Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Snow blower brands

[NS kubota]

Hi there folks we are looking at buying a new snowblower for our MX4800 Kubota. I have been doing some research on several brands. I have found the weight varies from unit to unit from 540 lbs to 640 lbs on a 72-74 width models. Kubota has a new model available this year (k74-24-09) with improvements to shear bolt access as well as other improvements. The Kubota Lmx3174 and Frontier SB1174 seem to be identical machines with the weights being in the 640 lbs range. The M.K Martin Meteor is a great unit with a 5 blade impeller but only weighs 540 lbs. In my mind the heavier the unit the stronger it should be. All the units I have researched range in price from $3500-$3850 cad. Any input would be greatly appreciated. We just don稚 want to rush out and buy a blower and regret the decision for years to come. Thanks in advance.

 

[leonz]

Hello NS Kubota,

You should also look at the Riest Series 1000 single stage snow blowers as an option as they are less complicated machines to own and operate. The Riest folks are located in Elmira, Ontario, Canada.

The Series 1000 unit can be mounted on a tractor with 15 to 30 PTO horse power and the MX4800 will have no difficulty operating it with the 48 inch unit or a special ordered 60 inch unit with the 16 inch auger/snow blower rotor. The basic Series 1000 unit has a single stage 16 inch snow blower auger/rotor with 4 center paddles to discharge the snow out the chute at 600+ RPM.

The Series 1000 unit has replaceable side wear edges and a replaceable scraper edge.


When I checked earlier this summer the base price for a Rear Mount Series 1000 unit was $4,000.00 Canadian Dollars with manual chute rotation and manually adjusted spout angle control.

The Series 1000 unit can be ordered with a wider width auger as well if desired with a change order.


I have attached an image of a hydraulic drive series 1000 unit mounted on a skid steer loader and I have uploaded several images of this unit on other posts here as well.


Here is a link to the Reist company for you


Professional Landscape, Turf, & Snow Removal Equipment | REIST Industries

 

[NS kubota]

Thanks for the info.

 

[atsah]

I have a Blizzard 54inch that weighs a little over 500lbs, The bigger one must be pretty heavy, pretty heavy for 54inch. built really well. Stupid pictures are always upside down. **** Apple..

 

[atsah]

Try again..

 

[leonz]

Here are 2 more side views of the series 1000 unit mounted on a bobcat skid steer loader.

I have a dinosaur for a computer and If your willing to send me your email via a PM here on the forum I can send you a PDF copy of the Reist Series 1000 Manual to look at if you would like to see how well they are built as they have exploded diagrams of it and complete parts lists for it.
The basic Reist single stage series 1000 snow thrower with the manual chute rotation as standard equipment weighs 440 pounds(US)
The Riest Folks also have a youtube video describing the series 1000 and 2000 single stage snow blowers as well.
There are other you tube videos about the riest snow throwers as well.
I was mistaken earlier as they apparently have gone to using a 20 inch auger with four center
paddles to discharge the snow through the chute.


I hope this works:

Reist Industries Snow Throwers 1 and 2 Series - YouTube

 

[atsah]

I have a dinosaur for a computer and If your willing to send me your email via a PM here on the forum I can send you a PDF copy of the Reist Series 1000 Manual to look at if you would likew to see how well they are built as they have exploded diagrams of it and complete parts lists for it.

How tall is your blower, it doesn't look very tall in the pictures? Looks to be very made though..

 

[NS kubota]

Thanks Atsah I will look up the blizzard brand.

 

[atsah]

Thanks Atsah I will look up the blizzard brand.

They make them in Canada like a lot of them. I looked at the MK as well, the dealer sold both, the MK was 100lbs lighter, the metal looked thin to me but they sell a lot of them and don't have any problems with them, the Blizzard was $400 more, I fabbed up an electric chute for it, I have used for two years and this blower works like a dream..

 

[NS kubota]

That set up looks awesome,my Dad is always looking at how to make improvements to his
Machinery with out spending a fortune too. They sell a lot of M.K. Martins here too, with no complaints from owners. Most of the blowers I have found are built in either Quebec or Ontario.

 

[NS kubota]

The blizzard is identical to the Frontier and Kubota versions all built by Rad technologies in Quebec.

 

[atsah]

The blizzard is identical to the Frontier and Kubota versions all built by Rad technologies in Quebec.

Correct.. I like the 28 inch height on mine, I often get 30 inch snows and it eats it up no problem..

 

[leonz]

How tall is your blower, it doesn't look very tall in the pictures? Looks to be very made though..

The blower pictured is not my snow thrower nor is the skid steer mine. The picture was supplied by Riest.

The Riest Series 1000 snow thrower frame is 24 inches tall if I remember correctly and the single stage snow blower rotor pulls all the snow into the snowblower.

I can tell you from personal experience using an original 1967 IHC cub cadet lawn tractor with a 12 horsepower kohler engine and a 36 inch single stage snow thrower these things eat snow and nothing ever stopped it from clearing snow for me no matter how deep it was.
I wish my father had kept it and not traded it for a new IHC lowboy with a plow as the plow was worthless even with chains due to the storms we had the following year.


I have a 2011 JUNK RAD 2 stage snow blower for my junk 2011 john Deere LA115 lawn tractor I have spend almost 200.00 to fix it now since they shipped it short of parts to john Deere from Quebec(missing part(s) for this model and others were the second V belt guide and I have to buy new belts from a different supplier as they cost almost half of what the locals want for the two belts I need.

I have spent almost a thousand dollars on repair parts, gas and travel to to obtain 3 chute assemblies 4 V belts, and 3 pulleys for this snow blower not including the new parts I have to buy now.

