2 stage or 3 stage?

[Brushape]

Hello, I have a YT24V48 Husqvarna mower with a 42" snowblower attachment. It is a 2 stage. I'm trying to clear the snow around my house so when it melts it's not so much. I have about 12" of crusty icy snow with 12" of powder on top of it. I'm finding its hard to get through as the bottom 12" is like concrete. So I'm looking wistfully at the Cub Cadet tractors that have a3 stage blower. Is it any better or just a marketing ploy?

 

[Rockbadchild]

Myself what I do is I wait until we have a warm weather and that hard snow become soft under the right condition then I take my small walk behind snow blower and I go around the house without issue. Maybe since I live up north then we don't get as many thaws and freeze like in Minnesota it might be different, but we do get some crust at times.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I don't think that Cub Cadet will touch it.

Once it freezes and thaws like it sounds yours has, it's going to take some serious digging power to break it up.

Maybe a different solution? Or let it go for this year and plan something else for next winter?

 

[oldnslo]

My friend had a 24 or 26” cub cadet self propelled 3 stage and it didn’t work any better on snow plow berms that his old 2 stage.

Big question is how hard is it and will serrated auger chew through the crust? Can you walk on the crust and not break through? If yes doubtful standard blower will chew that.

 

[Rustyiron]

I understand a 2 stage with the augers and the fan, but what's a 3 stage? I don't think I've ever heard the term before.

 

[oldnslo]

Theory is two out side black augers are stage 1
Two yellow augers are called accelerators and are second stage these feed the snow into the impeller (fan) which is 3rd stage

 

[RustyA]

Very mixed reviews on these 3 stage Cub Cadet s. Lots of people say in normal blowing situations the middle auger tends to push snow ahead of the blower. I'll stay with my 2 stage with serrated auger. If that doesn't do it I get the tractor and use the loader.

 

[Brushape]

I should made it more clear. I wont be buying anything this year. The conditions today made me think that this might be the way to go. If it were that much better I could be persuaded. Right now my biggest wish would be a locking differential. I have ag tires which helps a great deal. I don't want use chains as much of what I do is concrete.

 

[seville009]

Weight and power are really the only way to deal with that concrete like snow layer.

I have a 50 hp 6,000 lb skidsteer with a 5 ft blower. If i have a layer of hardpack, I angle the blower down a bit (it has a great scraping edge) and try to scrape it up. Even with that weight, piwer, and scraper bar, it’s rarely successful.

As mentioned above, when it warms up a bit and the hardpack siftens, I’ll go out and scrape as much up as I can before it refreezes.

Chains might actually help chew up the hardpack a bit; probably not too much though.

 

[Rustyiron]

Right now my biggest wish would be a locking differential. I have ag tires which helps a great deal. I don't want use chains as much of what I do is concrete.

Your tractor should have a manual lock pedal. They're usually close to the rear axle and require your heel to engage it. Read your OM and if you don't have one, get back to us here. There's an opportunity for damage if you don't know a couple of very simple things.