I have a pair of the armor skids - those things are practically necessary for a gravel driveway - I HIGHLY recommend them!. I ran the factory ones for two storms the first year I had it and started looking for a solution since the factory ones were unbearable.
Snow push vs blower?
- Thread starter SubK
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BrkMstr
Silver Member
I've run the gambit, several plow trucks, 38" professional Ariens, rear blades, loaders, and front mount snow blower - where I live; plow truck was great as long as I pushed it way back, I like you had the room, but the banks stayed till June!!!:laughing: The loader was great along with the plow, once in awhile I'd have to move the banks mostly due to run off etc. - in all honesty the easiest and certainly the neatest is the blower even the 38" Ariens took a little time but the banks were gone, nice neat job, but at times that required going out a few times, cause after sixteen - seventeen inches it took much longer as it would over run the machine - the current set up I have with the front mount 66" blower I love, hydraulic chute angle / tilt, it's a beast and will toss the white stuff a good 80' and I don't have to look at fifteen / twenty foot banks and it's really nice not having to put the lawns back together, plows can be tough until the ground is frozen - you have to choose how you fight the stuff and most importantly how much time you have, do you need to be out at 6AM? How much area has to be done and what the base and obstructions are - blowers don't like rocks - branches etc - plows can do some damage on old pavement, lawns, tight places - for pushing I think up here I wouldn't go below a 35 - for a plow I'd most likely get a 7 ½ Hiniker Poly moldboard quick attach it's a well made plow - less weight than steel, but strong, unhook the bucket and hook up the plow if you have a third function up front you can easily get the angle kit - snow does not adhere to poly like it does to steel - if you're in NH Knoxland equipment in Warner sells them, you could take a look at them -
If you have a nice neighbor with a snow blower and a big tractor then buy a plow. With global warming I only had to dig out my neighbor twice last year because his 1 ton PU truck and plow couldnt push it anymore.
shooterdon
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Unless you need a tractor for other tasks, My choice would be a used pickup truck with a plow. Very fast compared to a tractor, heated with cab. I used one for 4 years and get 120-140" of snow a year. You said you had plenty of room to push snow so a blower is not needed. My plow truck cost $3500, put $2000 into it, and also used it as my daily beater. Could have spent only $1000 if I was not going to put it on the road every day. Sold it for $2600.
BTW, only sold the truck as I needed a tractor and I was tired of 8' banks of snow. I need both a blade and blower as the blower will not get close enough to clear all snow near many areas. And for light snows a blower is not a good choice plus until you get a forzen base, you will be slinging gravel everywhere.
BTW, only sold the truck as I needed a tractor and I was tired of 8' banks of snow. I need both a blade and blower as the blower will not get close enough to clear all snow near many areas. And for light snows a blower is not a good choice plus until you get a forzen base, you will be slinging gravel everywhere.
Carl_NH
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Good Morning SubK,
After the 2015-16 winter with 110" snow over 45 days I bought a 60" rear SB. Then the last 4 years, no snow to speak of, so I used the rear blower once. I use a 6' rear blade and FEL on about 4500SF of paved driveway and parking area, and have a 28" Craftsman blower for walkways and such. My FEL is not QA and loader is not removable..
Since you have space for snow, I would do a QA attach plow setup on the front and a sander on the back since a lot of the snow we get is 3-6" sometimes wet and heavy, and a few times its a foot or more, but not often. The blower doesn't do well IMO for a few inches of heavy wet snow or able to scrape that last 1" or so. Less mechanical parts on a plow, no stones to throw, but you will have spring clean up of gravel with a plow.
When we do have a lot of snow 12" plus, I run the Craftsman up/down the driveway once then use the tractor and FEL/Rear blade to do the rest.
One last point you mentioned you work 60-80 hrs a week in snow season - inadvertently you will be away when we have "snow events" so you may still need to have a plow guy on standby or some helpful neighbors (as we do with machines) in those instances.
After the 2015-16 winter with 110" snow over 45 days I bought a 60" rear SB. Then the last 4 years, no snow to speak of, so I used the rear blower once. I use a 6' rear blade and FEL on about 4500SF of paved driveway and parking area, and have a 28" Craftsman blower for walkways and such. My FEL is not QA and loader is not removable..
