Snow removal options - plow, pusher, blower, loader

[WinterDeere]

Taking delivery on a new Deere 3033R this week, and re-evaluating my snow removal options. This is just for my own house, and occasionally helping a neighbor or two, not a commercial operation. BUT... my goal is to get snow removal done very quickly and easily, so as to not make me late for work every time I wake up to snow in the morning.

Driveway = 450 linear feet x 12 ft. + parking = 7000 sq.ft.
Single storm = typically 4" - 12", often wet, but occasionally 30"+

Lots of wet messy icy crap, we're in the mid-Atlantic region, between Philly and NYC.

My current setup is a 64" 3-pt blower + 61" bucket on the loader. This has actually worked pretty well, although the blower often covers me in the mess (no cab), and takes time to retrieve from the shed and hook to the tractor. I usually use the bucket on the loader for anything under 12", and hook up the blower for anything over 12".

The bucket means many, many, many passes up and down the driveway, using it as a poor-man's pusher at speed, since it fills and spills off both sides very quickly. I'm thinking that, since the new loader is quick-change, it might make sense to get an angling blade to do the plowing of anything under 12" deep, and continue using the blower for anything over 12". I wanted to get thoughts on this, or hear any other ideas you fine folks may have.

We get only 4 - 10 snows per year, and usually enough of a warm spell between each that accumulation at the edges of the driveway are not much of an issue, it usually nearly melts between storms. On those years when we get hammered more frequently, I always have the blower to shoot if farther.

Is an angled blade worth the space they'll consume in my storage?

 

[nybirdman]

My order of preference would be;front snow blade,rear blade,pusher then the bucket.If you have a blower for big snow falls;great.

 

[Stimw]

Option #5 for me was to move to Florida!!
Been there, done that, don't have the sweat shirts.

 

[zzvyb6]

[I've tried them all. Blower was the worst: too slow and too messy. Bucket: OK but get on it early otherwise takes a lot of back & forth to empty the bucket. Pusher: too narrow, wind up with a huge pile at the end of a run. Spillover. Takes a lot of tractive force / weight. 8' beater Western snow plow. Uses loader hydraulics. 800' gravel just fine by raising the blade up 3/4". Glides on 2 pucks. Now I have the driveway with concrete. Added a rubber slide wiper edge. Now I'm done before the tractor warms up. No need for cab nor snow gear and face shield. Special attachment legs [ didn't use the loader frame. . The 8' covers the max tractor width when swung to 45 degrees. Yes the truck cylinders can contain the 2250 psi from my tractor supply. Sometimes I use a left or right brake to get really sharp turns taken care of. So, what if there's a hump or high drift at the sides. I just run back through and shove it over farther. On 12" of any snow weight, I can run in high range and 3rd gear. The steel blade plus down-force plus reverse also gives me an ice and snow crust remover. With my oil pressure and flow-rate, I can actually fling snow off to the side with the tractor stationary !

 

[KennyG]

I've done the loader option, the 3 point blower option and now have a front blade. The blade is the clear winner.

 

[ruffdog]

Another option if you have a 2" receiver:

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/333105-front-mounted-receiver-hitch-snowplow.html

 

[RjCorazza]

My go-to setup is front SSQA blade and rear blade / snow blower.
With front and rear blades I can make short work of the 15 or so driveways I plow. The blower is for the rare big dump.

 

[WinterDeere]

Thanks guys, this is what I wanted to hear, the blade is the way to go anytime you can get away with not hooking up that blower. I'll keep the blower for those big snows we get maybe once per year (or less), and plan to use the blade most of the time.

Anyone with experience running a blade on a loader? I love the way I can just drop the bucket and pick up a blade on this new loader, and the 320R loader is mighty heavy compared to my old one, but the mechanics of a loader really don't seem ideal for the side force created by an angled blade.

 

[oldballs]

I'd say a rear blade along with the front loader will take care of most storms; that is, in my area. I've got a 11 HP 29 " walk behind blower that only works in dry snow. In large wet snows, like the one we just had, it is nearly worthless. I'd imagine that a tractor mounted blower might work the same. In cold areas with large snows I'd want a tractor mounted snow blower.

 

[chim]

As some others have said, the SSQA mounted power angle blade is the ticket. I don't plow anything that doesn't have a place to push the snow off the sides or ends. Since '90 I've had rear blades, front blades, a rear blower and a homebrew pusher (added wings to the FEL bucket). Here are a couple threads on SSQA blades:

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/401291-snow-plow-build-finished-underslung-4.html

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/407444-ssqa-snow-plow.html

 

[Thomas]

If were I go with blade and rear scraper blade that's if your rear blower doesn't fit 3pt hitch,blades are quicker clear the surface better just have to keep those snow banks push back.

 

[WinterDeere]

As some others have said, the SSQA mounted power angle blade is the ticket.

Well, this would be JDQA... but same idea. No need for me to mess with SSQA, I’m not presently using any attachments for which this would be an advantage.

If were I go with blade and rear scraper blade that's if your rear blower doesn't fit 3pt hitch,blades are quicker clear the surface better just have to keep those snow banks push back.

