Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Plowing with blade or blowing?

[excav8ter]

I prefer to blow the snow.

 

[excav8ter]

I plowed snow for a lot of years. ... this has put the fun back into snow removal.

 

[excav8ter]

Another.

 

[skyhook]

Nice, all you need now is a front blade, to pull the snow from the garage doors before you blow.

 

[excav8ter]

There's actually a back drag blade that goes on the rear of the blower, which allows me to get within 18" of the overhead doors. The rest is up to the homeowner.

 

[jaotguy]

the plow is quick for small snowfalls , but eventually you have to blow/ move it back further as the winter progresses ... the blower disperses it over a larger area so you don't have the bank buildup. ... so it depends on "where" you have to put the snow.

my blower mounts on the front and does most of the snow removal ( gotta get around to building the heated cab this year )

 

[buickanddeere]

Around here pushing snow just makes a ridge or edge that performs as a snow fence and makes the drifting back in even worse. It's a snowblower or a snowshoes around here.

 

[JBourquin]

I use the loader as much as I can. Use the blower to cut the banks back when they start to protrude into the drive. I was using the blower after every snow fall when I first got it but found I was throwing way too much gravel into the yard. If I dig up any gravel with the loader it's mostly piled where the snow is. Easy to rake up in the spring.

 

[RoyJackson]

For me, it really depends on how much snow is predicted. Accumulations less then 6" get plowed with a Gator and Eagle plow. If I need to, I'll use the tractor bucket to move some of the snow...especially at the end of the drive where the township plows it in from the road.
Anything deeper then 6", it's time to break out the 74" rear blower.

It also depends on the time I have to clean up the snow...if before work, I'll use the gator and plow due to the faster clearing (even if I don't get it all), then I'll use the blower when I get home from work to finish the job.

 

[PILOON]

Get rid of it once and for all! Blow it to next door or whatever.
You plow and handle it a couple of times.

 

[paulfun9]

After plowing with truck and having problems with snow drifts and banks as well as an overload of moved gravel, then using FEL with slightly better results but more time consumed I went with a blower and a solid plan to run the grader blade up the driveway before winter actually set in My overall snow chores ware cut in half and the loss of gravel was a lot less which meant spring clean up was also cut short.

 

[Fluid]

I use the blower most of the time. Blowing leaves the snow far enough back so I don't have to push anything for more room late in the season. If the snow is slushie I will plow it into piles, then blow it into the yard.

 

[pinetree10]

I've been using a JD 1332 snowblower for 5 years. My driveway is 100' long and has a large turnaround/parking area for four vehicles. I can't imagine using anything smaller because the heavier snow makes it work for a living but it always does a neat job and the heated hand grips are a nice touch. I added the large JD snow shield last year and it made a significant difference as far as keeping me from turning into a snowman when the wind changes.

 

[Ford850]

Smaller tractors would have more issues with a blade and deeper snow. With my FEL blade I can drive fairly fast, rolling the snow off the blade quite a ways. I think the answers to this question will vary quite a bit depending on tractor size.
I'm lucky to have a woods off a ways to the one side of the drive for the full length. Prevailing winds are from the opposite direction. I plow off to the side with the woods and rarely have drifting from that piled side. I usually push it just off the drive, each time adding to the height. If it gets too high, I straddle the ridge with the FEL blade 6" - 12" off the ground and roll the ridge another plow width off to the side.