Snow Front Snow Blower or Front Snow Plow?

[FRIZ]

Front Snow Blower or Front Snow Plow?

Hello everybody:

My property is in NW Indiana. And I have approximately 800 yards of gravel road to maintain. I am planning to buy a John Deere 3720. But some of you guys are recommending 4X20. I am reluctant because of cost and the fact that John Deere doesn稚 make a front snow blower for the 4X20.

Now I have the following questions:

Should I stay away from a front snow blower because of my 800 yards of gravel road? Should I use a front snow plow? I thought that a front snow blower would be fast & efficient? Please elaborate.

Thank you.
Regards,
FRIZ

 

[Patches]

There is NO comparison between a sno-blower(front or rear)and a sno-plow in regard to efficiency The gravel complicates the use of the blower somewhat, but not sufficiently to scare you off, especially when you're talking 2400 feet;thats a lot of snow to move with a plow. The biggest problem with a plow is, where do you put all the snow; you spend more time plowing snow dumps than you do driveway

 

[Thomas]

Blower one shot snow removal...no worries about keeping banks push back etc.

 

[wcpeabody]

How much snow do you get annually on average?

 

[BarryinMN]

A blower may not be the always the best tool. A heavy wet warm snow can pack the augers like concrete & nothing gets to the impeller. You end up pushing until spinning out.

I have a 8' bucket in front and a 7' 2 stage blower on the back. Works for any snow conditions.

At 2400' a 4wd pickup and a plow may go faster if there is room to push off the snow.

 

[RADIUM]

hello from the other side of the tracks the blue tracks that is, I would definitely go with the rear snowblower I have about 1500 foot gravel road and never have a problem just pack the first snow or set the skids a little high for the first few passes then it packs nice and tight no stone-throwing, plus then you have a bucket for that occasional wet heavy snow which we all seem to be getting a lot of in upstate New York during the wintertime. I always had front mount snow blower till this tractor but I've got to tell you it's really not that hard to back up with the mirrors helping now don't shoot me or ban me for posting a new Holland picture in the JD forms ;-).

 

[Barely Smokin']

FRIZ, my experience with my plow on my gravel driveway is that it ends up moving a lot of gravel along with the snow, even with the "pads" set. When the snow melts, I usually end up with a pretty muddy driveway, then I have to go back and grade my driveway to correct what the snow plow did. In a way, the action you take with your snowplow is exactly what you don't want to do with your driveway---gravel-maintenance-wise, if you catch what I mean. it ends up pushing the gravel off the side of the driveway and reverses the draining as well. If the blade is set too high, you don't get the effect you need re: snow removal. I've never used a snowblower attachment, but I'd be tempted to get one.....good luck!

 

[Pipestone Kid]

I have between 800 and 1000 feet of driveway. I use a front mounted blower on a 4110 and wouldn't trade it . My first year I used my FEL, but as some mentioned I spent more time making a place to put snow than clearing the drive. My drive is gravel, too. I move a lot less gravel with the blower than the FEL. Only once did I ever have it plug up--that was when I went to move snow that was sitting in water. (wanted to clear a path for the water to drain)

 

[JCB]

Friz,

I clean a 400' gravel drive with a front blower and a 2210. Before the blower I used a loader and rear blade.

Most everyone will agree that the loader is just about worthless for moving snow. Blades are nice. They are fast, cheap and low maintenance. You'll tear up some grass, but you'll be doing it fast and cheaply!

The blower isn't perfect, it's expensive, slower and requires some maintenance, but without a doubt, a blower is the tool for moving snow.

The blower is more deliberate. Instead of charging down the driveway in high range with a blade, with a blower you'll be driving more slowly in low range....but you'll be done.

Regarding gravel, I just float my blower an inch or so above the drive and don't worry about the gravel. For the area, we've had near record snowfall these last two years, and I couldn't be happier with my front blower. For what it's worth we've gotten around 100" of snow each of the last two years. I'm cleaning 400' with a little tractor and it's all I want to do. For my situation, I'd definitely "need" the blower any year I knew for sure we were gonna have more than 50". If you're plowing snow twice a week, a blower makes a lot of sense.

Joe

 

[Ductape]

My vote........................................................


YouTube - Kubota B3030HSDC Snowblowing Video

 

[xkbal]

I've got a 3720 with the front mount snowblower. We have 2400' of gravel driveway and it winds quite a lot. Live in Edmonton, Alberta area so don't know how your snow compares but we tend to get fairly dry, fluffy snow. I found this setup worked well for me, would not have wanted to back u a rear mounted blower down our driveway as it winds so much. Have a cab on ours and it is great for the winter.

Only things I don't like,
-the front mount blower is too narrow in my opinion, should be 10" to 12" wider. I hope to find time to add some wings to the sides for next winter.
-I find the 3720 very tippy (I have R4 tires). I plan on getting extensions to move the rear wheels out. It's not too bad with the blower but really notice it on hills or loader work.

Hope this helps,
Al

 

[FRIZ]

Thank you all for the education. Please keep it coming.

Regards,
FRIZ

 

[SpringHollow]

For a different point of view:

I use a FEL mounted snow plow blade. I had one made for tractors but gave that setup to my brother and one modified from a truck. Here, the ground freezes and stays frozen, So the only problem is the first couple of snow falls. Usually, I do not need to plow those. The biggest problem is that the snow is so wet, the stones come up with the snow even with the plow raised up (the plow is not scraping them up). The neighbor with the snow blower has the same problem but his stones are thrown over a much larger distance.

A FEL mounted snow plow is a sweet setup. It clears snow very quickly, no snow blowing in your face, can pile snow VERY high if necessary. As a favor, I plow several of my neighbors very long driveways on a steep hill. There is no way I would have time to do this if i used a snow blower. My driveway has a side slope that allows me to easily push the snow or frozen snow piles to the downhill side. Their driveways are lined with trees on both sides. Every few snow storms, I just push the snow back into the trees. If I need to do that, plowing and pushing back takes me about an hour and a half for the 4 driveways - the driveway parts take only about 40 minutes of that - the rest is clearing out next to their cars, garages etc. I am pickier about the quality of the job i do than i need to be.

As a comparison, I did previously iuse a rear blade and a bucket and that worked but was a pain. I would feel very differently if the plow were not mounted to the FEL - i had one without hydraulic turn and it worked pretty well but it worked great when i added the hydraulics to it.

Ken

 

[Rob-D]

I have 600 feet of gravel driveway and I use the Deere 47 blower. It works great and I have never run into problems with wet snow although sometimes I have to go a little slower with it. We get A LOT of snow here in the mountains and before I got the blower I had a guy with a plow do it. What a mess! There were times it was too much for his plow but never once could I not run my blower and I've done 4 foot drifts for me and my neighbors. I'm sold on it, a great investment!