Snow removal combo needs help

[JohnnyMX]

My house sits at the end of a flat 1/2 mile drive with a rather large gravel parking area near the house. We get a fair amount of drift and some parts don't have large areas to pile snow. Normally it takes as long to plow the drive as it does to clear the parking area. We currently plow everything with an RTV900 and front plow. When it gets deep or really heavy this combo struggles. I do have the MX5400 and front bucket but that is painful to push back banks the length of the driveway. We just got 12-14" this past week and I spent the better part of the day clearing snow. I had to plow in increments. If we ever get a once in a XX years storm I think I have no real way to handle it other than the tractor and bucket.

We started with a combination of free/available equipment and since I've purchased the tractor. I don't want to duplicate my tools, but what would your first choice be if I had to could add one more tool to the mix to handle the banks and larger storms. If there is a better way to use what I have that works too.

 

[oldnslo]

snow blower is best tool for eliminating banks if have a place to blow snow away from buildings - windows.

 

[Thomas]

Front blower rear scraper blade.

 

[TractorTYMe]

How high are your drifts, just asking for difference of practicality between open rear face vs inverted snowblower? I don't have much drifts to worry about, but an inverted snowblower can take care of 1.5-2 feet dept snow. This is my setup.

 

[hube2]

Have to agree with the blower. I live in a place where the wind and drifts are bad. I use my bucket mostly for knocking down snow banks and rifts that are too high for my blower to get through. I have a rear blower because I need to have my bucket and switching them out would be a PITA. Anyway, living here I go out of my way to never ever pile snow because that just makes the drifts harder to deal with as the winter progresses. A lot of people do not like rear facing blowers, but when you also need the bucket and don't want to waste time switching it out it's the only choice. A rear blower is also much less expensive than a front.

 

[leonz]

My house sits at the end of a flat 1/2 mile drive with a rather large gravel parking area near the house. We get a fair amount of drift and some parts don't have large areas to pile snow. Normally it takes as long to plow the drive as it does to clear the parking area. We currently plow everything with an RTV900 and front plow. When it gets deep or really heavy this combo struggles. I do have the MX5400 and front bucket but that is painful to push back banks the length of the driveway. We just got 12-14" this past week and I spent the better part of the day clearing snow. I had to plow in increments. If we ever get a once in a XX years storm I think I have no real way to handle it other than the tractor and bucket.

We started with a combination of free/available equipment and since I've purchased the tractor. I don't want to duplicate my tools, but what would your first choice be if I had to could add one more tool to the mix to handle the banks and larger storms. If there is a better way to use what I have that works too.

The only thing I would recommend is a motorized snow thrower for your
RTV900 since you already have a winch on the RTV specifically because
of your need for simplicity in operation and snow clearing ability as it could
be mounted on the front loader with a longer control cable and use it equally
well on the RTV900.

There are number of 2 stage snow blower brands and models for sale, but
in saying that they have many, many, more parts for their drive systems and
require more horsepower to use and will weigh more.

The mk martin folks offer 2 single stage snow thrower models that attach to an SSQR
plate. You would need an adapter hitch to use it on your RTV 900, I am sure they are
available for sale though.

A single stage snow blower is not a complicated piece of equipment to use or own as it has
a simple final drive system using a roller chain drive and 2 sprockets.
The snow blower rotor spins at a very high rate of speed and discharges the snow through
the chute at a very high speed to get rid of it.

The 2 models of single stage snow blowers offered for sale by mk martin employ a honda
GX390 engine to provide the torque needed to create the centrifugal force needed to spin
the dual drive belts that are connected to the drive sprocket that spins the roller chain that
spins the larger driven sprocket that is attached to the snow thrower rotor.

The snow blower rotor and the driven sprocket are supported by two open bearings flange
bearings that are bolted to the side weldments of the snow thrower.

The only things I would change with either of these snow throwers offered by mk martin are
1. change the fuel jet for a much larger one
2. replace the muffler with a catalytic converter
3. purchase a set of armor skids to mount on the skid bars

The engine exhaust will be blowing around in front of you and that is why I suggest that you
invest in a catalytic converter for the GX390 engine.

I had a GX390 on my Timberwolf TW5-FC commercial wood splitter and the fumes made
me very sick even after warming up the engine and 25 gallons of hydraulic oil with my
space heater for over an hour.

The Foley Engines catalytic converter I had on the honda 390 engine I had converted the
exhaust to carbon dioxide and water vapor and had almost no odor to speak of.

The prices I had for these 2 models of single stage snow blower are almost three years old
so you would have to call an mk martin dealer for the current 2021-22 prices for these units.

The S1054E model weighs 470 pounds and has a 48 inch cutting width.
The S1060E weighs 545 pounds and has a 53 inch cutting width.

Both models use a 16 inch snow blower rotor with 4 center paddles welded to the snow blower
rotor to lift and throw the broken up snowpack through the chute at 750 RPM.


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Edit today: 21, January 2022
I neglected to add that the two models of Single Stage Snow Throwers use a 12 volt electric clutch for the V belt drive.
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=========================================================
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with mk martin or have any financial or ownership interest
in mk martin.
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[JohnnyMX]

How high are your drifts, just asking for difference of practicality between open rear face vs inverted snowblower? I don't have much drifts to worry about, but an inverted snowblower can take care of 1.5-2 feet dept snow. This is my setup.
View attachment 730093

Nomally not more than 1.5 - 2 ' at the worst. I mean we haven't had a 5' storm in a while, but I am also not wanting to have to buy anything else if we do get one. The front facing looks good for the majority of what I clear.

 

[Jims1025R]

As long as your tractor is a hydrostatic transmission, I like blade on the front, and three point blower on the back. Rear blowers were less desirable with manual transmission, but the hydrostat lets you make the most of it. With the blade on the front, you plow quickly, and pile up snow as you need to. With the blower on the back, you can handle most drifts in the first pass, and blow away the snow you piled with the blade.

I was not initially keen on the quick attach blades for the loaders, but I admit, that because JD sells them (so it is an intended use for my loader) I saw the other benefits, and I'm very happy with the one I bought. You can quickly swap it for the bucket, if it's needed to bucket snow away. But I have not had to, the blade stacks high if I need to, and the blower blows away anything with patience.

I did try plowing with my Polaris 6x6. It worked for light snow, but not drifts. In general I very much prefer the tractor for moving snow.

 

[nyone]

How does the rtv900 struggle? Traction? If so how much weight do you have in the bed and have you considered tire chains?

 

[nybirdman]

A lot of us have used and old truck plow and Skid Steer plate(if you have a quick attach loader) for snow removal.I have maybe $300 in mine.Been using it for ten years.