snow pusher / puller

[dylan]

My snow pusher box arrived the other day. It looks pretty good. The unit is build by Grattex in Quebec. It is 1000 lbs and starts at 6 feet wide. it can hydraulically extend out to 10 feet. Flip it over and it will pull out parking spots, etc. the pusher edge is stainless steel with a trip mechanism built in and the puller edge is plastic so as to not scratch up interlok or stamped concrete.
I did not have any snow to move today but it did a fine job on my drive.
It is above 2 feet shorter than the western (front to back) blade i used last year so it should keep the tc really nimble.

 

[radman1]

I have never seen a pusher/puller before. Really a nifty idea. The fact that it can widen is also great. I use a snow plow on the front of my CUT but can't get near buildings to pull out snow. I have a rear blade on the back for that. However, with plow on front and blade on back, the overall length is long and I need to be carefull not to hit anything. Your setup is much more compact.

 

[dylan]

here are a few close ups.

 

[radman1]

I looked at their website. It appears they also make a fixed width version. (cheaper than the hydraulic extend version) I am surprised more companies dont make theirs with the push/pull feature. You have one serious snow moving attachment. Fantastic.

 

[dylan]

Thanks, it really is a simple idea and surprising you don't see more of them.

 

[Rip]

Dylan, Nice looking unit! Do you have a link to their web site (in english)? Google is not coming up with it.

What did your run? Any idea what a fixed 6 or 7 ft width model would run?

Thanks, Rip

 

[MrJimi]

Here is link and just click for desired language

plow pictures and site here

 

[Rip]

Thanks for the link MrJimi.....still can not find much useful information on their site....but the product may still be good.

 

[dylan]

Yeah, their website could use some improvement. the pusher was about $7500 or so. I actually traded a snowblower for it so i don't know the exact amount.
If you want more info ...
Luc is the salesman and his number is 1 888 833 2952.

 

[Rip]

Thanks Dylan.....I figured it would be a bit much for my needs, even a fixed width is likely to be up there. I'm still planning to rig up a used PU type plow which I am sure will work just fine for me.

Traded in your blower, eh? Was it your Bobcat blower or another? Too slow? Problems? Just curious.

Good Luck

Rip

 

[dylan]

i still have my bobcat blower. i traded in a new avalanche blower. it was a prototype but it was made too light and didn't last for 10 hours in the field. the dealer took it back and gave me the pusher.

 

[jmfox]

Is the pusher designed/recommended for snow and aggregate?

jmf

 

[dylan]

it is a snowblade. I didn't think a little bit of loose gravel would be a problem for it. the gravel is not it's regular intended application. It won't push hard packed gravel because it has trip edges on the bottom.

 

[jmfox]

Have you had a chance to use the pusher in snow?

jmf

 

[dylan]

not yet. the weather is still pretty nice here. i will post pictures during the first snow fall.

 

[jmfox]

Is it soup yet? I'd really like to know how well that pusher works compared to an angle plow and snowblower.

jmf

 

[GitchiGummi]

The snow pusher/puller looks great. I'm new to the forum and in the process of configuring and purchasing a Toolcat for, among other things, snow removal. I noticed you are running turf tires and appear (from the graphics on your machine) to be doing lots of snow removal. Do you use the turfs in the snow? Chains? Performance issues vs. lug tires? Here's hoping for some snow for those of you who make part of your living moving it! Can anyone recommend high flow over standard for snowblowing specifically. It is ~$1100 more for high flow and an additional $100 for the same blower with high flow motor from Bobcat. Just trying to determine if I will be unhappy trying to move Lake Effect snows with a standard flow blower?

 

[Rip]

First of all, Welcome to the forum GitchiGummi.

If you are buying a new machine to deal with Lake Effect snow, I would highly recomend High-flow and a blower to go with it, especially if doing it commercially. With regular heavy snow, you want all the advantages in your favor. It is also one of those things you can not go back and add later. Will be a plus when you go to sell or trade it later.

A number of folks are running aggressive 225 (or 235)-75/15LT studded (or recaps with walnut shells or lathe shavings in the compound) mud & snow tires on the standard rims with chains for extreme conditions. Others are running the standard bar-tread or turf with chains as needed. Unless you need or want turf for other applications, I would get the standard bar-tread and a set of chains and see how it goes.

In any case, figure on about 800+ lbs of ballast in the bed.

You may also want to look at Erskine and QuickAttach blowers. Same type, but a bit less $$ (altough you will need their hand-held controler for chute or the 14 pin wireing harness on blower and TC).

Good Luck

 

[dylan]

GitchiGummi
I just switched from the turf tires to BF Goodrich M/S 235-75-15. I used the turf tires for one year and they were alright on a limited basis. The ride on the new tires is way better and they have better traction in mud. We haven't had snow here yet so I can't comment there yet.

Like Rip mentioned, it is nice to have 800 lbs or so of ballast. I use 8 steel plates, 1" high, 6" wide and 5' long. They fit in the bed nice, take up next to no room and weight 100 lbs each. I also have a 150 litre diesel fuel tank in the back. I can drive for 2 days straight!

If i did it again, i would go with high flow. My blower blows ok, but it sure could be better. It really depends how fast you want to get done.

Good luck with your new machine.
dylan

 

[Spudgunner]

First of all, Welcome to the forum GitchiGummi.

...
You may also want to look at Erskine and QuickAttach blowers. Same type, but a bit less $$ (altough you will need their hand-held controler for chute or the 14 pin wireing harness on blower and TC).

Good Luck

Welcome GitchiGummi.

I recently took delivery of a TC that came with a Lo-pro bucket and have been moving roadmix just to get a feel for the critter. It has performed admirably but I think ballast would help for this application as well.

I wanted to expand on Rip's statement about QA blowers as I have a neighbor who has one that I'll probably eventually buy and I had to go through wrapping my mind around the necessary parts needed to adapt it to the TC.

QA/Erskine sells a 14-pin adapter ($140) for their blowers. It is part # 320256. The TC has a 7-pin connector. So, when you buy the 14-pin QA adapter, you are getting half the electrical solution with the other half being the installation of a 14-pin harness on your TC. That harness is made by Bobcat and prices seem to vary quite a bit. I have a thread on this forum about that subject if you're interested. If one could find the appropriate Bobcat info, one might be able to construct their own harness and use the blanked-out button holes on the TC dashboard for the required buttons for the TC harness.

As Rip mentioned, a simple solution would be to purchase the QA/Erskine "Pistol Grip" controller. Then one could just feed it through one of the TC's windows...or if you want to get fancy you could add some connectors and go through the firewall... I suppose if you don't want to leave a window cracked open.

If you do get a QA/Erskine, make sure you tell them what sort of flow your TC supports. They can make sure you get the appropriate hydraulic fan motor. I can't say enough good stuff about the folks at QA in terms of their helpfulness.