Snow pusher

[goblism]

I am curious what people's thoughts are on different styles of snow pushers. I have ~4000 sq ft of concrete pad in front of the house as well as a 250'x12' driveway to clear. Ihave a massey 1760m tractor. Looking into different options such as a standard metal snow pusher and a track based pusher. Mostly looking for the best option for light snows (0-5") and have a 6' blower for anything heavier/cleaning up where the snow will be pushed when it gets piled up.

Mostly looking to avoid roughing up the driveway which is why a track based pusher has caught my eye as it would be rubber contact on the driveway. Price on each style isn't too far off but looks like a pull back is easier to add on a metal pusher style to clean up around buildings.

I have also considered a front blade but don't have 3rd function (yet anyway) and think a pusher would likely handle the 3-5" snows a lot better than a blade.

 

[George2615]

I got a pusher when I bought my tractor. (was part of the deal) Pushers work great on parking lots or anyplace where a straight line push is needed. I added a pull back blade to get up close and it worked great. However, once the pusher gets full of snow it makes turning very hard even with chains on all 4 tires. You can get a rubber blade instead of steel for the pusher though a steel edge doesn't really do any damage to blacktop or concrete. We used a 16' pusher at work for clearing lots but on a much heavier machine. I used mine for one season then sold it. My driveway had too many curves plus it was a gravel drive.
The next summer I built a quick attach plow out of an old 7 1/2' truck plow and have used that since. I ran hoses from one of my rear remotes to the front to angle the blade.

 

[farmeratheart]

For plowing the size area you have a snow pusher would be ideal. However, your tractor at 60hp should easily push a 8’ or even 10’ blade. Equipped with a rubber edge or poly edge it wouldn’t mar the surface and would make quick work of 5” snows.

 

[farmeratheart]

I have been accused of overthinking my snow removal equipment for this location. My solution is a 6.5’ plow adapted the jd quick attach loader on my 2520 tractor. A strip of rubber horsestall mat (tsc) and hydraulics off the loader remotes for power angle completed the project. Your tractor should handle a lot more plow! Good luck.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I am curious what people's thoughts are on different styles of snow pushers. I have ~4000 sq ft of concrete pad in front of the house as well as a 250'x12' driveway to clear. Ihave a massey 1760m tractor. Looking into different options such as a standard metal snow pusher and a track based pusher. Mostly looking for the best option for light snows (0-5") and have a 6' blower for anything heavier/cleaning up where the snow will be pushed when it gets piled up.

Mostly looking to avoid roughing up the driveway which is why a track based pusher has caught my eye as it would be rubber contact on the driveway. Price on each style isn't too far off but looks like a pull back is easier to add on a metal pusher style to clean up around buildings.

I have also considered a front blade but don't have 3rd function (yet anyway) and think a pusher would likely handle the 3-5" snows a lot better than a blade.

My NX6010 (about the same size as yours) tractor would struggle to push a 10' pusher plow because of a lack of weight/traction, but I'm not on concrete and I have hills and more snow up where I'm at. DirtMonkey Stan, a fellow Minnesotan is a big fan of the Arctic pusher plows because the sides pivot allowing good clearing on curbs, low wear on the wings regardless of the plow's angle of attack.

Metalpless VS Arctic! Head to head snowplowing SHOWDOWN 4 k video - YouTube

 

[chim]

That's a nice-sized tractor. I never used a real pusher, but did add side plates to a bucket. It didn't make a big difference.

One of our equipment vendors I rent from at work doesn't have any wheeled skidsteers available all Winter. Snow removal crews take them all and refuse to lease tracked equipment. Makes me think they have experience guiding that decision.

I've used a blower for a few years and it's a lot of fun. The downside for me was using the blower on parking lots. The lots are too wide to toss the snow all the way off. Re-blowing the snow (especially more than once) is really a pain.

Last year I bought a larger tractor and fitted it with an 8' Fisher power blade on a QA plate. It's the "underslung" approach that Gordon Gould and TractorNH used. Love it.

 

[not2old]

I've never used anything other than a bucket on a tractor. What does a pusher do better?

 

[George2615]

I've never used anything other than a bucket on a tractor. What does a pusher do better?

