Snowblower Dilema

[Catman1]

I am purchasing a new Kubota 4330 from a local dealer. At first he quoted me list price. I then told him a price a received from a dealer further away and he match the price after consulting with the owner, (about $1200 less).

We have had very bad snow storms lately here in Colorado. I get bad drifting from the high west winds which drift a foot or two of hard snow over the driveway, even if it has only snowed an inch.

In 10 years of living here at this located, this has never happened this bad. This could be a freak year or it can go on for another 5 years. SO what to do.

I can clean the drifts with a my FEL on the Kubota. I have a 400 yard driveway that goes downhill at a 10 to 12 degree slope. This would entail dumping the snow on the side and building up really high piles (not good as the arear is tight and when the snow melts, the driveway surface gets mauled by the running water downhill. Plus when I am out of town a few days, my wife would have to plow and she would not hack the FEL.

A front end snow blower would do well here. It would also prevent me and especially her from driving backwards with a rear blower on those steep hills (and doing it at night).

I went to my salesman and asked him the price to add Kubota's front blower with hydraulic chute rotation. He said about $3500 as would take a lot of work. He later faxed me the quote and here it is:

72" front mount blower $ 2250
Hydraulic chute rotation $ 1642
Mid PTO Kit $ 310
Quick hitch kit for PTO and blower $ 1330
Drive line kit for both $530

Labor to install all $700

I can see the need for the PTO, hitch, and drive line to make the blower work. It just seems that these are "Retail" prices. Are these prices reasonable?

This is winter and he may be taking advantage of this. I may just have to buy as priced or pass on it to later when it may be to my advantage and not winter. I will just had to gut out the drifts and clean with the FEL. My wife may be stuck for days when I am gone.

A rear blower that works going forward may be an option from another maker but I don't know if that would work well driving into 1 or 2 foot drifts.

Any recommendations or other options?

 

[Piperflyer]

You don't have a older kid you trust who lives close by to do it when your gone or a neighbor? That way you could buy a rear blower which is cheaper. Let them borrow it for their use as payment.

 

[Catman1]

It would have to be a really trustworthy kid to trust him with a $30,000 tractor. Very few and far in between. I haven't seen any yet. They love their Ipods more.

The road is real twisty and steep and snow driven by 40k winds is not conducive to driving backward up and down the slopes.

BTW, I learned to fly in Pipers. Love'em.

 

[MadReferee]

I went to my salesman and asked him the price to add Kubota's front blower with hydraulic chute rotation. He said about $3500 as would take a lot of work. He later faxed me the quote and here it is:

72" front mount blower $ 2250
Hydraulic chute rotation $ 1642
Mid PTO Kit $ 310
Quick hitch kit for PTO and blower $ 1330
Drive line kit for both $530

Labor to install all $700

I can see the need for the PTO, hitch, and drive line to make the blower work. It just seems that these are "Retail" prices. Are these prices reasonable?

He quoted you MSRP prices right out of the Kubota price book.

Are they reasonable? In my opinion, no.

Any factory option like this is over priced to begin with and they think they got you locked in if you want a front blower. They may be an aftermarket blower for this tractor that will save you some money on the blower/chute rotator but you will have to look around and this time of year is not the best time to do that. Good luck.

 

[Kendall69]

Pay a guy to come buy with a 4x4 and a blade do the drive and be done. Too much money/equipment for such a minimal use.

Plenty do people running around with jeeps and a snow blade on the front, heck some would do it for a case of beer I bet.

 

[DavesTractor]

Seems like a lot of labor when they are likley getting full boat on the blower already. Ask for 10% off the blower or free install and see what they say. A rear blower allows the loader to stay on the tractor, allowing both options, but going backwards can be a problem.

 

[Catman1]

Thanks guys for the info and pricing check. Tractor will get a lot of use other times of the year as I have that 400 yard road to rework after the winter destruction and keep in shape plus a new 700 yard road and 100 acres to take care of. There is a lot of yard work and landscaping to do.

I currently have a Ford 545 that is very hard to add a blade or box scrapper to as it has no 3 point hitch and doesn't go anywhere in the snow and on icy hills. Only 2WD. The FEL on the Kubota can handle the snow and drifts. If the dealer wants that much and will only sell retail, I will look for something else later.

When it snows here, very few people have machines to do their plowing and those that do are very premium to the rest. My 4WD truck can handle the snow with it's plow but the instant drifts are another matter. You need a heavy machine. We live out in the boonies and you need to be self sufficient.

 

[ToadHill]

I have the same situation as you with a sloped decent to the road. I bought a used rear blower at an auction and keep it attached all winter. I move the snow with the FEL and when the banks get too high, and on a day with better weather, I back into the banks and blow them away from the edge of the drive. It works just fine.

 

[Catman1]

Thanks ToadHill. I didn't think of that. That could help with the snow pile build up along the road.

I have looked at the Pronovost Units and they have a front blower that attaches to the FEL. With that you can raise and lower the blower and blow the tops of snow banks down to man size.

 

[lawn_king]

Kubota front snowblowers are BIG money, i have purchased several. My 2782 w/ hydraulic chute rotator was $4400. when subframe,driveline,hardware,etc were all factored in.

 

[Oleozz]

One of your big concerns seems to be your wife and how she will be able to get along with the Kubota and the driveway while you are gone (And I understand your concerns). I think the easiest thing for her to use would be the front mounted snowblower, I know my wife could never get the hang of using a FEL. To bad you're not back here in Pa, since we've had very little snow used blowers are selling for great prices, I've seen some barely used units selling at almost half price in the Lancaster Farming magazine over the past month or so.

