Christmas Snow

[hwp]

Hi Mike:

No I never shovel the roof. It is designed to withstand four feet of wet snow but we never get that much. The most I have ever seen on the roof is about a foot. Any wind will blow most of the snow off. What stays melts and goes into the cistern.

 

[Von]

Thomas, Thanks for the kind words. My family and I just got back from the movies, We went to see "Harry Potter". Now its time to eat so the driveway will have to wait!!! We are up to about 15" now and the wind is blowing! The snow blower works great, sure beats the backblade when there is alot of snow to move. Hope you and yours has a great night!

 

[RichZ]

Well, we got over 2 feet, with drifts up to four feet!!!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I started clearing it with my Oliver, but there was ice under the snow!!!/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif I only got a little cleared before I couldn't get any traction on the ice, even with R-1's. I ony have chains on my Feguson, which is too small to make it through the drifts. I had to call a neighbor, to help me!/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

He did make me feel better though. He has a HUGE dairy farm, with about a half dozen tractors. He told me that his son started clearing snow on one of his huge JD's (over 100 hp, and 4 wd), and the wheels just spun on the ice. They had to stop and put chains on two tractors before they could get anything done./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

So, first thing tomorrow morning, I'll be off to the local farm supply store, and get a set of chains for the Oliver. I'm sure those will be expensive, but I don't want to go through this again!/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

 

[s1120]

We got about 15 or so inches down in Niverville,NY. So BIG drifts though. The little Ingersoll 224 did a good job though. Plowed right through. Little thing did me proud./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Eaven plowed out a few nabours. Lots of fun tractor time this week./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Von]

Rich, Ah, I remember those days as well! My Oliver 550 would just sit and spin on flat ground if there was any snow or ice without its chains on! 4WD takes care of those problems real quick! I can plow about 6-10" of snow off of the ice rink with no problems, but if its deeper or heavy I have to take smaller bites. I was using an 8 ft. back blade behind the Kubota, but now have a snow blower. So I don't care how deep the snow is now!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Yea, it looks like you are going to spend all the chrismas money you got from santa!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[RichZ]

The chains should do the trick for me. As I said, even my neighbors huge 4wd JD's wouldn't move in the with all the ice under the snow, so I was in good company.

I'm glad a snow blower works for you. I got one with my Ferguson, when I bought it, but my driveways are dirt, and I always manage to pry up some pepples, even when the ground is good and frozen, so I spend more time replacing shear bolts than I do snow blowing. So I'll stick to backblades and my Oliver's loader. It may be slower, but I don't have to keep cleaning out packed snow and searching for the broken bolt and the dang pepple that gummed everything up!!!/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[rancar]

Hi Rich....

This snow storm was something, wasn't it?

I had the same 2-3 feet of snow as Rich since I live just a few miles away. I was looking foreward to putting my JD4710 to the test on this storm as this is one of the reasons I purchased this tractor. I had the 4710 garaged overnight and in front of the garage door was a 30in drift. I popped the 4710 into 4WD and just drove though the drift with ease. I have over 300 feet of driveway that I plowed and I would have to say that the 4710 performed well above my expectations. I couldn't have hoped for anything better. The 4WD slipped in a few places where the snow was deep but never to the point of standstill or getting stuck. With the bucket and attached rearblade on the 3PH, I had everything cleaned up within 2 hrs. I have R-1 bar tires but no chains. I was quite impressed with the power the 4710 displayed in pushing the snow, especially the large mounds in front of the drive left there by the town's road crews.

All in all, I would have to rate my JD4710 an A+ on this task.

Bob

 

[RichZ]

Howdy, Bob!! Good timing, if I didn't hear from you by this week I was gonna e-mail or call you!! Haven't heard from you in a while.

I was wondering how you made out in the snow. I'm glad your Deere did so well. It's something you got traction, that's great!! Over by us, there was a layer of ice under the snow, and my wheels just spun, so Danny had to bail us out!! I ordered my chains from Carl on Saturday. I should have them this week.

 

[rancar]

<font color=blue>"...if I didn't hear from you by this week I was gonna e-mail or call you!! Haven't heard from you in a while."</font color=blue>

Been awfully busy Rich with some personal things and a few projects I've embarked upon here on Wright Road. I hired a bull dozer and operator several weeks ago to knock out some hedgerows. He did quite a job for 2-3 days work. Now, I have about 2 seasons worth of firewood I'm cutting up. Have to get all this done before Spring planting season next April.

I'm real happy with the JD 4710. I think I had the same ice coating you did....at least that's what my wife told me. I don't know what I attribute my ability to handle it so well except this 4710 has plenty of torque and good R-1 tires that kept on digging into the snow. This tractor is surprising me with its abilities. It's a little dynamo that just doesn't quit....almost like it takes on a life of its own.

This was the easiest two hours of fun I've ever had that I thought was supposed to be work. No complaints from me though.

Hope to be in the forums a bit more frequently as the winter progresses as I have more time now. Take care.

Bob