Blade + second blade? I don’t get it. Why would you want a rear blade if you have a blade on the front?

 

[ruffdog]

Well, this would be JDQA... but same idea. No need for me to mess with SSQA, I’m not presently using any attachments for which this would be an advantage.



Blade + second blade? I don’t get it. Why would you want a rear blade if you have a blade on the front?

A blade on both ends allows you to plow an area without having to turn the tractor around. I can use one blade to pull from the garage doors while the other blade is pushing what I just pulled. I use it mostly in the area between the buildings, parking areas, and the end of the drive. With one blade, you push snow...back up...repeat. With 2 blades, I'm pushing snow both directions.

 

[RjCorazza]

Well, this would be JDQA... but same idea. No need for me to mess with SSQA, I’m not presently using any attachments for which this would be an advantage.


Blade + second blade? I don’t get it. Why would you want a rear blade if you have a blade on the front?

You'd be surprised how efficient 2 blades can be. For me, time is important. I also run a polyurethane edge on the rear blade for an additional fee to customers not wanting a steel edge on their pavement.

 

[SmallChange]

I'm hoping going from an angled dozer blade to a bucket helps me out this year. My problem is a large parking and turn-around area that is almost completely surrounded by high walls and fences, 10-25 feet high, so I can't throw the snow out of this space and it takes many passes to push it out. I hope I can carry it out with the bucket. I have to drop it over an embankment about 100' from the area. This will be my first winter with the loader bucket. If my driveway was not so hemmed in by obstacles, I think either a blower or a dozer blade would work way way better.

By the way, a second blade can be seriously useful. With my dozer blade over the years, I would add my landscape rake on the rear. Its tines were solid enough that they hold the snow. It was better than the dozer for pulling the snow out of tight spaces, and when snow was deep I could drop both implements and both would gather quite a bit.

 

[PILOON]

So much depends on your area and annual accumulations.
In Quebec we enjoy (?) usually 25 or so events and often 200 inches total.
So often simple pushing causes problems so most contractors have reverted to blowing it as far away as possible.
The early events are the headache especially unfrozen bases and often wet snow*.

For pushing 'edge tamers' are the ticket and oversized skids or shoes on a blower helps.

I push when the event is in the 3-4 inch range and blow over that.
LOL, when hit with 12 inches I raise my blower and blow the top half and then 1/2 widths from then on.

Oh, since I can't afford a front blower I installed a back up camera to see where my blower is heading.

*I experimented by lining my snow chute with a DIY poly liner and can report that the wet 'snowman' snow did not clog my chute once and that was with a 5 inch event.

 

[oosik]

It seems that the last few years - including this one - I've not needed anything. The wx warms and all the snow melts. I have a mile long gravel driveway, mailbox area and yard that needs clearing. I've used the front bucket on the FEL - do not like that. When I had a smaller tractor I had a 3-point blower. It worked great - except for wet snow - but I always got a sore neck & shoulders.

Now I have the larger Kubota M6040 and a very HD rear blade. It works well. I can clear any berm accumulations along the driveway without needing tire chains and the mailbox area & yard are cleared easily.

With the crazy wx conditions the last few years the 3-point blower would have been useless. I still can remember those 8" to 12" dry snow falls and using the blower. It was a joy and Jack Daniels always helped relieve the sore neck & shoulders.

If our wx continues in its current path I will need a bush hog to clear the grass & weeds that grow along the driveway. Snow may become a thing of the past.

 

[WinterDeere]

Perhaps, but your local weather is no indicator of climate trends, @oosik. We’re way colder than historical average today, at 16F near Philly. And I haven’t noticed any change in our annual snowfall outside historical normal variation, yet. But this is a thread about how to move the snow I’m getting, not a forum for debating climate change, so please don’t drag it there.

Thanks for the comments on the blower, FEL, and rear blade, that’s useful.

 

[oosik]

I'm sorry WinterDeere but I'm not debating. I'm just stating simple facts. It's what is on the ground that counts. No intention of sidetracking.

A couple points - its winter. Why would you remove the blower from the 3-point? I leave my rear blade on the 3-point year round. Except for a month in the late spring when I use my chipper. We all know how mounting/dismounting any 3-point PTO driven implement can be a PITA.

I would suggest a blade on the FEL and leave the blower on the 3-point for times when it can be used. Or just get a good HD rear blade. They can move snow - wet or dry.

Hey - have a good day.

 

[WinterDeere]

If I only had more tractors...

I use this machine quite a bit all winter for processing and moving firewood, and my blower is big enough that it affects maneuverability in my sometimes tight wood processing and storage areas, so I typically prefer to mount the ballast box. Besides, I usually only need to resort to the blower an average of once per year, when we get over a foot in a single night. Most of our storms are 4” to 8” at a time, and the front blade can handle that more quickly.

I’m not sure if I said it, but I ended up going with a 6ft Frontier blade with hydraulic angle and quick-hitch (Deere) mounts for the loader. I can drop the bucket and pick up this blade in less than a minute!