Snowblower Snow Removal with a B3200

[Carl_NH]

Do you have the SSQA on your FEL? They make front plow blades if you do, and that with a 6 or 7' rear blade would be about the same as a snow blower probably. But if you use the FEL for wood in the winter that's a definite drawback.

I used my FEL (also not removable) and a 6' rear blade for the last 15 years, and have been looking for a decent used PTO blower for last 3-4 years, but they all wanted $1500 for rusted/well used, to $2K for decent shape machines.

So I ended up ordering a Woodmaxx after reading reviews here, and looking into how they are built - they are very HD units, the 60" weighs 700 pounds, and are $2250 delivered with manual chute. I bit the bullet and got the electric option.

It's more blower than my B21 HP wise, but I will go slow instead - the driveway isn't long, but I do about 600' of clearing 200' driveway and the banks are the issue and if more than 12" I was using the walk behind SB following up with the tractor and blade.

The Woodmaxx in my opinion is about the best value for $ out there for a new unit. Oh, an added bonus is the steel frame they ship in I made a dolly for my BH and a dolly for the SB too for $50 of 4" casters! So roll the dolly under the BH and roll it off into the corner!

Carl

 

[cointoss]

I have a B3200 with a front loader and I use a 5' rear blower on it in the UP of Michigan. Only thing I could add is you need to blow with the wind otherwise you will wish you had a cab.

 

[WarrenPFJr]

Thanks for the input!

I called my local dealer where I purchased my tractor and they sell Land Pride blowers. The rep said a 74" would work well with my machine, that LP is now OEM with Kubota and making implements specifically to work with these tractors. I was quoted just under 4k for a manual machine.

I also checked out the Maxwoods and would much rather go with a recommended brand from you guys. The Maxwoods is almost half the cost, a no-brainer decision with one exception. The PTO on the B3200 is rated at 23HP, which falls into the 60" blower range (18-30HP) for Maxwoods instead of the 72" (25-65HP). I called Maxwoods and was told I may not be happy withe performance of the 72" because it would be oversized for my machine. They recommended I go with 60".

So the dilemma now- Do I trust my local rep that I can handle a larger unit from LP (perhaps due to different gearing or auger sizes) or the folks at Maxwoods? I like the idea of a larger size as my tractor is 60" wide but performance is obviously more important. Not to mention the huge difference in price tag.

Cointoss, you use the 60" unit on a B3200, any issues with the blower not being wide enough? Is this an issue? A previous post mentioned rule of thumb being 5 HP per linear foot of implement. I assumed that was referring to the Tractor HP of 32 but now guess its to the PTO HP of 23 bringing me down from over 6ft to under 5. I am wondering what you guys think.

 

[aczlan]

It all comes down to how slow you are willing to go.
As long as the weight is not too much to pick up and you have a hydrostatic transmission, you can run most any size you want. You will just need to slow down in deeper snow.
In light snow, the bigger blower will be faster. In deep snow, your groundspeed will probably be slower, but you will be clearing a wider path, so it should be about the same.
We run a 7' blower on our L3830 (37.4 Engine HP, 32 PTO HP) and its too big in deep snow, but its nice in shallow snow.

Aaron Z

 

[leonz]

Thanks for the input!

I called my local dealer where I purchased my tractor and they sell Land Pride blowers. The rep said a 74" would work well with my machine, that LP is now OEM with Kubota and making implements specifically to work with these tractors. I was quoted just under 4k for a manual machine.

I also checked out the Maxwoods and would much rather go with a recommended brand from you guys. The Maxwoods is almost half the cost, a no-brainer decision with one exception. The PTO on the B3200 is rated at 23HP, which falls into the 60" blower range (18-30HP) for Maxwoods instead of the 72" (25-65HP). I called Maxwoods and was told I may not be happy withe performance of the 72" because it would be oversized for my machine. They recommended I go with 60".

