Another "what would you do thread"

[MarkV]

GDC, I was curious how you and the neighbors have been dealing with snow presently? Living here in the south I just can't imagine three miles of road covered four feet deep in snow.

MarkV

 

[Treemonkey1000]

With sloping driveway and hills on top of ice and snow I think I would be wanting to have something with tracks instead of wheels

 

[charleyfarmall]

Others advise here is good. You do need a 4wd turbo Cab tractor, R1's, especially for a 3 mile road in winter. It will be too cold and difficult on an open station machine. Shuttle or power shuttle is a must. A rear 3pt hitch snowblower is an option, but will be a neck breaker if you are doing 3 miles in reverse. Don't bother with a self leveling loader. It's not needed for moving snow, and the extra arms will hurt visibility too much.

You are going to need 75 engine hp minimum. The DK75 is ok, they are a little basic but fine. Look at low hour TN75-85's, TDD's, JD 5425 etc. The JD 5083 is a very well priced new tractor and at my dealer cheaper to buy than the Kioti.

Consider that you may need to pull vehicles out of the way so the tractor needs to have some weight. Skip Kubota's, I think. Nice tractors that will need a lot of ballast.

I've done lots of snow plowing. Fun with the right equipment, miserable if not. It is time consuming. It may still be better to pay someone...

 

[RickB]

With sloping driveway and hills on top of ice and snow I think I would be wanting to have something with tracks instead of wheels

Clearly you have little to no experience with tracks on ice.

 

[Colby Forest]

We're new to this tractor thing too, but here's my 2 cents: We're looking to move snow too, about a 1/4 mile, so a lot less than you have too, but we do live in Northern Maine. We're looking at a rear snowblower because 1st, they're cheaper than the front ones, and 2nd, we're thinking a loader on the front would be good for busting through snowbanks left by highway plows, saving wear and tear on the blower, and providing ballast. Also the utility tractors we're looking at (60hp engine, 50 or better pto) don't have a midmount pto available for a front snowblower. (Any front snowblower we've seen has required a mid-mount). Too avoid a stiff neck, learn to blow snow with mirrors?

 

[amkfken]

I also happen to reside in Colorado at 10,000 ft elevation, last year the COUNTY road was closed for 63 days, only got opened with a snowblower (county purchase after 2 cats were abandoned trying to open the road!).

After that example, I got a front mounted blower for my little M-F tractor for my driveway use--love it!

All previous advice is excellent-bigger is better, don't even think about a rear mounted blower, your neck can't handle miles of driving in reverse!

Gonna cost mega bucks, hiring it done doesn't work well, ask my homeowners board, (7 miles of private roads), must live there for instant and constant snow removal, can't wait for someone to show up!

 

[JoelD]

Here's my thought. If you are going to be moving that kind of snow, frequently, I'm thinking I'd go hardcore.

Do what the pros do and get a used city truck with 12-14 footer and wing plow. Will make fast work of your clearing chores.

Another option is to contract out and not deal with any of the equipment issues.

A snowblower, even large, will take a long time to do three miles. Great for cleaning up when banks are too big, but super slow compared to a large plow truck.

I'd give serious consideration to a used plow truck, with wing plow or contracting out.

Good luck,
Joel

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I'd want the county to do it with real snow equipment - you do pay taxes I assume. Otherwise I've no real idea but it better be a snow eatin and blowin machine cause in a bad winter your not gonna pile that much. Just for fun though this unit is about $33k for 4wd and 310 hp. Buy chains for all 8 tires and your good to go. Oh even has new AC!

-Ed-

 

[ChuckinNH]

If I were going to look at a rear mounted snowblower for doing a lot of road, I would look very carefully at how the different models, and makes feel while sitting sideways in the seat. For me, the front, and rear pedals on the hydrostatic are much easier to use in that position than the side to side pedals found on other makes, though I do like the side by side arrangement when going forward very much. Some, like the New Holland Boomers have seats that swivel a number of degrees, and that would make extended rear mounted implement use easier too.

 

[GreenWannabe]

We're new to this tractor thing too, but here's my 2 cents: We're looking to move snow too, about a 1/4 mile, so a lot less than you have too, but we do live in Northern Maine. We're looking at a rear snowblower because 1st, they're cheaper than the front ones, and 2nd, we're thinking a loader on the front would be good for busting through snowbanks left by highway plows, saving wear and tear on the blower, and providing ballast. Also the utility tractors we're looking at (60hp engine, 50 or better pto) don't have a midmount pto available for a front snowblower. (Any front snowblower we've seen has required a mid-mount). Too avoid a stiff neck, learn to blow snow with mirrors?

Erskine Attachemnts (Skid Steer Attachments - Erskine Attachments, Inc.) makes a front mounted blower that runs off the rear pto. They also have a rear mounted blower that is pulled forward rather than pushed backward. Good luck with your search.