2-3 ft of snow to much for blade

[Tazz]

Now that the snow is over and it took me 8 hours to clear my driveway that still needs a 4x4 to get in and out. I left snow on the road to keep my gravel.

I had to switch between the front plow and bucket to get through my road. Once the plow had so much snow in front of it and could push no more i used the bucket to move it then back to the plow. My first instinct was to just push the snow to the side but that didn't work with the plow there was just to much snow.

We had 24" with 3 foot drifts. Think i will be getting a front blower in the off season. Front blade would be fine if under a foot and no drifts.

 

[tiredguy]

Tazz,
yes that much snow is difficult to move with a blade because your mostly
not heavy enough to keep it moving. The trick is to not try and take a full
blade width only what it will comfortably handle on each pass once you've
busted thru and opened a pathway to work with.
As a heads up on the blower make sure you get enough snow to justify the
investment. If you only get hammered like the current snow storm once
every 10 years but on average only get under 50 inches total snow fall per
year it can be pricey. A rear blower is way cheaper under $2k and probably
way less but a front mount on the other hand will run in the $6k range.

Where I'm at we average 120 inches per year and as of the 22nd we've only gotten 29.5 inches where a normal year we'd be in the 56 inch range by now.
I have the front mount and wouldn't want a rear mount A because my neck
can't take looking around backwards all the time and B I can put the snow where I want it to go with the front mount around my place very easy no
effort at all. I use a 60 inch box blade on the rear to pull it back away from
my house and garage then use the 50 inch blower with 3 inch wings giving
me a total of 56 inches to blow it where I want it to go. During the off season or actually right now because we haven't had the normal amount of
snow, Craigslist is loaded with 3pt blowers for sale used a fairly good low
prices.
Use a program like "Craigslist Pro" and see what you can find and adjust
the distance away until you find what you're looking for hopefully at a good price. You can drive pretty cheap now with the price of gas/diesel down to
where it is to justifying traveling further than you'd normally want to.
Al

 

[Tazz]

This was my first snow with my B2650 so it was a learning experience.

I tired with the blade half way up but still could not push it. If you go up to high the snow would go under the tractor and get you stuck.

Most people i see use a front loader and a rear blade.

A rear snow blower might be better i could plow as far as i can and then turn around and blow it out of the way but a front mount sure would be nice.

We get storms like this every 5 years or so.

Thanks for the input

 

[Grouse Feathers]

Tazz
Don't assume a blower will just cut through 2-3 ft of snow. I am guessing that was somewhat heavy snow. At best you will be down to a really slow crawl, and you might be able to move the snow just as fast with your loader. The real value of a blower is up north where the snow may stay all winter and you can run out of room for plowing. The blower can throw it 20-30 ft and you always have enough room. As tiredguy pointed out you need to look at your expected need also what will work best for the extreme and unusual.

 

[forceten]

My front blower handled 15 inches of snow today, then 8 then 4. At the 15 - it was fresh fluffy snow - was still coming down strong. Popped the rpm's up to 3k and went slow. Did a decent job and blowed all the snow far away so no pileup.

Had I waited - or if the snow was a wet snow or heavy I would have blown when it was 7-8 inches.

Trick is - even with a blower - to not let it build up that much - blow it multiple times if you can

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

All 3 guys stated the truth:
1: hit it multiple times
2: is your average snowfall worth a snowblower?

After drifts I did plow myself in, this year. Luckily my rear blade has more clearance than my front. Reversed with my rear blade to push over and pull a some forward, after about 5 times I was able to brake thru and start knocking it out with the front blade. The bucket would of been awesome but to switch and switch again, not happening.

 

[William1]

Little BX25D here.
Rear blade was mostly useless in 16" of snow. I ended up moving it by the bucket full then did 'trimming' with the read blade.

 

[Diydave]

Coupla thoughts, after spending 5-1/2 hours in the past couple days, with the ASV RC30 and 6' front hyd angle blade I rigged up for it. THis snow was pretty dry, but as you got down to the last inch over the driveway, it got sticky. We got in the neighborhood of 29", here. I would have rather used the snowblower on it, but hadn't got the chain back on it. It would have taken less time.

Now, as to snowblowers, forget the USE of the thing, it's the buying of it that matters. IF you HAVE it, and it is in good repair, you will NOT need it, it will drive the snow out of the immediate vicinity... So buy it new, and store it inside, and you will effectively rid yourself of the NEED of it...

 

[forceten]

Coupla thoughts, after spending 5-1/2 hours in the past couple days, with the ASV RC30 and 6' front hyd angle blade I rigged up for it. THis snow was pretty dry, but as you got down to the last inch over the driveway, it got sticky. We got in the neighborhood of 29", here. I would have rather used the snowblower on it, but hadn't got the chain back on it. It would have taken less time.

Now, as to snowblowers, forget the USE of the thing, it's the buying of it that matters. IF you HAVE it, and it is in good repair, you will NOT need it, it will drive the snow out of the immediate vicinity... So buy it new, and store it inside, and you will effectively rid yourself of the NEED of it...

