Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Selecting a CUT for snow removal

[woodenboater]

My house at 6500 ft unloads compacted snow on the patio, up to 6 ft high. Shoveling and snowblowing are killing my back, and taking away time from skiing. Some ideas I have are1)a Snow Hogg (self-powered snowblower)on an ATV; (2) a Snow Hogg on a CUT FEL; (3) a CUT with a FEL and rear snowblower; a Snow Hogg on a pickup truck; outsource to a commercial enterprise. Has anyone had experience with this type of problwm, and any thoughts on how to get more skiing/boating restoration time? Thanks in advance.

 

[lablovers]

I know what you are dealing with. We had a cabin near the Donner Summit. I would drive up to the cabin to spend the day snowblowing just to try and stay on top of it. Had a 8HP Honda snowblower but it was still a job. My deck was elevated and the was all we could get up there.

My solution was to sell the cabin and move to an area with less snow. I helped our association buy a snowblower. There is a company in West Sacramento who deals in commercial snow removal equipment, he might have some ideas. I can not think of his name but he is on West Capitol Ave. west of Harbor Blvd.

Good Luck,
Lablovers

 

[Wildman1]

Personally, I'd opt for a CUT with a rear blower & an FEL. I have a front blower on my JD2210, which I prefer for my needs, but occasionally I need to swap it out for the FEL..which takes all of 15 minutes. The FEL is super at removing those 6' piles that slide off the roof or digging out a new parking spot where I've been blowing snow into all winter. AND..with a heated cab..it's FUN!

 

[Charlie_in_TX]

Your talking $15k+ for a sub-CUT. How much for a season of professional removal? $1000? Do you have any other uses for a sub-CUT? If you only plan on removing snow it may be cheaper and will defenatly give you more time to do it professionally.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Are you at 6500' elevation or is is your driveway 6500' long? If you have a 6500' driveway, you will have a really sore neck with a 3PH snowblower. I agree with the 2210, front-mounted blower and loader.

 

[woodenboater]

Thanks lablovers, my son tells me the same thing-move! I'll look for the place on West Capital. there is a tractor dealer in Colfax. Are you familiar with his inventory?
Woodenboater

 

[woodenboater]

Thanks IHCrules, I live at 6500 feet elevation, just 300 feet higher than Lake Tahoe. If my driveway was 6500 feet long, I'd be a town and could raise taxes to pay for snow removal! Most of my snow unloads on the patio in front of the house, so backing up with the blower might not be too bad, and more convenient than switching with the FEL. Besides I need to FEL to knock down th epile first.

 

[woodenboater]

Thanks Charlie, I will be checking out rental rates also. Right now I have a driveway cleaning service at about $500 a year, which I would cancel. i could pay for a new CUT in about 30 years! But of course I'll be buying used. I do hae some trenching and grading to do, plus cutting and hauling a couple of big trees to make room for an addition on my garage. So I hope it will be economical to buy a CUT.

 

[lablovers]

Woodenboater,
I am not sure who you are talking about in Colfax. There was a dealer on the east side of the freeway but he closed down. Sold his inventory to Big Johns Little Tractors on Hwy 49 in Auburn. He has Branson, TYK and Mahindra. Mostly larger CUT's. He has a few grey markets and a few used. Depending on what you want to do, he has some small Mahindras, the 20 and 26 HP. Both are nice and could probably be set-up with blowers. If you only want it for snowblowing. I know Honda has a large blower with about 12 HP and tracks. If you want to spend the money a small CUT would give you much more capabilitiy but of course at a cost.
If I can be of any help. Let me know. I would hate to move from Tahoe too. We thought we would retire at our cabin, but the snow did me in. Could not imagine being retired and dealing with the snow an a daily basis. Colfax gets just enought to feel like winter, but is not a hassle.
Lablovers

 

[woodenboater]

labloves,
I went to the place in Colfax. It is an affiliate of Best-Used-Tractors.com, is called tractor-ville.com, and is located at 1170 Pinecroft Road in Colfax. They have a dozen or so tractors and also sell loaders and backhoes. I'll have to check out Big Johns next time we're down that way. I'm looking at eBay also, as well as the Reno, Sac, and Fresno papers.
Woodenboater