Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

[jvolock]

Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

I'm in the final stages of making a decision on buying a snow blower for this coming winter as I'm thinking we are going to get hammered here in Colorado. My RX6010 tractor has a 66"wheelbase with a 59 hp engine. While the 74" blower is a slightly cheaper, I generally understand that its recommended the blower be six inches wider than the wheelbase so would it be better to go with one that covers the wheelbase by 8inches or one that is 18 inches wider?

Again, i appreciate everyone's help?

 

[FatTire]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Do you get drifts that hard, like the type you can walk (or drive) on top of without breaking through? If you get much wind, you might be better off with the 74". When the drifts are hard packed, the blower can have trouble cutting in, and wants to ride up on top. The wider the unit, the more likely to be an issue. Also, how much does the RX6010 weigh?

 

[jvolock]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Fat Tire,
The tractor weighs 5,682 lbs not including the FEL. Appreciate the insights.

I live south and east of Denver. The wind does blow and at 7,000 ft elevation there hasn't been alot of freeze/thaw snow banks. I also get to work at home when it snows so I try and get after the snow early in the day so if there is any melting, we can get down to frozen driveway.

 

[crazyal]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

How deep does the snow get? Once the snow gets deep blowers have a hard time getting it through the second stage. I get to a point where I'll just plow the snow if it's more than 18" and I try to go too fast. Secondly how wide is your drive? Most of mine is 10' or slightly less so a 7' blower would be wasted on me. My 72" works fine, one trip down the drive and then back up and I'm done. Finally how flat is your drive? Mine has one section that isn't that flat so the cutting edge on the bottom just hits the high spots and leaves snow in the lower areas. The wider the more of a problem this can be.

 

[jvolock]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Crazal,

Good questions. I've only lived in Colorado for 3 yrs and the biggest snow we've gotten is about 15 inches, which I've easily used my rear blade to get done. My driveway is about 14' wide and relatively flat so that shouldn't be an issue either. Appreciate you taking the time offering your advice and experience.

Not sure where you live in northern Vermont, but I got married almost 30 years ago just outside of Mt Pelier.

 

[leonz]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

I'm in the final stages of making a decision on buying a snow blower for this coming winter as I'm thinking we are going to get hammered here in Colorado. My RX6010 tractor has a 66"wheelbase with a 59 hp engine. While the 74" blower is a slightly cheaper, I generally understand that its recommended the blower be six inches wider than the wheelbase so would it be better to go with one that covers the wheelbase by 8inches or one that is 18 inches wider?

Again, i appreciate everyone's help?

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A wider snow caster will permit you to go slower on the first pass and then take a half cut at a faster pace for the next pass.

The issue is more one of efficiency with the design as the open auger design is problematic in wet snows as the impeller will be flooded becuase the snow is not fet at a uniform rate.

When you go to purchase you want a snow caster with the largest impeller diameter that will fit your mules power class at the Power Take Off.

The Pronovost TRC 800(80 inches wide) and the TRC 860(86 inches wide) have the benefit of a rotating impeller drum and 26 inch diameter impellers which permits the snow caster to bypass the snow blower chute and spout which can be a huge
bottle neck when dealing with wet snows.

The larger the impeller the better.

 

[JerryK]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Ditto on the impeller/fan size. If you tractor has a large range of reverse speeds or HST, that will help with the wider unit in deeper snow.

 

[crazyal]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

I'm about an hour from Montpelier. For a 14' drive a 7' would work well. Down and back and done.

 

[jvolock]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Jerry and Crazal, thanks for the information. I've decided to go with a 74" unit as I've got some areas I need to blow that I'd like to get into with the smaller blower that the bigger unit may make it a challenge to get into.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Re: Do I go with a 74" or 84" rear snowblower. My Kioti has a 66" wheelbase

Good choice, I have a 74" blower and my tractor has about the same wheel base. I wouldn't want it any wider. You also need to consider your pto horse power. When you get into some deep stuff it will make your tractor work for its money.