Is this going to work?

[crazyal]

I've got a 4240 with a front blower. HP wise it has more than enough. I think it's the smallest Kubota recommends for a 6' blower but I think a 3540 would have no problems. Just an opinion but I think the limiting factor is how much snow that can go inside the impeller. In deep snow (2' or more) I'll start pushing snow if I try to go too fast, lack of power is not an issue.

Trying to find a used open station 4240 with a mid PTO is not going to be easy. From the sounds of it installing it is not easy. The smaller GLs and the cabbed models is easy but not the 4240 from what I've been told.

My driveway is pretty steep, we are a 4wd family. The ideal set up for me is the 4240 with a front blower and a heavy duty 3pt sander (one that can handle straight sand) on the rear. I usually get a dump truck load of sand that'll last me 3 years but I'm still spreading it by hand as I haven't gotten around to buying a good sander yet. I did get a real nice set of chains for the rear tires, almost a must for steep driveways.

 

[Catfish Man]

thanks for the info guys

BTW, the reason I had pretty much narrowed it down to kubota is because I was getting much better prices on the 29-30 hp range tractors from kubota.
Also I have a good kubota dealer not far from my house.

Since I'm looking at a different range now, I will get some more quotes from other brands for comparison.

Color certainly isn't a limiting factor for me, I was raised on red tractors. For the last several years I have been blue. I will go where I can get the features I need at the best price.

 

[Jay4200]

I haven't used one of these for years but make sure you have enough horsepower. Not sure 40 something is enough for six ft. Ask around.

A L4240 is plenty for a 6' blower. You could do 7' if you wanted. I have a 6' rear mount on my L4200, and it could eat a car. I've run through packed in heavy snow up to ~2' without any issues.

JayC

 

[Catfish Man]

I'm currently asking for quotes on L4240 Kubota, and New Holland 3045

Still researching john deere and massey ferguson

 

[Catfish Man]

My current contenders are -

Kubota L 4240

JD 4120

New Holland 3045

Massey Ferguson 1648

I'm interested in hearing from real world owners, especially if you are running a 6 foot front mounted blower.

I'm open to hearing actual pro's and con's of each.

Please don't try to sway me on color alone.

 

[smfcpacfp]

Let me tell you a little bit about my situation. I live on the southern shore of Lake Superior. We get 10 to 30 feet of snow each year, with 95% of that being lake effect snow. I normally have to snow blow 20 to 25 times a year. I have a driveway that, all told is about 600 feet long and 20 feet wide. I have been moving the snow around since 1978. Although many areas have had little or no snow this year, we are about 20% below average and I have ran my blower nine times this winter. Right now we have about 18 inches of very hardpacked snow on the ground and it is 17ｰ.

It appears to me that you have been getting some bad advice from some well-meaning tractor owners.

Fallacy one, If you live in big snow country you need a big tractor. I am a guy who likes big powerful things. In the summertime, I drive a 520 hp Corvette. When they delivered my B3030 tractor and snowblower my comment to my wife was, "I thought it was bigger than that", and I almost went back to the dealer and got a bigger tractor, because money wasn't really an issue for me. Even now when I see a bigger Kubota tractor, I sort of wish I would've bought it. The fact is you don't need a big tractor when you live in big snow country. My neighbor does quite well with his John Deere lawn tractor. When I look at his driveway, it looks great.

What happens when you get a really big snow and you don't have a gigantic tractor? The answer is you take your time, you go a little slower, you take smaller cuts with your blower, maybe only half the width of the blower or one third the width of the blower. Instead of snow blowing my driveway in 40 min., maybe it takes me 55 min. A couple of years ago we had a snow event that lasted for 4 1/2 days nonstop. When you have snow like that, you don't wait until the snow event is over and you are buried in drifts that are higher than your tractor, instead you go out and snow blow every few hours. What are the drawbacks in having a snowblower that is bigger then what you need: everything costs more, it is less maneuverable, and more and taller space is needed for storage.

