Snowblower Rear or Front Mount

[nybirdman]

Again its all about region and snow-fall.If your average snow-fall is 4-8inchs a blower is over-kill and slow.Yes any-one can have that odd-ball two foot snowfall.
A DK45 is similar to what I have L4240 Kubota HSTC in power and weight.I use a FEL QA 8ft.Curtis and a 7ft.rear blade.Our average is 130 inches per year.I have plowed 36 inch snows with ease.With the quick attatch plow the bucket can be installed in minutes if needed.
I live in upstate NY,central NY averages 200inchs a year ,if I lived there I would have some kind of blower.Blowers don't like rocks,sticks or windows.
I plow about two miles of driveways and woods road.

 

[grsthegreat]

thanks to both of you.....ill go look at the videos also. i do have a cab. im going to go check out the cab cameras also...not too spendy. about $350.00 from what i see. quick question....with the 8 foot front blade. about how fast are you able to travel. we have all flat gravel roads here. fine gravel. no problem with snowblowers. ive used my 60" rear blower for 6 years...but do go thru 4-6 shear pins a season. not too bad really.

 

[flyinlow402]

From an earlier thread: Re: "Yup. It's that good!"

From MarkCuda, "I will never under stand why people want to blow snow in reverse"

And I said; "Pretty easy to understand once you see that the forward mount is twice the price",

For my 790, it was $2,200 for a rear mount, versus, $4,000 for forward mount, that's quite a difference.


__________________
2004 JD 790, 2010 3520 PR TLB

Have you checked on availability for a front mount kit for a 790? I did about a month ago, and according to Deere, there was only one left in North America. I called the dealer and he had just sold it. So unless you can locate a mount kit, the front blower for the 790 is not an option. I'm still looking for a kit.

 

[andmfg]

My neighbor has a front mount 1) takes him a whole day to put it on--takes me 15 min. 2) he doesn't have a bucket with down pressure to scrape packed snow--his rear blade is basically useless 3) I even leave my 60" mower deck on with no problems 4) with hydro I run the pedals with my left foot which eliminates half of the twisting 5) my lorenz 60" 2 stage blower with double paddle augers is absolutely awesome on snow that is compacted or iced 5) my 3 sided home made vinyl enclosure hung from a Curtis sun roof keeps almost all the blowing snow away 6)you almost have perfect vision of what you are doing with the rear mounted blower and you can only guess what you are doing in tight situations with the front blower 7) you can also use the bucket to pull you out of any difficult ditch situations. Any question what to buy?:confused2:

 

[RADIUM]

Grsthegreat not to rain on your parade HST tractors usually don't have much torque at top speed, HST usually requires low speed to make a lot of torque, at least that's how it worked on my new Holland TC 40 could not pull the trailer high range high-speed uphill would always have to slow down and use the turtle function to get up the hill, with the quad transmission function of new Holland. Now I plow with my 1 ton truck commercially and privately and you really don't need that much speed to move the snow so you might be okay at a slower speed I really don't know, but I don't think you're going to get quite the top speed that you're thinking with a large amount of snow in front of the tractor I'm sure someone with more experience with HST with a plow will chime in. The next thing someone said plowing is faster then snow blowing? If I have 4 inches of snow in my driveway I can backup in first gear high range 2000 RPM don't need full power 12 miles an hour and in one pass the road is spotless and no banks to deal with. I'm actually considering next year buying a snow blower for my truck, there are many jobs where plowing is useless in small areas, we usually end up with a loader clearing up the piles after three storms in a row more money wasted, could just go with the truck and dumper and be done one time something to think about take care

 

[JJT]

From an earlier thread: Re: "Yup. It's that good!"

From MarkCuda, "I will never under stand why people want to blow snow in reverse"

And I said; "Pretty easy to understand once you see that the forward mount is twice the price",

For my 790, it was $2,200 for a rear mount, versus, $4,000 for forward mount, that's quite a difference.

Well after 12" of snow here in western loudoun county, northern virginia, and a couple of days of backing up, I'm ready to throw in the towel and start saving my money for a front mount!