Since you have space for snow, I would do a QA attach plow setup on the front and a sander on the back since a lot of the snow we get is 3-6" sometimes wet and heavy, and a few times its a foot or more, but not often. The blower doesn't do well IMO for a few inches of heavy wet snow or able to scrape that last 1" or so. Less mechanical parts on a plow, no stones to throw, but you will have spring clean up of gravel with a plow.
When we do have a lot of snow 12" plus, I run the Craftsman up/down the driveway once then use the tractor and FEL/Rear blade to do the rest.
One last point you mentioned you work 60-80 hrs a week in snow season - inadvertently you will be away when we have "snow events" so you may still need to have a plow guy on standby or some helpful neighbors (as we do with machines) in those instances.
fruitcakesa
Veteran Member
While I only have 150 ft of twisty, steep gravel drive to clear, I also clear my parents and neighbors drives, each about 100 ft. and both within a 1/4 mile of me.
Like Carl_NH infers, we have very erratic snow storms yearly. so snow removal is a variable task.
I sold my last plow truck when I bought my 1st Kubota with a PA SSQA plow and have never looked back.
Besides the fact that I mostly have used the tractor, hour wise, for plowing, it is all the other work it can do that a truck can't, that makes it so valuable.
Trucks in New England rust away, plow trucks more so, let alone the front end and transmission abuse that shorten their lives, plus insurance and registration costs if roading.
The issue of high banks from plowing can be a problem as well as the longevity of the snowpack afterwards but the loader allows the operator to lift and move snow a long ways if you have the room and the HP to accomplish it. I say, the bigger the better:thumbsup:
Like Carl_NH infers, we have very erratic snow storms yearly. so snow removal is a variable task.
I sold my last plow truck when I bought my 1st Kubota with a PA SSQA plow and have never looked back.
Besides the fact that I mostly have used the tractor, hour wise, for plowing, it is all the other work it can do that a truck can't, that makes it so valuable.
Trucks in New England rust away, plow trucks more so, let alone the front end and transmission abuse that shorten their lives, plus insurance and registration costs if roading.
The issue of high banks from plowing can be a problem as well as the longevity of the snowpack afterwards but the loader allows the operator to lift and move snow a long ways if you have the room and the HP to accomplish it. I say, the bigger the better:thumbsup:
CobyRupert
Super Member
I think the advantage of blowers is you can put the snow in any direction you want and it leaves no snowbanks. This is not a concern of the OP’s.
Blowers are sensitive to the many moving parts, shear bolts, chains, bearings, fan gaps and chutes that can get clogged being sensitive to different snow types, especially heavy wet snow and rain mixes.
Also sensitive to rocks, 2”x4”’s, and tarps buried in the snow.
Obviously rear mounted blowers means turning your neck a lot.
Pushers are very fast and have few moving parts.
If I was OP, my question would be do I want a pusher or a plow with spring trip for when you hit that frozen rock or post.
...and this is from a snowblower guy who would never would get a plow for my driveway.
Blowers are sensitive to the many moving parts, shear bolts, chains, bearings, fan gaps and chutes that can get clogged being sensitive to different snow types, especially heavy wet snow and rain mixes.
Also sensitive to rocks, 2”x4”’s, and tarps buried in the snow.
Obviously rear mounted blowers means turning your neck a lot.
Pushers are very fast and have few moving parts.
If I was OP, my question would be do I want a pusher or a plow with spring trip for when you hit that frozen rock or post.
...and this is from a snowblower guy who would never would get a plow for my driveway.
KeithT
Silver Member
Bare with me.... reviving this thread because it was very informative to me.
I never heard of a pendulum spreader or a drop spreader for tractor. I need to upgrade my spreader for a 1/4 mile steep (12% grade) driveway. I use a mix of 4-way limestone chips and salt. The 田hips are 3/8?1/4 in size with some larger gear and there. Tractor has rear and front remote hydraulics.
Looking forward to recommendations.
