Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Tips for removal snow w/ front loader

[coachgrd]

I had to say goodbye to an old workhorse, my beloved John Deere 455. I used it to blow my 180' driveway here in NW Pa where we get L-O-T-S of lake effect snow...often times it comes in feet before Lake Erie freezes over. The 455 would just laugh at the snow, ripping through it every. single. time. Anyway, I decided to go with something with a front loader in order to save my back and purchased a Kubota 1870, and traded in the 455 in the process. A blower was not in budget so I'll be clearing all this snow with the front loader. What can challenges can I expect clearing the white stuff in this manner other than its probably going to take more time?
Thanks in advance...
Gary

 

[looch]

Deep snow and a small loader is a frustrating experience - kind of how I feel about eating crab. This may sound patronizingly obvious, but if the load resistance is greater than the "oomph" factor (a scientific term representing the forward vector affected by tractor weight, friction coefficient, and kinetic energy) you won't exactly be Lightening McQueen. In other words, if the tractor is backed up against a wall and there is 2 feet of snow immediately in front of the bucket, the only option is going to be scoop, advance, dump.

The other issue is snow banks. By February they will be high. And if your weather is similar, you will have had a few freeze/thaw events effectively turning them into a seemingly immovable mass. Makes for a sometimes exhilarating driveway exit.

I suppose the memory of winter is too young for me to be anything but pessimistic - I apologize. Try me again in October.

BTW, I spent a good bit of time deer hunting around Johnsonburg (Wilcox) back in the late 80's early 90's. Very nice country.

 

[Thomas]

Lots of threads on this topic w/good ideas.

First off dress warm rear ballast maybe set rear tire chains,curl bucket back just a tad so you don't dig in,but most of all keep the snow banks push back.

 

[leonz]

Looch and Thomas have given you very good advice.

Did you look at the rear mounted snow blowers? They are much much less expensive than the integral front mounted Kubota/RAD snow blowers offered by Kubota.

Having both a front end loader and a rear mount snow blower are a must in deep snow country.

Many of the members with rear mounts are able to sit side saddle and look back with out too much trouble while clearing snow.

Short of that purchasing a plow for the loader bucket is an option but I really would invest in a rear mount snow blower as you will be buried.

The plow will have depth gauge skis to keep from digging in and you can stack and push with it to some extent.

If you have R4 tires the best thing you can do is purchase the snow chains from Europe or log skidder/road grader chains
for your new mule and get the front and rear tires loaded with Windshield Washer Fluid after you have the chains mounted.

JUST UNDERSTAND that front loader buckets and the hoisting frames they are connected to are not ment for digging out frozen snow piles which you will have.

Its not too late to order a rear mount snow blower-perhaps the dealer will take the loader back on a trade towards a rear mount blower??? I would call them right away to avoid any delays as snow blower will be a much better way to handle this as you well know.








The othwer

 

[coachgrd]

Thanks guys, will also check out other threads.

 

[Signa]

I started thinking about snow removal from the moment I began researching tractors. So I was very excited to play in the snow for the first time and clean my 400+ ft gravel driveway. By the time I put it away, I was so disappointed. Here are some of my observations: The first problem I anticipated was that it is real easy to scalp all your nice gravel off the driveway if it's not paved or frozen. With a lot of diligence and careful adjustments, this can be mostly avoided. The second issue was traction. With a TLB combo and loaded, new, deep-lug R4's, I had plenty of forward traction. What I quickly realized was lacking is lateral traction, particularly on the fronts. Trying to go across even the slightest slope left the tractor continually trying to nose downhill. I've thought about front chains, but I really don't think I have enough clearance to the steering linkages, and I haven't pursued wheel spacers. Finally, even with a moderate amount of snow (6"), the FEL fills up real fast. After that, the choices are to keep pushing until it makes windrows on both sides and starts rolling over the top, or turn and dump it (reference problem #2 above), back up, re-level the bucket (reference problem #1 above), drive forward till full again, and repeat. If you have a smaller area, pushing it may work well. The first pass isn't much of a problem, but after that it felt like I was in a never ending cycle of covering area I had already cleared. I have since left it parked during snow removal and gone to my 26" walk-behind snowblower. Tedious, yes. But when the snow is cleared, it's gone. I understand a rear snowblower is a lot cheaper than front mount, but I know my neck will hate it. So I keep dreaming about a front-mount. I don't doubt that a FEL can be helpful in snow removal; but with my situation, it was just too frustrating. Best of luck.

