Snow plow or blower?

[hillwood]

I need to get something to move snow with this winter. I have read many threads on the subject and I am leaning towards the three point blower and a snow bucket on the loader. I have 1500ft of gravel driveway. I have also considered a plow on the loader.
Just wanted to know what your personal experience is with the subject.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. When I had a smaller tractor - Ford 1700 4WD - 28 hp - I needed a 3-point blower to clear the berms that would form. Normally I use a rear blade. This works great but the smaller tractor could not push back the berms that would form. Hence, the PTO blower.

Now I have the larger Kubota M6040 and this with my Rhino 950 rear blade easily push the berms back.

The blower worked great - its slow and means a lot of driving in reverse and will lead to a sore neck & sore shoulders.

 

[hillwood]

Thanks, I am considering a rear blade also.

 

[Coyote machine]

I like my all angle plow. I can use the plow to push snow up a bank wicked high. I wouldn't want a blower; would hate to work backwards, to me it makes no sense; JMHO. I can see forward to what I'm plowing, can angle and lift the plow as needed, and with the use of my rear tire chains can work on my very steep driveway of gravel and large stone ditches and curves, even when icy, without destroying the surrounding landscaping. See my signature for brand/model of plow and chains.

 

[George2615]

I have both. I made a QA power angle plow from an old truck plow and bought a used double auger 3 pt. snowblower. The plow makes quick work of moving snow. I use the blower later in the season to blow the banks back. I also have chains if needed.

 

[Al 2]

With a road that long a blower is going to be very slow compared to plowing. If you only have a tractor and not a plow truck I think George 2615 has a good combination. If you do get a heavy snow fall and need to blow or widen the banks back , no problem. Blowers very handy to keep parking areas and such from building in and loosing space. For me, an hour or so using a rear mount blower is not to bad but wouldn't want to use one all day. With out a cab, using a blower can be challenging depending on the direction of the wind and how strong it's blowing. By also having a front blade you can use it if necessary and leave the blowing for another day.
Al

 

[trctorfan17]

Wouldn't snowblower be better for gravel driveway than a blade? I would think a blade would move gravel with it...more than snowblower.

 

[ruffdog]

If you have a gravel drive, get shoes with whatever you use. A rear blade being used the wrong direction will dig less into soft ground too.

 

[oosik]

My big 'ol Rhino rear blade can make quick & unwelcome work of the driveway when plowing snow. If I really need to plow snow and the driveway isn't frozen hard yet, I reverse the blade. The reversed blade will plow the snow and not the gravel. If the driveway is rock hard I can use the blade in its normal configuration.

Right now I'm considering shoes for the rear blade. What I want and what I can find are two completely different things. I'm pretty sure if I get anything it will have to be fabricated.

 

[JerryK]

You can get a split pipe and put it on most blades, too. Lot of metal shops either have them in stock for commercial trucks or can make you one. 2" schedule 80 split pipe costs about $90 up here in Michigan. A rear blower can usually be tilted back some to keep the cutting edge from digging in by shortening the top link. You have to make sure you do not try to operate the PTO shaft at more than 15 degrees if you can help it [ under load ]. I just bought a tractor with a 78" front blower and put a split pipe on it, works great. With gravel, you have to kind of let a little base build up before you go blasting down the thing trying to clear snow. Little common sense saves a lot of expensive stone.... As far as plowing or blowing, depends. If you don't get a lot of snow and/or have lots of space to push it, plowing is a lot faster and maybe more fun. Blowing is slower, but like the turtle, usually wins with deep snow.... With plowing you usually have big piles right next to your drive in the spring, usually deeper frost, and more of a muddy mess in general. My yard generally is frost free just a few feet from my drive, and don't have as much of a water/frost problem in the Spring.

 

[ruffdog]

Here are my shoes I made for the Rhino blade.

 

[northcreek2624]

Neither, Removing snow with a tractor sucks, believe me I've done it. Buy an old beater 4x4 plow truck and plow in comfort. I've seen them around here for 1.5-2 k bucks with good plows (off season prices). I've advised friends about this and after spending a fortune adding features to their tractors they finally get it.
I realize that in a crowded residential area a tractor with a blower works well but, I'm addressing your 1500' driveway which is about the same as mine....fwiw...Mike.

 

[PILOON]

Whenever you are in a relatively heavy snowfall area the blower is your best friend as you get it totally 'out of the way'.
With a plow you are faced with later removal of the built up piles which generally are then frozen beyond pushing and often even blowing.

Also (properly adjusted) the blower removes less gravel than a plow will.

OK, the blower is slower than a plow but you only deal with the snowfall once while the plow needs you to come back later to push back the berms.

Even a truck has its problems as often you still need a blower to widen that drive as plowed drives get narrower and narrower as winter advances.

 

[oosik]

Very nice, Ruffdog. That's something like what I'm looking for. Very similar to what Rhino sells but yours is about 5X more HD.

And for what its worth - I've been maintaining my mile long gravel driveway since 1982. With both blower and rear blade. Both have their place. However, now that I have the bigger Kubota - I can "push back" any berms that will form with the rear blade. When I had the smaller tractor(Ford 1700 4WD) - I did need the blower to move the berms back.

Snow plowing with the heavier rear blade on the heavier tractor is a real pleasure now. I bundle up like an Eskimo and away we go............

 

[Lockport]

I like my front mount 72" blower. It's got to snow a lot to make a slow go of it. No cab, but I'm putting a small hydraulic cylinder 1.5X4 on the chute deflector this year to outsmart the "with the wind/against the wind" complex and attach it to the rear hydraulic where the grapple sits in summer.

 

[chuck172]

I use the rear blade and the front 8' snowplow. I have ag tires and don't need chains. Works great. Can't wait for winter. Hate the heat.

 

[ruffdog]

My latest snow tool is this SnowSport plow. It fits in a 2 inch receiver and is 100% manual. Once it is down in the plow position, all you do is drive forward and back....the plow does the rest. It has a 1 inch thick rubber scraper so it is great for grass areas. First I made a receiver for the TC33D, then I made one for the RTV900. It is crazy fast (RTV) and easy for me to plow the area between the house and shed. There are many videos showing how these plows work.

 

[hillwood]

Neither, Removing snow with a tractor sucks, believe me I've done it. Buy an old beater 4x4 plow truck and plow in comfort. I've seen them around here for 1.5-2 k bucks with good plows (off season prices). I've advised friends about this and after spending a fortune adding features to their tractors they finally get it.
I realize that in a crowded residential area a tractor with a blower works well but, I'm addressing your 1500' driveway which is about the same as mine....fwiw...Mike.

I don't want another peace of iron to take up space and work on. I know people who have old plow trucks. They have a lot of down time and repairs because they are OLD.

 

[northcreek2624]

I don't want another peace of iron to take up space and work on. I know people who have old plow trucks. They have a lot of down time and repairs because they are OLD.

Bundle up and knock yourself out.....

 

[Soldier415]

The blower worked great - its slow and means a lot of driving in reverse and will lead to a sore neck & sore shoulders.

Not if you add a cheap back up camera our mirrors

I have 1/4 mile of steep driveway with ditches and drop offs on either side so nowhere to really push snow with a plow.

Last year used a 68" PTO mounted blower and it was excellent. No raking road material back onto the road in the spring, and didn't take long at all. Didn't have to worry about pushing banks back.