3pt blower for moving piles?

[RockyNY]

Since its been so cold this year my snow piles have extended so far that I'm running out of room. I don't currently own a own a blower, but I was wondering if a 3 point blower would work for moving the piles back several feet. Obviously a loader mounted blower would be ideal but that would be a lot more $$. My piles are 10-15 feet high and 20- 30 feet long. If I could clear out even 10 ft it would be worth it.

 

[KennyG]

Well, yes, but... I have found that I can carve out a snow bank without much trouble. However, I've also found that backing into piles is the only way to break shear bolts on my blower - and I almost always break one if I work on a pile very long.

 

[super55]

A 3pt snowblower will do but you have to be very slow and methodical in the process unless you have a perfectly tuned in slip clutch on the PTO. I was able to cut back on snow backs with mine by shaving away at it little by little usually no more than 6 inches at a time.

The difficult part is that the snow is just packed so tight and hard it really tests the durability of the blower and the tractor but if you take it easy and not rush it you should be Ok. It helps to have a FEL as well because you can break away at the bank and then snowplow the snow away.

 

[RockyNY]

Yeah I was thinking if I pull some down with the FEL then blow that back and repeat. Well maybe I'll watch for a good deal on a blower this spring or summer. I might have to hire a payloader if we get much more snow.

 

[kco]

As RockyNY says..pull them down with the FEL. We had a huge snow here where my neighbour asked me to clear large piles with my pull-type blower. He has a front plow truck but ran out of space. Where there was room, I could push the tops of the piles with the raised FEL, working in manageable chunks until I got it to a depth where I could do the rest with the blower.

Where there was not room to push over an edge you can use the method RockyNY suggests. I use that method for removing 6-7' snow piles that fall off a shed metal roof and I can't get with the blower. Rather than back up with the tractor, place the bucket so its bottom is a little less than vertical in the pile, put the loader in float and curl as if dumping a bucket so it moves the snow toward you. It is more manageable near a building and by having the loader in float you don't run the risk of damaging the dump cylinders.

If you do get a blower you will find you will not end up with those huge piles since the snow is cast far off the road.

 

[bcp]

The difficult part is that the snow is just packed so tight and hard it really tests the durability of the blower and the tractor but if you take it easy and not rush it you should be Ok. It helps to have a FEL as well because you can break away at the bank and then snowplow the snow away.

I wonder if using bucket or loader forks on it would break it up some. I haven't had more than 4 inches at a time for the last several years, so I can't try it.

Bruce

 

[tractorgp]

Since its been so cold this year my snow piles have extended so far that I'm running out of room. I don't currently own a own a blower, but I was wondering if a 3 point blower would work for moving the piles back several feet. Obviously a loader mounted blower would be ideal but that would be a lot more $$. My piles are 10-15 feet high and 20- 30 feet long. If I could clear out even 10 ft it would be worth it.

In this video (just jump to about 3:22) I was doing fine with the blower until the deflector linear actuator got damaged when I was too aggressive in my approach to the snow bank. So I had to get the fel working to finish the job. The bank is about 5 feet high... your challenge is greater but your 4035 has more going for it than my BX in terms of size and hp. http://youtu.be/PjBw4M82KUQ

 

[RockyNY]

I just bought a new Kioti 60 hp tractor, that should do the job. I wouldn't plan on using the blower on a regular basis though, it's actually a small parking lot and blowing the whole thing would be difficult.

 

[Al 2]

Add some drift cutters to the side of your blower and raise the blower up as you back into the snow . It will take a few passes to clear but once you get a routine going it goes fairly quickly.
Al

 

[RoyJackson]

I use my snow blower to clear piles. The snow is normally crusty to frozen.
The most important thing is to let the blower work through at it's pace...don't try to force it and if the pile is tall (like the 5-6 foot tall piles I cleared a week back), raise the 3PH and start as high as possible. It might take a while, but the blower will move that pile soon enough.

 

[greenrider1]

My 7' Lorenz 3 pt double auger blower chews through piles very well. I just helped my neighbor out yesterday because he was out of room. He had snow piled 6-7' high and 20' deep. I just set the blower all the way down on the first pass, so I get good traction with the ground. Sure, a lot goes over the top, but I just clean up with a second pass. My blower is rated for 100 hp, and I've never broken a shear bolt with my 57 hp tractor. I just set the stall guard, which automatically regulates how fast the tractor pushes into the pile. I can definitely move the piles faster with the blower vs fel. If your blower is rated for similar hp as your tractor, you may have to be a little more gentle when moving big piles of hard, crusty snow.

 

[tractchores]

I do this with my 3 pt blower a lot. If it isn't solid ice it will be fine. The challenge is getting it to blow over the pile if you get to the center and its tall, then I just use the FEL to knock it down. It is very quick and amazing how much snow they move in a short period.