1000ft long, 100ft elevation, twisty, gravel- front or rear mount?

[MAX-24-Dean]

Hi folks, my husband and I bought 25 acres in a snowbelt in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our driveway is gravel, a bit of a switchback up the mountain, 1000ft long and climbs about 100-120ft in elevation. I'll be doing all the snow removal, because I work from home and my husband leaves the house at 4 or 5am to go do snow removal for his job haha. We need advice on an approach here. Although he runs plows and blowers for work every winter, his work/campus is relatively flat and all paved. Our situation is so different.

I have a gravel road to my barn that is a 45 to 50 foot elevation change over 400 feet. just a little less slope than your 1000 foot with 100 to 120 ft elevation change.
Use a 24 HP tractor (mahindra Max 24) with a 6 foot backblade, that I attach a rubber horsestall mat to so I don't move much gravel. It works fine for the snow fall here, which is between 25 to 35 inches each year.

From what I know of Nova Scotia winters you could have 60 to 100 inches of annual snow fall depending on where you live. My experience in a Kentville storm would lead me to wanting a snow blower vs a back blade with the tractor I have. Just my opinion.

Weight with traction should be important considerations.
The thread posted below was the best help for snow removal after adding weights.

https://tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/cutting-groving-siping-r-4-for-snow.193438/

Dean

 

[TractorTYMe]

I would recommend a a cabbed tractor with pull type snowblower and chained on all four wheels. I have a large area to clear including 1/2 mile driveway and it is very steep coming down to the highway, can change between blade or bucket on the front depending on needs.

 

[JJT]

I'm in snow country, upstate NY. I have 4' reflective driveway markers every 50', on both sides of the driveway, staggered, so I can see a marker every 25'. For years I plowed with a truck, 25 years ago I switched to an 78" rear mounted snow blower and would never go back to a plow. 4" or 4', I move the snow once per snowstorm. I'd love a heated cab, but the open station works fine. My driveway is 800', with about 30' of elevation change. I chain up the rears, with double rings and have never had a traction issue. The FEL is helpful clearing out the mailbox. In a pinch I have two neighbors that would clear the driveway - my backup plan.

 

[IndyIan]

Hi folks, my husband and I bought 25 acres in a snowbelt in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our driveway is gravel, a bit of a switchback up the mountain, 1000ft long and climbs about 100-120ft in elevation. I'll be doing all the snow removal, because I work from home and my husband leaves the house at 4 or 5am to go do snow removal for his job haha. We need advice on an approach here. Although he runs plows and blowers for work every winter, his work/campus is relatively flat and all paved. Our situation is so different.

Concerns of a back-mounted blower- I'm worried to drive backwards down a mountain in an area where even a well-marked driveway becomes invisible in a 3 ft snow dump with added drifting- especially as our driveway has 3 corners, 2 of them relatively sharp, one of them is along a ridge where there could most definitely be a rollover-down-the-mountain situation if I back up off the drive, or slide on ice. I'd love to have a blade on the back, to scrape down the surface and reduce compaction and ice where the driveway is steep. I'm also pretty new to tractors in general, having never owned one and only drove them for a few years back when I was in Ag research- and then, just a little 12.5hp kubota.

Concerns of a front-mounted blower- We've got a steep hill and will definitely need to be spreading gravel/sand over the winter, but especially in March and April when our freeze-thaw cycles kick in more and we find ourselves the owners of a luge track. A FEL would be handy to spread traction sand/etc. This would also be helpful to break down the snowbanks at the highwayside, which will get to an easy 6 feet. And budget is a massive concern- we're a family of 5 on one income, and are building a little house at the moment, with unexpected costs climbing on a daily basis. But... we'll be on this land forever. I want to make a good investment, knowing it is an investment. Snow will be a big part of our lives from November- April.

Part of me is considering just parking the car at the bottom of the hill and investing in a snowmobile and pair of snowshoes to get the kids and groceries up the mountain to the house, haha.

