Snowplow

[Marc]

Mark,

Thanks for your response and the pic.

First, seeing all those gorgeous dark-green conifers in March makes me wish I was heading to Vermont THIS year and not next. (sigh)

It looks like you have a little bit of grade. Mine will be about the same except 1200' longer. If the 950/turf tires/MFWD can push through that, then I'm VERY encouraged.

My other needs will be mowing and firewood, so hopefully 20-something HP will do the trick.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. It's all helpful. I have the advantage of time to be able to process all the info that's coming my way.

 

[Mark_in_NH]

Marc,
You will find a Wealth of Knowledge, information and inspiration at the TBN. As a new member we welcome you.
The only reason my tractor has the turf tires on it is because they were on it when I bought it. I am only the the 2nd owner it it's 14 yrs. It was originally owned by a condo development about 5 miles from me, for all there yearly maintenance needs.
I have been impressed with the ability of the turf tires, although when I trade up to my TC35D in a year or so I will probably go with the R4's.
Irrelevent of what you choose for tires, you always have the option of installing chains when necessary to supplement your traction. I plowed all winter with no chains and using my backhoe for weight and seldom ever lost traction.

 

[Youare]

I did that very thing with a Meyers 7 1/2 power angle plow. I did not use the power angle function but I built and installed a mount to accept the plow in the bucket of my Ford 8N.

I liked plowing with the tractor better than with the truck except the tractor did not have a heated cab. The plow could be attached to the truck or tractor, however it was easier to attach it to the tractor.

A fellow up the road from me has a Kubato M-series with a snow plow mounted in the bucket, works great.

Randy

 

[Marc]

Youare:

How deep did the snow get and did you do anything for added traction?

 

[Youare]

I used this set-up for about 12 years durning that time we had several storms that dumped over 2 feet of snow. I did have my Farmi winch on the rear of the tractor which must weight around 350 pounds and one winter I put an additional 125 pounds on.

My driveway and the road I plowed are dirt, so the ice would build up over the winter, I did have a set of non-agressive tire chains to help out. They were old fire truck tire chains that I made fit the tractor tire.

The nice thing about having the plow on the bucket is you can push the snow banks way up. I had some after a big storm that we 8 feet high.

Randy

 

[Thomas]

Also w/a plow attach to the bucket...one doesn't have to get that close to a ditch line fearing of bottoming out.

 

[MajMac392]

Marc, Reference size tractor to plow snow. I live in So. Maine and plow with my 23HP Cub Cadet, (7234) 4WD tractor. When I was researching tractors before I bought this I made up a spread sheet comparing features etc. The Cub was the best price so that is why I got it but it also had a lot of nice features plus it was heavier than a similar JD 770 or Kubota models. It is in the 33-3400 pound range w/FEL attached and it has large 41" rear turf tires. I plow mostly up a hill from where the tractor is garaged. We had little snow this year but last year was a killer. Most of my snowbanks were easily in the 6 -7' range, far higher than the 4WD pickups could push it. I have some wheel spinning but plow with no weight on the rear. I was going to buy chains before my first season because a friend with a JD 770 had weighted tires w/chains. He experienced a lot of traction problems that I really haven't had. When you buy I think the weight, HP, are probably a couple of your most critical components to consider but it is amazing what these compact 4wd tractors will do. If I bought again I would get a HST and just a little more HP to handle any HST power losses. Happy hunting for the color that meets your needs. Don't rule out the Bright Yellow ones!

 

[Marc]

Thanks MAJMAC, Mark, Thomas & Youare. This is definitely a great help to hear form the guys who have done this already.

 

[Rowski]

marc

Where abouts in VT are you moving to?

 

[Marc]

Rowski,

I just looked at your bio. Looks like I'm moving to your neck of the woods - about halfway between Jay & Newport Center.