Buying Advice Tractor for Snow removal -> NEWBIE

[homedad]

I'm not advanced enough to link another thread but there was a thread started by klausb on 7/5/2010 titled "tractor to blow lots of snow". He was from Solitude Utah. Very interesting read. It might apply to your conditions.

 

[nybirdman]

Guys,

I have made a copy of all your replies because it is helping me a lot.

I just came from one of biggest tractor dealer in Denver area. They showed me a lot of stuff. The one tractor I saw very attractive was a
Kubota B3350 Cab tractor. It comes with a FEL and they will add a 72 inch front plow blade and a rear mount 64 inch snow blower.
It is new, size is not huge so I may be able to store it in the garage when not in use.
Price is steep and more than I was initially planning to pay but I may not have to much choice ......
Used ones are hard to find. I wanted a cab tractor and most are really big and of course I still have to buy the attachment.

Well this is just the beginning and at least I know what they are offering and what they are talking about thanks to all of your help.

Have a good weekend

-=terry=-

That should be a nice rig, capable for your area.Check you door height!Lot of money but new with a warranty.Lots of other uses after it quits snowing.

 

[kevinwak]

I would say that the money to buy a front blower over a rear mount would be well worth it. I bought a rear blower and am now looking at selling at and purchasing a front mount. If you are using a front mount you can't have the loader on, but if you are only buying for snow clearing then you don't need to buy a loader. You can use the money that you would have spent to buy the loader and upgrade to the front blower over the rear.
To me the ideal for snow clearing would be a front blower, tire chains and a rear blade to use for windowing light snowfalls and then blowing it away in one pass.

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[speedyvelo]

vtsnoweding

How much power does your tractor have?

33 HP (it is not mine yet ;-))

 

[speedyvelo]

Minus the cab, I had to face about the same reality back here.

Phil that picture is impressive
what tractor?
how much power?
how much you pay for the front mounted blower?

 

[speedyvelo]

To me the ideal for snow clearing would be a front blower, tire chains and a rear blade to use for windowing light snowfalls and then blowing it away in one pass.

They never offer me the option of no FEL. I will look more into front mounted snow blowers.
Thxs

 

[vtsnowedin]

vtsnoweding

How much power does your tractor have?

Mine is a 5045E with 45 engine horse power with 37 HP available at the PTO. You can get the same tractor in 45, 55, 65 and 75 Hp versions with just the turbo chargers and injector pumps changed plus the right sized tires to get the varied power to the ground.

 

[kevinwak]

They never offer me the option of no FEL. I will look more into front mounted snow blowers.
Thxs

I actually tried a cab cam back up cam to help easy the back pain of looking over my shoulder. I used it a couple times and returned it and decided to invest in a front mount blower instead.

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[dave1949]

The basic snow removal problem is having one tool that covers 100% of the need, but only needing the maximum ability about 15% of the time. No way around that really unless you get more stuff.

I have a rear blower, but I only clear about 700 feet drive. I really wouldn't want to do a mile long driveway in reverse very often. In deep or heavy snow your speed would be ~ 1 to 1.5 mph? Others can chime in on that, but with a 6' wide blower you need to make two passes, or 2 miles of driving in reverse for 1.5 to 2 hours total time. Ouch!

To use one tractor, I think a quick connect FEL v-plow with hydraulic wing controls coupled with a front-mount blower, and a blade on the back would be as good as it gets. You could use the faster v-plow 85% of the time maybe?, and put on the slow blower when you have to. Not that familiar with your snow patterns. That's going to cost you.

Another alternative would be to get an older single-axle dump truck and mount a plow on it, plus put chains on and sand in the dump bed. If you had that plus a tractor with just a blower, could be rear if it has to be, and blade, that would be a good combination, and you would have a backup weapon in case of failure.

 

[dave1949]

I actually tried a cab cam back up cam to help easy the back pain of looking over my shoulder. I used it a couple times and returned it and decided to invest in a front mount blower instead.

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I can't imagine it would stay clear of blowing snow on the lens.

