OK, we are seeing lots of opinions here;
From the OP's original post,
I live at the end of a 1 mile private road, which is chip sealed. We get anywhere between 0-3 "problematic" storms per year, usually between 4-12" of snow at a time.
The road has some steep parts and camber to it, with deep ditches on the side, and folks with lesser vehicles or lesser judgement always get stuck. Sometimes very stuck. After a day, the snow turns into ice and then
everyone gets stuck for days and days until it melts.
I'd like to set my L2501 up to be able to clear these occasional storms, and I'm torn between:
- 7' rear blade with adjustable angle. Replace metal cutting edge with polyurethane strip. Let the "tilt" link on the 3 point hitch float, either by removing the link entirely or adding hydraulic top/tilt and floating the tilt valve, so that it can follow the contour of the road. Easy to find a rear blade used for $500.
- 7' quick attach snowplow attachment for front end loader, with either hydraulic or manual angle adjustment (I do have the 3rd function hydraulics). Hard to find used around here, would likely buy new.
The rear blade is definitely a cheaper option, and I get to keep my loader bucket or grapple attached for other tasks. I'm worried though that by not having my backhoe or
chipper on the rear of the tractor (both at least 1200lbs) I'll be losing a lot of
ballast/traction. The rear blade also doesn't have the springs of a snow plow, to give it relief if I hit an obstacle. There aren't many potential obstacles on the road, but these things happen. I'm also a little skeptical of how well the tractor will steer when pushing snow with the loader. The front end of this tractor is not particularly heavy, and I've noticed that when I'm pushing things around with the loader (stumps, piles of dirt, big rocks) it doesn't steer very well. It seems like the loader has too much leverage on the tractor, being so far out in front of the steering axle.
My thoughts for what it's worth;
one mile long, lets assume 20 ft wide, to allow 2 way traffic.
For all of you calling for snow blowers, lets think about it for a minute.
The OP's tractor has 19 HP at the pto.
How fast can you travel while blowing snow?
My tractor with considerably more pto hp travels about 1 mph in low reverse,
with an 8 ft blower it will take at least 3 passes to open up a road,
likely 4 passes to get it all cleaned up. So thats at least 4 hours with my large blower and tractor.
If the OP uses a 6 ft blower he will need at least 4 passes more likely 5 or 6 at what speed?
Maybe 1/2 mph with only 19 hp to work with, so it's up to 10-12 hours with a blower.
A 6 ft blade on his FEL at a reasonable speed with his HP pushing snow of say 5 mph and 4 passes
(a bare minimum considering spill off the end of the blade) now we are under an hour. So call it 2 for good measure.
A 7 foot rear blade with hydraulic angle will be about the same time frame.
I have very seldom had any issue with the rear blade not scrapping my tire packed snow
clean.
A front blade either frame mounted or loader mounted will likely have a spring trip which will help protect
the tractor.
A rear blade in my experience while not having a spring trip doesn't have much harm potential especially while driving forward, I know when mine hits large rocks or similar obstructions the blade will bounce over them.
With and 8-12" wet snow fall you will need chains especially on any "steep" spots. Also as far as chains go being on a hard surface and wanting to maintain a decent speed the Euro studded chains such as the Aquiline Talons or OFA or TRYGG studded chains are the only style to consider, excellent traction and a smooth ride.
Also any steep portions should be plowed downhill only, it is much faster and in my mind much easier on your equipment, even if you dead head back up the steep sections to plow or blow downhill you will accomplish much more faster.
With all this said to this point, to maintain a mile of road a plow truck is a much more practical method unless you want to get an 80+ Hp tractor and equipment to work with it. A heated truck cab with wipers and defroster will be much nicer and faster as well as being able to plow in speeds which will cast the snow a decent distance.
Good Luck