I never heard of a pendulum spreader or a drop spreader for tractor. I need to upgrade my spreader for a 1/4 mile steep (12% grade) driveway. I use a mix of 4-way limestone chips and salt. The 田hips are 3/8?1/4 in size with some larger gear and there. Tractor has rear and front remote hydraulics.
Looking forward to recommendations.
LouNY
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OK, so a spreader to mount on your tractor, that's easy.
The only difficult part is how are you going to load it?,
a second tractor or a lot of shoveling, or
A self loading tractor mounted spreader;
a SAMI SLS1250 self loading tractor 3pt. PTO salt and sand spreader,
or if going to shovel, https://kascomfg.com/wp-content/uploads/Herd_Wholegoods_1.1.20.pdf
or this drop spreader type that can go 3 point or ssqa Spreader 54" - Pronovost
A conventional spreader can be trailer mounted,
with an adequate jack or support it can be loaded with the tractor then back up to and go spread,
depending on the steepness of the driveway you may need chains and brakes on the trailer.
This search term will show some applicable units;
"self loading tractor salt and sand spreader"
The only difficult part is how are you going to load it?,
a second tractor or a lot of shoveling, or
A self loading tractor mounted spreader;
a SAMI SLS1250 self loading tractor 3pt. PTO salt and sand spreader,
or if going to shovel, https://kascomfg.com/wp-content/uploads/Herd_Wholegoods_1.1.20.pdf
or this drop spreader type that can go 3 point or ssqa Spreader 54" - Pronovost
A conventional spreader can be trailer mounted,
with an adequate jack or support it can be loaded with the tractor then back up to and go spread,
depending on the steepness of the driveway you may need chains and brakes on the trailer.
This search term will show some applicable units;
"self loading tractor salt and sand spreader"
leonz
Super Member
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As LouNY has so kindly mentioned there are many options.
I helped a friend in Ohio pick out a high quality pendulum spreader from VICON that he mounts
on his three point hitch and loads by hand since it is lowered to the ground.
His sons fill supersacks with gravel sand using the front end loader holding the bag up and he keeps
them in a heated garage-the super sacks not the rug rats haha to quickly enable them to load the
Vicon spreader with both sand and salt and it works very well.
He uses the short salt sand spreading tube attachment to cast the sand/salt mix on his driveway
and it works very well.
Limestone chips will cause excessive wear in any spreader UNLESS its a wet lime spreader and will
be difficult to spread when frozen.
Using gravel sand and salt would be a better option for you if at all possible to enable you to use a
high quality of spreader like a VICON pendulum spreader.
Decide how much money from your disposable income you can spend before you buy anything as
the more you spend the better the quality, steel thickness and ability to tolerate the abuse from
the use of a hard rock based material.
A VICON pendulum spreader will not tolerate a broken/jagged material like Limestone chips due to its fiber glass
hopper so keep that in mind.
If you use a sand and salt mix A VICON pendulum spreader will out last every tractor you mount it on as it is well
designed and built agricultural implement that has been in use for over 5 decades worldwide that uses a cast iron
gear box and agitator arm to break up any clumps of material that need to be spread.
A very large HERD sand spreader like the 1200S model will tolerate what you use for a traction aid and it will require
annual maintenance for sanding and painting the interior of the hopper UNLESS you line the interior of the hopper with
a UHMW blue stripe plastic sheeting from Horn Plastics to protect the hopper interior and maintain a slick surface to
prevent bridging and sticking of the material.
The blue stripe plastic sheets can be easily cut to size and bolted in place with carriage bolts and bolted through the hopper walls.
Decide how much you can spend before you make any decisions and you should use a decision tree and the Ben Franklin closing
argument adding up the plusses and minuses before you advance further.
As you are using this specific material you should also look at using a flat bed trailer with a fiberglass or injection molded salt spreader
with either an auger or flight chain floor scraper to spread this material. The one thing to keep in mind that you must do is be sure to
empty it every time you use it to prevent the flight chain from freezing to the floor of the hopper.
The same rule of thumb applies to a HERD or VICON spreader and if you can store the spreader and tractor in a warm garage all the better
for you as you will have many fewer problems with the tractor and spreader.