Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Who's ready for winter 13/14 ?

[94BULLITT]

#3 Son will be stopping by tomorrow to help me put the cab back on. Going to re-light the tractor with LED's. Hope it turns out to be a snowier winter than last year for us. Supposed to be around 60° here tomorrow.

LED work lights or a full LED conversion?

 

[FatTire]

i posted some here in the past. it produces 15 GPM @ 3,000 PSI. I can blow a 30 foot rooster tail with the snow. I especially like the fact that there are NO shear pins.

It holds 27 gal of ISO 22 (5 weight) oil, so the oil doesnt overheat. There is an option for an electric fan cooler if operating unit above 40F, which i wont be doing....unless i op for the loader mounted post auger kit..... which i do dream of.

The post hole auger is why I was wondering, speaking of not having shear pins. My unimog blower has shear pins. I realized last winter that you're most likely to break pins when the wind is blowing and visibility is really bad, which happens to be the exact time you don't like installing new pins. Clipped the edge of a buried pile of fire wood. I understood what had happened when I heard a "clunk" and the snow coming out of the chute turned brown, but it was too late to do anything about it.

 

[grsthegreat]

The post hole auger is why I was wondering, speaking of not having shear pins. My unimog blower has shear pins. I realized last winter that you're most likely to break pins when the wind is blowing and visibility is really bad, which happens to be the exact time you don't like installing new pins. Clipped the edge of a buried pile of fire wood. I understood what had happened when I heard a "clunk" and the snow coming out of the chute turned brown, but it was too late to do anything about it.

not having to swap shear pins out 2-3 times each time i blow snow (which is what i used to do with my old blower) is worth the cost of the hydraulic unit. this one has a hydraulic bypass unit that stops rotation if clogged. all i have to do is clear the clog and start blowing again

 

[bubbacuse77]

What kind of chains do you use on the front? How well do they work? I was about to order a set of Aqualine MPC chains but I was talked out of it for my intended uses (winter logging and also plowing pavement.)

My dealer said good ole ladder chains would be my best compromise. The MPC chains supposedly don't do a lot for "off road".

Piston, not sure if you guys have had any luck but I prefer just running front tire chains and I really wanted the Aqualine MPC chains for the font tires but was told they don't make them in that small a size. Anyone else have luck finding them for the front tires?

 

[rsallen]

Ugh, I'm still not.
This year I thought I'd try painting the inside of the chute of the snow blower in epoxy paint; aah ya know, to make slippier.
Then I found a spot in the thrower rotor area rusted through. Got that welded up with new metal. Then other things collided with the job before I could finish it. So now I'm wanting to get in back in the shop so I can weld some new slids on it, finish the epoxy, put the chute back on and get it all adjusted/situated to the tractor properly.
Other then that........Then I'll be ready for winter.

 

[Tomtint]

It was almost 60* here today! had to work all day but thought I may take the Harley out for dinner and a late fall ride tonight.......now it's almost 40*.... Time to warm up the truck.

 

[Larro Darro]

I had to drip the water the other night. It got down in the mid 20's. Does that count?


Larro

 

[grsthegreat]

Well i woke up yesterday to 6" of fresh, wet snow. Of course the news predicted no more than 1".

Ive been so busy with work over past month that i really never had time to get the tractor ready for winter. I was supposed to go trim out a house yesterday, but had that cancelled when i found 3 large trees blocking my driveway. The wet snow snapped the green trees like twigs. There are more down all over the place, but these blocked the driveway.

Spent 4 hours getting the tractor ready to accept the plow and blower. All 4 tires now chained up. Hydraulic powerpack on and hoses run, lubed up, etc.

By the time i finally got done, i thought the snow would have been too wet to blow, so i tried the plow. That just tore up the unfrozen dirt beneath, so i gave up on that strategy. I put on the blower and set it to leave 1" on the surface. ANd that worked great. Got rid of that pesky snow and didnt wreck the driveway. By now all the barns and sheds had shed off their snow, so i went and blew the snow away from the overhangs so the horses could leave the barn and to prepare the area to receive more future snow.

Now its Sunday, and im off to do the job i was supposed to do yesterday. I forget....why didnt i like retirement.

I'm going to seriously rethink the retirement option again


But at least the tractor is finally ready for winter

 

[chim]

LED work lights or a full LED conversion?

Just front and rear work lights. The cab is back on and the lights are finished. The front work lights that were on it were from a plow truck and had turn signals as part of each light pod. I think I'll add an overhead light inside the cab.

 

[check]

BH is off, rear blower is on, but no chains yet. They are the "v" style, and give a VERY rough ride on hard surfaces, but man, do they ever grip!