Snow BX snow thrower vs loader?

[MOPAULY]

OK, I've seen many people talk about buying the snow throwers for the BX's. Tonight I cleared our driveway with the loader and I found it no worse then my old 48" snow thrower on my old Toro tractor.

I actually liked the ability to be able to pile snow where I wanted. Based on the size of our driveway, I feel I made very good time in the 1.5 hours I spent clearing it......so my question remains, how exactly would spending thousands of dollars for the snow thrower attachment benefit me?

 

[JimMorrissey]

MO, It depends on how much snow you get IMO. We need to get it out of the way and a blower does that quite well....Yes, it blows in your face, but it also puts 99% of it way out of the way so you don't have to worry about back to back storms with frozen banks. A few years ago we had to hire a CAT TLB to deal with the banks because I could not push it back any further due to ditches on the sides.

I think you're good the way you're doing it as long as you're happy with the time you spend and results. A blower cleans to the surface in one pass and I can shoot the snow at least 30'....today I was sending dry/light snow over 50' with the wind.

 

[art]

I'm using a loader on a tractor now but It's a good size L-series but the blower is my favorite as it doesn't make banks which means more work like Jim said. The hydarulic or electric deflector control helps with less snow being on the operator and tractor controls.

 

[MOPAULY]

The loader cleans to the asphalt pretty well. I can't say I miss the blowing snow in my face from the snow thrower.

The only thing I can say I miss is not having any trails left between sweeps with the snow thrower, whereas with the bucket you have to go back and clean up.

 

[fishpick]

MOPAULY - FWIW - I have been thinking the same thing as you - until last night with the 18" that got dumped on us... Then, suddenly, the FEL is far less useful than the old walk behind blower I just gave away to my brother-in-law... I would have gotten off the tractor last night to just have the simplicity of all that snow "blowing" away. The piles at the end of my driveway are as high as the FEL will reach now... should we get another BIG ONE... I'm not exactly sure what I'll do.

 

[art]

Well we made it again! The snow has fallen enough that even with a larger L series and giving myself about 15 foot of head start room for banks on the lawn I'm back to the driveway! The banks are about ten foot high and it's time to move them away but there is no place to move them, time for a manitou to move the banks back.

Now when using a snowblower I've never had banks over three foot high on the edge of the drive, my wife complained that she can't see when exiting the drive anymore. The snow blower always took about the same amount of time and to use the down pressure instead of float it to would scrape the driveway bare. With the blower it always takes about the same time, now I'm having to spend more time to stack and try and move the banks back and unfortunatly I know that I'm going to have to spend some time on lawn repair this spring!

For NY snow give me a blower! It will do a very neat job with no cleanup compared to the loader and a blade thats no better either.

 

[timalabim]

Where we are in MA, we got mostly a snow/sleet/rain mix which turned into about 4in of slush. I started using my walk behind blower, but was mosly throwing water, and had a hard time getting down to the pavement due to the lowest layer which was somewhat solid.

I figured I'd give my BX24 loader a shot and it worked like a charm. Mostly float, but some areas with a bit of down pressure took it down to the pavement beautifully.

With Snow I think that the blower would have done a better job, but the unusual mix we had yesterday called for a drasticly different approach

 

[proudestmonkey]

MOPAULY - FWIW - I have been thinking the same thing as you - until last night with the 18" that got dumped on us... Then, suddenly, the FEL is far less useful than the old walk behind blower I just gave away to my brother-in-law... I would have gotten off the tractor last night to just have the simplicity of all that snow "blowing" away. The piles at the end of my driveway are as high as the FEL will reach now... should we get another BIG ONE... I'm not exactly sure what I'll do.

