Since he got 39" in this storm I suspect the OP is a lot further south than you.
I'm from Vermont and still have ~75 acres in East Fletcher. I could generally plan on not having to shovel snow during summer vacation.
Down here where we got the deep snow in this storm I can often go the entire winter without having to shovel.
Even though now some shoveling is required
![]()
Where? On the east coast where everything is crazy priced? You cannot look at just the expenditure. It took him "all day" just to go 50'. He'll have to do that 26.4 more times. Even if it costs him a thousand bucks, it's money well spent. As far as your assertion of "nothing else to do", that is assuming he has enough fuel on hand to work his machine another hundred hours. If he fries something on his little tractor trying to do a job way bigger than it was designed for, that might cost more to fix than the plow out job.
I would guess that if it took him all day to go 50' he was doing something wrong! Even with a shovel I think I could have done better than 50' in a day and think that giving him advise on how best to work the machine would be the best.
As for paying someone to clear that much snow when you already have a tractor? Absolutely not! Fight your way threw it and take the savings and buy a decent snow blower. He might not even use it for a year or two but when the next storm comes he will be able to dig himself out and not have to spend the money again.
Normal regular customers get a fair price! Everyone who calls and needs squeezed in are at risk to many factors that will be so varied it would take a hole page to explain. But the bottom line is if your not prepared to cover your own butt, then be prepared to pay someone extra to get the job done!
His tractor will handle the job fine but it will take time and patience. I have dug out with small equipment before and even yesterday had my small JD working.
No sarcasm intended at all.....
If he's snowed in, what else does he have to do??? Might as well get at it. Hiring it done would be totally out of the question to me.
I can understand your point owning an M9540. His tractor fits in your wheel well. Hiring someone may very well be his best bet especially if he is running low on fuel or an emergency arises.
I started with a Kubota B2910. I know exactly what he's dealing with. Only condition to hiring for me would be if I didn't have enough fuel. Even then, I'd go as far as I could before calling. As someone just mentioned, he'll buy a decent snow blower for what he's going to pay someone to take care of this.![]()