 

[talltale]

My road situation is similar to yours, a 1000' elevation gain over a 2 mile road with either ditches or dropoffs all the way down. I had a Kubota L3830 with the same blower setup you're looking at, along with a Landpride 3584 rearblade w/guage wheel on the back. After using this setup for three years here are some of the issues I had:
1) My "road" (I use the term loosely) consist of dirt, rock (3/4" to 3" minus), and ruts. Even with the blower skids jacked up several inches I was constantly popping shear pins. Blowers hate rocks and my road grows big ones. The constant freeze thaw cycle pushes them to the surface.
2) Blowers are SLOW. I found about 2 mph was the best I could do under most conditions. I found the rear blade to be much faster (4-5 mph) and it tolerated the rocks much better.
3) Even with chains on the front wheels, the blower doesn't allow the tractor to turn. Those skids up front turn the tractor into a sled that only want to go one way - straight ahead.
4) Forget trying to attack a berm or drift from any direction but straight on. Otherwise, the blower will suck you into the berm everytime. It makes for slow going if you're trying to clear 2 miles of mountain road.
5) My 3830 was to light and underpowered for the task. Even with chains on the rear, if I offset or angled the rear blade, I was constantly fighting rear wheel slippage and getting sucked off the road. I eventually took to driving backwards down the mountain using the rear blade to bulldoze the snow off the road. I then had to drive back to the top of the hill and make another pass as the tractor did not have the traction or the power to make an uphill plow run.

Recently, I traded the whole setup in on a larger tractor with more power and weight (Kubota M5040), filled the fronts and rears with Rimguard, diamond logging chains all around, and put an AnBo 8' dozer blade on the QA loader. Man, what a difference! I can easily do in two hours now what took me 8 hours with the 3830. Don't get me wrong, the Kubota blower is a beast. Mine took a beating and never clogged. I think I could have run wet concrete through it without clogging it. But I've come to the conclusion blowers are best suited to city/suburb sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots.

Oh, and my agreement with my spouse was "I" would keep the road open for her no matter what.

 

[Catman1]

Were they worth it or did you consider others?

 

[botamoose]

okay, im in the same dilema. i have a L2800 with a fel 200 yd driveway and a big lot. i go away for a week or 2 at a time. so, what i did his get the wife to plow out enough to get her to work etc and when i comes hiome i cleans it all up. make sure you get a hst.

 

[Catman1]

Thanks Oleozz for the PA info. I will be in PA next week and will check them out.

Talltale: That is really good info. I had considered using a plow blade on the front of the tractor or the FEL. I was not sure a tractor )l4330) would push those high, hard drifts to the side.

"Recently, I traded the whole setup in on a larger tractor with more power and weight (Kubota M5040), filled the fronts and rears with Rimguard, diamond logging chains all around, and put an AnBo 8' dozer blade on the QA loader. Man, what a difference! I can easily do in two hours now what took me 8 hours with the 3830. "

So you are saying that a front blade will do it? I will check out the AnBo's. The answer there would be to widen the road this summer so I will have more place to bank the snow off to the side and use a blade. I think my wife can learn that as she uses the truck and blade now. Goes off the road into a ditch a few times here in there but no biggie!

Maybe I will come across a cheap blower like Oleozz stated and use the to blow the piles as Toadhill suggested.

Where did you get the diamond logging chains and is that the name they go by?

 

[Deerlope]

I had the same blower on an L3830 and everything except the front PTO was only 3900.00 bucks. It blew snow like a champ but I traded it for a roto tiller after I put a 2x4 into it and the pin did not shear. I bent the auger and Kubota would not go good for it.

 

[Deerlope]

Pay a guy to come buy with a 4x4 and a blade do the drive and be done. Too much money/equipment for such a minimal use.

Plenty do people running around with jeeps and a snow blade on the front, heck some would do it for a case of beer I bet.

I paid a guy to do my 800 ft+ uphill and his 4x4 and the truck couldn't make it. I had to pull him out with the tractor. So now I have a 71/2 Fisher plow on my tractor.

 

[Catman1]

Talltale

You stated:

Recently, I traded the whole setup in on a larger tractor with more power and weight (Kubota M5040), filled the fronts and rears with Rimguard, diamond logging chains all around, and put an AnBo 8' dozer blade on the QA loader. Man, what a difference! I can easily do in two hours now what took me 8 hours with the 3830. Don't get me wrong, the Kubota blower is a beast. Mine took a beating and never clogged. I think I could have run wet concrete through it without clogging it. But I've come to the conclusion blowers are best suited to city/suburb sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots.

I need to go to that M5040 class tractor. I see that the L4330 won't make that 8' Anbo work. Too heavy.

Why did you select the Anbo?. Is that the blade that can be tilted 10 degrees up and down with an extra hydraulic remote for snow and dirt or is that just a snow blade?

What do you use on the rear of the tractor to offset the blade? A ballast box or what?

Thanks

 

[RFB]

I use a Curtis 7 foot blade on my Kubota 5030 with 853 QA FEL. I also installed the W.R. Long electric(solenoid)/hydraulic system for power angle function. This give left and right angle added to the normal lift and curl actions.

It is on and off in 2 minutes: detach bucket, drive to plow, hook in and throw levers, then plug in 2 hoses and go to work.

photo http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/2756/sort/1/cat/500/page/2

 

[talltale]

AnBo, BoDozer, and Curtis are all great blades. Pin lock the breakaway springs in place and the AnBo can be used for light dozing. My M5040 has a diverter valve kit installed with a Fasse joystick control. This gives me the ability to angle the blade left and right in addition to the normal tilt, curl, up/down functions of the loader. As already mentioned, with the quick attach loader, it takes about 5 minutes to drop the loader bucket and mount the dozer blade.
I'm currently using my Landpride 3584 blade for rear ballast. I plan to mount a sander in the future.