I had considered selling my old walk-behind (8 HP, self-propelled, 24" cut) snowblower, but then decided to keep it for the exact reason you just cited. For most snowfalls around here (Minneapolis area), we get between 3 and 6 inches. But, in December and March, especially March, we sometimes get up to 2 feet within a week. So, for most snow falls, like the OP said, the FEL (and may I recommend an inexpensive back blade) will adequately move the snow out of the way in about an hour (1/2 mile driveway and tractor shed road on a hill with two opposing 90 degree turns, and a 200 degree curve on the steepest part of the downhill, also a completely circular courtyard about 50 feet in diameter). For the big snows at the beginning and end of the winter months, I can see getting out the snow blower, which will take much longer than the tractor, but without a snowblower attachment to the Tractor, I am not sure the tractor could even deal with that much snow.

 

[kwolfe]

The loader cleans to the asphalt pretty well. I can't say I miss the blowing snow in my face from the snow thrower.

The only thing I can say I miss is not having any trails left between sweeps with the snow thrower, whereas with the bucket you have to go back and clean up.

MOPAULY,
Hear in Harrisburg, PA I just plowed my 150' drive as well as two other neighbors (same size). I saw a lot of walk behind snow blowers having problems with this crud because it was so thick. A 5' rear blade and FEL in float worked pretty well. It took about 3 hours (including a few beers) .

If I had a long driveway and we got a lot of snow each year, I would consider a 3pt blower, but for now, the FEL and RB work just fine.

BTW, if anyone wants to buy a slighty used Yardmachine 8hp snowblower I have one for sale.

 

[AMR]

I have had the same thought process. I find the middle ground for me is the front blade, much much cheaper, easy to store, and nothing mechanical. I have tried removing snow with the FEL and have found it to be troublesome, so much so that I used the old walk behind snow thrower.

My issue is that I have 500' of driveway and a typical 0" to 8" storm takes a long time to snowblow, nearly 2 hours, so for those 2 and 3 inch snowfalls it is really not even worth it. With the plow I can scrape the driveway clean in about 20 minutes and have had no problems with up to 15 to 18".

Now for sure when you get the 18" plus storm you get the high banks on the side, equally troublesome. What I do is scrape the driveway down the best I can and then take half the blade raised up about half way and then I simply scrape the piles back. I have had the BX with the blade for 3 winters now and love it.

 

[LBrown59]

I in December and March, especially March, we sometimes get up to 2 feet within a week. for most snow falls, like the OP said, the FEL (and may I recommend an inexpensive back blade) will adequately move the snow out of the way
a snowblower .

So will the FEL on my BX23 and the front blade on my Bolens 850 and my CC 2554 with a front blade on it.

 

[LBrown59]

I have had the same thought process. I find the middle ground for me is the front blade, much much cheaper, easy to store, and nothing mechanical. I have tried removing snow with the FEL and have found it to be troublesome, so much so that I used the old walk behind snow thrower.

.

What I like about the FEL over a front blade is the FEl allows me to be more flexanle in where I pile the snow.
I also have mor control on keeping the drive way slag out ot the yard with tha FEl than I do with a Blade.

The combination I find best for me is the BX23 FEL and the CC 2554 and or the Bolens 850 front blades.

 

[paparammer]

I am fortunate (perhaps also stupid - I vacillate) to have all 3 choices: loader, front blade and front blower. Lately, with the little snow we've been getting, I've kept thinking that I shouldn't have gotten the blower (which I did primarily because I had an Ariens Yard tractor with blade and blower that kept going for 26 years and worked just fine) and just stuck with the FEL and blade. Then we get a storm like this one (which used to be more frequent). I have a 300' driveway and started out yesterday to plow about 12" with the blade, which normally should have been little problem. Didn't get very far; that stuff was heavy (twice the water content of normal, I'm told) and I couldn't make reliable headway. Given that I've a steep downhill part to the driveway, I definitely didn't want to get stuck there, which even with loaded rear tires and 4WD is always a possibility with this much heavy snow, especially when you consider the huge pile likely to be at the bootom from the town plow. So I switched to the blower and went riipping through the snow. Now, would the loader have worked? Undoubtedly. Would it have been as quick? Undoubtedly not.

