbors driveway.

I've never heard of that brand of snow blower. I would be concerned about finding parts for an OOB piece of equipment.[/QUOTE]

 

[docsfarm]

Thanks for all the comments!!
What kind of front blades are you all recommending? I have a rear blade, but that gives the same turning around issues.
I have FEL with SSQA capability. I do have a single front hydraulic available as well.

 

[RNeumann]

Thanks for all the comments!!
What kind of front blades are you all recommending? I have a rear blade, but that gives the same turning around issues.
I have FEL with SSQA capability. I do have a single front hydraulic available as well.

Whatever is close by (no shipping and you can see the quality/Design) and affordable. If you were going out and doing this for a side hustle and or you had a fancy high end driveway surface I’d tell you something different. But the reality is, any of the front blades with trip springs and hydraulic angle will work.

 

[Piston]

With the "pull behind"/Inverted 3 point snowblowers, you are driving away from the snow as you blow it, avoiding the majority of the human Popsicle problem :thumbsup: I've always said that I'll never have a 3 point snowblower until I get a cab, however after finding out about inverted snowblowers, I've changed my mind. I'm just waiting for the 'right deal' to come around as they are too expensive brand new.

 

[RjCorazza]

Thanks for all the comments!!
What kind of front blades are you all recommending? I have a rear blade, but that gives the same turning around issues.
I have FEL with SSQA capability. I do have a single front hydraulic available as well.

I use an HLA 2000 series front blade. It is a nicely made ssqa blade. There are numerous threads here on adapting truck blades for ssqa mounting if you weld (not my bag).
As far as blowers are concerned, it’s certainly true that inverted is overall more comfortable to use. The reality is that any blower is going to get uncomfortable in use with an open station tractor. For just my 600’ driveway using a standard 3 point blower is no big deal on an open station. Being out working all day is a totally different matter, and why I now have a cabbed tractor.