What size snowblower?

[apps]

Nowhere left to dump the snow with FEL. Looking at 3 point options for a GC1715. Would a 60" be too much to handle? Other option is 54" as I would want a little wider path than tractor width & has to throw a good distance. Most of snowfall is dry, windblown & drifting with average 15-20 cm snowfalls. I did a lot of searching but I want to hear actual MF owners' experiences.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Either will work fine. The wider it is, the slower you'll need to go in heavy or deep snow. I've seen videos of people using a 60" on the previous model to the GC1705, the GC2400, and it didn't seem to have much of a problem. I have the 50" front blower, and wish it was wider. I've give up a bit of speed for some extra width.

Just be careful of weight. Some of the brands get pretty heavy, not that the GC can't handle it, but it can get a little light in the front for steering.

 

[atsah]

I have a Blizzard B54 and my GC1705 doesn't want anymore blower than that, the 1715 has 1/2 PTO HP more than mine and I don't think that's enough to go to a 60. I blow a lot of snow and most of it is powder but in the fall and spring we have some heavy snow, and when we do the 54 is all it wants.

If you buy the 60 you're first pass will be slow because you are feeding the full 60 inches to it but after the first pass you can cut the amount down if it's to much for it. The 54 works great for me because sometimes I back into hard bankings and it chews into them slowly but does a good job..

 

[Langanobob]

I have a 63 front mount blower on my GC1720, not sure how that relates to a 3 point hitch blower. It works fine. In older windpacked drifts I have to go pretty slow but It gets the job done. If I try to push too hard in deep heavy snow I hear the engine RPM痴 drop off a little bit so I slow down and the RPMs instantly pick back up. I like having the extra width.

 

[atsah]

540 and 2000 are two different ball games..

 

[oosik]

In the day, I had a 60" unit on a 4WD Ford 1700( 26 engine HP ). Worked well. There were times, really deep snow > around three plus feet, where I had to slow down or make two passes. I've got a mile long gravel driveway. There are a couple places where the wind can cause drifting. I would just make things easy and take two passes thru these short areas. Half with the first pass - remainder with the second pass.

Nice thing about a blower. You can usually get the snow completely out of the way. Won't ever have to deal with it a second time. Some times I have to bust old berms I've created along my driveway. With my heavy tractor and rear blade it's not a problem but a waste of time.

The ONE thing that is disagreeable with a 3-point blower. Going in reverse. It would take me three to four hours to clean the yard, driveway and mail box area. My neck and shoulders would be sore the following day. Such is life.

With my heavy Kubota and rear blade - the same job takes an hour or two now. And I'm always going forward.

 

[csquared]

Look at Woodmax blowers designed in Buffalo NY. They are great blowers, built like tanks and really thow the snow.

 

[BLSXJ]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

why? you wont drive through the snow when making normal turns and with the hydro you can adjust your speed to match the snow depth and density.

 

[atsah]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

Okay that would make the blower 6 ft wide since his tractor is four feet wide. A 24 HP tractor is NOT going to run a 6 ft blower.

OP, look at PTO HP specs on the blowers website, it will tell you the range of PTO HP you need to run there blower.

 

[JWR]

Either will work fine. The wider it is, the slower you'll need to go in heavy or deep snow. I've seen videos of people using a 60" on the previous model to the GC1705, the GC2400, and it didn't seem to have much of a problem. I have the 50" front blower, and wish it was wider. I've give up a bit of speed for some extra width.

Just be careful of weight. Some of the brands get pretty heavy, not that the GC can't handle it, but it can get a little light in the front for steering.

Agree. I use a 60" 3pt blower on a 24hp Kubota B2150 that is about 400lb heavier than the GC1715. I handle an Agro-Trend Canadian made 5ft blower with ease and comfortably "not too big" at all. It is very heavy. It would be nice if you have a FEL up front for balance as well as "two way snow removal." I have a creeper gear in the B2150 which is important for stick transmission snow blowing but with hydrostatic that should not be a problem in your case. As Fiziksgeek says watch the weight of the blower. And as Atsah says pay attention to the hp rating of the blower -- I think you'll find your hp can handle the 5ft but it would be a good thing to know if you were right on the edge versus being in a comfortable bracket of power needed. My B2150 is speced at 24hp but it is a 4cyl and tends to be stronger than the numbers indicate. I'm convinced the hp figures 30 years ago were more conservative than they are now.