With a lesser amount of snow and a frozen driveway (mine is crushed shale), the blade is by far the quickest (and my preferred choice), as you can go almost full tilt back and forth and be done in little time (how I love that hydraulic angling!). With a non-frozen driveway, everything takes longer and I hate to have to use the blower then as it doesn't have skid shoes and is much more prone to redistributing my driveway all over the terrain.

Is the blower cost-effective? That's what I keep asking myself, but it sure is nice when you need it. Should we start getting winters again where it really snow, I imagine I'll keep congratulating myself on the choice.

 

[LBrown59]

I find the middle ground for me is the front blade, much cheaper, easy to store, and nothing mechanical.
I have had the BX with the blade for 3 winters now and love it.
**********

****
The only problem with the front blade is you have to take the FEL off to use it.
Now where is the FEL to move the snow piles you created with the front blade?
The limitation with a blade replacing the FEL is you can't use the Blade and the FEL at the same time.
I have a BX 23 with FEL and a Bolens and a CC with front blades on them.
This set up lets me use A Blade and the FEL at the same time without doing any switching.

 

[Musclford]

****
The only problem with the front blade is you have to take the FEL off to use it.
Now where is the FEL to move the snow piles you created with the front blade?
The limitation with a blade replacing the FEL is you can't use the Blade and the FEL at the same time.
I have a BX 23 with FEL and a Bolens and a CC with front blades on them.
This set up lets me use A Blade and the FEL at the same time without doing any switching.

In my opinion... The FEL is the only way to go... Just make something like this if you can...

"http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/94321-60-fel-bucket-saver.html"

I made $200.00 in 4 hrs. cleaning driveways, not to mention I have 5-700 ft of blacktop drive that won't be gouged or scratched because of the FEL / blade..

Again, I know this is not a bolt on solution, but if you can, this works SWEET, it's CHEAP, and I have live on a steep hill. BEST of all, you can use that FEL when it's not snowing and it removes in less than a minute...

Good luck....

 

[BlackforestBill]

Question for the blower users, how does the blower handle 8 to 10 foot drifts?

When we get snow it's usually with wind, lots of wind. Two foot of snow with 30 mph winds quickly becomes very large drifts in my drive despite my snow fences.

 

[George2615]

Mopauly,
Using the loader to move / plow snow works great for the first part of the snow season. Its faster than a blower but when your in mid season like I am the snow banks are now 7'-8' high and have no room to put more snow. The next step will be the time consuming job of moving the snow banks one bucket load at a time and relocating it somewhere else. In the meantime I have used the snowblower every day for the past 10-12 days to blow the snow then very little cleanup is left for the bucket.

 

[Ifixcars]

George, I like your setup. This ends the problem of which is best. Now if you can get a front blade attached to your loader you can't ever be wrong.

 

[MOPAULY]

I don't know....even if I had frozen banks I could easily break a hole with the loader or backhoe, then make a new dump area for snow off load. It seems to be more of a preference thing, as I cannot see the $$$ justification for the blower.

EDIT: OK I replied before reading the last few, I can see the point of having to move the snow piles, but you can kind of take that into consideration at the start of the season. The way my property is laid out I can go many places with snow if I have to.

 

[swedish-fish]

I use both a blower and loader. It depends on the snowfall. With the recent 16" storm the blower obviously makes the most sense. Fortunately, my drive is only about 60' long but fairly wide, so driving backwards doesn't bother me. I end up using the loader for the 2" to 6" stuff because I can go faster and have more gears available to me going frontwards. Often times I'll push with the loader, not taking time to dump the contents and then do one pass at the end of the driveway to blow the resulting pile well off into the grass.

The homemade plow bolted to the FEL with a rubber scraper is very interesting. I'd like to try that. In my case with the 51" meteor snowblower cantilevered off the back, it limits how much down force I can get on the cutting edge. I figure this is a good thing. The tractor is only 1100 lbs.

I'll also add that you can find good deals on used snowblowers. I would be having the same reservations on plunking down $1700+ for an implement rarely needed. I snagged this blower on ebay for about $580 and couldn't be happier.