Front snow blower and rear blade?

[RCbondo]

Just sold my David Brown 780 with FEL and rear 60" snowblower that I've used for 20 years on our 600' gravel drive. I'm now considering a Kubota B2650 with cab and 51" front mount snowblower. Snow is on the ground here from Halloween into May. The packed snow on the drive can be a foot deep and when it thaws in the spring it's a mess so we leave the car at the highway and walk in. I'm considering a rear blade primarily to move the spring slush and minimize the walking but I think it would also be handy at other times during the winter.

I've read enough posts here where people like the combination of snowblower and blade and recommend the blade on angle still extends to or beyond the tires. Short of removing it how do you keep the blade out of the way when not in use? Should I be looking for a blade that when set at its maximum angle does not extend beyond the width of the snowblower? Or can a wider blade be fixed in a position where it will not hit the vertical snow wall left by the blower?

 

[PILOON]

I have a blower and blade setup!
Front blade, rear blower.
My blade is for light snows otherwise the blower is the prime 'go to'.
There is no real 'win win' combination IMHO.

LOL, when blowing my blade always seems to catch high snow banks and pull down some snow and when I am pushing with my blade in a curved area the blower does the same thing.

I'd suggest keeping the blade narrower than the blower as it will still cut away that slushy mess simply demanding an extra pass.
Also most tractor blades won't really curl snow as a truck mounted plow will this due to slow speed vs speedier truck plowing.

Remember U want the blade for mostly that spring 'slush' and that is only a time or two per spring.

I's suggest perhaps adding a side 'keeper' on one side to lessen slush spilling out from both sides and simply pushing that slushy mess off to the open side.
I rigged my blade with one 'keeper' side 'wing' and figure it saves me a good 50% time per plowing.
Without that keeper side plate I had 2 spills to handle vs now only the one.
I found this particularly useful on a largish parking area.

My 'keeper' side is 24" (braced) so it handles a lot of snow/slush B4 it spills and any spills get handled on the next pass.

 

[RCbondo]

Piloon, I do have a curve and that's what worries me. By mid winter my snow bank is a 4' to 5' or higher vertical wall cut by the rear wheel chains. On that curve I figured a rear blade would dig into that wall and give me problems. Doing the math for the Kubota's 54" wheel width, a 60" blade at 30 degrees or a 72" blade at 45 degrees would be under the wheel width.

I like the keeper side wing suggestion to control the slush. Is that an available accessory for a blade or something you had to build?

 

[bigtiller]

I like your blower/blade idea. I don't have to much of a problem with the blade knocking the sides down, but I seldom get snow banks over knee high. If it does happen, I just make an extra pass to clean it up while steering in an ark to keep the blade away from the snow wall. My blade is 84" and the blower is 54" wide.

My concern is the length of the entire rig when the blade is on. There is a lot of rubber-necking going on while close to buildings and such, so I don't destroy anything.

 

[airbiscuit]

Get an offset rear blade that you can swing out past the tires when you need do and not when you don't need to.

 

[oosik]

My rear blade( Rhino 950 @ 8') can be offset well inside either rear tire - left side or right side. This would never interfere with a blower mounted on the FEL. With our MAX snow depth accumulation at around 14" - just lifting the rear blade up gets it out of the way sufficiently. If need be, I can rotate, lock and raise the rear blade parallel to the direction of travel.

 

[RCbondo]

An offset rear blade is exactly what I need! I did not know such a thing existed but it makes perfect sense. That would also help me clean up drifts without burying the blower or rear wheels in the vertical wall of snow I end up with. The picture shows what I am up against by mid winter. Locking the blade parallel to the direction of travel would also be very helpful. Thanks everyone!

 

[atsah]

A rear blade that offsets, tilts and is heavy enough is a hard tool to beat if you learn how to use it..

 

[ArlyA]

What about a sno-go? Photos from last winter taken from our porch. (yes, I'm distracting from the OP question)

 

[atsah]

Snow go bye bye...