 

[CalG]

For me, The FEL is best matched with a back blade.

I use the blade to drag the snow to as close as a tractor's length from the deposition site, Then I back over the pile and use the FEL to stack the snow as I make the second pass.

Much too tedious, but get's the job done.

On smaller accumulations, The snow is just blown over the bank with the garden tractor.

I'm "this far" from ordering out the WoodMaxx 72" ;-)

eta

It's important to note there is much efficiency to be gained in "getting the air out of a fresh snow". The more you work the snow before moving it with the FEL, the more snow you will move per lift.

So keep that bucket on the ground as long as you can. A full bucket means nothing if it's not heavy.

 

[not2old]

My GC2610 has a 48"loader that I've used to clear my drive for several years and got annoyed with how long it took. I've fabricated a new bucket that is two feet wider and about six inches taller. It has cut my time by about a third. I have no problems with too heavy to scoop or push unless I leave a pile part way down the drive and then try to push it after it is compacted. If this happens, I need to hit it with some momentum. I don't worry about damage to my machine as I know there is nothing in the way. I made this a quick attach while I was at it and this works for me.

 

[looch]

One thing I like about Kubota's heel-toe treadal is that when I'm using the rear-mounted blower I sit kind of side saddle - right arm over the back of the seat - and use my left foot to work the reverse pedal.

 

[motownbrowne]

At the very least, add a light duty back blade to your arsenal. A fraction of the cost of a blower and if you get on it before there's 8" of snow, it's a lot faster than using the bucket.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I first started pushing snow with an old John Deere 40 crawler. It was slow but got the job done. Next was a JD 400 garden tractor. I was given a front mount for it and I made a hydraulic angle blade. That worked for a few years and then I bought a bare JD 955. I bought a 430 loader for it and pushed snow with that. I was disappointed as the blade on the 400 with chains could move snow faster as you could angle the blade and not have to clean up what spilled over the sides. My 4410 is no different than the 955 in terms of snow spilling to the sides.

I then purchased ($50) a 3ph snow blower. It was a 6' V style with just a fan in the center. It worked ok but I wasn't real happy. I had trouble pushing the full 6' through any deeper drifts. Like 18" and over. The fan would plug up in wetter snow etc. I finally managed to purchase a JD 59 for the front of my 4410. Now what used to take me 4 hours to clean up with the loader I can do in about an hour.

There you have my experiences. I would have been very tempted to not trade the 445 and keep it just for blowing snow but I also know what it's like to struggle with making the finances all work.

 

[PILOON]

A rear blower will be your best friend.
Pushing with blade or bucket will very soon have you running out of space plus traction becomes a problem.
You have 'lake effect' which matches to some extent our snow events north of Montreal so I know a bit about what you face.
Bite the bullet and get a PTO blower and you'll never regret it.
OK frt mount sounds nice but rear is much more affordable plus there are many more deals to be had.
Rear are generic while front are model specific.
Shop around for used if the budget is tight just be sure that it is a bit wider than your wheels.

If you do go used rest assured that just about all repair and maintenance parts are generic 'off the shelf' at most machine shops or bearing suppliers.

A decent used rear blower might just match the costs of wheel ballast and chains making the outlay of $$ a bit less painful.
I might add that pushing loads of snow can even shred the best of costly chains.

