Will a BX Plow Snow

Johnsgreenacres · Feb 14, 2014

It will most definitely plow snow! We just finished a 24 hour storm on Long Island that dropped 13 inches of snow, followed by about 2 inches of freezing rain and another four inches of snow on top of that. I fired up my BX18 at 5:00 AM and had my 400 foot long gravel driveway fully cleaned in about an hour. That's with no chains, no special equipment -- just the FEL and ballast box. It takes a little longer to use the FEL because you can't angle it, but it works great even with nasty, heavy stuff.

psvines · Feb 15, 2014

BX2660 FEL and rear blade and chains.
It took almost 6 hours to move 18" of snow on a 1/3 mile gravel road, plus 3 short driveways. But it does work with this basic equipment. The last use for snow was double 24" storms 4 years ago.

Gcorron · Feb 15, 2014

INDEED it will plow snow!! I bought mine a few years ago, and one of the reasons was I simply can NOT shovel things anymore, especially snow. This is the first significant snowfall, we got 14" of wet, heavy, snow Wednesday/Thursday. I had tried to put the chains on Wednesday morning, but had done some other things and my back was played out. Thought I could clear a spot to put them on when it quit snowing.

Well, I started, and was I impressed (yet again) with this little fella! it shoved snow around like it was not even there, slipped twice and did not bother with the chains. There are 10 houses in my little group, and in the 30 years I've lived here, someone with a backhoe always plows us out, now it was my turn, and all the driveways are very deep because before they moved the main road, we lived on it, and you would have died if you barely pulled off the road in those days.

Neighbor was going to get 1/2, but the thermostat stuck in his Bobcat, and it overheated shortly after he started, so I finished the entire block, and took an hour or two to do it! Two of the driveways are unpaved and they take a bit longer since I did not want to leave divots in them.

I guess my short answer is: YEAH BUDDY she'll plow snow!

Good luck,

George

snpower · Feb 16, 2014

Yes it will!! I'm in Charlottesville, Virginia and just dealt with 12"-14". I started out with my turf tires, FEL, and 5' rear blade. Progress was very slow, and I had traction issues. I put on my chains and Box Blade - gained TONS of traction and went to town. Also hammered a section of PVC to the FEL so I wouldn't dig into anything. I did 4 driveways and one side street that was about 400 feet long. I would have to say, that, I would prefer the rear blade but because of a lack of weight (or technique) I wasn't able to effectively move the snow very well. Weight on the rear is KEY.

Iowan · Feb 16, 2014

The thing that works for me in deep snow is to push with the bucket two inches off the pavement and clear the bulk first. I push hard and fast, the BX will push an incredible amount of snow. I use a 400lbs box blade and have a cab, 200lbs R4s and no chains. Its the only tractor at the house so I clean the 200ft drive, parking, walks and paths.

Chugbug · Feb 17, 2014

Yes it will, using the FEL takes a lot longer. Our driveway is roughly 1500' so I use a rear blade to cut the drive and the FEL to remove drifts, piles etc. Since the drive is gravel I reverse the blade (cutting edge facing to the rear) and drive forward seems to work well and I don't dig the driveway up. I don't let the snow get ahead of me, 4-5" on the ground I start plowing.

bellweather · Feb 17, 2014

I also have a very long gravel driveway. I use a rear blade on my BX and I start with a walk-behind snow-thrower to first remove the bulk of snow, especially if the snow is deep. What I found to be critical is to make the initial pass wider than the actual driveway so that the windrow left by the blade does not leave a driveway that is too narrow. This is important because it's difficult to widen once there is a heavy windrow buildup.

rick480 · Feb 17, 2014

I plowed a 1/4 mile road for 4 years with a Polaris Sportsman ATV. Sold the ATV last fall and built a mount with hydraulic lift for the 5' Polaris blade for my BX1860. Have had more snow than ever this year and the BX is far superior to the ATV. Also can put the blade on a Polaris Rzr but the BX will push much more snow. The positives over the ATV are: power steering, more weight, hydraulic lift, and better visibility.

Mathias NY · Feb 18, 2014

Yes, the BX will plow snow. How well depends on your perspective. When compared to a riding lawn mower with a 3' blade, the BX will do amazing things. When compared to a 60hp, 6000 lb, tractor with loaded tires and chains, the BX is rather disappointing.

In my experience the BX will really shine when it can use all 23hp. Since it just isn't heavy enough to transmit the power to the ground, especially on slippery surfaces, I bought a rear snow blower. Being on the back has it's disadvantages, but it balances the weight nicely and allows the loader to stay on the front for removing slush or ice.

The picture below is from last year. The snow was ~18" deep, my wife is driving. The only thing different for this year was the addition of tire chains to help with traction on ice.

On Sunday I used the blower to remove some snow drifts that were 100' long and 2' deep. It cut a path 52" wide in one pass, no stopping and no ramming. It created no banks and left no piles. I'll never go back to plow...

Good luck.