Not enough tractor or bad strategy?

[teg]

...Rework the elevation of your drive so it is the highest relative point to the surrounding area or at least level...

I have areas that "fill in" with snow, 20 inches deep... I look over a foot away at almost bare ground (pasture). So I might be doing the same thing, a more permanent solution.

How far away does it need to be cut back?

 

[gladehound]

How about this, have some fun this summer and do away with snow removal all together. Rework the elevation of your drive so it is the highest relative point to the surrounding area or at least level. Hard to tell from the picture, but I'll bet your drive is below grade to the surrounding fields. There in lies your problem.

I second this idea. :thumbsup: I frequent the Northern Kingdom of Vermont and they can get a lot of snow. Hundreds of inches a year. The first thing I noticed there is that many of the roads are elevated about 4 feet above the surounding fields. People do the same with their driveway. It makes a huge difference with the blowing and when you plow the snow just falls down the bank and doesn't impede plowing for the next storm.

As for the tractor... ADD WEIGHT! You'll not only need it for snow removal, but for all that ground engagement you'll be doing to raise your driveway!

Some thoughts on adding weight:

1. used exercise plates can be bought very cheap. I added over 700 pounds to the 3 pt. with exercise plates.
2. Fill tires, but with those small tires you wont get a lot of weight. Maybe 200 pounds.
3. Add weight other places. I have a 300 pound FOPS. I also leave my loader and bucket on when I use the blade because it adds 800 pounds to the front end.

These are all just inexpensive things you can try before spending real money. If it doesn't work out, then a blower on the rear, blade on the front is the best of both worlds. Fast removal of light snow with blade and you can get through the heavy stuff with the blower. Or something bigger if you choose.

 

[TripleR]

This has been a very interesting thread with some very good advice from people with a lot of knowledge on snow removal. I cannot add anything to the discussion as it has all been covered very well.

All I can add is that after operating tractors for well over fifty years and now owning them from 23 to 85 HP, don't make any decisions on trading until you get enough seat time to learn the capabilities of your tractor. Look at your overall use and not just snow removal. In most though not all cases using one tractor for everything is naturally going to be compromise. A bigger tractor will help in one area, but hurt in another.

 

[Jaylegger]

That seems like a lot of time. A front blade would do that in a few minutes if you have enough weight to push it. A sub-CUT may be able to be set up with enough weight with chains to do a good job with a front blade. My 19 hp CUT does great with a 6 foot blade without chains but it is quite a bit heavier (5000 pounds when plowing).

Considering the OP stated he's been at a 1/4 mile drive for 4 hours it's pretty good. The road I blow has a lot of juts, large turn around areas and driveways feeding into it which I requires extra time and care to do a correct and clean job, if just running 4 passes up and down it could easily be done 1/2 hour or so. However, the time will remain consistent storm after storm after storm and if using a blade it would not. I used to plow with a 7.5 foot blade on a F150 and to do a decent job it would take quite a bit longer than a couple minutes, a few heavy concurrent storms and a blade will take considerably longer than a couple hours. I hired some guys to plow for a couple seasons and they had the couple minute mentality that's why I decided to do it myself again so it could be done, what I consider, right.

Anyway, blades definitely have their place and am thinking about getting one for the tractor for small accumulations and slush. Personally I much prefer clearing snow with a front blower over a front blade and feel overall it's a better tool plus it's the only one you need ie: won't have to don the fel and spend hours and hours moving snowbanks around.

 

[Reg]

I remember staying overnight at North Platte, NE in early April.
Then setting out for Wilson, WY - just west of Jackson, WY the next morning.
I had a long'ish horse trailer on that was empty, there were winds and had been a lot of snow that night.
I think I counted 5 tractor/trailer rigs wrecked in the center median of I-80 before I got to Cheyenne.
I thought I recognized a couple of them as rigs that I had seen at some point the day before, or the day before that.
There are interesting snow breaks built alongside the highway in various places, they seemed very effective at keeping drifts off the highway, though obviously not PERFECT enough for the drivers who had lost their rigs.

I would study those if I had property in that area - whatever else we might think/say about "Engineers" those folk seem to have got it right, perhaps by trial and error, but it works.

 

[Gizmo2]

Couple comments,
1) Don't try and make your tractor something it isn't, and sooooo many people do try. If you get a large amount of snow you are done or at the very least it will be an all day job.
2) I would leave a few rows of the corn standing for the winter (snow fence)
3) I would not even consider a snow-blower, the environment is just too windy loose snow will blow right back in.
4) I would think a tractor with a 7ft - 8ft blade after the initial cleanup, out once and back in....done.

 

[HiTechTed]

Well, I'm glad to see some of you getting seat time. Looks like the snow that usually falls here has decided to go south and NE. Not that I like snow all that much, but plowing is kind of fun! Last year I had massive drifts and only a JD LA115 lawn mower with 4' JD blade on the front to work with. Now that I have something leaps and bounds better, there's no snow here....

 

[slowzuki]

You need a snowblower, and snowfences back 30 feet or so from your driveway, and cut the brush adjacent to the driveway. Plowing makes banks, the banks make the drifts deeper and more work for you next snow.

I clear several driveways like yours, I hate it when my blower breaks because you can plow 5-6 times a day and it will fill back in continuously.

The brush causes the wind to slow down and drop snow in and behind it. This would be good away from your driveway, not right next to it.

I have no idea why the poster above said no snowblower. I've been plowing open country driveways like yours for hmm, 15 years now. I always regret it when I plow one of them and I try to get back asap with the blower to remove the plowed banks. As long as there are banks, it will fill in as deep as the bank is tall.

 

[kevinj]

The OP needs one of these:thumbsup:

I added hyd to the flipper last year.

 

[gladehound]

The road I blow has a lot of juts, large turn around areas and driveways feeding into it which I requires extra time and care to do a correct and clean job, if just running 4 passes up and down it could easily be done 1/2 hour or so.

Good point. I was thinking single lane out and back. I'm just jelious because I'd love to have a 3pt blower in the back and the blade on the front. Would be a sweet combo. :thumbsup: