What is the most efficient snow removal machine?

deerseeker001 · Jan 31, 2014

I also use the tractor with front end loader and back-blade cant beat it,moves a lot of snow fast.

Balerguy2 · Jan 31, 2014

grsthegreat,

Having built a very similar rear hydraulic power pack and tractor loader mounted snow blower I can say "Quick Attach" has a very fair price for the complete package. Well done "Quick Attach"! After 4 months of "building" it took me about 10 seconds to realize, "hey, I am looking forward and blowing snow"! One difference is I mounted the Prince 20 gpm PTO pump on the same 3ph frame that carries the 25 gallon tank.................... I fabbed a PTO drive shaft to make an easy hook-up. The all cast-iron Prince pump weighs 70 lbs and the DIY drive shaft weighs about 20 lbs........................ at my age it was the way to go!

Great job "grsthegreat" getting it all mounted and tuned up................... thanks for lending me a hand via TBN getting mine tuned up!

RoyJackson · Feb 1, 2014

JDgreen227 said:
I really like using my rear blade for plowing in reverse, with one major gripe: The blade tends to ride up on hard pack snow, frequently I want to compress a snow pile and push it backward, and the instead the blade rides up. Has anyone had success in eliminating that by adding weight to their rear blade?

I had an ancient rear blade (probably a Ford since is was blue). Although the blade was quite heavy, I had the same problem you describe. I had a couple weights (hammers from a hammer mill...weight was at least 80 lbs each and probably more). That helped considerably when pushing with the convex side (which tended to rise up more then the concave side of the blade).
So, adding weight helped me. The worst part of the job was loading the weights on the blade (due to the weight).
However, I started using the concave side of the blade (driving forward). As long as the area to be plowed is fairly flat, this method worked great and a lot less hassle. I did get some gravel in the grass though since I had the blade angled about 30 degrees. This method, in combination with the loader bucket, did the job for me...give it a try. Pulling the blade is less likely to result in damage to your lower lift arms too, in case you hit something like a curb.

grsthegreat · Feb 1, 2014

Balerguy2 said:
grsthegreat,

Having built a very similar rear hydraulic power pack and tractor loader mounted snow blower I can say "Quick Attach" has a very fair price for the complete package. Well done "Quick Attach"! After 4 months of "building" it took me about 10 seconds to realize, "hey, I am looking forward and blowing snow"! One difference is I mounted the Prince 20 gpm PTO pump on the same 3ph frame that carries the 25 gallon tank.................... I fabbed a PTO drive shaft to make an easy hook-up. The all cast-iron Prince pump weighs 70 lbs and the DIY drive shaft weighs about 20 lbs........................ at my age it was the way to go!

Great job "grsthegreat" getting it all mounted and tuned up................... thanks for lending me a hand via TBN getting mine tuned up!

hay, no problem. I also thought its a great price compared to me trying to figure out how to build one. Its in its 3rd season and still works great.

And i DO agree that the pto pump is a monster to install. Its the heaviest and hardest part to install at start of season. That dang thing is HEAVY.

maybe i will play around with a way to use a shaft and mount it permanent. that sounds like a cool idea.

Some day ill invest in a loader mount post hole digger. if i do i can use the same setup. Quick Attach has like 500 different quick mount attachments......i sure wouldnt mind some of them.

check · Feb 2, 2014

RoyJackson said:
I had an ancient rear blade (probably a Ford since is was blue). Although the blade was quite heavy, I had the same problem you describe. I had a couple weights (hammers from a hammer mill...weight was at least 80 lbs each and probably more). That helped considerably when pushing with the convex side (which tended to rise up more then the concave side of the blade).
So, adding weight helped me. The worst part of the job was loading the weights on the blade (due to the weight).
However, I started using the concave side of the blade (driving forward). As long as the area to be plowed is fairly flat, this method worked great and a lot less hassle. I did get some gravel in the grass though since I had the blade angled about 30 degrees. This method, in combination with the loader bucket, did the job for me...give it a try. Pulling the blade is less likely to result in damage to your lower lift arms too, in case you hit something like a curb.

RoyJackson, your photo of yourself reminds me of a joke. A guy walks into a bar, and he has a frog sticking out of his forehead. So, the bartender exclaims, holy smokes, how id THAT happen? And the frogs says, "I don't know. He just grew out of my a _ _ one day!":laughing:

RoyJackson · Feb 2, 2014

check said:
RoyJackson, your photo of yourself reminds me of a joke. A guy walks into a bar, and he has a frog sticking out of his forehead. So, the bartender exclaims, holy smokes, how id THAT happen? And the frogs says, "I don't know. He just grew out of my a _ _ one day!":laughing:

Good joke!

railbike4 · Feb 2, 2014

i built something very similar this winter for my small snow plow . luv it with snow under 8 in.

JDgreen227 · Feb 3, 2014

RoyJackson said:
I had an ancient rear blade (probably a Ford since is was blue). Although the blade was quite heavy, I had the same problem you describe. I had a couple weights (hammers from a hammer mill...weight was at least 80 lbs each and probably more). That helped considerably when pushing with the convex side (which tended to rise up more then the concave side of the blade).
So, adding weight helped me. The worst part of the job was loading the weights on the blade (due to the weight).
However, I started using the concave side of the blade (driving forward). As long as the area to be plowed is fairly flat, this method worked great and a lot less hassle. I did get some gravel in the grass though since I had the blade angled about 30 degrees. This method, in combination with the loader bucket, did the job for me...give it a try. Pulling the blade is less likely to result in damage to your lower lift arms too, in case you hit something like a curb.

Thank you for the input, Roy. My blade does work better when plowing forward, but as my driveway as well as my neighbors does has an entryway on a main and busy road, it is very difficult to pull snow forward and deposit it somewhere other than the road itself. There is enough traffic much of the time I hestitate to even drive into the road. I will try weighting my back blade down with barbell weights (my favorite cheapo method). There are no curbs or other obstructions I need to worry about hitting.

terryknight · Feb 3, 2014

For me a truck 8ft plow. cost less than some blowers and serve many purposes. if it gets deep enough we can break out the tractor or backhoe. when using the tractor it's bucket on the front and blade on the rear

vtsnowedin · Feb 3, 2014

terryknight said:
For me a truck 8ft plow. cost less than some blowers and serve many purposes. if it gets deep enough we can break out the tractor or backhoe. when using the tractor it's bucket on the front and blade on the rear

Yes I think when you get down to the nickels and dimes of it a pickup mounted plow is the most cost effective for anything less then a full town or state road. The catch is that you NEED a backup of some kind for those times when it drifts in on you faster then you can buck it back or when you just screw up and get stuck. Unless you have friends with able equipment handy by or other equipment in you stable a tractor, well set up, is more reliable if not cheaper day in and day out.