I think the rear would be alright on level ground but, I've found backing up down a slippery hill is pretty difficult,

It took 2 come-a-longs to get it back up on the driveway,


__________________
2004 JD 790, 2010 3520 PR TLB

I had my choice of a 60" front or an 80" rear blower 12 years ago, front being 50% more money. I went with the rear and wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want to lose my FEL for the winter.

I run double ring chains on the rear, I think they would have prevented your off-driveway adventure.

 

[nforktractor]

That's a bummer!

That you can't buy the 790 front mount from JD for the 59" snow blower any longer,

I wonder if that be the same mounting for the newer 3005?

 

[RoyJackson]

That's a shame,
That anybody can't buy the 790 front mount from JD for the 59" snow blower any longer,
Would that be the same mounting for the newer 3005?

The Deere website does indicate the 3005 has mid-PTO and has the 59" front blower as an available attachment. That really surprised me.
The mid-PTO used to be a dealer installed option on the 790. Unless it's factory installed now, that kit may be available. Not cheap though, but good luck!

 

[nforktractor]

I do have the 60" mid mount mower, so I do have the mid-PTO, it was installed by the dealer when I bought the tractor in 2004,

That's another thing, I wish there was a 72" mid mount option, I don't even think you can get the 60" anymore, the deere site lists for the 3005 only shows rear mount mowers as options,

I wonder if anyone has ever hooked up a 72", with some mods to attaching parts, etc.,

I'll have to check it out, if the 59" is available for the 3005, why not the 790, unless different mount, but wouldn't think so,

Thanks,

 

[Gittyup]

thanks to both of you.....ill go look at the videos also. i do have a cab. im going to go check out the cab cameras also...not too spendy. about $350.00 from what i see. quick question....with the 8 foot front blade. about how fast are you able to travel. we have all flat gravel roads here. fine gravel. no problem with snowblowers. ive used my 60" rear blower for 6 years...but do go thru 4-6 shear pins a season. not too bad really.

I'm no expert, grsthegreat, but from watching the contractors around here, most have a blower on the back and a blade on the front. This works here, because we seldom get a lot of pile-up from several back-to-back snow falls. The previous snow has usually melted away before the next arrives. The plow is faster and works great for those 4 - 8" storms. Occassionally we get deep snows and then the blower is invaluable. So, if it's similar where you are, that might be the way to go. However, I do suspect that it stays below freezing pretty much all winter. So, whatever snow you do get stays all winter. This could lead to high pile-ups making the snowblower more valuable.

You can pretty much always get it done with a blower, just maybe slower. With the blade, there might be situations where it just won't work at all. But where it does, it's way faster. Time is money.

 

[JD755]

I do have the 60" mid mount mower, so I do have the mid-PTO, it was installed by the dealer when I bought the tractor in 2004,

That's another thing, I wish there was a 72" mid mount option, I don't even think you can get the 60" anymore, the deere site lists for the 3005 only shows rear mount mowers as options,

I wonder if anyone has ever hooked up a 72", with some mods to attaching parts, etc.,

I'll have to check it out, if the 59" is available for the 3005, why not the 790, unless different mount, but wouldn't think so,

Thanks,

I believe the reason a 72 inch MMM was never offered on the 770/790 is the same reason it was never offered on the 755. Insufficient wheelbase. While the 790 has a little more wheelbase than the 755, it also has larger diameter tires that negate that small difference. Net result is no room to fit 72 inch MMM. Horsepower is not lacking since they are all rated for a 72 inch finish mower on the 3PH.

 

[RoyJackson]

I do have the 60" mid mount mower, so I do have the mid-PTO, it was installed by the dealer when I bought the tractor in 2004,

That's another thing, I wish there was a 72" mid mount option, I don't even think you can get the 60" anymore, the deere site lists for the 3005 only shows rear mount mowers as options,

I wonder if anyone has ever hooked up a 72", with some mods to attaching parts, etc.,

I'll have to check it out, if the 59" is available for the 3005, why not the 790, unless different mount, but wouldn't think so,

Thanks,

Good luck to you on the blower...

