Snow moving snow w/ loader?

[Anonymous Poster]

I'm retiring my JD 400 and considering a BX for 3 acres of mowing, winter snow removal and misc. projects. My drive is about 100 ft. long chip and seal.
Have 2 acres of woods so may use for dragging out dead trees for firewood and maybe clearing a path. Also like the idea of loader for carrying mulch and river rock for landscaping, etc.

Here's my question. Can I do a good efficient job of snow removal with a loader rather than buying a front blade or blower and the mounting attachment? I'd rather spend the $$$ on a loader which would be versatile all year round and, of course, more fun.

I've noticed lots of people listing their setups with loaders and not snow blowers or front blades.

Also how about snow removal with a rear blade which would be inexpensive and leave room in my budget for the loader?

Thanks,

Randy

 

[Mike H]

I can offer that loader and a rear blade are what I'm planning to use. Since I've been able to get away with a 48" plow on a JD 425 for a while, I figure a 68" loader and 72" (or 84", I haven't bought the blade yet) will be nothing but improvement. From what I've been able to gather, the real answer to this lies in "how much snow?". I'm just outside of a Lake Effect Snow region and only get 40-80"/year. This really isn't that tough to move and there are a lot more people around here that push it than use a blower. I'll be able to give you a voice of experience in about 6 months - shoot, this seems to happen every year.

 

[Thomas]

A front end loader removing snow can be fun also good way to help with the cabin fever.
I just hitch my 6 foot plow to my {home made frame and Ford plow} bucket,and what use to take a couple of hours now takes 30 to 45 mins and the plow does a better job.
Also with the plow your able to push the snow back further and not get stuck,and if you set your shoes 1" on the plow there will be less damage than the front end loader will cause.

How often would you use the sno-blower compare to the bucket loader during the year?

Keep up the good home work. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif


Thomas..NH

 

[TomG]

Maybe a 100' drive would be manageable with a loader, but it could get to be a lot of work for snow falls over 6". What I find is that snow doesn't clear off the front of the bucket very well. If there's much snow, it just keeps piling up in front of the bucket until I bog down. Then, I have to pick up a few buckets and dump them somewhere. I do use turf tires, but the traction is pretty good on gravel.

However, I wouldn't be without the loader during winter. I use the loader, floated on the back of the bucket, until the gravel freezes. Anything else tears up the gravel. Narrow skids on a blade or blower just cut grooves until freeze-up. In addition, if you run out of space to push snow, it has to be stacked. It's sort of tough to move snow, once it's been plowed into a berm and sits for awhile. Without the loader, I'd have start winter by pushing plowed berms half-way across the yard just to make sure I wouldn't run out of space by spring. Pushing snow across the yard is sort of hard on the lawn.

For myself, I don't mind going backwards, and I wouldn't like changing between a front blade and loader bucket. I also wouldn't like destroying the lawn be pushing snow over it. So, I have a 3ph blower, but I might have considered a rear blade if I lived in a lighter snow area. Many people who plow with rear blades turn them around and plow backwards. The steering also is a lot better with snow removal equipment on the 3ph rather than the front.

 

[ejb]

I almost bought a pto blower for my JD5410, but instead decided to try one winter w/out it and see how the snow removal went. I am happy to say, the loader did an outstanding job for me, and I won;t waste my money now on a blower or a blade (unless I will also use the blade for something else).

I have a long driveway (about 1/4 mile), paved and mostly uphill; I also live in a spot where we get a fair amount of snow (the hilltowns of western, mass). It may be that my tractor has so much power that it could compensate for the snow that would pile up in front of it, but I can't imagine that with a 100ft driveway, and a smaller tractor/loader that you couldn't do a decent job of keeping it clear. SO what if it takes a few extra minutes, its not like its an unpleasant task.

If I had to plow snow commercially, I would choose a loader/tractor combo, but it works just fine for me doing my own place.

Good luck.

 

[Dick]

Works fine. "Paint" your loader bucket with slip-plate before the winter storms hit (snow doesn't stick as much) and get yourself a rear blade for cleanup.

 

[TomG]

Somebody else mentioned the no-stick stuff, but I thought it was a spray. I'll get some, since snow does stick to the inside of my bucket.

I'm happy if heavy snow removal with a FEL works for some people. I'll repeat, it doesn't work for me. Maybe the difference is the temperature here, and that I'm on gravel rather than pavement. The tractor is 24 PTO HP and weighs over 3,000 lbs. The bucket is around 5', and I've mentioned the turf tires.

My plowing problem is snow sticking to snow, not to the bucket. Once the bucket is full, snow is pushing snow. I end up pushing a bucket high pile about 8' straight out ahead of the bucket before traction breaks. The snow just doesn't dump to the side like it would with an angled blade. Usually I float the boom and curl the bucket up so it rides on the bottom. I have curled the bucket down, but the blade doesn't extend that far beyond the bucket top. I end up filling the bucket from the bottom.

Our drive is about 200' and I use both blower and loader. I do plow lighter falls with the loader, but I wouldn't want to depend on it alone for an entire winter. I think it could be a lot of work.

 

[Roy]

We had three storms this past winter in the 8" to 16" range. BX with a rear 5' blade worked great... cheep alternative to blowers or front blades. Go for the loader (must-have toy) and a rear blade.

 

[Kubota-monkey]

REAR BLADES WORK VERY WELL IN SNOW REMOVAL... I KNOW WITH AN AVERAGE OF 200 in a year

 

[TomG]

My neighbour uses his back blade on a Case farm tractor, and it works good. Now that I have a box scraper, I'll probably try some plowing with the rear cutter this winter. I figure that the scraper should float on its side plates after the gravel is frozen. I understand box scrapers, used forwards, are good in parking lots. They can drag snow out from between parked cars without dumping snow underneath them.

Another neighbour uses a big hand blower on his drive and yard that are similar to mine. He spends a lot of time at it though. I did blow out his highway entrance once when they were away because I realized he wouldn't be able to get his truck off the highway and it would take him a lot of time to clear the drive.

Many things work. For me, I'll probably stick with the blower most of the time. Even though I get covered with snow cause I don't have a cab, I like being able to blow the snow 30' - 40' into the yard and don't have to worry about pushing ice walls around.

A blower also probably is safer for me since I have to clear a highway entrance. I can't push snow onto the highway, or leave piles on the shoulder. The blower minimizes the time I have to spend working near the highway. It's easy just blowing the snow to the side of the drive and into the highway ditch.

For me, plowing with the loader bucket is the most work. However, I wouldn't be without it. It does the least damage to the drive before the gravel is frozen, and I do have to stack some snow. In the context of what works for me, a front blower would be the least useful, but the 3ph blower was worth the expense.