At the point in my life.....

[rScotty]

In my view front mount snow blowers are troublesome and not best for moist people. Sure it is nice visibility but the drive is so much more complex and prone to trouble. Besides that you can't use the FEL at the same time. I say forget the front snow blower which are nothing close to universal. 3pt hitch blowers are universal.

I agree. 3pt hitch type blowers are much simpler, and you have a much wider range to choose from. They aren't ideal, but they do the job and are a good place to start.
You may end up with a front blower and a cab, but a 3pt blower is where I would start. Chances are good that you can find one at a price where you will get most of your money back out of it too.
rScotty

 

[JWR]

With my typing skills I need to say I meant the comment for dry people as well as moist people.

 

[Fallon]

Others have covered what SSQA is. Super useful. I use my forks more than my bucket. I also have a SSQA plow, hydraulic post hole digger & some other musc junk.

The downside of SSQA is weight & length. It adds a few lbs out on the end of the loader where it hurts the most. It also makes the loader a bit longer, which decreases leveverage & lift capacity. Not a big deal on my Ls, but will be a bit more of a factor on a small B or BX.

I had a L3200 for 3-4 years & a L4060 for 5. Both had a quick attach loader that allegedly takes 5 minutes to take off or put on. Never bothered trying that once. Helped my brothers father-in-law install or remove one off his older L3250 I think it was. Took 3 of us a couple minutes mostly standing there watching the operator move the GST machine then throwing a lever or pin. Still can't be bothered to remove my loader for weight or clearance. I do dump the bucket or forks for weight & clearance a lot though.

 

[Fallon]

Huh, was thinking this to be a "for now" tractor, then down the road get a new one, but after seeing 2k hrs as kinda usual, and this one having 750, perhaps she will last me a lot longer than I think! It's not the 3 point PTO attachments I'm wondering about, it's a front mount snow blower. Are those all universal as well? Say a b2601 blower snap onto a 7500, and vice versa?

An industrial or an ag machine should hit 10,000 hours.
A CUT probably 7-8,000 hours
A SCUT like B or BX might hit 5,000

Probably need a decent bit of maintenance & a bit of luck to get there.

Homeowner machines are more likely to rot as they will be to wear out. I do side work with my L4060 ontop of maintaining my 5 acres. The machine has paid for itself every payment & will be payed off in December. 5 years & I'm only at 800ish hours. So by my guesstimate it has around 40 years of life left.

I'd doubt that machine would make 3,000 hours before it rots, but thats another decade or 2 for most home gamer uses. Plenty of life left if you have some basic mechanical skills for maintenance. Value likely won't drop much over the next 5+ years if you don't abuse it either. Fine & cheap way to figure out if you need more of a machine later down the road.

 

[varmint]

Fallon's statements are right on. If you keep a tractor out of the sun and dry (when not using, obviously) the tires and paint won't rot/fade and the mechanicals will last forever with proper maintenance. I try to powerwash and even wax the hood and fenders of my Kubota once a year or so, and other than the scratches on the bucket, it still looks like it did 6 years ago. Value is still there.

 

[pattyt21]

pattyt21 - As explained by others, the quick attach allows you to easily exchange buckets, forks, and other attachments to your loader arms. My quick attach is specific (not skid steer) for Kubota BX attachments, so my bucket had to be modified. This also allows me to mow and do other tasks without removing the loader frame from the tractor.

My front snowblower is a 51" Kubota B2781B, which is specific to the B7500 and a few other models. There was also a 63" B2782B and a 50" BX2750 available for the B7500 in 2017. I ordered my blower through my "Whole Goods" (Tractor) Salesman. I will post cost information after morning chores.

I add about 150 hours to the clock each year.

Interesting! Thanks for the input! So not so much that all the compact tractors take the same blower, but rather, the mount for the 7500 still being available. Ok, that makes sense! I honestly kinda wonder how long this tractor will last as I could see putting maybe (after I get the implements I'd like) 100 hrs a year. Keep thinking I need newer for reliability, but it's not like this thing was built in the 70s either.......

 

[rScotty]

Fallon's statements are right on. If you keep a tractor out of the sun and dry (when not using, obviously) the tires and paint won't rot/fade and the mechanicals will last forever with proper maintenance. I try to powerwash and even wax the hood and fenders of my Kubota once a year or so, and other than the scratches on the bucket, it still looks like it did 6 years ago. Value is still there.

My Kubota wants to come live at your house.

 

[pattyt21]

In my view front mount snow blowers are troublesome and not best for moist people. Sure it is nice visibility but the drive is so much more complex and prone to trouble. Besides that you can't use the FEL at the same time. I say forget the front snow blower which are nothing close to universal. 3pt hitch blowers are universal.

Might look into a reverse 3 point blower, and after talking to people, it's not like we get a ton of snow here and it's not lime a camp where you could have feet in the driveway next time up, but either way, I'm pretty sure our plow truck will be around another 5-10 years

 

[pattyt21]

An industrial or an ag machine should hit 10,000 hours.
A CUT probably 7-8,000 hours
A SCUT like B or BX might hit 5,000

Probably need a decent bit of maintenance & a bit of luck to get there.

Homeowner machines are more likely to rot as they will be to wear out. I do side work with my L4060 ontop of maintaining my 5 acres. The machine has paid for itself every payment & will be payed off in December. 5 years & I'm only at 800ish hours. So by my guesstimate it has around 40 years of life left.

I'd doubt that machine would make 3,000 hours before it rots, but thats another decade or 2 for most home gamer uses. Plenty of life left if you have some basic mechanical skills for maintenance. Value likely won't drop much over the next 5+ years if you don't abuse it either. Fine & cheap way to figure out if you need more of a machine later down the road.

I got lucky, 30x80ft pole barn built 20 yrs ago came with the house......so she'll be nice, dry, and clean! But even if it lasted to 3k hours, that's 2,250 more to go, if I average 2 hrs a week, it will last roughly 20-25 more years! I'll be 65 by then!

 

[pattyt21]

Fallon's statements are right on.

I got lucky, 30x80ft pole barn built 20 yrs ago came with the house......so she'll be nice, dry, and clean! But even if it lasted to 3k hours, that's 2,250 more to go, if I average 2 hrs a week, it will last roughly 20-25 more years! I'll be 65 by then!