So the dilemma now- Do I trust my local rep that I can handle a larger unit from LP (perhaps due to different gearing or auger sizes) or the folks at Maxwoods? I like the idea of a larger size as my tractor is 60" wide but performance is obviously more important. Not to mention the huge difference in price tag.

Cointoss, you use the 60" unit on a B3200, any issues with the blower not being wide enough? Is this an issue? A previous post mentioned rule of thumb being 5 HP per linear foot of implement. I assumed that was referring to the Tractor HP of 32 but now guess its to the PTO HP of 23 bringing me down from over 6ft to under 5. I am wondering what you guys think.

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You have to have adhesion which translates to Traction!!!

You need to buy 2 link snow chains and have your tires
loaded if they are not loaded already.

the snow blower I have was nothing but an anchor until I
loaded the rears with windshield washer fluid.

If you want a snowblower that works well and has beem made for years
look at pronovost first then allied farm king as far as first or second asthey
are both well built and the snow casters are welded.

You need a snow caster with the largest diameter impeller in order to work well.

AN even better snow catseer is made by by Berta and imported by Joel at earth tools.


Any rear mount snow caster will be rated by the minimum and maximum horsepower range
of the mule not at PTO.

If you buy a six footer your first pass wil be slower but you can take half cuts.


UMM, why are you not buying a front mount? is it due to the greater purchase price?

 

[Mendonsy]

My B7500 is only rated 16hp on the PTO. It has no trouble with my 54" blower under almost any conditions so I suspect your B3200 could easily handle either blower.
Aaron is correct about the HST being the big equalizer. When you get into REALLY heavy stuff like moving the banks that the highway department has piled up in front of your driveway just slow down to whatever speed the tractor is happy with.

 

[WarrenPFJr]

We rarely get a snowfall of over a foot at a time where I am in the catskills, maybe once or twice a year. For any big snow banks the town leaves me at the road I am thinking the FEL might be quicker at handling anyway. This has me leaning toward a 72" model, and I do have HST. I don't mind driving slow so long as the clearing is quicker than using the FEL (what i have used for the last 6 years)

LeonZ- I have had traction issues in the past so will look into a set of tire chains, I do not have ballast in the tires and don't really want it. Ill check out the SB brands you mentioned. Im steering away from a front mount due to cost and also the frequent use of the FEL (i bring in firewood by the pallet all winter long) and do not have a Quick Attachment.

 

[aczlan]

You will find that the blower will take care of the banks much faster and easier than the loader will (BDTD, the blower on the L3830 is replacing the B7500 as the machine to knock back banks).
On traction, do I assume correctly that you use forks to move said pallets of wood? If so, you might find that you need a weight on the front when the blower is lifted up (on our L3830, it gets hard to steer at times when the blower is up). If so, you might make a weight with fork pockets in it so you can just pick it up with the forks when needed.
What I generally do when I run out of traction (with loaded R1s on the L3830), is to lift the blower up an inch or two to transfer weight to the tires.

Aaron Z

 

[cointoss]

The 5 footer will not be an issue for width, a lot of the time I never use the full with to remove deep snow because it can cause wind rowing.
I would not get the wider blower than a 5 footer either, too much weight on the hydraulics and tractor. Also, LandPride makes good equipment but I would look elsewhere for a 5 foot blower. Even look on Ebay but right now could be a problem finding one with the start of winter. I have had a B2710, B7800 and a B3200 and a 5 foot blower has worked well on all of them.

By the way, I have never needed chains on a those tractors as they wer all 4 wheel assist.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a similar tractor (L3700SU) . It is roughly the same size and when I use it for snow, I use a 7Foot pusher or a 80" snow bucket. .. Just today I ordered a3rd function kit so I will be able to use the 7.6" plow that I have set up for my skidsteer. If it is only a few inches of snow, a box is tough to beat. You do however need a place to pile it. The box will fill up pretty quickly.