Snow I am such a DA-Snow Removal

cdaigle430 · Nov 28, 2018

Snow storm dumped 10 inches of the heaviest, wettest snow I have ever seen. Each shovel fool was like it had a 50 pound bag at the end of it. I have three snowblowers that were useless, just dribbled the slush out the chutes so I ended up using loader with the edge tamers and a shovel.
Somehow I ended up scratching my wife's car and destroying one 10 foot wall of my 10x10 dig kenel....so angry with myself. his tractor with the snowblower is so long and its hard to keep an eye on everything. I have excellent lighting on the rear snowblower but the front headlights are useless as the loader gets in the way.
trying to figure out how and where to mount LED lights for the front, also have a Berco soft cab that makes it challenging-dont want to poke holes in it to mount the light.

coldsteelva · Nov 28, 2018

You need lights like on a HD plow truck - out wide. Can you find or fab something to mount above and outboard of your FEL subframe?

KennyG · Nov 28, 2018

Based on my experience you need lights mounted high. My OTC soft cab has a hard top which simplified the mounting. Does Berco have a patch kit for making penetrations through the fabric?

ray66v · Nov 28, 2018

Photos?

Is there a place you can attach some brackets anywhere on the front, that could extend up to the roof line?

Or, how about magnetic mount lights? Strong enough magnets, could sit on top of the vinyl, but hold the steel underneath.

oosik · Nov 28, 2018

CD - consider this - - you DID NOT suffer a heart attack trying to shovel that heavy snow - PLEASE, consider yourself lucky. I have a mile long gravel driveway - there were times each year when the snows were so wet, heavy that my PTO, 3-point blower simply WOULD NOT work. It closely resembled hot mush being pushed out a 6" knot hole.

I now have a MUCH bigger tractor now - Kubota M6040 4WD - and a real HD rear blade. There still are times when heavy, wet snows make it a real PITA. These times I may be able to clear a path only 8 feet wide. Just enough to squeeze down the driveway. As soon as it drops below freezing - things will stiffen up and I can open the path to 12' to 14' wide. The use of my rear mounted, PTO driven blower was a real PITA - even under ideal conditions. My neck and shoulders would take three to four days to return to normal after one "blowing session" down the driveway. One of the major reasons I got rid of my original tractor - Ford 1700 4WD - and got the Kubota.

Two days ago I visited a web site that had magnetic based, lithium ion rechargeable flood lights. Of course, I do not remember the name of the site. But you should be able to find the site - Google - "magnetic based, lithium ion rechargeable flood light". They will attach to any steel surface - require NO WIRING on your tractor - supposedly will last 6 to 8 hours on each charge. Man - if you can hack more that 8 hours of plowing at one go - - you have one H**l of a driveway.

Finally - you ARE NOT alone in the plowing of wet snow problem. All of us in the snow belt have at one time or another faced this situation. Keep the faith......

Ah - Ha - - try........ Larsonelectronics.com They have rechargeable, those that you wire into your tractor electronics and the kind I like - those that will plug into your cigarette lighter or power outlet.

irvingj · Nov 29, 2018

Guess we were lucky up here on the hill, daigle-- it was wet, but my blower handled it --just. A few more hundred feet in elevation made quite a difference with the moisture content of the snow, but I firmly believe my lining the discharge chute --AND the fan housing-- with UHMWPE has made a huge difference in that regard.

We also got at least 10". Sorry to hear about your misadventures with foreign objects... Me, I keep hitting my PVC gutters & downspouts....

Rock Crawler · Nov 29, 2018

Toss the rear mounted snow blower in a scrap pile where they belong, buy a front mount or go get a UTV and Warn Plow and be done. Those rear mount blowers are horrible, if people asked first and talked/searched online they would never sell those P.O.S. things.

