Using a blade and blower

[shooterdon]

I live in an area that requires a blower to keep the snow banks from "taking over". I was talking to salesman at the Kubota dealer and he has in interesting thought.

He suggested using the back blade to move snow from the edge of the driveway to the center, On the return pass, use the blower to blow the snow out. Repeat for the next pass...done in two trips and less wear and tear on the blower. For light snows under 3 inches, move the snow from both sides into the center and blow it out once.

Another advantage is that it reduces the time running in reverse if/when using a rear mounted blower. By pushing the snow to the center, it is easier to maintain/follow the edges. But with a rear blower I would require a front blade.

I seems like a good strategy to me. It is making me wonder if I can get by with a less expensive rear mounted blower that is also much easier to remove and attach than a front blower.

The downside is that with a heavy snowfall, it may not work with a smaller tractor.

Any other thoughts/comments?

 

[Thomas]

Snow drifts a factor?
Would you be pulling snow with rear blade not pushing...no trips spring on blade.

 

[Deerherd]

The most efficient will be a front plow/rear blower. For most smaller snows, the plow will handle it, large storms or moving back the banks you use the blower.

If this is gravel , the idea of piling snow in the center and blowing will cause you lots of problems when dealing with freeze thaw cycles. Invariably you will get gravel in that pile and run it through the blower.

 

[George2615]

I agree with Deerherd. I use a front blade and rear blower. 80% of the winter I plow my gravel drive. Just last week I used the blower to knock down the piles I've plowed up all winter. I've checked my forecast and it appears by next week our winter will be almost over with warmer temps coming to stay. Yesterday I took off my chains, rear blower, and front plow and put the bucket back on. I doubt I will see any more significant snowfall but if we do I will just use the bucket.

 

[civilian]

Shooter, I use that method to clear my drive that is 3/8 mile long. I am north of you. I use the front blower on my BX2230 and pull the overflow into the center of the drive. Then I clear the other side, pulling the snow into the center. On the third pass I clear the center.

I also used the disc behind the tractor to try to break up some of the ice after last weeks rain and warm temperatures. I finished the disc work by using a "S" pattern. Jon

 

[oosik]

When I had my Ford 1700 and 3-point blower I just used the blower 100%. No moving the snow from here to there. It took three trips. The two sides and then down the center. I have a mile long gravel driveway.

Now I have a heavy duty Rhino 950 rear blade on my M6040. I can plow back any berms that form - if required.

 

[civilian]

When I had my Ford 1700 and 3-point blower I just used the blower 100%. No moving the snow from here to there. It took three trips. The two sides and then down the center. I have a mile long gravel driveway.

Now I have a heavy duty Rhino 950 rear blade on my M6040. I can plow back any berms that form - if required.

On my drive, let's say in the summer, it has a negative crown. ie, the dirt is higher next to the drive, than in the drive. Too many year of water running down the old abandoned road, now my drive. So I don't have the ability to push back the banks. Hence someone else suggested/commented that he did as OP is asking, and it works for me. Jon

 

[DHD]

shooterdon thank you for starting this thread.
I've also wondered how effective snow removal would be with a snow blower and blade.

We get allot of snow storms that are 6" or less.
I've been using a 3 point snow blower for the past 13 years but thought a loader mounted front blade might be helpful for those 6" or less snow storms.
Snow blowing while backing up is not an issue for me and I get great results with a three point snow blower and do not have to worry about gravel ending up in the wrong places or lawn damage.
My concern with using a blade is the gravel spreading mess I've heard so many folks complain about along with blade scars on the lawn once the snow melts.
Are the benefits of using a blade worth the additional hassle of returning misplaced gravel back on the driveway and patching a scared lawn during spring clean up ?

 

[finn1]

I use the plow truck for the nuisance snowfalls. We don’t get freeze thaw cycles except in November and early December. A front blower is used to move the banks back and clear the stacks left by the plow, as needed. I also do a modified version of windrowing, particularly in front of the garage.