As far as the mower, I'm sure it's more of a clearance issue then power. IIRC, even the 60" mid-mount wouldn't work with all tire options (R-4's, for example). Those 790's have quite adequate power for a 72" mower. I had a 60" RFM on mine (which came with my old 17 PTO HP 670) and could have easily used a 72" unit (which I was looking for when I traded my 790 for the 4400)

 

[JD755]

Another recent thread discussed the 3032/38E not offering a mid-pto. The wheelbase on those is the same as the 790, so I could easily see none of the mowers fitting those models with the tires they have. I guess another reason they have no mid-pto.

Roy: Guess I just type faster than you.

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy: Guess I just type faster than you.

It ain't the typing...it's the spell check, JD...

 

[Deadman]

I don't usually drive my car backwards, so I'm not sure why I would want to drive the tractor backwards.......:laughing:

 

[Gizmo2]

It ain't the typing...it's the spell check, JD...

Don't ya just hate slow spell checkers. I consider myself fairly intelligent, just ask me, I just can't spell for beans.

 

[Reg]

Don't ya just hate slow spell checkers. I consider myself fairly intelligent, just ask me, I just can't spell for beans.

I am (at least) intelligent enough to know that I cannot judge my own intelligence (-:
The lab rat doesn't evaluate the experiment's data, etc.
=======================================================

There are a couple of other threads on similar subjects running right now.
I made an entry in one of them suggesting the selection of a rear mount from a manufacturer that ALSO offers rear-to-front conversion kits for their rear blowers.
a) If the rear blower works out well (enough) for you then you're all set.
b) If your back/neck, etc gets tired (enough) of the twisting around then buy the rear-to-front kit, maybe second, third, or n'th season.
The point is you keep the option open, you may or may not need it.
Secondary point is that you spread out the expen$e$.

...and you can always revert to a rear mount if you decide that the FEL is really needed for stacking and/or hooking up the front mount kit is too much hassle - for you, for your clearing needs, your local snowfall, as you age, for any particular storm, as needs change, whatever all else.

Down side MIGHT be that you don't get a "package" discount deal - so get an agreement with your local dealer on all that before buying the first (rear) part.

 

[defed]

or do what i did...scour craigslist for months to find treasures!

found a 60" 3pt meteor w/ hydraulic chute turn, almost like new, $600.

also found a deere 59" front mount that i got for $750. it is actually a 359 for use on tractors w/ a front pto, so i had to do some mods to the gearbox to make it spin the right way. the mounting bracket is close, slight mod needed, and i need to have a mid pto made. probably around $500 to get it ready to use on my 4300. the original price was a bit higher, but i knew what it was going to cost to fix, so used that when negotiating.

for about $2k, i have both! won't be able to test the front mount until next year. don't really care for the meteor as it doesn't throw very far...but it does ok and sure beats a shovel.

 

[flyingcow]

or do what i did...scour craigslist for months to find treasures!

found a 60" 3pt meteor w/ hydraulic chute turn, almost like new, $600.

also found a deere 59" front mount that i got for $750. it is actually a 359 for use on tractors w/ a front pto, so i had to do some mods to the gearbox to make it spin the right way. the mounting bracket is close, slight mod needed, and i need to have a mid pto made. probably around $500 to get it ready to use on my 4300. the original price was a bit higher, but i knew what it was going to cost to fix, so used that when negotiating.

for about $2k, i have both! won't be able to test the front mount until next year. don't really care for the meteor as it doesn't throw very far...but it does ok and sure beats a shovel.

So will we see a tractor with a blower on the frt and back. Got have it, with pics of course.:laughing:

 

[defed]

i thought about it! both pto's run together, and both won't be loaded at the same time, so i guess it wouldn't hurt anything!

only downside i can see to a front blower is not having the loader. my mount won't be 'quick connect', so not sure how difficult it will be to swap out if needed. so far this year, i haven't really needed the loader, but it hasn't been a bad snow year, yet.