Get a used UTV, put a winch and plow kit on it. You can get this done for under $8,000. You'll find as many uses for the UTV as you do the tractor. It is smart money spent. If you pile up too much snow, take your tractor/loader out and move it or stack it. You win.

oosik · Nov 29, 2018

Hey - Rock Crawler - ease off. The rear mount snow thrower is a real thing of beauty under almost all conditions. When the snow thrower has problems because the snow is too wet - its no real pleasure pushing the carp around with a snow plow either.

Besides - you can clear snow with a rear blower and a lot smaller tractor. A front plow will, under the same snow conditions, usually take a larger tractor to achieve the same results.

Have you EVER tried clearing a foot of snow off a mile long driveway with your FEL and bucket. I wouldn't wish that chore on anybody.

Rock Crawler · Nov 29, 2018

oosik said:
Hey - Rock Crawler - ease off. The rear mount snow thrower is a real thing of beauty under almost all conditions. When the snow thrower has problems because the snow is too wet - its no real pleasure pushing the carp around with a snow plow either.

Besides - you can clear snow with a rear blower and a lot smaller tractor. A front plow will, under the same snow conditions, usually take a larger tractor to achieve the same results.

Have you EVER tried clearing a foot of snow off a mile long driveway with your FEL and bucket. I wouldn't wish that chore on anybody.

I did NOT say to use a front loader, that is almost as bad as a rear mount blower.

Use a UTV and a 72" Warn plow, as I do. I'll plow anything you can blow in half the time... or less. I can do 15-20 mph throwing snow off to the side.... and the neck and back pain... nope.

Speed, agility, health (neck and back), multi function.... everything about the UTV wins. When I hear of guys with a REAR mount snow blower, in my head I hear "could not afford a front mount". This is because it is very easy to see on forums or talk at a tractor shop and hear over and over that a rear can work, but it SUCKS. If you ever had a rear mount and get a front, you'll realize what a fool you were. So people read and see this, yet still pick a rear mount. Enjoy that. I'll be plowing 10" of wet snow at 15 MPH and done before your tractor has warmed up.

The only time a blower would win over my plow would be if it was a huge snow fall and I ignored it and let more than 18" fall. At some point, if I am stupid and lazy enough, I would get to where I could not push the snow. But if I am not a complete idiot and I get out there every 6 or 8 hours and knock it back, I could handle an end of the world as you know it style blizzard.

Thomas · Nov 29, 2018

cdaigle
Somehow I ended up scratching my wife's car
.......................

Just that alone I would all most call it a day.
Lots of good lighting kits TBNer's have install over the years...try SEARCH.

oosik · Nov 29, 2018

Yes- Rock Crawler - I can see your point. And you are SPOT ON about the neck and shoulder pains. That's one of the main reasons I went to the bigger tractor and heavy rear blade.

In all the years out here - 37 - I can not remember more than a 12" snow fall at any one time. There was one year where I had 42" accumulation but that was the result of many accumulated snow falls.

Still with all the pain and slow going - its a real blast to be able to throw that snow out 40 to 50 feet beyond the driveway.

CobyRupert · Nov 29, 2018

Rock Crawler said:
Toss the rear mounted snow blower in a scrap pile where they belong, buy a front mount or go get a UTV and Warn Plow and be done. Those rear mount blowers are horrible, if people asked first and talked/searched online they would never sell those P.O.S. things.
Get a used UTV, put a winch and plow kit on it. You can get this done for under $8,000.
.

Rock Crawler said:
Use a UTV and a 72" Warn plow, as I do. I'll plow anything you can blow in half the time... or less. I can do 15-20 mph throwing snow off to the side.... and the neck and back pain... nope.

Speed, agility, health (neck and back), multi function.... everything about the UTV wins. When I hear of guys with a REAR mount snow blower, in my head I hear "could not afford a front mount". This is because it is very easy to see on forums or talk at a tractor shop and hear over and over that a rear can work, but it SUCKS. If you ever had a rear mount and get a front, you'll realize what a fool you were. So people read and see this, yet still pick a rear mount. Enjoy that. I'll be plowing 10" of wet snow at 15 MPH and done before your tractor has warmed up.