Thank you for your thoughts, especially those specific to the steep slope. I've been searching and reading these forums and making notes.

We have a similar driveway with a max 10-12% grade, and you're right about the rear blade to scrap all the snow off to prevent ice buildup, and it also lets the sun get rid of a lot residual snow, I don't use skid shoes on it, just blade to ground, which is ok at tractor speeds. Our vehicle set up is atleast one AWD vehicle with snow tires. I sometimes stud up the tractor tires with hex head screws and just use 3-4 out of 8 scarifiers on the box blade to bust up ice in the spring, if I didn't plow some smaller snowfalls and get ice build up, many years I don't get significant ice.
I never sand or salt. Delivering and dry storing tons of sand sounds expensive? Make sure your driveway is crowned so no water flows across it as well and I don't think you'll need salt either.
I like my size tractor at ~4000lbs + loader, then you can maintain the driveway easily, yank cars out of the banks if someone doesn't quite make it, and the box blade is heavy enough that it has no trouble busting up ice. Also I find the box blade is good for pushing back frozen banks in reverse as its much more rigid and and indestructible compared to a FEL, but I don't need a blower so the rear blade stays on all winter unless there's ice build up.

Ideally a front mount blower with a rear blade would let you get down to gravel after every storm. I don't know how happy a FEL mounted blade is run on the ground with no skid shoes? For sure a rear 3pt blower is much more common and cheaper. Kioti did make a front blower set up for my tractor, so you might find one used for reasonable money?

 

[tinsnip]

Sounds like my driveway. Been using the ATV approach for 20 years. I use the tractor with a bucket for the plug at the end of the driveway left by the town plow. Check it out (hope the video works!)

 

[Jchonline]

Hi folks, my husband and I bought 25 acres in a snowbelt in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our driveway is gravel, a bit of a switchback up the mountain, 1000ft long and climbs about 100-120ft in elevation. I'll be doing all the snow removal, because I work from home and my husband leaves the house at 4 or 5am to go do snow removal for his job haha. We need advice on an approach here. Although he runs plows and blowers for work every winter, his work/campus is relatively flat and all paved. Our situation is so different.

Concerns of a back-mounted blower- I'm worried to drive backwards down a mountain in an area where even a well-marked driveway becomes invisible in a 3 ft snow dump with added drifting- especially as our driveway has 3 corners, 2 of them relatively sharp, one of them is along a ridge where there could most definitely be a rollover-down-the-mountain situation if I back up off the drive, or slide on ice. I'd love to have a blade on the back, to scrape down the surface and reduce compaction and ice where the driveway is steep. I'm also pretty new to tractors in general, having never owned one and only drove them for a few years back when I was in Ag research- and then, just a little 12.5hp kubota.

Concerns of a front-mounted blower- We've got a steep hill and will definitely need to be spreading gravel/sand over the winter, but especially in March and April when our freeze-thaw cycles kick in more and we find ourselves the owners of a luge track. A FEL would be handy to spread traction sand/etc. This would also be helpful to break down the snowbanks at the highwayside, which will get to an easy 6 feet. And budget is a massive concern- we're a family of 5 on one income, and are building a little house at the moment, with unexpected costs climbing on a daily basis. But... we'll be on this land forever. I want to make a good investment, knowing it is an investment. Snow will be a big part of our lives from November- April.

Part of me is considering just parking the car at the bottom of the hill and investing in a snowmobile and pair of snowshoes to get the kids and groceries up the mountain to the house, haha.

Thank you for your thoughts, especially those specific to the steep slope. I've been searching and reading these forums and making notes.

Speaking from experience with Kubota machines.

1. What tractor do you have now?
2. If you want a front mount Kubota get ready to shell out $10k or so for one.
3. You will need a tractor with mid-pto to drive a front mount (the hydraulic driven ones with the power pack on the 3pt are ridiculous in my opinion)
4. Rear blowers can be had that face forward and back. It really depends on how deep you allow your drift spots to get. Can you drive through them with the tractor tires to get to a rear mount, front facing blower? Or do you need a rear mount rear facing to remove the snow before you drive through it.

