Rethinking my requirements?

ctgoldwing · Aug 2, 2009

I had pretty much decided on a ct230 with a loader & back hoe to do work around our house. The more I think about it it seems to make sense to us to use it at a small commercial building I have about 10 miles from here. The main use there would be snow removal. The longest straight runs I have are about 150 feet. It cost me over $4K last winter for plowing. I used to plow with an old F350 I had but after selling that several years ago I have hired someone since. I have doubts about the 230 being up to the task especially if I ever put a front snowblower on it (my BC dealer says its coming from them). So. . . .

The question is does it make more sense to get something like a 445? Are there plows available to mount on the quick disconnect? I apologize if these sound like newbie questions but my last tractor (Kubota) was sold over 20 years ago and it appears there have been a lot of changes since then.

TIA

Aaron_D · Aug 2, 2009

How much snow do you plan on moving? 22 PTO hp should be plenty to run a decent snowblower out back. Going to a 445 will give you more power but you will also have to use a larger snowblower to cover your tracks as its approx 14" wider.

Various companies do make front blades for the skidsteer style QA. Ive also seen some people make their own using old plow blades.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/131136-snow-plow-adapted-fel.html

ctgoldwing · Aug 3, 2009

Aaron_D said:
How much snow do you plan on moving? 22 PTO hp should be plenty to run a decent snowblower out back. Going to a 445 will give you more power but you will also have to use a larger snowblower to cover your tracks as its approx 14" wider.

Various companies do make front blades for the skidsteer style QA. Ive also seen some people make their own using old plow blades.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/131136-snow-plow-adapted-fel.html

Thanks Aaron,

Well we seldom get more than a foot but I am concerned that in my commercial driveway I have about a 40 foot width & 150 straight run where I can only blow snow straight ahead until I get 100 feet into it. Plowing in winters where we received a lot of snowfalls usually resulted in the parking lot shrinking because of the wall of snow the plow left. I thought if I had a FRONT snow blower that could throw 50-60 feet I could probably make out ok & actually make out better by throwing the snow right out of the lot in the rear. In really bad winters I have to hire a big loader to come in & truck the snow out.
I could really rationalize buying a bigger machine if I could save this money every year. . .