Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing Snowblowing setup for a long, steep driveway

[CobyRupert]

Here’s something to think about, but no good answers:
Blowers are usually sold by width. Period. There’s usually little other information.
Regarding how fast you can go: Often it’s not limited by tractor’s horsepower, unless you don’t have enough. Beyond a certain point, more power won’t enable you to go faster (groundspeed-wise) unless you can rev the blower faster.
If you’re operating at 540 rpm, once you max out the amount of snow the auger can eat and the blower can pump though the chute at that rpm, that’s your maximum ground speed. More horsepower won’t help.
At that point you’d want a blower with faster gearing that turns the auger, blower, etc faster than other blowers. (This would also require more horsepower.)
Thus the height of the snow is directly related. (Twice the snow height = 1/2 the max speed.)

Now, if you use a wider blower, you can clear “faster” because you make less trips up and down driveway. Wider blower also makes it faster when you have very little snow and max. groundspeed is being determined by maximum tractor speed.

 

[oosik]

Mark - your driveway looks a whole lot like most of our Forrest Service roads over here in Ea WA. Must be a REAL BLAST navigating that driveway during spring thaw.

The best you probably will be able to do - a 45 to 55 hp 4WD tractor - European type Aquatine chain on all four wheels - a blower on the FEL or a forward mount blower on the 3-point.

I would have the rear tires filled with RimGuard or RV anti-freeze or windshield washer solution.

Unless you are willing to plow more frequently - the amount of snow shown in your later post - it's going to be dangerous to attempt to move that much at one time on that driveway with a rear blade. A FEL mounted blade will have similar problems. There will be considerable side slipping when trying to blade off that depth.

The safe method will be a blower. A quality blower will easily blow the snow completely off the driveway and beyond any further concern.

There would be NO WAY I would want to try and navigate the driveway and blow snow at the same time with a reverse mount blower on the 3-point. I'm meaning a blower where you have to drive the tractor in reverse. On that driveway you need your full attention in the forward direction.

And, BTW - you should be considering safe winter time operations - not speed. All speed is going to do is get you off the side of the mountain.

 

[ruffdog]

Is the driveway gravel that has runoff and erosion? How possible is it to pick up fist sized rocks while blowing?

 

[Reb954]

I suspect you will want a blower 12" to 24" wider than the tractor so you spend less time getting around the corners. Otherwise on the inside corners the tractor will be running in the snowbank. Also, notching the snow bank on the down hill side may help reduce the ice dams so the water will drain better in the spring.

You might also check into using a skid steer with blower. They are a lot more agile than a tractor but I don't know how they will handle the hills/ice/mud. I had a neighbor that used one for a mile of gravel driveway, I was always impressed by how well it worked. But his driveway was mostly flat.

 

[oosik]

I had a blower on my original tractor - Ford 1700. I would normally use the rear blade until the berms got so high - the blade would not throw the snow up and over the berm. Then I mount up the blower. With the blower I could cut back the berms. The Ford was just not heavy enough to clear the berms with the rear blade.

I've "blown" just about everything that you could ever find in the driveway ROW. Gravel, stones, pine cones, chunks of ice, sticks, limbs and even mice & pocket gophers. Even some snow. You would be surprised how many mice & pocket gophers like to burrow into the snow berms. And I've sheared my share of shear bolts also. When I had the blower - last job in the fall - walk the driveway and clear all FOD. Never seemed to get it all though.

 

[dennis103]

This is a Grand L6060 with a 80" hydraulic snowblower. The hydraulic blowers attach to the loader arms, giving you a lot more adjustment for the blower. It has a cutting edge just like a bucket and will lift as high as the loader arms will reach. This will take care of any snow mother nature can dump on you. I don't use the chains but on your hilly terrain you would want them. Like another post said we love helping you spend money.

 

[mikester]

I'm in the mountains/foothills of WA with a 1-mile dirt/gravel driveway that is seriously steep (13% average, 21% maximum), plus another half mile that I share with neighbors. The driveway is narrow and curvy, and is cut across a steep hill so the edge drops off. We get about 100 of snow per year. Our plow guy has trouble with the volume some years (like this year), so I'm thinking about getting a tractor with a blower to take care of it myself. This would have the additional benefit of avoiding the plow piles that keep the driveway muddy in the spring after the rest of the snow has melted off. I don't want to be craning my neck for 2 miles every time it snows, so it's going to need to be a front blower. And, unless someone wants to talk me out of it, hydrostatic transmission and a cab. I have JD and Mahindra dealers an hour away, and Kubota, Kioti, New Holland, MF, and Bobcat dealers 2 hours away. At this point, I'm mostly looking at Kubota and Kioti.

