Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Need advice on best way to remove snow
- Thread starter PapaPerk
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kevinj
Veteran Member
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- Jul 5, 2003
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- BX-1860, L3940HSTC, B7500, Farmall M, Farmall 560D
Hello,
I have a brand new concrete driveway. It's approxmately 300' long. My question is the best way to remove snow from it. Obviously any damage of the surface is no good and must be avoided at all cost.
I have 2 machines available. A Kubota 3830 and a Toro 25 hp garden tractor. Temporarly I have attached a rubber scrapper to my grader blade and pull it with the Kubota. Works okay... but doesn't clean real well because I leave it high. The Kubota is a little big to be running up and down my drive.
Another idea is to buy a snowblower attachment for the Toro. This may be my best bet.
So for all you expert snow removal guys out there.... what would you do? Thank you!
I use this..............
on about 300' of concrete and some gravelAttachments
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Papa,
I plow my 200 ft. long concrete drive with a 318 with the 54 in. front blade. I am getting ready to buy the same size blade for my 2520. If there is 1 in. and up of snow on the drive, I have to clear it as it is shaded by white pines on the south side. If I don't get it off, it turns to ice every time. I can clear my drive very fast with the blade angled and I make positive contact with the concrete in order to clear all of it. I am partial to the blade as I am able to clear 1 in or 13 inches. I don't think a blower works as well with small amounts of snow but does do better as depth increases. I have neighbors with self propelled blowers and I usually have mine cleared before they are half done with anything under 9 inches. The tractor mounts may do better. I have not noticed any damage to the drive as the soft metal wear bar is much softer than the concrete. The salt off the car does much more damage! The blade does not catch on the joints as long as it is angled which is almost all the time. As stated, the soft metal wear bar on the bottom of the blade does wear but I can usually get two winters out of them. Either way, it sure beats shoveling! Good Luck.
I plow my 200 ft. long concrete drive with a 318 with the 54 in. front blade. I am getting ready to buy the same size blade for my 2520. If there is 1 in. and up of snow on the drive, I have to clear it as it is shaded by white pines on the south side. If I don't get it off, it turns to ice every time. I can clear my drive very fast with the blade angled and I make positive contact with the concrete in order to clear all of it. I am partial to the blade as I am able to clear 1 in or 13 inches. I don't think a blower works as well with small amounts of snow but does do better as depth increases. I have neighbors with self propelled blowers and I usually have mine cleared before they are half done with anything under 9 inches. The tractor mounts may do better. I have not noticed any damage to the drive as the soft metal wear bar is much softer than the concrete. The salt off the car does much more damage! The blade does not catch on the joints as long as it is angled which is almost all the time. As stated, the soft metal wear bar on the bottom of the blade does wear but I can usually get two winters out of them. Either way, it sure beats shoveling! Good Luck.
Gittyup
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It depends on your conditions and what you want. If you don't get a lot of snow, then a dozer blade is by far the fastest. But, it isn't as neat as a blower. If you are really concerned about damage yet want the speed of a blade, get a real plow blade with shock springs. Your bigger tractor will probably perform best with a blade because it has enough weight to keep traction. The rubber edge is good for both your blade and your drive. You can get front or rear mount. Front mounts can be on your loader arms or frame mount. Some think the loader mounts can damage the loader arms. So don't.
OTH if you have a lot of snow and/or want a clean look without hand shoveling, and don't care about speed on small snow falls then a blower might suit you best. You can get front or rear mount for the bigger tractor. Wind and a blower make for a wet driver. So, you might also want to consider a cab if using a blower.
Don't know much about your Wheelhorse. But, if it's marginal on weight/hp or unless you have tight spaces to work in, outfit the bigger tracter regardless of which way you go.
OTH if you have a lot of snow and/or want a clean look without hand shoveling, and don't care about speed on small snow falls then a blower might suit you best. You can get front or rear mount for the bigger tractor. Wind and a blower make for a wet driver. So, you might also want to consider a cab if using a blower.
Don't know much about your Wheelhorse. But, if it's marginal on weight/hp or unless you have tight spaces to work in, outfit the bigger tracter regardless of which way you go.
forester2
Gold Member
Three questions come to mind: how much snow, what kind of snow (wet and heavy or fluffy, and how much room do you have to push it too? We get a bunch and over the years I've plowed, bucketed, rear bladed and blown. A blower is much easier to distribute the snow around if you have limited room for piles plus I think does a neater job with less damage in my humble opinion.
