Snowblower Front vs. rear mounted snowblower

[canoetrpr]

Hi there:

I have a 100 ft driveway on my new property and I'm looking into a Kubota B7800 or B2630 for snowblowing, among other things.

I am interested in learning the difference between a front and a rear mounted snowblower. Why would one choose one over the other.

I understand that a front mounted one uses the mid PTO. I will be have a MMM attached. Would this be a consideration at all in this choice?

The only advantage that I can think of the rear mounted one has is that one could leave the blower and a front blade attached all winter and use the front blade to clear small amounts of snow.

 

[SeymourBota]

I would be removing the MMM for the winter- regardless.

My BX2200 has a front blower. The advantage is ease of use. It attaches easily with a quick hitch and a fairly long driveshaft which connects to the mid pto, as you mentioned. It is expensive!!

Our other tractor is a 2410 with rear blower, which we also used on prior tractors. Advantage is cost- probably $1K cheaper. Also the fact that the FEL remains available on the front for when piles of snow must be moved.
Disadvantage is having you neck & body twisted around backward while in use.

 

[lmiller]

I have a rear mounted blower on a B7800 and I clear about 450' of gravel drive. I went with the rear blower for $ and because I thought I would need the loader to get thru the plow mound at the town road. It's a little tough to turn around and back up for 2 passes (900' altogether) but I got several other implements for the money I saved on the blower. I got a Meteor blower and it handles a 30" icy plow mound with no problem.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[RickB]

Savings VS convenience, no more, no less. I have a 1/4 mile drive and a 6' three point blower. I am just too darn cheap to think about a front mount.

 

[kingoflawns]

The front blower is easy on the neck, i couldn't work looking backwards all day?

 

[755inNY]

<font color="blue"> The only advantage that I can think of the rear mounted one has is that one could leave the blower and a front blade attached all winter and use the front blade to clear small amounts of snow.
</font>

The blower does fine on small amounts of snow too. As others have stated, it really comes down to price vs. convenience. How adverse are you to twisting around in your seat and working in reverse? If you don't mind it (and you have a short driveway), then save some money and get the rear mounted blower. Not only are they cheaper but you have more choices and you can keep it if you ever get a different tractor. The front mounted snow blower will be pretty much dedicated to the tractor you buy it for due to the special mounting brackets. You could adapt it to another tractor but it will take some work. The rear mounted snowblower will be easier to attach and remove. With the front mounted blower, the blower will come off fairly easy but you will probably need to remove much of the bracketry and drive shaft to be able to use your MMM. This might be a 1 or 2 hour task spring and fall. I have a front mounted blower because I did not want to work in reverse and my driveway is only 80 feet long x avg. of 3 cars wide. But I also cut a 200' path back to the barn every other snow fall or so.

Jeff

 

[canoetrpr]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I would be removing the MMM for the winter- regardless.
)</font>

Peter:

Interested in why you think this should be done. After Jeff's post I was leaning a bit more towards the rear mounted blower just so that I have as little effort as possible swapping implements around by leaving the MMM attached.

10 or 20 minute implement changes I can do. An hour or two sounds awfully long even if is only twice a year. Besides I'm not terribly mechanically adept.

Canoetrpr.

 

[Junkman]

If you fail to remove the mower deck in the winter, the snow, slush, and salt are all going to be attacking it. Second reason to remove the mower deck is that if you get into a skid situation, you might just wreck the mower when it bounces into that frozen pile at the end of the driveway. Third reason is that it hampers maneuverability. Do you have the snow blower mounted when you cut grass?????? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[boustany]

As Junkman said, plus, an MMM buggers up your ground clearance, so its much easier to get stuck.

 

[SeymourBota]

Junk and boustany have already hit most of the points I would have brought up. In addition, having to get onto the tractor in slippery conditions in the winter by stepping over a MMM would not be worth the risk of bones breaking.
I don't have a mower on my 2410, but on my BX, removing the mower is only a 5 minute job. I would be surprised if it took 2 hours or more on your 7800.

 

[canoetrpr]

Lots to learn for a city boy like me who has never driven a tractor. Thanks so much for taking the time out to respond.

I chatted with the dealer today that I have been talking to and he too recommended that the MMM be taken off for the winter. If I didn't think that the MMM was going to be my best bet for mowing around the yard I might have gone with a rear attached one - probably easier to remove and cheaper.

My dealer recommended a rear mounted blower so that I could keep the FEL attached to help with snow removal and anything else I might want to do with it during the winter. His opinion was that backing up to clear would not be a big deal for me as I am just doing my private driveway and having the FEL attached would be indispensible. Sounds like a sensible option. I think I will have to drive a tractor backwards to decide .

 

[boustany]

Just noticed, you're a fellow Canuck.

Transmission type and your personal flexibiliy may make a difference. I went to a front blower (mui $$$) because I would get back spasms after a half hour or so in reverse. I suspect the problem stemmed from having a hydrostatic, and keeping my right foot on the pedal while twisting around.

 

[HEC]

First be sure the tractor speed is right for the blower.I have a kubota m5400 and a 7ft rear monted blower off another tractor which I can't use on the m5400 .The tractor does not have creeper gears and no creeper kit for it and backs up way to fast to even use the blower.I ended up using a rear mounted snow plow and the front bucket.I would much rather have a snow blower though.I have about 600ft of driveway and had no problems with the blower in the rear on the old tractor I sold.

 

[jkahan]

hi -- i used a rear blower for 10 years up on a hilly, open, and windy driveway (only 500') . I would buy a front end blower in a hearbeat if i had to do it over again -- ouch - my neck hurts just thinking about it