daTeacha
Veteran Member
I've got an old B7100 gear with somewhere north of 1500 hours on it. The hourmeter was disconnected when I got it, so I really have no idea. It's from somewhere in the late 70's. I also have an old Cadet from the early 70's.
We get snow here in lumps. A serious storm followed by lots of little or no precip. I live in the woods on a pretty good hill. I have a FEL and a 6' back blade. The blade works for most stuff up to about 6", but tends to load up with snow and eventually push the tractor sideways while going down hill, especially if the snow is wet. I can push it off to the side in reverse, but that pushes a lot gravel, too. When it gets too thick, I use the loader to pick it up and set it aside.
I actually get better results plowing snow with my Cadet 109 with a pair of chains and a front blade. I set the blade at an angle and make a run down the curving driveway, pushing the snow to the side. Then I drive back up to the top (about 350') set the blade to the other side and make another pass. Repeat again on each side, and the drive looks great.
Last winter, we got a serious ice/snow storm right before Christmas. The Cadet was useless due to depth, the back blade was useless because the stuff was so heavy it just pushed the tractor sideways in about 10'. I cleared the driveway with the loader, then the road, then used the loader and my Stihl to remove a tree from the road, got to the highway, cleared another tree, and finally removed the plow wash at the end of the road that was left by the state trucks and not moved since the county trucks did not plow my road due to the tree. It took 3 hours to get out to the state route about 1/4 mile away, but only an hour to get to airport 50 miles away to pick up my daughter coming in from New York.
The bottom line from me -- the loader will be useful all year round. The snowblower is only useful in winter, and then with limits. The blade is useful summer and winter to maintain the drive, but is not best for moving snow when it gets too thick and heavy.
We get snow here in lumps. A serious storm followed by lots of little or no precip. I live in the woods on a pretty good hill. I have a FEL and a 6' back blade. The blade works for most stuff up to about 6", but tends to load up with snow and eventually push the tractor sideways while going down hill, especially if the snow is wet. I can push it off to the side in reverse, but that pushes a lot gravel, too. When it gets too thick, I use the loader to pick it up and set it aside.
I actually get better results plowing snow with my Cadet 109 with a pair of chains and a front blade. I set the blade at an angle and make a run down the curving driveway, pushing the snow to the side. Then I drive back up to the top (about 350') set the blade to the other side and make another pass. Repeat again on each side, and the drive looks great.
Last winter, we got a serious ice/snow storm right before Christmas. The Cadet was useless due to depth, the back blade was useless because the stuff was so heavy it just pushed the tractor sideways in about 10'. I cleared the driveway with the loader, then the road, then used the loader and my Stihl to remove a tree from the road, got to the highway, cleared another tree, and finally removed the plow wash at the end of the road that was left by the state trucks and not moved since the county trucks did not plow my road due to the tree. It took 3 hours to get out to the state route about 1/4 mile away, but only an hour to get to airport 50 miles away to pick up my daughter coming in from New York.
The bottom line from me -- the loader will be useful all year round. The snowblower is only useful in winter, and then with limits. The blade is useful summer and winter to maintain the drive, but is not best for moving snow when it gets too thick and heavy.
