Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Rear blade vs. front mount snow blower

[bill in ny]

brian, the blade is around 900 lb. it works really well in dirt. i have manual offset, but the tilt and angle are hydraulic. works great putting a crown in the driveway when spreading new gravel. i use skid shoes when plowing snow. i agree, more people would use them if they had hydraulic controls on them. you're landpride will give you good service, they are built very rugged.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Bill, I really do like my Land Pride. I have a cheaper 8' model also, and it is a pain to use besides not being up to the use behind my 7520. At this time I only have 3 rear remotes, so with my "TnT" using 2 of them I only have the angle hydraulic on at this time. I have the hydraulic for the offset, but need to get my other 2 rear remotes added. The "TnT" takes care of the tilt for me. My LP is 9' wide and weighs in at 1140lbs.

 

[Stonehaller]

We get about 100 - 130" of snow each winter with a handful of storms that drop 12+ inches but the majority are 4-8 inches.

I have a 350 foot driveway that I clear with a light weight 7' rear blade on my Case DX45. It makes quick work of storms 8" or less. Storms with more than that typically take multiple passes. One of the problems with a rear blade is that with heavy snow it can push the back of the tractor side ways. I used to use a Ford '53 Golden Jubilee and had this problem. With DX45, loaded rear tires and four wheel drive it does not happen now. With a blade, banks are problem too. I have enough tractor so that I can straddle the bank with the blade not fully lowered and move the bank.

I use a blower at a cottage in Northern Michigan. Do not have to worry about banks but it takes more time with a blower. Your 2000' driveway seems like a long stretch for a blower. A front mounted blade may be a better choice, but you will need ballast on tractor for traction. The ditches on the sides of your driveway may swallow most of the snow and reduce the size of your banks.

 

[Max2310]

I have a 6' rear blade (light duty without shoes) on my GC2310 and in combination with the loader, it can handle about any storms but it takes some time. I have chains and loaded tires for added traction.

The shoes would mostly help at first but not required after the ground is frozen packed. But that's true with my light blade and may be different on a 900lbs blade (I would probably consider shoes in that case). I haven't tried that but some people are putting a piece of abs pipe on the edge of their blade to protect their pavement.

The last two years we had too much snow so now I want a blower. But I don't think I would want a blower without having a blade at all. I think it preferable to plow at least once to get the base "ready" for blowing. I also have a gravel driveway. Plowing first also gives you a certain warranty of having a debris free driveway which could save on snow blower parts.

The blade would also be useful to scrape off a frozen wet snow storm that could transform your driveway into a bumpy road and make your snowblower almost useless.

For me, keeping my loader is a must so a rear blower is on it's way for this winter!

Max

 

[FxdGrMind]

Max, so what did you decide on for a Blower? PM me please with your thoughts. I'll probably live with a blade and FEL again this year, but next year if this winter is the same as last, I may get a rear Blower.

A front blower might be nice, but they are just too expensive IMO.

 

[arrow]

Opposite the poster thinking your ditches are the enemy, I'm thinking they're your friend. With a rear blade, you can offset the blade so it sticks out more to one side. This way you have a place to put the snow (ditches) w/o having to go near the ditch itself. Tractors light in the rear can get manhandled by a rear bade but what improved that immensely on my tractor was the addition of tire chains (they are also loaded). Almost eliminated that factor all together. A snow blower certainly can put snow out of the way as windrows close up your drive more and more. Their problem as I see it , is their putrid performance on wet snow. A blower would have to be pretty powerful and expensive to aid with that factor plus you would have to go slow which in my mind can get tired on a 2000' drive. I'd buy the blade first and make sure it is of sufficient height such as 16-17" at the moldboard. I have a gravel drive as well and feel I never needed the shoes but Max might have a valid point about the weight of a heavy RB scraping up too much on that first storm where the ground is not frozen yet. My blade weights in around 350 lbs..

 

[bpattie]

just something I tried one time and it worked pretty well. I was opting for some skid shoes but the dealer is quite a ways. Instead I tried just putting on 2 fairly large cheapo C-clamps and as I said did ok. later welded up a set of skid shoes to use.

 

[dave1949]

Opposite the poster thinking your ditches are the enemy, I'm thinking they're your friend. With a rear blade, you can offset the blade so it sticks out more to one side. This way you have a place to put the snow (ditches) w/o having to go near the ditch itself. ..

An offset rear blade might stick out beyond the side of your rear tire 18" or so? The OP probably gets 6'-10' of snow in a winter. A lot of that doesn't leave until Spring. The ditch will take some of the snow sure, but eventually a rear blade will have nowhere to let the snow curl off to. The ditch gets snowed on, then you add the driveway snow you put in the ditch, it can pile up. Get any tractor weight into that ditch and you will be stuck. With real bitey chains and locking the rear differential you might be lucky and get out, but when you don't, you have a real problem. The tractor will just dig itself down the ditch slope. Time to get out the come-along, chains and try to find a handy tree. Been there and done it.

The OP wouldn't have to worry about that scenario with a blower. Plus, in his double ditch situation, a rear blade is going to be about useless in pushing back accumulated snow, first he has to get his tractor sideways about 45 degrees across the driveway. Then he gets to push only the distance between his rear tire on the the lip of the ditch and the moldboard.

I don't think wet snows are as common in Central NH as in RI, so that is a lesser factor for, or against, choosing a blower.

A snow plow on a yard truck (old pickup that you don't license or take on the road) and a blower on a tractor would be the combination I think would handle about anything as fast as possible.

Dave.

 

[arrow]

I have about a two and a half foot drop off on either side of my drive (only 200' long) I have not encountered the problems you are describing and get about 2-3 storms worth before the ditches are full. I do depend on melting to reduce amounts but you raise a valid point about locale. Your place is more parallel with the ops weather and thus your view point more valid than mine. Where we do agree is that there is seldom one solution to tackle any problem and a p.u. with an 8' plow is something I would insist on having for a 2000' drive.

 

[daveinnh]

We have a Kubota L4310 w/ 7' rear blade and loaded rear tires in Hillsboro, NH. Our drive crushed gravel (i.e. not crushed stone) is about 800 LF with a small circle. Grade is about 8% at the steepest and we have open pasture for all but the bottom 100 LF.

The rear blade clears cleans the frozen road real nice. About 8-10" is the limit for a single plow since I plow in one direction and the consecutive plows become heavier. During the winter of 2007-08 (almost local record) I xspent quite a bit of time loading the piles back before the next storm hit. Luckily, I ordered rear tire chains the Fall '07 which helps greatly on packed snow and ice - buy regardless of your selection.

If your budget allows, sure- invest in a good snowblower.