Not enough tractor or bad strategy?

[Reg]

Had my first real snow and I failed to get out of my 1/4 mile lane. We had about 8 inches come down, I cleared that ok..then the wind came in. Overnight some parts of my lane piled up to 20-25 inches. I worked at it for about 4 hours and by time i got one spot clear the wind would cover it back up in a few hours. I had a hard time getting up my hill to try blading on the way down. After the wind died down I went back out and had a heck of a time. In the end I was bailed out by my neighbor with his Deere 8300 and massive rear bucket. It was very emasculating. Sitting there on my GC I felt like I just walked out of an NFL locker room shower.

I have a Massey GC2400 with an FEL and 4ft rear blade. The Blade would load up with snow and stop the tractor, the FEL was ok but I had nowhere to pivot and dump. I admit it, I am a city boy who just moved to the country and i have no idea what i am doing but I am willing to learn.

What am i doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Should I switch to a blower set up? Should I get a bigger tractor? Should I bribe my Neighbor with my excellent cooking?

HELP!!

Worry not, Ya done good.
It takes practice, even with bigger tractors.
With a BIG tractor maybe you would never get good at it.
SOME small tractor owners can do pretty darned well in snow, but not their first time out (-:
You can develop a sense of how much you can get in the FEL bucket before you need to dump.
On open ground like that with a narrow tractor, just think "herringbone pattern" and it will come to you.
Don't try to "pivot", just go off the center-line enough to get off your trail, probably less than 30 degrees.
You will be "fanning out" as you gather and dump, perhaps to one side, perhaps to alternate sides, depends on the wind.

I would only use the rear blade for final clean up.
I would turn it around for a while, i.e. with the curved "back" to the snow, at least until you've had a bit more practice.
Instead of digging in and stopping the tractor it will ride up and over the tough spots.
OK, so you will need a few more passes, you will still be scraping SOME snow off.

Like I said, PRACTICE !
That and PATIENCE (-:

 

[flusher]

THANKS EVERYONE. And thanks for the nice comments about the house. If you are ever in Murdock, NE stop by (not in the winter unless you bring your tractor:laughing

Seems like we learn something new everyday since we moved to the country. We were cleaning out one of the outbuildings in the summer when we first moved in and we found rolls and rolls of old wooden snow fence. I shrugged it off and said "they must have hard winters back then". Well "they" now "us" still have hard winters it seems. Next year we will be putting up fencing as soon as the corn comes down.

This is what the place looks like minus the snow. Thank you again for all the advice.

Gio

Beautiful old farmhouse. Reminds me of my grandparent's place in central Wisconsin.

 

[tommu56]

I just scanned the thread and didn't see any one recommended snow fence.

That would be my first line of defense for a wind swept area.

even a couple in a line if its always bad.

With the rear blade you have to have a place for the waste to go!

tom

 

[ray66v]

We were cleaning out one of the outbuildings in the summer when we first moved in and we found rolls and rolls of old wooden snow fence. I shrugged it off and said "they must have hard winters back then". Well "they" now "us" still have hard winters it seems. Next year we will be putting up fencing as soon as the corn comes down.

If you don't still have the snow fence, the orange plastic stuff works fine, and is a lot less work to haul around, and store.

Note where the bad areas are for next year. Set the fence about 50' back from the drive. Put the fence on the windward side of the posts, 10' on center, or less. Really bad areas may require two rows of fence, aprox. 30' apart.

Once you get it figured out, you may only have to plow occasionally. Even when you do get lots of snow, the wind will do a good job of blowing it away, instead of blowing it in.

 

[bp fick]

I just scanned the thread and didn't see any one recommended snow fence.

That would be my first line of defense for a wind swept area.

even a couple in a line if its always bad.

With the rear blade you have to have a place for the waste to go!

tom

Snow fencing got mentioned more than once.
Strategic placement maybe? 1/4 mile of snow fence up in fall, down in spring??

Not a whole bunch of fun, but hey, as long as the beer holds out, maybe some buddies would help.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yes a bigger tractor can do it easier and quicker but your small tractor can do it if you have time a patience plus the proper equipment. First thing I would do is install snow fence in the winter down the drive. A 3 point blower is also a good tool along with a front mounted blade in lue of the FEL bucket.

Chris

 

[jenrow33]

For my drifts here in Michigan I have found the loader to be most effective and piling at an angle downwind is a must. Final cleanup with the rear blad gives a nice, clean finish. I recommend keeping what you have for a season or two and deciding after you've had some practice.

Although, if you want to swing for one, a 3ph blower rocks through drifts. If you've never used one, you would be amazed at what a small tractor and blower can do!

 

[851 roger]

I think I'd call in sick
build a nice fire
get a hot drink, nice chair by the window
and just enjoy doing nothing.
( it's okay to do that ya know )

 

[JDGreenGrass]

You have a tough row to hoe right there.

I would recommend a 3pt. snowblower. I think you could handle a 54" blower.?? That would do it but, it will take a while to get the job done.

What you really need is a 30 to 40hp tractor with a front blower. And a cab.

Personally, I would choose that set up over a plow truck. A blower rids the snow. Go into once and it is gone. Very efficient.:thumbsup:

Honestly, I think the tractor is too small for the task.

 

[gladehound]

If I were you I would use this as justification for a monster tractor!

But if that's not in the cards right now and you want to make due for a while without spending money I'll just say a few things as a fellow small tractor owner who also started out with a rear blade.

1. Find a front blade (night and day compared to a rear blade) - I got one for free out of a feild. Looks horrible, works great!
2. Chains
3. add weight
4. add weight
5. add weight
6. Finally, and this may be my most important advice! Find out what kind of beer your neighbor likes. :thumbsup:

But seriously, It's surprising what properly set up little snow tractor can do!