 

[oosik]

Dave,
You got the speed & time just about right. 1.0 to 1.5 mph and 2.5 to 3.0 hours looking backward. When all is done I find a few drinks of Jack Daniels helps relieve neck/shoulder cramps. Winter time 3PH snow thrower time is NOT good seat time!! I've been know to get up at 1:30 am and clear the driveway with the back blade so the snow won't get so deep that I have to use the blower.

 

[Gittyup]

I suggest a mahindras max28xl. They have a front mount snowblower that is reasonable. Don't know about the cab. Certainly could put a soft cab and heater on it. Worth a look anyway. Should be thousands cheaper that the kubota b.

 

[kevinwak]

I can't imagine it would stay clear of blowing snow on the lens.

Actually the lens was heated and night vision, so snow build up wasn't an issue. I wound it tough to distinguish between the white snow needing blowing and the white ground I had already gone over.

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[Lt CHEG]

Lt CHEG

Thank you for the reply. Thanks all for your replies. This is a hard decision and the more informed from people with experience like you is invaluable.

What's the difference between a front mounted vs a rear mounted blower in reference to snow removal, obviously is easy to drive forward ;-), but reverse driving would not be a hard mainly when is done occasionally, in a road with zero traffic. Furthermore there are now available at least for cars very inexpensive rear view cameras

-=terry=-

Not to make things overly simple but with respect to the tractors that you are looking at the real difference between front mounted and 3 point hitch snow blowers is pretty much where they mount. There really isn't much difference in terms of construction or capability between the front mount and rear mount blowers in terms of things that matter. It isn't until you get to blowers that require a bigger tractor that you get up into features like rotating drums and dual augers.

In reality I'd probably be leaning towards a front mount blower myself given your circumstances, however I still think that a front blade with rear blower is a very viable option. What it really comes down to is if you would be able to handle using the rear blower for a single pass to save yourself from having to make 3 passes with the front blower. By that I mean that you can quickly and easily plow your driveway with a front blade. You can windrow your passes into one bank which you would then blow away with the snowblower. I understand that not everyone likes to or wants to use mirrors or a backup camera to guide them when operating a rear mount snowblower. However if you are able to do so then it can cut your time down and give you more options as there may be some circumstances where you wouldn't even need to use the blower. I suppose you could combine a front blower with a rear blade as well but they don't seem to work as well as the front mount blades.

 

[Bfitzgerald3]

A primary reason for my tractor choice was an 800 ft drive in snow country...while what falls here isnt in the 10 foot range, my circumstances require a blower...if we get an inch of snow, i get a foot in the driveway from drifting. With that math, i see a good 20 feet of snow, easy. Kubota mx5100... Well built, few frills. Erskine 72 inch blower. An awesome blowe! No blade. With the worst snow fall i've seen sofar, it takes me 15 minutes and i'm done. I put a sims cab on the tractor...not the best, but it works. The heater registers a "meh" on my enthusiasm scale. If the heater brought in fresh air, the setup would be gold for me. ...

 

[buickanddeere]

Guys,

I have made a copy of all your replies because it is helping me a lot.

I just came from one of biggest tractor dealer in Denver area. They showed me a lot of stuff. The one tractor I saw very attractive was a
Kubota B3350 Cab tractor. It comes with a FEL and they will add a 72 inch front plow blade and a rear mount 64 inch snow blower.
It is new, size is not huge so I may be able to store it in the garage when not in use.
Price is steep and more than I was initially planning to pay but I may not have to much choice ......
Used ones are hard to find. I wanted a cab tractor and most are really big and of course I still have to buy the attachment.

Well this is just the beginning and at least I know what they are offering and what they are talking about thanks to all of your help.

Have a good weekend

-=terry=-

If well kept and no dents, dings or smashes. The tractor will be worth as much in 10 yrs as it costs now. Better than many stock market investments.
You brought up a good point. If the tractor will park in a standard automotive garage, it's "worth" more.
Also have to consider worth of the tractor's mobility in case of a medical emergency.
Keep you eyes open and sooner of later a 10KW to 15KW pto generator will show up dirt cheap. The tractor will keep the lights on,the pipes from freezing and the food from thawing during power outages. Lots of outages way out in the country.