My main question is around horsepower and ground speed. I don't want to spend more than an hour on a normal 6" snowfall, which means I normally need to be moving 2 mph at a minimum, hopefully at least 3 mph. Many people seem happy with the B2650, and people talk up the Kubota blowers a lot, but based on YouTube videos I've seen they are often moving fairly slow when blowing (perhaps close to 2 mph). If I buy a Kioti, I'm looking towards a 50+ hp DK. Will double the power that translate to being able to move twice as quickly when blowing? Kioti's literature on their DK-compatible blower recommends 25-40 PTO hp. Will it actually be able to effectively use all 40 hp, or does the snowblower design lead to declining ROI with each additional hp? What if I put it on a DK6010SE (which has 45 PTO hp)?

Reliability is a high priority--my driveway is trailer-unfriendly, and with the distance to the dealer it would become quite a headache. Being stranded in the winter would be especially unfortunate. Other than blowing speed and reliability, there are some additional priorities. In the winter, a heavier tractor would do better at breaking up driveway ice (I would have chains, of course), and would be more effective at pulling a stuck vehicle (which I hope won't happen, but good to be prepared). In the summer, my only regular use would be driveway maintenance, but there are lots of projects where I'd love to have a tractor with a FEL to move heavy things around (including when we build a new house to replace our cabin).

For winter maintenance of a steep, high-consequence driveway, what else should I be thinking about? From what I'm reading in threads, a rear blade to get more snow off the driveway (and reduce ice build-up) is a must. Is a salt/sand spreader effective, and if so, how much sand should I be spreading on a 1-mile driveway when I think things are going to get icy? Is there a better way to add traction to an icy surface (or avoid the ice altogether)?

If I planned to live where you are I'd be buying something like a CAT D5 or D6 with cab, stock up on 6 months worth of emergency food rations and prepare to wait out winter in the off the grid cabin. Or buy a helicopter.

I'm surprised you found a guy willing to plow your logging road.

 

[deezler]

I'm surprised you found a guy willing to plow your logging road.

RIGHT?!? Seems they'd have to be shown a whole stack of benjamins, or be hopped up on a nice big pile of meth, to want to attempt driving up that trail and start plowing it during a snowstorm. If your truck slides off the edge... who rescues you, a sikorsky? Have to leave it until May and lose your income source?

 

[LouNY]

My driveway is only a quarter of a mile, 25 years ago it looked a lot like yours. I spent quite a bit of time widening it.
I normally use a blade to clear mine as it will get it cleaner then a blower. I also use my back blade more then my front blade.
My travel speed with the rear blade down and being pulled is higher then my pushing speed for the front blade.
The rear blade will bounce and jump or stones and frozen ruts, the front blade is bouncing on the trip springs all the time.
I go slow blading the snow off, 5-7 mph with the rear blade after the first couple of times, the first time after it has frozen up
it's only 2-3 mph and when it hasn't froze the surface it's maybe 2 trying not to dig in and move too much gravel.
I normally do not bother trying to plow going up the driveway, with chains on it is possible to do so however it does make it dig and chew
and is rougher on everything I find it much easier on me and my equipment to plow down hill and reverse back up for the next pass.
With a back blade that is wider then your tractor when angled and especially if it can offset there is no need to have a large back on the down hill side of the driveway.
I do not plow any snow towards the high side of the driveway, that side has a small ditch were the bank meets the driveway and a small border that I leave unplowed.
That unplowed section is to aid in slowing or stopping a vehicle that wants to start skidding and sliding. I plow every thing to the low side were it can go over the bank.
One advantage to a front mounted blade is that the angled blade will tend to push the front end away from the edge, a rear blade especially when offset
will have a tendency to try and shove the front end toward the bank. One way to prevent that is to turn the blade a 180 and push with it then it will be trying to push the
front axle into the roadway.
I have a blower and while it is nice for the deeper snows it is slower then a blade, I would prefer an inverted pull type blower but I'm cheap.
Also a blower would be difficult to get way over toward the downhill bank.
With a blade I have many times found myself riding on packed snow and ice on the downhill side which gets your attention.

The larger bi-directional tractors would be ideal many times. The Versatile or New Holland are hydrostatic drive the rebuilt and replacement cost is high
when they go out.
This is from tractor house search for bi directional;
Pardon Our Interruption

Also on the sander issue;
I've had a sander for many years after several of sanding from the back of a pickup while someone else drove it.
A sander will cover 4 times the driveway with the same amount of sand and 10 times faster.
I use a smaller sander that would not kill a 3/4 or one ton. For many years I kept a truck for sanding even though I didn't plow with it,
with chains and a loaded sander it would go through quite a bit if necessary.
This year I am switching to a trailer for my sander it will need brakes and tire chains to be controllable going down a slippery drive.
Sand will need to be mixed with salt when it is stock piled and covered, salty sand will never dry out as the salt will absorb moisture.
It will need to be covered to prevent snow and rain from diluting the salt and then the entire pile will freeze into one big chunk.
Also you can not load a sander before you are going to use it as once it's out of a pile and exposed to the air temps it will start
to freeze to your sander, unless you have a nice heated shop to park it in.
View attachment IMG_20180205_115802129.jpg View attachment IMG_20180205_102903102_HDR.jpg

This is kind of a long winded post but I hope it's helpful.

 

[metalbender]

Bombardier J5 with a front blade.