 

[the old grind]

I've never found any tools to be more effective than FEL and Box Blade. Blower is out for me, as there is no room to 'shoot' snow. BB pulls away from buildings (after clearing a shovel-width from doors, etc), squeezes out air, and lets me scoop/dump. There is NO pushing off to the side here, as drifts will accumulate and there's nowhere to push successive 'windrows'.

My d'way is 500' to the 'T', another 50' to the garage. I also clear 6 spaces alongside, and 140' for another neighbor w/road frontage, ... all gravel. 16 winters here so far, snow never deeper than say even with the top of the BB. btw, I'm still correcting 'curbs' that have piled up where truck blades 'formed' them long ago, and crowning must be gentle, lest I find my front wheels also nosing off course when pushing snow.

Edge Tamers (TM) have reduced my snow removal time by all of 25% by making it MUCH easier to set bucket angle w/o gouging gravel. Like with a grapple or Ratchet Rake (TM) they leave one wondering how they ever got along without them. 3rd one in the middle spares scalping the crown.

 

[RjCorazza]

X2 on the edge tamers for front loaders, practically mandatory for gravel driveways. I am a fan of rear blade or blower coupled with a loader. The op specifically asks about clearing snow with a loader, so here is my opinion / experience:
A bucket will work, it will just take significantly longer in anything over a couple inches. Before I got my blower I cleared 2 large snows with a loader, and it took several hours for a 500' driveway. I pushed 45 deg off the driveway, backed up, repeat. Both sides of the driveway. That was for close to 2' of snow.... Lighter snows I would push straight until the bucket was packed full, and dump.

 

[Creamer]

I would be totally frustrated trying to move snow with my loader. Edge tamers would be a big help but most buckets do not float, i.e. you either have down pressure or you are up a bit. With down pressure you do not have front wheel traction. Once it starts getting rough your bucket goes up and down with the wheels and it just gets worse.

I do not have near the snow you do and I run out of places to put it sometimes. I use the backblade almost exclusively for snow removal (the exceptions are tight spots where I have to dig the snow out and can't push it). You will sorely miss the blower and a back blower isn't bad. A little bit of a hassle but you only have to watch it in tight spaces otherwise you just steer and let it run - say along the length of a driveway.

 

[coachgrd]

A large portion of the driveway is gravel. Will I scalp it with the bucket in float?

 

[looch]

A large portion of the driveway is gravel. Will I scalp it with the bucket in float?

Yes. Maybe.

On mine there is a sweet spot that by my estimations is about as thick as a nickel. Too low and you'll scalp, too high and the bucket will ride up. I scalp at least 2 or 3 times per session when I'm only using the loader (very little snow or extremely wet). I'd be all over those edge tamers if I cared enough. As it is, the scalping heals itself well enough for my liking, and when it becomes too unsightly, I just order some more gravel to dress things up.

ETA: Forecast is 86* today. Maybe someone can start a lawn mowing thread next January :laughing:

 

[Creamer]

A large portion of the driveway is gravel. Will I scalp it with the bucket in float?

Yes and no. If you have loose rock yes it will scrape it. If it is hard and solid no. If you have loose rock get edge tamers and then the answer is no unless it is not flat enough to match the scoop.

The trick I use with my floating rear blade is to let some snow build up and pack it down to where I have a hard surface and then let the blade float. It works great until we get warm weather and things go slushy.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I nave a homemade yard scraper with a large roller in the back. I use it to spread a layer of snow over the driveway which the roller packs. Once I have a descent base then the loader or the snowblower don't dig in.

 

[coachgrd]

Yes. Maybe.

On mine there is a sweet spot that by my estimations is about as thick as a nickel. Too low and you'll scalp, too high and the bucket will ride up. I scalp at least 2 or 3 times per session when I'm only using the loader (very little snow or extremely wet). I'd be all over those edge tamers if I cared enough. As it is, the scalping heals itself well enough for my liking, and when it becomes too unsightly, I just order some more gravel to dress things up.

ETA: Forecast is 86* today. Maybe someone can start a lawn mowing thread next January :laughing:

Yeah, we need to put this topic to bed for a while