I thought that too - just bit down hard and bought the curtis cab and front blower last summer for mine...... then all of a sudden it was 60-70 degrees, even at christmas and new years.

I thought for sure the kubota was just gonna sit all this winter (and probably the next 2 years with no snow now that I spent all that money).

But nope - this 24" plus storm was worth all the money in one shot! Even if it doesnt snow the rest of the winter - was still worth it

 

[Tazz]

All 3 guys stated the truth:
1: hit it multiple times
2: is your average snowfall worth a snowblower?

After drifts I did plow myself in, this year. Luckily my rear blade has more clearance than my front. Reversed with my rear blade to push over and pull a some forward, after about 5 times I was able to brake thru and start knocking it out with the front blade. The bucket would of been awesome but to switch and switch again, not happening.

I did try to plow multiple times the wind filled it right back in and the hardest snow was around 2-7 am. Storm lasted 2 days so no way to plow it every few hours.

I'm starting to think the bucket would make a better plow than the snow blade itself.

Like i said i lifted up the snow blade just high enough so snow would not hit the frame and pushed as much as i could and the wheels would still spin. If i lifted the blade up any higher snow would be under the frame and i would get stuck.

I would love to see a video on how to plow that on a gravel road with hills.

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

I did try to plow multiple times the wind filled it right back in and the hardest snow was around 2-7 am. Storm lasted 2 days so no way to plow it every few hours.

I'm starting to think the bucket would make a better plow than the snow blade itself.

Like i said i lifted up the snow blade just high enough so snow would not hit the frame and pushed as much as i could and the wheels would still spin. If i lifted the blade up any higher snow would be under the frame and i would get stuck.

I'm sure with your situation, the bucket would of been the best. Very high winds and a freak blizzard.
I'm looking into bucket skid shoes just for that and I also get floods. Pick up cornstalks and debris sitting on top of the grass. would sure beat hand raking it!

http://r2manufacturing.com/edge-tamer-2/

 

[forceten]

http://r2manufacturing.com/edge-tamer-2/

Wonder if one of those skids would work on the bottom of my blower to stop it from picking up so many rocks (better then a 2" pvc pipe)

 

[sheepfarmer]

Statistically Diydave is quite correct. Over the last 15 years 90% of the years that I bother to put the snowblower on the Ingersoll in the fall, we don't get enough snow to really need it. The years that I don't bother we get so much snow I can't even get the Ingersoll from its shed to where the blower is kept until spring. Last year was the first year that I had it on, and there was enough snow that I needed it, the bota, and my favorite yooper scooper!

 

[Grouse Feathers]

Last year was the first year that I had it on, and there was enough snow that I needed it, the bota, and my favorite yooper scooper!

How is anyone not fortunate enough to live in Michigan going to have a clue what a yooper scooper is? If they are south of the Ohio River they wouldn't know what to do with it if they had one. I on the other hand have a great use for one cleaning out the dog kennels when there is 4" or more of snow. It takes a troll to know a yooper, a scooper, and a yooper scooper.

 

[bcp]

How is anyone not fortunate enough to live in Michigan going to have a clue what a yooper scooper is?

Human powered front end loader, always in float position. Armstrong curl for cut, carry, and dump.



Bruce

 

[Diydave]

Here's my yooper scooper. Well actually it is close to what I use, mine is just a hydraulic angling 6' snow blade. I also use it for dirt grading, springs are bolted closed. https://youtu.be/P0sxoKV7MFw

 

[olthumpa]

yooper scooper = snow scoop

 

[D2Cat]

I use one in Kansas. Bought one for my brother in Ft. Collins as a gift and he thought it was some kind of gag gift!

Better then a snow blower here. I used it 2 winters ago to clean off the top of a lean-to on the horse barn. 18" of snow and more was coming off of the regular roof causing some failure with the supports.

http://www.silverbear.biz/

 

[wardsfarmnj]

Have to agree with ppl when they say make sure the investment is worth it. I live in the Farmland of South Jersey got close to 30" of snow and cleared my large driveway with my loader and loader alone. Now my driveway is paved and has pavers near the house, however its a very large and long driveway. Brought my Bx1500 around from the shed to the garage on Saturday evening and yesterday morning started cleaning up. Took a little less than 2 hours. The key is to clear a path or two then as some others suggested you need to take half swipes, at the same time try not to take all the snow at once.

I bogged down a few times not being able to push all the snow so I picked up what was in the loader took it to the side of the driveway and dropped. The long part of the driveway i divide in 2 and push on angles from the side. It seems to work well for me.

 

[GaryL]

I have a 50" blower on the front of my BX2200. I'll take on 30" of snow with ease. I have seen the rear snowblowers have more problems than the front. I think it is multiple issues against them. They seem to be built much bigger, heavier, slower rpm so slower momentum. My front, I run wide open and use the HST pedal to control how fast I eat it up. Haven't had any issues at all. I'm way too light to think about a blade with that much snow. I do have loaded tires in the rear. That helps a lot. I wouldn't hesitate to look around on craigslist for a used 50" front blower on your tractor. It will do just fine.