The Reist single stage unit is simple to use and own just like out first single stage snow thrower on the cub cadet was. You have plenty of power for a series 1000 unit with a wider cut(60-72 inch ) and you will require 20 percent less power to operate it as it has no second stage impeller.


As for my JD blower I only found out about the missing parts when I talked to another JD dealer and he sent me a JD bulletin about the missing parts AND YOU HAVE TO USE JD/RAD Metric v-belts unless you take the 4 pulleys to a machine shop to have them cut and profiled to use an A116 V belt.

 

[atsah]

Chain drive is great, in the past I have dealt with belt drive and won't do it again..

 

[farm boy00]

The blower pictured is not my snow thrower nor is the skid steer mine. The picture was supplied by Riest.

The Riest Series 1000 snow thrower frame is 24 inches tall if I remember correctly and the single stage snow blower rotor pulls all the snow into the snowblower.

I can tell you from personal experience using an original 1967 IHC cub cadet lawn tractor with a 12 horsepower kohler engine and a 36 inch single stage snow thrower these things eat snow and nothing ever stopped it from clearing snow for me no matter how deep it was.
I wish my father had kept it and not traded it for a new IHC lowboy with a plow as the plow was worthless even with chains due to the storms we had the following year.


I have a 2011 JUNK RAD 2 stage snow blower for my junk 2011 john Deere LA115 lawn tractor I have spend almost 200.00 to fix it now since they shipped it short of parts to john Deere from Quebec(missing part(s) for this model and others were the second V belt guide and I have to buy new belts from a different supplier as they cost almost half of what the locals want for the two belts I need.

I have spent almost a thousand dollars on repair parts, gas and travel to to obtain 3 chute assemblies 4 V belts, and 3 pulleys for this snow blower not including the new parts I have to buy now.

The Reist single stage unit is simple to use and own just like out first single stage snow thrower on the cub cadet was. You have plenty of power for a series 1000 unit with a wider cut(60-72 inch ) and you will require 20 percent less power to operate it as it has no second stage impeller.


As for my JD blower I only found out about the missing parts when I talked to another JD dealer and he sent me a JD bulletin about the missing parts AND YOU HAVE TO USE JD/RAD Metric v-belts unless you take the 4 pulleys to a machine shop to have them cut and profiled to use an A116 V belt.

Just wait till you run a single stage in wet soggy snow.

 

[leonz]

I have and I do with my toro snow pups, all do you just take a slower bite on the first pass and then half cuts later if its really warmed up and compacted.

The idea is that you will have an additional 20 percent of available power to use if you need it as they only consume 80 percent or less of the power required for an equivalent 2 stage unit.

They slice and break the snow pack up into larger chunks and the cross augers convey the chunks to the center where the four paddles are to allow them to pull in the chunks of snow and discharge them up through the chute and spout at between 600 and 700 RPM via the chain drive through the rear PTO.

 

[leonz]

Chain drive is great, in the past I have dealt with belt drive and won't do it again..

IF only wheel horse brought back a riding lawn mower with the V belt drive system they had coming off the horizontal crank. They would sell a lot of them for sure.

My father had another single stage wheel horse that he used for years until he gave it to my brother to use at his place as my brother started plowing it for him as he also had a plow truck for the business.

The beauty of the old IHC cubs belt drive was it was controlled with a snubber pulley at all times and the one to one bevel to bevel gearbox never let us down when we had to move snow.

 

[atsah]

IF only wheel horse brought back a riding lawn mower with the V belt drive system they had coming off the horizontal crank. They would sell a lot of them

My father had another single stage wheel horse that he used for years until he gave it to my brother to use at his place as my brother started plowing it for him as he also had a plow truck for the business.

The beauty of the old IHC cubs belt drive was it was controlled with a snubber pulley at all times and the one to one bevel to bevelgearbox never let us down when we had to move snow.

The old cub cadet, wheel horse JD 318, 420, 430, nothing like them old garden tractors and there implements were rugged as well, that was back when if you had an 18hp gas tractor you really had something, today 26hp lawnmowers are common with half the power, lets not even get into the throw away junks they sell today.

I owned a 318 Onan for 30 years, now you buy a 26hp Husqvarna for $2500 and 400 hours and 4 years later it's scrap metal..

 

[leonz]

The old cub cadet, wheel horse JD 318, 420, 430, nothing like them old garden tractors and there implements were rugged as well, that was back when if you had an 18hp gas tractor you really had something, today 26hp lawnmowers are common with half the power, lets not even get into the throw away junks they sell today.

I owned a 318 Onan for 30 years, now you buy a 26hp Husqvarna for $2500 and 400 hours and 4 years later it's scrap metal..

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Yup I was told the LA115 does not have much life left in it with over 215 hours on it and I need to trade it. I hope I can get one more year out of it anyway.

The snow plow I have for my 1991 wheel horse 244 hydro weighs more than the LA115 so go figure.



the LA115 has at most 2 horsepower on one axle stub at anytime and the briggs I have on this thing is a 19 horse vertical crank engine. the drive train is the issue as the tuff torq 46 in this thing cannot be serviced or the fluid level checked. I had a new drive belt installed 2 years ago as it had to be split to change the old drive belt that had the rubber crumbing off in my hands and I new I had to have it changed out.

If can afford a new Yamaha 1028 2 stage snow blower this coming year I will buy it and just use the LA115 for mowing until it craps out.

 

[RjCorazza]

Another Canadian blower to consider is LuckNow. I have a single auger 72” S6 model that has served me well for the past 10 years or so. They are very well built. A few years ago I added hydraulic chute rotation and deflection to go along with my new cab tractor.