In general the front mount are better from an operating perspective...always great to look ahead. I dont think they are quite a powerful as a rear mount, but I would not let that stop me.

Front mount are also a pain to mount. You will have to remove the FEL (so you need a machine that has a removable one), then you have to mount the subframe, then you mount the blower. Its a few hours of work each on and off season.

In the end my snow tools are:

1. Cab Tractor with front bucket and rear mount rear facing snow blower (SB1574 I think). No chains yet but I may try studs if I really need them.
2. RTV X1100C with hydraulic Boss V-Plow on the front with tire chains.

What I usually do is RTV plow if its only a few inches. If more or drifts I blow off most of it then run over it with the RTV plow. RTV plow is super fast and maneuverable. I prefer it to a tractor. Guess I should also mention you "can" get a RTV with a front blower...but they are nowhere near as strong as a PTO mounted rear on a tractor.

 

[Creamer]

Very nice unit, I would like one also. They are a bit hard to find now days and most are pretty well whipped and abused.
Here is link to a few;
https://www.tractorhouse.com/email/view-page/308417

They will range in price between over $16,000 to almost $90,000 for used ones with many over 4000 hours on them.
Then addin another $12000 for that blower.

Also the OP has hills and ice to work with so add in tire chairs and the good studded chains for those tires will be $1600 to $2400 a pair.
Then a couple of gallons to up to 5 gallons an hour for fuel while working.

But I'd still like one and have been looking for one not all rusted out from being used for snow service.

I had a chance at a good hardly used blower for $1200 a few years back but we just do not have the snow to need it. I have the tractor I just needed the blower but I wouldn't have used it yet. That was also the reason it was 20 years old and barely used.

 

[SuperiorLakeEffect]

Was recently in a situation similar to yours when we found ourselves the owners of a long gravel driveway and the need to keep it open all winter. Although we do have some curves and hills to deal with, ours sounds much less treacherous than yours. But I think we do have a lot more snow to deal with. I also had no experience with tractors prior to this.

For the record- the previous owners did do the "park at the end of the driveway and snowshoe in and out all winter" approach.

First thing to consider- is pushing snow with a blade, pusher, or FEL even an option? You have to pile that snow someplace. My first winter trying to do this with a snowplow on a jeep quickly demonstrated that a snowblower was the only way to get this done.

I also operate under some economic constraints so opted for a rear mount blower on an open cab tractor with an FEL. I already have all the gear I need to stay warm so doing without the cab isn't a big deal for me. I also don't mind driving backwards so the rear mount blower isn't a concern either. But it sounds like you have some concerns about driving around backwards. Personally, I think any of those scenarios you mentioned are just as likely going forward as back. But maybe go to a dealer and take a test drive driving around backwards to see how you feel about it?

 

[LouNY]

I have a 1/4 mile long driveway that runs mostly a 14 degree slope with a bit of 16 degree slope, so about 25% to over 28% in places.
It climbs around 150-160 ft in the first 2/3's of it.

I use a back blade, a front SSQA blade, my bucket, or my blowers depending on the day and what I may have mounted per the forecast.
I have a conventional push rear blower as well as an inverted pull type blower. I like them both, the inverted is quicker and nicer for just clearing the driveway, for moving snow piles the rear one does better.

I also maintain a sand pile and a sander for when it gets real icey or an ice storm comes through.

Almost all of my plowing or blowing is done heading downhill.
Yes, I can plow or blow up hill but it is easily 4x's harder on the equipment and I'm running over 12,000# of tractor and implement with chains.
I work my way down the straights then clean out the corners as i get to them, then I'll either back backup to the top and start down again, or drive up turn around and work my way down again.

Here is a link to a 4 year old video of me just driving down the driveway;

 

[Rustyiron]

Lou you must be in the running here for hills and switchbacks!
It's nice to finally hear a friends voice in a nerdy internet way.