3PH Snowblowers - pros and cons

[RobA]

We got hit with about 2 feet of snow over the weekend. My ATV plow was useless and the tractor plow wasn't efficient. It took me 7 hours to make a 2,000 foot driveway passable. I was thinking of looking for a used 3PH blower over the summer. Aside from the cost, having to run in reverse and the fact that it would be used infrequently what are the pros and cons of a 3PH blower?

 

[KennyG]

You've got the cons covered. The pros are they actually work and they are a lot cheaper than front mounted blowers.

 

[RobA]

What is the minimum snow depth where a blower makes sense? 6"? 12"?

 

[GManBart]

There are also 3pt throwers that allow you to drive forward....they're typically called "inverted" snow throwers. They're very popular in Canada, or other places that get heavy snowfalls.

 

[nybirdman]

Were you using a front mounted snow plow on your tractor?I routinely plow that much snow with my FEL mounted plow and have a similar sized tractor.

 

[RobA]

Were you using a front mounted snow plow on your tractor?I routinely plow that much snow with my FEL mounted plow and have a similar sized tractor.

Yep, I guess the snow was too heavy. The snow wouldn't push off to the side as I plowed and I lost traction. The driveway is paved.

 

[oldnslo]

Biggest advantages to 3PH blowers are:
they will work on any make of tractor
put the weight on the rear wheels
Give better visibility for working close to buildings than front mount
You can leave the FEL if you want

Maybe it's just me but I never had a problem with looking over my shoulder while backing up. 99.9% of farm equipment is pulled behind so that is were you are looking a good percentage of the time.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

If you get a 3pt blower you will never red to use it.

A plow on your loader is much faster.

 

[GManBart]

If you get a 3pt blower you will never red to use it.

A plow on your loader is much faster.

You must not have read that he said the plow on his tractor was inefficient?

The plow on my truck is faster the first snowfall, but eventually I have to take the backhoe with loader to move the walls back because the driveway gets more narrow each time it snows. With a 3pt thrower it might be slower per pass, but you only have to move that snow once.

 

[Farmer495]

Plows work great when you live in a low/no snow fall area or you have hours to push back snow way farther than needed when the snow isn't deep, or have other equipment or someone else to handle snow when going gets tough. I periodically help out a neighbor by opening up his yard when it's too much for his tractor / plow combo.

The last severe winter I did WITHOUT a snowblower (just front end loader) resulted in having banks so tall that the front end loader couldn't even lift and dump over and having to CARRY snow in the bucket and dump it elsewhere.

Snow blower is a must have for deep snow. If you have a hydro tractor, you have the perfect setup for one.

Best snow removal set up in my opinion is a snowblower and front end loader combo.