The only time a blower would win over my plow would be if it was a huge snow fall and I ignored it and let more than 18" fall. At some point, if I am stupid and lazy enough, I would get to where I could not push the snow. But if I am not a complete idiot and I get out there every 6 or 8 hours and knock it back, I could handle an end of the world as you know it style blizzard.

Nice attitude.
To summarize: MY WAY IS THE BEST AND ONLY WAY. ANYTHING ELSE SUCKS! ....AND IT'S A P.O.S.! . People use those sucky P.O.S.'s because they're poor and can't afford the equipment I have! The best solution is to spend $8000!

Did I get that right?

oosik said:
Hey - Rock Crawler - ease off...

:thumbsup:

ZTMAN · Nov 29, 2018

The boys over on the snowblower forum do the impeller kit mod to take care of blowing the wet slush. Basically, the slush does not get blown out because of the gap between the metal impellers and the impeller housing. They bolt/rivit thick rubber pieces on the end of the impellers so there is not gap.
The blowers they discuss are the walk behinds, but no reason it would not work on a pto driven snow blower

cdaigle430 · Nov 29, 2018

KennyG said:
Based on my experience you need lights mounted high. My OTC soft cab has a hard top which simplified the mounting. Does Berco have a patch kit for making penetrations through the fabric?

View attachment 580799 View attachment 580798

Good question, i will check out their site.

cdaigle430 · Nov 29, 2018

I think I waited too long after it switched over from snow to rain but I was working until 5PM.

cdaigle430 · Nov 29, 2018

I have consider front mount but need the loader to move snow at front of driveway for visibility. I have an ATV and 60 inch moose snow plow and it was fun using it but the problem I ran into was once you create a snowbank you and moving it again....I ran out of room to plow snow.

cdaigle430 · Nov 29, 2018

ZTMAN said:
The boys over on he snowblower forum do the impeller kit mod to take care of blowing the wet slush. Basically, the slush does not get blown out because of the gap between the metal impellers and the impeller housing. They bolt/rivit thick rubber pieces on the end of the impellers so there is not gap.
The blowers they discuss are the walk behinds, but no reason it would not work on a pto driven snow blower

The only snowblower I have that worked was my Woodmaxx, but it would only throw\dribble 10 feet. I had 8 inches of snow then it turned to rain for the next 6 hours so the snow was over saturated, I have never seen this much snow this saturated before, never. Loader came to the rescue

My 31 inch wlk behind Husqvarna was worse....My ATV wouldnt push this snow more than 10 feet before it would spin.
I sometimes think Im clever, when mother nature throws something at me a few times that Im unprepared for - I prepare for it for next season. This one was\is a head scratchier and NO snowblower front or rear would handle this stuff well no matter how many RPMS you throw at it. Even if you did manage to throw it 30 feet it would destroy everything it hit.
In this case my loader and edge tamers saved the day but I destroyed the dog kennel panel (Only 60 bucks to replace at TSC anyway). Cant fix it till the spring though. My wifes car-some black touch up paint will work nicely as its only to the primer coat.
So this kinda snow only a good plow or loader is the answer......or make sure you clean up the snow just before it turns to rain.
The LED lights still not sure but I know I need them, bought a set of two from TSC which may or may not work....if not I will try a rechargeable LED bar velcroed to the cab.

ruffdog · Nov 29, 2018

CobyRupert said:
Nice attitude.
To summarize: MY WAY IS THE BEST AND ONLY WAY. ANYTHING ELSE SUCKS! ....AND IT'S A P.O.S.! . People use those sucky P.O.S.'s because they're poor and can't afford the equipment I have! The best solution is to spend $8000!

Did I get that right?

:thumbsup:

I agree....We are all human and we have our successes, failures and budgets.

This rear blower was going through drifts so hard you could walk ON them: The 2nd photo is the equipment we then used to do the open area...can your UTV keep up?

oldnslo · Nov 29, 2018

If magnetic rechargeable could you stick them on the loader arms or cross member behind the bucket? This would put the light out front but if you have trees they could easily get knocked off.