I keep the box blade on the tractor to occasionally cut down the built up mat, especially as spring approaches.

I can’t imagine using a rear mount blower, or, as far as that goes, a tractor without a cab, to blow snow.

 

[dnw64]

When I had my Ford 1700 and 3-point blower I just used the blower 100%. No moving the snow from here to there. It took three trips. The two sides and then down the center. I have a mile long gravel driveway.

Now I have a heavy duty Rhino 950 rear blade on my M6040. I can plow back any berms that form - if required.

I'm not familiar with that blade. Unless you can set up for a large offset and wing back the banks, around here once the banks get to a certain point (3-4' high) for the most part the snow just falls back down into the plowed space after you go by and the drive gets narrower and narrower. One winter I had to have a loader come and push my banks back even though I was using a snowblower - it just couldn't blow over the top any more. Granted, that WAS a pretty wimpy 1-stage blower on a 40 year old garden tractor, but still.

 

[dnw64]

Are the benefits of using a blade worth the additional hassle of returning misplaced gravel back on the driveway and patching a scared lawn during spring clean up ?

That's exactly why I use a snowblower.

 

[oosik]

With the Ford & blower - I could blow "dry" snow up and over 12 feet high and back off the driveway at least 25 to 30 feet. My driveway snow berms never get more than two feet high. The winter of '93 we had a record shattering 42" of snow in the yard. The blower handled the driveway with ease.

The M6040 weighs 10,100# with the grapple, rim guard loaded rear tires and the Rhino rear blade. My Rhino 950 weighs 1100#. I can easily offset & angle and push back any two foot high berm. If it's REALLY tough - just straddle the berm with the tractor and it's gone, gone etc.

 

[shooterdon]

I try to keep some snow pack on the surface to minimize picking up gravel. This year I used a 3 1/2" diameter 1/2" wall plastic pipe with a slit and put it on the bottom of the plow blade. Very little gravel was picked up and little grass was torn up. Once I got a good base, I removed the pipe and plowed normally Using the tractor rear blade, I may try reversing the blade so there is minimal ground engagement but angle the blade so it moves snow to the center instead or the outside. Then blow it out. If reversing the blade does not work to minimize teraing things up, I can put the plastic pipe on as I know that works.

I have Afton stone that packs well, so there in not much loose material unless I scrape it up.

oosik, your blade alone is about 50% of the weight of my JD 855...your method is not affordable and possibly inadaquate in some situations. Try to understand the needs of others when making suggestions. Most of us cannot afford an 11,000 lb solution. A blade alone will not work in this part of the country unless we have space to stage snow during the year. We get too much snow to allow pushing back of snow banks with the smaller compact tractors I can justify. Once a bank is established, we are done like dinner. I average over 140" a year...you are likely under 50".

The blower keeps the banks relatively low and so new snow can be thrown over them. A blade can only push unless travelling fast enough to through over the bank. This year, the county snow trucks could not maintain the roads by just plowing. In many places, they had to bring in large blowers to move snow back.

 

[al3]

For consideration: I use to exclusively blow snow; paved the gravel drive a few years back and switched to this set up. The blade excels at scraping wet snow down to the asphalt. Very useful when temps are hovering around freezing when the blower works less than optimally. I have a steep section of drive that has little southern exposure, and getting snow off soon after it falls helps the non 4wd drive traffic to make it up the hill. Also, and this is hard to explain, when the temps are just below 32 and you have a heavy wet snow, immediate after the first pass the remaining stuff starts to freeze. I find that with a full pass of the blade I have a clear path for my rear wheels, which can be important in making it back up that steep hill. This condition doesn't happen every time, but when it does the blade helps a lot.

