Let it snow....

[ndnewbie]

Given I have a nice snowblower (and not much money left after buying it), is there any reason I would want to also want a blade/plow? I just clear out the yard (which is gravel) and a couple of short gravel roads on our little farmstead. Now that I leveled them last winter, I am hoping not to blow quite as much of the Class 5 into the grass this winter.

After a blizzard, the blower is clearly the ticket. Are there circumstances when a blade is better?

 

[Thomas]

I'd say the blower should do the trick..one shot deal if you will...blade would make good ballast or quick clean up for light snow fall.

 

[jabbahop]

I have both and for me the blade comes in real handy late in the season when there is several inches of hardpack snow and ice melting on the base (I have a gravel drive). The blower doesn't do well with the slush but the blade pushes through.

 

[Spudgunner]

I have both and for me the blade comes in real handy late in the season when there is several inches of hardpack snow and ice melting on the base (I have a gravel drive). The blower doesn't do well with the slush but the blade pushes through.

I have had similar experiences. Additionally, early-season snows can contain alot of water and be quit slurpy.

On the flip side...I'm sure you'll gain experience in using your blower with slush/slurp. Early last season I was constantly plugging my blower with slush but I developed techniques which eventually made this occurance a relative rarity.

I do snow removal commercially and feel that both attachments are necessary. If I was not doing this commercially I would probably give the blower a year and then re-evaluate my need for a blade.

The bucket occasionally comes in handy with snow but that is very rare for me.

FWIW, about 99% of my snow removal is on roads that are composed of "roadmix" (3/4 crushed stone with sand).

 

[Mtngrancher]

Just traded my skiddy for a 2007 Toolcat. We average 400 inches of snow at the ranch. I ran tracks on the skiddy with very few traction problems. Do I need chains on the toolcat? I would rather not because part of the job has patterned concrete I would rather not tear up. Most of the snow removal are road base/gravel roads. I'll be running the SB 240 72" blower. Thanks.

 

[ndnewbie]

I like my 72" 240 blower, but how much snow do you get there?? Wow. I have not had any problems with traction on a good surface, but the Toolcat is clearly not an off the road vehicle. A few times I drove off what had become compressed snow, and had a heck of a time getting out.

I have a new addition (which has already proved useful after I found water at the bottom of a ditch I mowed into): A 4000 lb electric winch that I can plug into the trailer receiver, with a long cable. I also purchased a trailer receiver that I can clip onto the lift arm, useful for both moving trailers and for putting the winch up front.

I am looking forward to having it as an option for snow problems as well.

 

[Mtngrancher]

Yeah, we get a lot. We are just below the summit of Rabbit Ears Pass. Great powder for snowmobiling. We had 500" last year. Epic.

Winch for the trailer receiver is a great idea. Which product did you buy? I found a mounting plate that fits in the receiver that gives me many choices for the winch itself. Also, what product for the trailer receiver for the lift arm did you buy and do you recommend it?

Thanks again for the great ideas.

 

[jabbahop]

I live in Vermont and we don't get THAT much snow but we get the changing conditions that make traction very challenging. That and our 15 percent road!

We went with chains and there is no comparison. I got stuck 3 times in one day with the standard tires. Haven't gotten stuck since with the chains.

Some folks on the snowplow forum think that snow tires (studded I think) work well. Apparently the Toolcat wheels can accommodate Truck sized snow tires.

 

[ndnewbie]

I got the 4700 lb WARN Works from Northern Tool. (Item 142002-1806) I would have been willing to go bigger, but it was what they had. One great feature to look for is the 15' extension cord for the on-off switch, so you can activate the winch from inside the cab while operating the Toolcat and driving out. Another thing to keep in mind that if it has a pully, and you have adequate cable, you can double its pull.

The cables to hook the winch to the battery were too short. I cut the ends off of them, and made extensions by joining them to a pair of jumper cables with copper bolts, after cutting one end off those as well.

I was incredibly impressed with the people at Northern Tool. Big store, but I called at closing, and they opened up for me and stayed open a half hour to get me set up. Toolcat had one set of tires in soft mud in a ditch and others on steep bank. I was afraid to leave it overnight, or might have had a bigger job in the morning. Hooked the 4700lb WARN to a tree with a pully, and it came right out. I was really happy. Brought them cookies the next day for the break room.