In general, a pusher is wider and taller than a bucket allowing you to move more snow faster.

 

[fatjay]

It contains the snow with the walls on the side so it doesn't spill out of the sides.

 

[snymat68]

Pushers also don't have bottoms, so you don't have to dump out the snow. You just lift the thing and move on.
Also, some have a back-drag option that allows you to curl the pusher forward 90° and pull the snow toward you while still gathering it in the pusher.

 

[Thomas]

No doubt about it snow pusher are handy,I like trips springs tho for the protecting loader arms.

 

[snymat68]

They make snow pushers with trip-able edges.

 

[Thomas]

They make snow pushers with trip-able edges.

:thumbsup:

 

[goblism]

I will probably give a front blade a try as a local guy has a converted truck blade with a SSQA plate for the right price.

I didn't put much though into the snow pusher being difficult on a curved driveway. My driveway doesn't have a major curve but enough that a 4-5" snow might accumulate and create some minor difficulties with steering. I do think a snow pusher would be really nice for a the 60ish ft square area near the garages. Might simply get a skidloader track and make a pusher next summer to experiment with.

 

[Timmer92]

We just upgraded our tractor and we added a hydraulic snow blade. The ability to tilt the blade left and right is a game changer. I don't know how we lived without it!

 

[goblism]

How concerned is everyone with torquing the loader arms? I met with the guy on the converted truck blade and he was worried about possible loader arm damage, he was fine with making the sale but talked about a couple of guys he knew that bent the loader arms (and more damage) due to loaders generally not being built to handle side pressure. Needless to say I put the purchase on hold for now.

I would think this concern would be less with a blade that is closer given that there would be less leverage compared to a blade that would stick 3-4+ feet past the quick attach plate.

 

[arrow]

In general, a pusher is wider and taller than a bucket allowing you to move more snow faster.

and you're not waiting for the bucket to curl to dump the snow already in there. You're just lifting the boom which you need to do anyway no matter what you use.

 

[arrow]

How concerned is everyone with torquing the loader arms? I met with the guy on the converted truck blade and he was worried about possible loader arm damage, he was fine with making the sale but talked about a couple of guys he knew that bent the loader arms (and more damage) due to loaders generally not being built to handle side pressure. Needless to say I put the purchase on hold for now.

I would think this concern would be less with a blade that is closer given that there would be less leverage compared to a blade that would stick 3-4+ feet past the quick attach plate.

You are correct but there is still side torque on a loader arm with a tilted blade on it. There are guys that can break a 6x6 i-beam if given the chance so as usual, it's about common sense. I have a gravel landing and use a pusher type attachment. I like it a lot. In your case, i would not hesitate getting a pusher 7'-8' wide.

 

[not2old]

The oem bucket on my GC2610 is 4' wide. I made my own for plowing snow. It is 6' wide and about 8" taller. Right now, I'd have no place to push the snow if I could't pile it.

 

[Hilbilly]

Every tool has it's place. I have a regular bucket, large capacity snow bucket, 8' snow plow with hydraulic angle, rear blade and 2 rear mount snow blowers. I don't have a snow pusher but made some wings for my plow to contain the snow on longer pushes. This made a huge difference when trying to contain snow for a longer push. What I discovered is that the there are a few major differences between pushing snow and carrying it. A large capacity bucket is great to move snow from one location to another for longer distances and for moving it from one stockpile to another location. But for moving snow shorter distances, for me that is about 150', my modified plow with wings is WAY better for the following reasons; 1) when I push the snow into a pile, I can pile it much higher because I don't have to curl the bucket down to get the snow to fall out of the bucket (my guess is that is about a 4' elevation difference, 2) I don't have to curl the pusher down to unload the snow, I simply push into the pile and back up. This saves a lot of time! and 3) pushing snow into a pile compacts it as it is pushed, instead of end dumping the snow, which leaves it uncompacted. This is also huge because you use less storage space for the same amount of snow.

Here are some pics from the last week showing the piles of snow around my house and outbuildings. The driveway is a whole different animal, requiring different methods. The piles are over 10' high and compacted. When I used the high capacity snow bucket, I immediately noticed that I couldn't pile the snow as high and my storage areas were filling up too fast.