Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Plow on truck or buy a tractor

[flyingcow]

akraven, what part of the country you located?

And i agree with Roy.

 

[akraven]

Flying Cow I am in Alaska.

RoyJackson Thank you for the repsonse. Call me a sissy but my concern with a rear mount Snowblower will be having to back down the hills to blow the snow. Its downhill from the house to the road. I am pretty leary of backing down slickhills. Unfortunately all the solution require alot of money
Newer plow truck
Front mount PTO snowblower
Heavier tractor.
Nothing cheap there.

 

[Martian]

Flying Cow I am in Alaska.

RoyJackson Thank you for the repsonse. Call me a sissy but my concern with a rear mount Snowblower will be having to back down the hills to blow the snow. Its downhill from the house to the road. I am pretty leary of backing down slickhills. Unfortunately all the solution require alot of money
Newer plow truck
Front mount PTO snowblower
Heavier tractor.
Nothing cheap there.

I say a REAR mounted 3pt PTO snowblower is your best option. A lot less than the ones for the front but work equally as well. And IMO I will never have a plow truck on something I care about as it absolutely kills the standard suspension and if you upgrade and take the plow off for summer you have a very bumpy ride.

 

[TimberXX]

Flying Cow I am in Alaska.

RoyJackson Thank you for the repsonse. Call me a sissy but my concern with a rear mount Snowblower will be having to back down the hills to blow the snow. Its downhill from the house to the road. I am pretty leary of backing down slickhills. Unfortunately all the solution require alot of money
Newer plow truck
Front mount PTO snowblower
Heavier tractor.
Nothing cheap there.

Have you considered the 3 pt blowers that you pull. They are cheaper than the front mounts, and you don't hurt your neck.

 

[akraven]

TimberXX are you rferring to the 3PH mounted ones? I have never heard of a tow behind before.

 

[number two]

Erskine makes rear pull snow blowers.Check'em out!

 

[Martian]

What I believe is being refereed to is the rear mounted snow blowers that face toward the tractor so you still drive forward and the snow enters the blower - instead of the blower facing away and backing up. To me it doesn't seem like a great idea because in deep snow I'd afraid I'd loose traction.

 

[akraven]

Number two I checked out Erskines website and could easily go broke on there.
MTM I did find those on the Erskine site. I do have to agree with you that driving into the unplowed snow could lead to getting stuck. Definitely nice not having to look over your shoulder though.

 

[RoyJackson]

Number two I checked out Erskines website and could easily go broke on there.
MTM I did find those on the Erskine site. I do have to agree with you that driving into the unplowed snow could lead to getting stuck. Definitely nice not having to look over your shoulder though.

Easy way around that is to not wait until the snow is so deep that you'll have traction problems.

Since the OP discussed a Deere 790, and I have owned one of them, I'll use that tractor as an example.
Now, I don't have a blower...not enough drive to justify one and not enough frequent heavy snows here in south central PA. However, when we do get one of those Nor'Easters (12" plus accumulations), I'm out there when it's 6-8 inches on the ground for my first passes.
Each of you can determine the best time to go out, depending on the size of your tractor, tire type, chains or no chains and if the snow is dry (light and fluffy) or wet (heavy).
But what you don't want to do is wait until the snow is so deep, you know you're going to have problems...

 

[flyingcow]

Just a set of chains for the rear tires and a rear mount blower, and you're ready to go. Majority of time i don't snow blow until the storms over. Couple of feet the rear mount will handle it. Haven't had a good 36 inch storm for quite a few yrs. But i have snowblowed 4ft drifts.

 

[TimberXX]

What I believe is being refereed to is the rear mounted snow blowers that face toward the tractor so you still drive forward and the snow enters the blower - instead of the blower facing away and backing up. To me it doesn't seem like a great idea because in deep snow I'd afraid I'd loose traction.

That's what I was talking about. There are traction issues in some conditions.

 

[akraven]

Just a set of chains for the rear tires and a rear mount blower, and you're ready to go. Majority of time i don't snow blow until the storms over. Couple of feet the rear mount will handle it. Haven't had a good 36 inch storm for quite a few yrs. But i have snowblowed 4ft drifts.

Flying cow does your rear mount face forward or rearward?

 

[flyingcow]

Rear. i have to back up in order to snowblow.

 

[ModMech]

In response to the OP's question....

There is NO WAY I would wreck a good truck by mounting a plow on it, IMO the only option is a tractor with a FEL or PTO blower and maybe BOTH. I know a LOT of farmers back in MN, ND and SD clear snow with OLD tractors using a FEL with a trip bucket :confused2:

 

[flyingcow]

Mounting a plow on a pickup and properly using it isn't what I'd consider wrecking it. IMO it's utilizing a piece of equipment. For the OP it's the least expensive way to go, if he already owns a pickup. I'm moved alot of snow with a 1/2 ton pickup.

 

[Martian]

It may not be considered wrecking a pick up truck but it is far from the best thing you could do for it. Really hard on the suspension. I know I would never have one on any of my vehicles - and I would never buy a used plow truck.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I think we are all more interested in this than the original poster. He posted once in the beginning of Oct and hasn't been back since.