 

[timm9]

In a perfect world with all flat roads/driveways chains are not necessary with the TC's. Most of the time we run chains on the rear and run chains on the front only when we have to. FWIW you might look into the large "cable chains". These are not the typical cables you put on a car. I'm referring to the kind that they run on fire trucks and semi trucks. They tout that they can run over 300 miles on dry pavement without repair. I have been looking at them for the TC's as they are only $130.00 a set. I just bought 200 feet of harden case cross link and with shipping it was almost $1,000. The money is bad enough but the time and energy (you can only cut the bulk chain with a O/A or plasma torch) to rebuild regular chains gets old. They will only work on regular road tires as their long life is due to the cross links rotating as the wheel turns. Snow tires with agressive "lugs" will not work. I have a source if anyone wants it.

 

[Spudgunner]

I use chains on all tires all the time during snow season. I tried without chains but it was a definite no-go. If/when you use chains, make sure you secure any chain ends well so that they don't take off the zerks on top of the A-arm balljoints. I didn't have mine secured well and after snow season I had to make an appointment with an easy-out to remedy the problem. Unfun.

I use all-season LT235/75-15's (cheaper chains/better ground clearance) on my TC in the winter and switch back to stock 27" tires for the other 8-9 months of the year.

 

[timm9]

Good advice Spudgunner...

I use zip ties once the chains are properly installed and tightened so the "latch" can't come loose!

 

[Mtngrancher]

I've decided to be prepared for both scenarios. I've purchased a new set of Bobcat wheels and have bought Michelin Latitude X-Ice winter tires for them. I'll let you know how they work on the concrete as well as frozen gravel roads once the snow flies. As a back up, I've purchased a set of Pewag ladder chains to put on the 235/75-15 michs if I have problems. I also have added a hitch receiver based winch to pull me out of the ditch if I'm so fortunate to end up in one while singing to Rascal Flats while clearing snow...

The reviews seem to say that these snow tires are as good as studded. I'll report to the forum once I have experience.

 

[timm9]

You will also find that the locking differential and boom can be quite helpful in extricating yourself

 

[Mtngrancher]

You will also find that the locking differential and boom can be quite helpful in extricating yourself

Just to confirm, the locking diff only turns on when 4WS is turned off. No switches, it is on automatically?

Thanks

 

[timm9]

I'm not sure about the other "series" i.e. C & D, but on the B series you have to push and hold the Diff Lock button and I believe that AWS needs to be off. When you release the Diff Lock button, the Diff unlocks automatically. When asked about this feature, the dealer told me that they had issues with folks leaving the diff lock on.

 

[ndnewbie]

Blower question: Of all my attachments, I have most difficulty with reading the tilt of my snowblower. Since I blow on gravel, I want the back pads on the gravel, and the front blade an inch or two off the surface. Has anyone found any good cheats/instrumentation for reading this?

I can't just set it once, since I have a couple of steep rises in the yard. Last winter I just tipped it forward till I heard it blowing gravel, and then backed off it bit. That lead to lots of gravel in the yard, and raking this spring.

I don't know if it would be possible to put pads in front, but that would mean I would not be able to get down to concrete where we do have concrete.

In writing this I thought of mounting a clear tube to the side of the blower with a tennis ball inside, like a big level, but it would get covered in snow in a second. Maybe a piece of rebar sticking up from the passenger side would give a better visual marker of which way it was tipped. Anyone ever address this problem?

 

[timm9]

I had the same problem running the first TC in 2004 with both a blower and bucket. I was spoiled by the "bucket indicators" on my CAT & Case Loaders. I ended up "testing" myself by raising the blower and setting it down, then getting out and looking at the angle of the edge, then looking at the position of the blower shute from the cab. After a few tests I had a pretty good feel for the orientation of the shute to the edge.

I guess you could build and indicator at the end of the boom "hinge point" before the quick attach plate. I have not seen or heard of any other method so far... If you come up with a better method, indicator, etc. please share.

 

[3Bladz]

maybe hang some sort of pendulum above the blower with some marks painted on the blower to be kind of like a bucket level indicator.

 

[ndnewbie]

I wonder how it would work to bolt a 5' piece of rebar vertically to the the passenger side of the blower at an exact 90 degree angle to the bottom of the blower. If a person could dangle from the top of that a second, 2' length of rebar on an axel to act as the pendulum, then when the two were lined up, the blower would be level. With rear pads, the front would be about 2" off the ground as well.

I can't think of why the rebar would be in the way much, except perhaps getting bent if the blower is driven into a drift. I might give it a try.