Also have a 35 or 40 foot pad in front of the garage. Can use the blade to push the snow to the downwind side and then blow it vs having to try to blow ½ of it against the wind.
Few other thoughts.
-The moldboard on the blade is more substantial than the blower scraper blade, and much more cost effective in use. Cost just a tad more than the genuine green blower part and last multiple times longer.

- Blade is 7 foot so, when set at anything other than the steepest angle it extends beyond the wheelbase. Have to be careful around buildings, retaining walls, driveway markers, etc...

-Except when the snow is very light, not really sure if any time is saved. The windrowed snow is usually pretty dense, so forward travel speed with the blower is slower. As there typically is a north or west wind a blowin when I'm removing snow, I can easier choose which direction to blow when I have the windrow and typically saves some eyebrow frosting.

So in a nutshell, while I could, I wouldn't go back to just using the blower. Blade make a cleaner job for my application, and makes life easier by making it easier to blow using the prevailing wind. Suppose if you have a cab some of this is extraneous ....Good luck.

 

[TractorNH]

I live in an area that requires a blower to keep the snow banks from "taking over". I was talking to salesman at the Kubota dealer and he has in interesting thought.

He suggested using the back blade to move snow from the edge of the driveway to the center, On the return pass, use the blower to blow the snow out. Repeat for the next pass...done in two trips and less wear and tear on the blower. For light snows under 3 inches, move the snow from both sides into the center and blow it out once.

It's windrowing the snow. I have a front plow, rear blower. For decent storms I make one pass with the plow angled to push the snow toward the center, then reverse with the blower and it's gone. Works well. With small storms like 6" or less I just plow it and if the snowbanks get too big I can make a pass with the blower to get rid of it.

 

[dnw64]

If it's REALLY tough - just straddle the berm with the tractor and it's gone, gone etc.

Apparently you don't have ditches around there... :laughing:

 

[oosik]

Shooterdon - No, we probably average something less than two feet of accumulation at any one time. I'm truly sorry - but my only experience is with the equipment I own. But, I will agree - there is no such thing as one solution for all situations.

dnw64 - unfortunately, I do have ditches. One must be careful if straddling a snow berm. However, I only plow the driveway to full width if I need to clear berms. Otherwise it's just wide enough for one vehicle. Discourages uninvited guests.

View attachment 596486

 

[Gordon Gould]

I had a friend who is gone now who did a similar thing but with simpler equipment. He had a fairly long asphalt driveway. His tractor had a blower on back and a standard bucket on the front. He would plow forward with the bucket angled down a little in the center of the driveway and just let the bucket run full scraping down to the asphalt while making a berm on both sides of the bucket. Then he blew out each side. That way he never ran over and packed any snow. Of coarse the snow had to be right. Did not work for big storms.

gg

 

[Bronco82]

I am currently using my loader bucket up front with rear mount blower. IDEALLY, I would like to buy a front mount blower and have a rear blade. This will allow me to blow large quantities, or piles that the rear blade makes, or move small quantities to big piles for blowing. Currently switching between the rear blower or box blade, depending on how much snow we get each time. If it's worthy of blowing, snowblow it, but if it's just a couple inches, box blade and loader bucket. It's a pain, but it's what is in the budget.

 

[joeyd]

I have a gravel driveway/parking area and help maintain our shared private road which we try to keep graveled. I have a front blade and rear blower set up on my tractor. I use my ATV with a front blade and a piece of ABS pipe on the blade until the ground freezes then I switch to the tractor unless it is a heavy wet snow then I use the tractor and leave a couple of inches on the ground. If I have to then I can run the ATV to clean up the couple of inches on the ground. I have ditches but I "set" the berms early in the winter as a boundary to stay out of them. After everything is "set" I can either plow normally for small amounts of snow and when things get messy after a few small snowfalls drive by and blow back to the original berms. For larger snowfalls I plow windrows then blow it off the road. The width of the road determines how many passes I make. I try to use the blower on downhill passes even if it means driving back to the top of the hill to make the pass.