A heated cab makes snowblowing a pleasurable experience. I love to go out and blow snow, especially at night and when it is very stormy outside. The air-conditioned cab in the summertime makes things cooler, and keeps bugs and pollen out. It is difficult to maneuver a cabbed tractor through the woods, but it can be done.

If I were you I would go for that B2920 that you planned to acquire originally, or the B3030 HSDC.

If you want to see B3030 HSDC looks like blowing snow, check out my YouTube video below.

Kubota B3030 HSDC snowblowing Jan 2012 (HD) - YouTube

 

[leonz]

I'm new to the forum, new to snow country but not new to tractors.

I grew up on a farm, drove tractors before cars. I currently own half of a Ford 1715 but it is 1000 miles away. I have no experience with hydrostatics, but from reading and talking to people, I think that's the way I want to head.

I recently moved to West Virginia from the deep south. I will need something to move snow with before next winter. This year we had a deal with the gentleman we bought the house from for snow removal, but he has health issues so he will not be able to do it next year. Which is really fine with me, because I had rather be independent anyway.

I understand that this has been a very mild winter, I'm told I need to get prepared to move lots of snow. I'm up in the mountains near ski resorts and such. I have about 1/2 mile of gravel driveway between me and the county road, parts of it are pretty steep.

I'm planning on getting a Kubota B2920, with a front mounted blower, loaded R-4's with chains and I will have a rear blade for days when the snow is not deep enough to blow.

This problem invoves power and speed fo work in the two main parts.

You may be better off simply buying a used John Deere 4020 with a wide axle and a good new rear mounted snow caster from Ken Sweet.

The JD 4020 was and is a work horse of a tractor with shuttle shift and ag tires. The issue having enough power for a six or seven foot snow caster and the 4020 would be more than adequate for this.

Unless you buy a rear mount for the B3030 with the cab you will be behind the eight ball with deep wet snow as the front mounted units do not have much ground clearance and when a 4 wheel drive gets stuck they really get stuck unless you have a good winch to hook to a few trees to yank it out-10 ton chain come alongs and good log chain work well.

Edit: the other issue is how thick the tree cover is as yo0u may end up castiing the snow ahead of you untill you reach a clearing to cast it to one side or the other.

 

[Catfish Man]

Rear mounted blower ain't gonna be happening for my application. I will already have inexperienced tractor operators, operating on a steep hill. The last thing I need is for them to be doing it going backwards.

If it was only me, I would go rear mount in a heart beat to save the cash. Unfortunately I'm away from home for extended periods for work. So it's going to be the wife (never run tractor), 19 year old son(run tractor on flat ground in the south a couple of times), and my 18 year old son (never touched a tractor).

I'm thinking heavy wide tractor with front mount blower.

 

[leonz]

Rear mounted blower ain't gonna be happening for my application. I will already have inexperienced tractor operators, operating on a steep hill. The last thing I need is for them to be doing it going backwards.

If it was only me, I would go rear mount in a heart beat to save the cash. Unfortunately I'm away from home for extended periods for work. So it's going to be the wife (never run tractor), 19 year old son(run tractor on flat ground in the south a couple of times), and my 18 year old son (never touched a tractor).

I'm thinking heavy wide tractor with front mount blower.

Well, If that is the case you can do this and save even more money.
If you buy an an L with a cab and purchase a mid mount Power Take Off-
You can order an Pronovost three point hitch mount with a reversing gearbox for your L which would allow you to purchase a wide rear mount snow blower for the front of the L or whatever unit you buy with a mid mount P.T.O.

The Erskine front mounts will work but they are lots of $$$$$$$


You could turn them loose with a pair of 20 horse John Deere Lawn tractors and 44 inch snow blowers, chains and wheel weights and you would be under $8,000.00 with the soft cabs from BERCO.

Or the JD 2305 diesel hydro with an all weather cab and front snow blower.
The tractor is short in height and narrow-but you would need chains even though its four wheel drive.

 

[samandmax]

If you are in Tucker County be prepared for snow! Ag tires or turf with chains and load the tires. Maybe a quick attach snow blade, use some sort of ballast weight on the rear and with the snowblower,some hearing protection. Consider a block heater for the tractor too!