Front or Rear Snow Blower?

[crazyal]

Lately everything has been extremely consequential, but with that aside.............I wouldn't trade my front mount blower for anything(cept a blonde and a 12 pack).............oops, did I say that?:laughing::laughing::laughing:

How about a winter long stay on a beach in the south pacific to go along with those two? :thumbsup:

 

[irvingj]

I'd also vote for the front-mount, if you can swing the extra expense over a rear-mount. And yes, I can put enough down pressure on mine to lift the front wheels off the ground, which is great for scraping a hard-packed or icy PAVED driveway, which I have done (neighbor's house).

And like others have posted, switching from blower to FEL is easy (sub-frame can stay on, though it's also easily removed), but I almost never do that- my blower will chew through some pretty heavy stuff, no problem. About the only time I put the FEL on is when the neighbor next door needs to remove the snow piles his pickup snowplow has built up....

 

[dstig1]

The price for a loader mounted snow blower and a hydraulic pump tank can start at $15,000 depending on the builder.

I can't be 100% certain as memory fades, but that figure sounds high to me. I looked at the Erskine system at the Minnesota State Fair last year, and the figure I recall was about half that (for a hydraulic 3 pt tank/pump and front mounted blower). Still spendy, but if the setup makes sense in your application I don't think that is unreasonable. That PTO driven front blower (non-hydraulic) looks interesting. Setup looks like a bit of a PITA though, and I can't see from the website how it is really controlled.

Yup, mine has a rear mounted 50 gallon, 3000 psi, 15 gal/minute rear hydraulic unit that powers the blower. the tractor itself could not power it. They are spendy,

And here's our chance...GRS - what sort of price range are we talking about here?

 

[grsthegreat]

I can't be 100% certain as memory fades, but that figure sounds high to me. I looked at the Erskine system at the Minnesota State Fair last year, and the figure I recall was about half that (for a hydraulic 3 pt tank/pump and front mounted blower). Still spendy, but if the setup makes sense in your application I don't think that is unreasonable. That PTO driven front blower (non-hydraulic) looks interesting. Setup looks like a bit of a PITA though, and I can't see from the website how it is really controlled.



And here's our chance...GRS - what sort of price range are we talking about here?

Cost about $10,000 for the setup, mind you its very heavy duty and i have lots of snow to move. A similar heavy duty rear push blower ran about $4,700 - $5,000 range from the bids i was getting.

 

[dstig1]

That's in the range I recall - I was thinking I remembered ~$8-9k.

If you have a lot of snow to move, frequently, and will be doing it for years to come, then I see that as a very reasonable long-term investment. Just avoiding the neck trouble would seem to make it worth it...

 

[grsthegreat]

ya, Ive been driving backward for 14 years now. enough is enough. There are days when i have to do that for 8 hours with the old 60" blower. The new one is 78" wide and i can drive forewords. I might have to go a little slower due to power loss in the hydraulic system....but its forewords and in a heated cab. so who cares.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Snow rarely comes when you feel like dealinng with it, but you sure can have a mess for the rest of the winter if you don't. i had my heart set on a front mounted blower for my tractor, but was forced to buy a rear mounted one when I did buy. (Medical issues kept me from shopping when I should have, and there was snow falling when I bought) The first year I only used the blower three times I think, and was still thinking I would trade it for front mounted blower. Last winter was more normal around here, and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up after snow storms. I grew to like having the FEL available, and often used both that, and the blower for the same storm.

 

[Jay4200]

My new tractor is HST controlled, so i can set speed to conditions. i haven't Had it thru a winter yet, but due to neck and back issues (probably due to 8 winters of driving backwards) i recently purchased a loader mounted blower and rear power-pack from Quick Attach. They are kind of spendy, a little over twice the price of a good quality rear pusher model, but my back required it. I actually cant wait till winter

That thing is awesome. Being able to lift the blower up to much up piles is a terrific feature. I see it is hydraulic-powered...does it have it's own PTO pump? There is no way that tractor hydraulics would even be close to being able to run that thing - you'll need at least 25-30HP up at the blower.

JayC

 

[devildog1]

Snow rarely comes when you feel like dealinng with it, but you sure can have a mess for the rest of the winter if you don't. i had my heart set on a front mounted blower for my tractor, but was forced to buy a rear mounted one when I did buy. (Medical issues kept me from shopping when I should have, and there was snow falling when I bought) The first year I only used the blower three times I think, and was still thinking I would trade it for front mounted blower. Last winter was more normal around here, and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up after snow storms. I grew to like having the FEL available, and often used both that, and the blower for the same storm.

I agree with ChuckinNH, It seems the same here in upstate N.Y. We are receiving much more snow over the winter almost like the storms from years past.I have had a front snow blower and it works great. But like Chuck the rear or three point along with the FEL is the ticket for me too.
DevilDog

 

[grsthegreat]

That thing is awesome. Being able to lift the blower up to much up piles is a terrific feature. I see it is hydraulic-powered...does it have it's own PTO pump? There is no way that tractor hydraulics would even be close to being able to run that thing - you'll need at least 25-30HP up at the blower.

JayC

yes, it has a rear mount hydraulic unit with its own pto powered pump