Blizzard in Mid Atlantic

[dcyrilc]

So let me ask this question.....

What sort of machine would it take to just be able to drop the blade/plow and push through this? Would a pick-up with a plow have enough oommph to do it? My Dad's neighbors brought over 2 100hp cabbed McCormicks with rear blades, he said even with 30" on the ground they could drop the blade and go. He was pretty impressed since he had just spent two days with his 38hp tractor piling snow.[/QUOTE]

A Cat D4 or a John Deere 450 dozer would have no problems moving that material.

 

[YesDeere]

Had to dig to my wood. Big Dummy. Chains are stuck somewhere in a ups terminal. Big storm made me quit cheapin out on chains.

 

[Nuru]

Nubota: You are 100% correct, it will be another 90 years before we see this much snow again. It won't stop me from looking at a snow blower though! Where are we supposed to put this stuff anyway? I've got no room for more snow, and all the homes I plow are in the same spot!

Wayne

I seem to remember MD getting 24" in 2003? The same time we got it when I was in the NE area?

 

[Nuru]

So let me ask this question.....

What sort of machine would it take to just be able to drop the blade/plow and push through this? Would a pick-up with a plow have enough oommph to do it? My Dad's neighbors brought over 2 100hp cabbed McCormicks with rear blades, he said even with 30" on the ground they could drop the blade and go. He was pretty impressed since he had just spent two days with his 38hp tractor piling snow.

A Cat D4 or a John Deere 450 dozer would have no problems moving that material.[/quote]


2 feet plus, and then 14" more later, the wind just blew the snow into my driveway and added more inches. I was able to drop my blade and go on my driveway and my flatop, but after about 10 feet , the pile would stop me and I would back up and push forward. With chains I would have probably had fewer issues with getting power on the ground. But I was able to plow my driveway and the road leading out out the neighborhood. I did back my unit into a snow bank and had to dig out a rear tire and my dirt scoop - a bit to lazy to put on the rear ballast box - plus the dirt scoop is pretty handy when trying to punch through a snow bank

 

[RoyJackson]

Last Thursday after the 2nd storm, I did get about a ¼ mile up the road before I ran into deep drifting (farmland and nothing to block the drifting).
Even a BIG Deere payloader with 4WD and chains on all 4 wasn't trying to push through although he'd have probably made it through a hundred feet or so before he'd run out of traction or start riding over the snow. He was getting a bucket full, dropping it to the left, then another bucketfull to the right and repeated that until he got to the wood line...no drifting past the wood line.
Me...a neighbor happened to be up (this was 6:30 AM) clearing his drive with a walk behind snowblower. He was nice enough to clear a path into his drive which is where I stayed until the payloader (and two state roads plows (10 wheel dumps)) got through about 90 minutes later.

 

[tlbuser]

So let me ask this question.....

What sort of machine would it take to just be able to drop the blade/plow and push through this? Would a pick-up with a plow have enough oommph to do it? My Dad's neighbors brought over 2 100hp cabbed McCormicks with rear blades, he said even with 30" on the ground they could drop the blade and go. He was pretty impressed since he had just spent two days with his 38hp tractor piling snow.

A Cat D4 or a John Deere 450 dozer would have no problems moving that material.[/QUOTE]

Horrible tractive power on asphalt plus the chains have a tendency to load up with snow and ice.

 

[ttstraw]

I guess to add some clarify to the question I will add this. What type of machine, within reason, by that I mean I know one of those large articulating 8 wheeled tractors would have no issue with this but it won't fit down 99.9% of our driveways, so what machine with that in mind would just push or pull through this?

 

[dcyrilc]

I guess to add some clarify to the question I will add this. What type of machine, within reason, by that I mean I know one of those large articulating 8 wheeled tractors would have no issue with this but it won't fit down 99.9% of our driveways, so what machine with that in mind would just push or pull through this?

That's a difficult question to answer. The snow will vary to much from area to area. It's like asking if chains are needed on a vehicle to be able to go anywhere. Here in the northwest, we usually have very wet snow and chains are a must if there is more than about 3" of snow. Last winter we had close to 24" of very dry snow. I was able to drive my truck into and around our ranch (and the roads) with no chains and had great traction for a good two weeks. It would have been very easy to plow or push even without chains. Wet snow creates difficulty because it is heavy and sticks into the tread denying traction. The wetter the snow, the worse it will be. The answers you receive here are likely to reflect peoples opinion based on what the snow was like in there area as they really don't know what you received.

All this said, typically, the larger and heavier the tractor, the better it will do. Think of the difference between a 1/2 ton pickup with a plow and a 10 yard dump filled with a spreader full of sand plowing the roads.

 

[ttstraw]

Cyril,

You are 100% correct on the snow make up and its determining factor on how one will tackle it.

I was hoping to get some folks to tell their own stories of amazing feats of raw horsepower and traction. My Dad had another one from back a few years in WV when he still had his Farmall 140. He said it was enough snow that he could barely move around in the snow even with chains. He had taken a break when he could hear a tractor coming up the hollow, it rounded the bend and it was the neighbor down the hollow with his 70-80hp tractor, 4X4 with a front blade. It was turbo charged and he said it was moving some snow but he said the best part was the black smoke, thing was a roaring he said. Said it was the coolest thing he has ever seen. He was pushing 24" or so on a up hill road that hadnt been touched by the state yet.

 

[dcyrilc]

Cyril,

You are 100% correct on the snow make up and its determining factor on how one will tackle it.

I was hoping to get some folks to tell their own stories of amazing feats of raw horsepower and traction. My Dad had another one from back a few years in WV when he still had his Farmall 140. He said it was enough snow that he could barely move around in the snow even with chains. He had taken a break when he could hear a tractor coming up the hollow, it rounded the bend and it was the neighbor down the hollow with his 70-80hp tractor, 4X4 with a front blade. It was turbo charged and he said it was moving some snow but he said the best part was the black smoke, thing was a roaring he said. Said it was the coolest thing he has ever seen. He was pushing 24" or so on a up hill road that hadnt been touched by the state yet.

The way you posed the question sounded like you were trying to figure out what to buy which would work for you if this happened again. Stories are great too though. I love reading what people are and have done with their tractors. That's one of the reasons I'm reading all of these mid-atlantic snow threads.