Snow snow removal question

[MikeD74T]

raykos, You can have the best of both worlds. Get another walk behind snowblower. Bolt them togeather & mount in place of your FEL bucket. When your butt goes down it will be in a nice soft seat !!!! MikeD74T

 

[purpony]

i purchased a 2320 in Jan of this year and plowed my 145' driveway all winter long with just the bucket (no rear ballast, no filled tired) and it worked great.

I have been plowing my fathers driveway for the last 25 years with the FEL bucket on his 2wd 2440 but i have been using chains because without4wd you second you hit an ice patch your all done.

This year i will be using a snowplow on my 2320 that i made, not that the bucket didnt work great, i just wanted the side to side tilt that a plow offers. It makes plowing a little faster with not so many passes.

Is spending is a concern, i would just stick with the bucket for this season... woeks just fine, plus, you can stack the snow higher!

 

[diverdownrick]

I like the quotes to the effect of "once the bucket fills it pushes the snow". Isn't that sort of the point?

I have a 200 ft flat, paved driveway that I plow with my 2305 FEL. I place the bucket flat on the pavement then slightly curl it so the edge isn't touching the driveway. I push from the road to the end of the driveway (usually in 4WD). Once there I stop just short of the end so I don't dig up the lawn. I lift the bucket 6 inches off the ground and push the pile a few feet onto the lawn.

This gets the majority of snow. I have to go back and pick up the windrows and dump them but that isn't too bad. Nothing wrong with a little FEL work!

I agree that a snowblower would be cleaner and faster but I can't cost justify the $3,000. That buys a lot of beer!

 

[LBrown59]

I agree that a snowblower would be cleaner and faster but I can't cost justify the $3,000. That buys a lot of beer!

3000 will also buy a front blade and a tiller.

 

[jjmarotz]

$3000.00 for a blower? I was quoted over $3500.00 from my JD dealer and the local NH dealer for a 5-6' blower for my new 3203 also. Guess what---called the local Kubota dealer and he had one (Meteor 68" 3 ph mount) for only $1650.00. It was used 3 times last season and the guy traded it back in for the front mount. He had way too much road to open to want to stare backwards all day long. Even the new ones he sold were only $1800.00. Guess who got my business???? And it works awesome, I can clear my driveway and the front of my shop in less than 20 minutes, versus last years 1968 4010 (ag tractor) with a 7" wide bucket which took almost 1.5 hrs. The spill over from the bucket was a PITA to go back over time after time.

 

[jjmarotz]

Sometimes bigger isn't always better. Learned that one the hard way. Oh well, it's only money isn't it?

 

[rvtech]

I think it totally depends on your specific situation. I use my loader with no ballast and R4 tires. I have had no problems at all. I have 2 gravel driveways with small limestone. In the past I have used trucks with plows, a truck with a blower, tractors with rear blades, front blades, walk behind blowers and plenty of shovels. I have not used anything that is as effective on a gravel driveway as the 2305 with a loader. I just tilt the bucket back about 2 or 3 inches and go as fast as it will go. Tilting the bucket back keeps it from collecting any gravel. The bucket fills with snow immediately, but that doesn't affect moving the snow. It will just keep pushing. I cleared my 2 driveways after a 6 inch snow last night in about an hour. I even left the mid mount mower on (still mowing leaves here). It is easy to stack the snow and keep it out of the way. Last season I had piles over 10 feet high. I also clear several paths in my yard to my building. It works great.

 

[RWEST]

I like having both the blower and loader. Here in the hills of Somerset County, PA, we can get over 200" of snow annually, so, after the blower gets it piled so high it's starting to fall back in, I turn around and use the bucket to push the piles back. I'm fortunate to have mostly blacktopped or concrete driveways to work in, which makes it a heck of a lot easier. It seems every time I try to be nice and blow someone's gravel/shale driveway out, I end up replacing shear pins.

$1,500 - 1,800 will get a decent 3-pt mount, PTO driven blower.

Downside of the rear mount blower is, the ol' neck doesn't really like it after a few hours. For that reason, brother #1 has gone to a front mounted blower on his 755; brother #2 can't find one for his 755, so he's been using the 310D to push the snow. That 310D's not quite as 'delicate' around the yard, so every spring he's playing jigsaw puzzle trying to figure out which piece of sod goes where.

 

[Mayor]

I also use my 2305 with the FEL to plow and it works great. Just take your time and get used to using it on a driveway. Never got stuck in 4 wheel drive with the turf tires. I do run my box blade just for weight but I do not have loaded tires or wheel weights. The weight box is over kill.

This year I might try a carry all and put my walkbehind snowblower on it. That way if I need it I just drop the 3 point and clean a walk with the blower. I have to see if the weight will work.

 

[Bob_Young]

Haven't read this whole thread, but thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

We just got about 16" of lake effect snow here in NY and I had no trouble clearing it with my Kubota B7610 (24HP) with FEL, loaded turfs, a Woods RB60 rear blade, and NO chains. I normally clear four driveways; two of my own, about 150' each and two neighbors, both 100' or less...all are flat, two are paved.

This combination works so well, I keep putting off the snowblower that I intended to buy. With the right angle on the bucket, the FEL makes a very effective snow pusher for getting accumulation out of the way; while the rear blade lets me get down to bare pavement.

Beyond 4WD, the key seems to be the fluid in the rear tires and the fact that the RB60 can be allowed to float on the tilt axis. Cheaper rear blades don't allow this, so if the tractor is tilted (side-to-side), so is the blade....potentially causing the low end to dig in. Floating on the tilt axis allows the blade to conform to the angle of the plowed surface regardless of tractor tilt. The RB60 is more than a KK or Howse blade, but at $450 plus tax it shouldn't break the bank....and it'll be more help than carrying a box of rocks back there.

On the unpaved drives and when I wander off the side onto the grass, the rear blade will, of course, dig in if used normally. If the ground isn't frozen hard, turf comes up. But if you back into the snow with the convex side (rear) of the rear blade moving forward, you ride up over the gravel and turf doing little or no damage while still clearing the snow.

I have a larger 4WD tractor with 7' blade, FEL and loaded Ags. When I first saw this recent snowfall, I thought I'd need it for sure. Not so. The little B7610 had zero problems and did an excellent job. What you're proposing should be easily possible with the right rear blade and some fluid in the tires.
FWIW
Bob