Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Front Blower vs. Rear

[fishhead]

Nope,
It's all behind you and you are driving away so as long as you are backing up you are good to go. Totally unlike front or rear push where you are moving towards the blower. Unless of course you are talking about the snowfall itself, then of course you are correct

I have had no experience with the rear pull, but I would imagine a cab is all but a necessity when keeping a head of accumulation during a major storm?

 

[fishhead]

Probably about as well as plows- Those storms are cool. I used to live on a mountain in Wv and have seen number of storms with 5+ inches an hour (once we were walking during such a period and it started thundering and it literally got to intense to see to walk , only lasted a couple of minutes but it yielded a couple of inches- couldn't see 10 ft. i'm sure i'll never see that again.)
Most areas that get a huge dump in a Noreaster shut down for a couple of days while the roads get cleared by wheel loaders, graders etc. The big storms aren't common any where in the east outside of L.E. regions often they are well forecast, sometimes like this they over produce.
So do you focus your equipment on the few huge storms or the 95% of the events?

I'm not entirely sure how deep you could get through with fresh snow. With chains on all 4, bucket scraping off the top ft or so and blower raised a bit to lessen drag and add weight to the rear wheels the results might be surprising. Drifting would be another matter as that really packs the snow. I've cleared 24-28 inches in march on a neighbors drive that was sitting for the entire winter- not easy but it did it. There's a video of a member KCO (i think) clearing 28 of storm snow with a fairly small tractor.

Fun to guess at but i don't think I'm likely to run into a storm here that will be an issue.

I had a really cool idea v plow front raised a bit and pull rear - expensive but could get through some stuff i bet

I wonder how the rear inverted blowers are wirking in this 36 storm....i like the idea of them, but just have doubts of driving thru deep snow before the blower

 

[The Deerslayer]

Nope,
It's all behind you and you are driving away so as long as you are backing up you are good to go. Totally unlike front or rear push where you are moving towards the blower. Unless of course you are talking about the snowfall itself, then of course you are correct

Yep...I was talking about the snowfall. I always wait till the storm is over with my rear push. Didn't do that once with my open station, and it wasn't pretty.

 

[RoyJackson]

Obviously this week's Northeast storm would be one of those times where the blower would see use if I were still in Dutchess County NY. I really didn't think it was necessary to point that out.

The OP, jdandme, is in north central Pennsylvania...that's an area (like my old stomping grounds, south central PA) that gets hit hard every 2-4 years...they just did, in fact. Most years, a front or rear blade would be adequate for the whole winter...but what a nor'easter rolls through, the blower is the best option, even if it sets some winters. Even if not necessary for snow removal, the weight of the blower is good rear ballast

 

[RickB]

When my blower was unused I had a 7' rear blade attached. Great for pulling snow away from garage doors, mailboxes, etc. and weight.

 

[fishhead]

but its not really a big snow area-Noreaster's tend to hit east and south of there and lake effect to the west and southwest. You may have seen bigger snowfalls in say York or harrisburg than in Williamsport where the average is 36inches and the all-time biggest snow was this last one at 25in.
It's a little snowier up by the border.

https://www.weather.gov/images/ctp/SnowNormals.png

Great link for Pa snow patterns:
Normal Snowfall in Central PA

Given that I would stay with something in a good quality rear push- cheap, can handle extreme but rare events, easy to mount and dismount and combine that with a rear blade (versatile and keeps loader available) or a loader mounted blade.

The OP, jdandme, is in north central Pennsylvania...that's an area (like my old stomping grounds, south central PA) that gets hit hard every 2-4 years...they just did, in fact. Most years, a front or rear blade would be adequate for the whole winter...but what a nor'easter rolls through, the blower is the best option, even if it sets some winters. Even if not necessary for snow removal, the weight of the blower is good rear ballast

 

[fishhead]

Yep...I was talking about the snowfall. I always wait till the storm is over with my rear push. Didn't do that once with my open station, and it wasn't pretty.

i am spoiled where i live, storm snowfall rates are lower-2 inches per hour here is considered snowing hard, less wind than a nor'easter but we get plenty of snow. open station is fine and i definitely prefer it in the summer

 

[Cycledude]

Well I recently bought a new Meteor 72 inch rear mount 3 point hitch type blower, never used a tractor blower before so obviously I have a lot to learn.
My gravel driveway is about 300 feet long with a pretty good sized yard. For the past 30 years have been plowing with a 8n Ford tractor and a rear mounted plow, it worked pretty well but took 2 or more hours. The new blower will be mounted on a LS XR4155 tractor.
The reason I decided against a front mount blower was because I prefer not to remove the front mount loader and the rear three point hitch system seems like a lot simpler way to mount or dismount the blower.

 

[Cycledude]

Someone mentioned using Pam anti-stick spray , this is the first time I heard anything like that, does it actually help ?

 

[airbiscuit]

Meteor seems to be a pretty good blower for the money. I love my 68" Rear Pull Snowblower.