Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Snow removal quandry

[Lt CHEG]

For those of you with rear mount snowblowers and cabs with mirrors, why do you spend the whole time with your body turned around? I ask this having never used a tractor to remove snow, but having plowed a lot of snow with trucks and ATV's and a little bit of using the front end loader on a backhoe to clean up certain areas. I would think that you could get yourself dialed in by turning around but just use your mirrors while looking forward to get the long straight aways done. Obviously when you are close to things and doing clean up in small areas you probably want to turn around, but I wouldn't think it would be necessary for the bulk of a driveway. I know when I was backing up in a truck mounted snow plow I almost exclusively used my outside mirrors. I just don't understand why that isn't a viable solution in a cab tractor.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I bet this could move some snow.

 

[Couple of Achers]

Three words. Visibility, visibility, visibility. When blowing snow you are crating in a way your own blizzard. The wind is rarely in the right direction to help you out. There are literally times even with my faced pressed up against the back window, that I need to stop to make sure I am still even on the driveway. And even then, depending on how deep the snow is, it's hard to tell. Looking in the mirrors all you see is white. It is like driving in a blizzard. You simply can not see.

 

[Tig]

I agree. Visibility. Blowers are beasts of a machine with the nasty end in the lead.
I can't imagine not using both eyes and my peripheral vision to watch out for trouble.
And besides I wouldn't want that blizzard of snow sticking to the back of my head.

 

[Couple of Achers]

I agree. Visibility. Blowers are beasts of a machine with the nasty end in the lead.
I can't imagine not using both eyes and my peripheral vision to watch out for trouble.

And if you don't believe Tig, call my neighbors and ask them what happened to their dog house last winter. I just thank God they no longer had a dog.

 

[JDeerekid]

I bet this could move some snow.

That is a cool machine. Where did you find it???

 

[Pops15]

We have snow from about Christmas to sometime in March. The average snowfall in South Ontario per the internet seems to be about 4 feet, not that much really. We have a wesward sloping downhill drive that drifts in so I find that the banks I've made at the bottom where I plow to are usually very big though, maybe the equivalent of several large dump truck loads (take a foot deep by 400 feet long and 12 feet wide and it adds up). Plus the plow trucks that do the roads make the banks a good 4 feet high and at least 6 or 8 feet wide across the 25 foot mouth of the lane.

Note: I love moving the snow, I think it's fun. (call me crazy!)

A front blade is good. An angled blade is much better.
Those drifts and snow banks left by the plow trucks will really make you appreciate a snowblower.

A guy I know was the grounds keeper for a hospital. He used a utility tractor with an angled blade on the loader arms to plow the drive and parking lot. Using the loader never caused any problems for the tractor, but one season with the angled blade and the front end of the tractor was worn out. It was made for vertical loads not the lateral loads the angled blade placed on it.

 

[Mark_in_NH]

A guy I know was the grounds keeper for a hospital. He used a utility tractor with an angled blade on the loader arms to plow the drive and parking lot. Using the loader never caused any problems for the tractor, but one season with the angled blade and the front end of the tractor was worn out. It was made for vertical loads not the lateral loads the angled blade placed on it.

There has to more to that story then meets the eye. Operator abuse, maybe faulty set up, something ! Granted there is alot more plowing to be done at a hospital then a typical home but I have been plowing with a loader mounted, hydraulic angled blade for 6 + years without a hint of problems. I am posative that there are many who can match that and even beat that time without any problems.

 

[LBrown59]

What to do what to do.....
Should I...

buy a 72" 3ph snowblower (hydraulic) for $2000
b) get rid of my Allis Chalmers (I have two) for $5,000-ish ( for both)l and buy a new 23hp hydro Husqvarna riding mower with a 48" front blower and 44" mower deck (total price about $5,000)
c) do nothing and save my darned money[/quote.]

D)Stay warm in a Pick up truck while plowing.

 

[LBrown59]

There has to more to that story then meets the eye. Operator abuse, maybe faulty set up, something ! Granted there is alot more plowing to be done at a hospital then a typical home but I have been plowing with a loader mounted, hydraulic angled blade for 6 + years without a hint of problems. I am posative that there are many who can match that and even beat that time without any problems.

I'd say so too.