Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Snow, driveways & tractors.

[BruceNorthEast]

Question for all you TBNers with experionce using your tractors in the snow (and even those of you who just want to chime in):

I think I am very close to purchasing my first tractor. One of the first things I plan to do with it is keeping my 600' gravel drive passable during the winter. Note that while it is gravel, by mid winter it'll be frozen solid and covered with ice and snow in most areas.

Becuse of Fridays snow storm I had the opportunity to play with several machines in the snow (all 4wd and I believe reasonably close in weight).

I found the R4s I'd previously considered mandatory, now doing pretty poorly in a fairly modest snow (much lighter and drier than we will be seeing).

One machine I played with had R1s and it had much less trouble - even though it was the smallest HP machine by a significant margin.

I'm planning on using just the FEL/bucket at first, and eventually rigging up the old plow from my (recently deceased) yard plow truck to either the bucket or the 3ph.

Now in warmer weather, I'd like to be able to drive in the yard near the house for landscaping projects, etc, which is why I've figured on R4s.

Will the R4s be virually useless? Are they really out of the question, or might they be usable just not great?

Would chains make the difference?

If I went with R1s, would I still need chains?

I dont want to chew everything to heck come spring, but I cannot afford to swap R4s and R1s with the seasons. Any other options?

Bruce.

 

[RoyJackson]

"I found the R4s I'd previously considered mandatory, now doing pretty poorly in a fairly modest snow (much lighter and drier than we will be seeing)."

I'm a bit curious about that statement. I've used Industrials (R4's) for a couple years now. I think they work great in the snow. Here in south central PA, we just had about 7" of snow. Those tires did a fine job.

I expect others responding will agree with me.

So, what do you mean, "now doing pretty poorly in a fairly modest snow "?

 

[George2615]

I have R4's and don't use chains. The only slipping or spinning problem I have is when I'm on hard packed snow from a previous plowing on a steep driveway, But then so would R1's. On gravel drives I don't scrape down to the gravel as to not tear it up, I leave about an inch which usually melts in a few days anyway. On blacktop I scrape it bare. If your going to drive on a gravel driveway thats already been plowed with a bucket or blade, you may need to sand afterwards. For hard pack snow or ice it doesn't matter running R4's or R1's both will need chains to move. Chains will mark up blacktop though. I dont have any problem driving through fresh snow with R4's.

 

[browns40]

Hi Bruce,

I haven't had a chance to work in the snow yet this year, but figured if I had any problems with the big, wide bar R-4's I'd get a box of hex head screws to put a little bite on the tires.

Anyone tried it?

 

[DannyD]

Chains are cheaper than new tires, which is what you will probably end up needing if you put screws in your tires.

 

[SacandagaBrad]

How large of a machine are you talking about? I have about the same tasks, plus I use my TC24D for mowing about an acre of very soft and wet lawn. I have done a lot of loader work to max capacity of the machine, launched boats and pulled docks on sandy beaches.... basically my do-all machine. And I have loaded turfs and have never been sorry. When winter comes, the chains go on, that simple. Takes about 10 minutes. Size of the tractor will be a big factor in whether or not you mark up your lawn. My TC leaves less of a mark in the soft sod than my old 12hp Gravely rider due to the large footprint of the turfs.

As far as plowing goes, without a lot of weight on the front end (in addition to the FEL), an angled blade is going to kick you sideways easily. Again, depends on the size and weight of the machine. For snow removal, I leave my FEL mounted and rely on a back blade for less than 8" and put on my rear blower for the deep stuff.

If you have the opportunity to try turfs with chains, I think you will be surprised. They are not the toughest tire out there, but I don't work a stone quarry either. So far no problems.

Brad

 

[LarryRB]

depending on who you want to listen to, the TV says we got 14" the other day.. I can only measure 11. Not a big deal, however, look under rural living, "10 -12" snow storm. I placed 3 pictures there.,.. I have always run R4 industrials.. When I plowed full time with John Deere 710 TLB, industrial R4's. Never had a problem.. Oh, once in a blue moon you might get on ice or hard packed, spin, a second, still never stopped the machine from moving snow.. I've been plowing with machines and industrial tires since 1974, and see no reason to have R1s'..

 

[MadReferee]

I use R4's with chains and the chains are only necessary because the driveway will turn to ice if the sun comes out and it then gets cold.

I handled 14" (measured) the other day with no problems.

 

[jcmseven]

Bruce,

I will try to weigh in on this issue as best I can. Where I live, it usually snows several times a year, three times or so more heavily. We have had two milder winters the past two years, so my thoughts are based on these milder winters. All the tractors I have used have the R4 tires. They have done fine. My neighbor rolled his first tractor (a 4210) on a steep hill due to it sliding on the hard packed snow about four years ago (before I lived here) so he is not a fan of them. There are several issues at play here: first a heavy machine like a compact tractor many times will not do as well as something smaller, particularly on icy or hard packed snow. Now, once it gets going, it will do fine but the starting and stopping means everything. This would be a little better with fresh R1 tires, I think, in any machine of significant weight. The downside, though, is that R1 tires wear quickly, especially on gravel or pavement, because the tractor weight is distributed on the tops of very narrow tread bars, where the R4's will wear a little better in general. This should mean that the longer you have the machine, the worse the R1's would do, where the R4 tires would be about the same. My logic was to go with R4's. I felt that if I got the R1 tires, I would be doing so for about 10 days each year, and with too many comprimises in between. Plus, I think the R4's look better (just my opinion). Just make sure whichever you do, you get a tire that will allow fender clearance in case down the road you would add chains for harder days.

John M

 

[Woody_NH]

Bruce, I have a 650' gravel driveway with runs from moderate to steep slope. The house is at the uphill end so I normally plow downhill with a plow on my truck.

After the recent 12" of light snow I tried the tractor out for some of the job. I have a 6' bucket in front and a Landpride 7' blade on the 3ph with optional skid shoes. I have R4 tires and started without chains on.

No traction problems on flat or moderate slope land. On the steep section not enough traction to push the bucket uphill and poor steering response with the bucket in float. Where the snow was hard packed, there was limited traction on the steep section. Rear blade with shoes worked well in this light snow both in normal forward mode and backing with the blade rotated 180 degrees.

As I had a pair of NorTractor chains in the garage, went back and put them on the rear. No more rear traction issues, goes like a tank. I also plan the get front chains to help with steering/braking when we get ice.

I will still use the truck/snow plow to quickly open the 650' long drive. The tractor with R4 tries, chains, FEL and rear blade is great for the clean-up work.

If I only had the tractor (no plow truck) I would get a front mount quick attach snow blade with skid shoes to do my long steep gravel drive. Then I would go back to the FEL to push back the piles as necessary. With large parking areas halfway and at the top and with uneven gravel terrain, I would not consider a blower for my situation. Now if I had a nice flat paved drive.......