which snow blower is better?

[Fallon]

The pull blower would be useless for me. I have a 32hp tractor & have ran into several snows in Colorado that I couldn't drive through, much less plow through. I run with a SSQA plow blade & now a normal 3pt blower to back into stuff I can't plow. Might be interesting if I had tipple the machine I do now.

 

[buickanddeere]

Tell that to all the folks in Canada that have been using them for decades....they work great, and on far more snow than 3".

Please show us your numbers and their source. Blowers that engage snow before wheels drive over the surface are the standard. Sure every now and again some wannabe rural estate owner purchases a Ford N series for what a massey 135 could have been bought for. Then they mount a drive through snowblower on the N Ford and wait for the first big snowfall. About 10 minutes of roaring around they are back in the house , on the phone wanting somebody to clear the laneway and pull their toy Ford out of the snow.

 

[GManBart]

Please show us your numbers and their source. Blowers that engage snow before wheels drive over the surface are the standard. Sure every now and again some wannabe rural estate owner purchases a Ford N series for what a massey 135 could have been bought for. Then they mount a drive through snowblower on the N Ford and wait for the first big snowfall. About 10 minutes of roaring around they are back in the house , on the phone wanting somebody to clear the laneway and pull their toy Ford out of the snow.

Wow, you manage to insult a lot of people in just one post...must be all that practice.

I don't need to cite numbers and sources since you're not supplying numbers and sources for your opinion. Many people here on TBN have reported using their pull-style blowers, and a large percentage of them are from areas like Canada with high snowfall averages. In fact, a thread on the topic was linked earlier. Spend a few minutes looking at the first-hand reports there rather than make unfounded, biased, insulting claims.

You can similarly go to YouTube and look at the myriad videos of people using inverted blowers in areas with high snowfall. It's probably not a coincidence that most of the inverted blowers are made in Canada.

 

[CalG]

I've used the pull behind, drive over type blower for over 20 years here in VT. We get some snow every once in a while. I've got 1000' of hill to clear plus the drive to the house.

For this blower, the more snow the better as long as the tractor makes it through. When we get four feet, I go out when two have hit earth . The big objection are the rocks thet get thrown forward. My blower is an older model with a full speed impeller.

 

[buickanddeere]

Wow, you manage to insult a lot of people in just one post...must be all that practice.

I don't need to cite numbers and sources since you're not supplying numbers and sources for your opinion. Many people here on TBN have reported using their pull-style blowers, and a large percentage of them are from areas like Canada with high snowfall averages. In fact, a thread on the topic was linked earlier. Spend a few minutes looking at the first-hand reports there rather than make unfounded, biased, insulting claims.

You can similarly go to YouTube and look at the myriad videos of people using inverted blowers in areas with high snowfall. It's probably not a coincidence that most of the inverted blowers are made in Canada.

Probably because there is a larger market for snowblowers in Canada than in the US. I have moved more snow than you have and know what works.
A drive through can be made done with for applications where snow is occasional and melts away between snowfalls. Build up on the wheel tracks will render the drive through useless after a few snowfalls.
A drive through looks good and of course people will purchase them if they don't want a front mount or if they can't backup. Soon the novelty of drive through wears off.

 

[kco]

I suppose different winter conditions and property configurations determine what works best for our situations.

We get a fair amount of snow here in 1' or less dumps and none of it melts. There are a few small snows starting in mid November. Largers snows are from mid December to mid February. The winter is mild and humid so there is virtually no melting. The old snow gets denser and we end up with about 3 to 4' in non-cleared areas.

I don't have a problem with buildup on the driveway. If I adjust the pull-type to make sure the leading edge contacts the driveway it does not act differently than my pull-type blade. I imagine my chains help mitigate the compaction of driving over the snow before the blower gets it.

Another advantage with a pull-type for my situation is the 35' area in front of the garage/carport. I just hand-push the snow 4' out from the building and can use the blower to pull it out from there. With a rear type blower I would be pushing the snow back toward the garage to blow it and would be left with a ridge by the garage door, which I would then have to clear by hand. The situation is the same at the two neighbours' places that I clear.

The neighbours' and my driveways are about a mile of clearing. I'm in my 70's. Although I can back up, I can't do it for a long time. In fact I quit doing the neighbours' for the year before I got my pull-type blower because it was too hard on my back. I had the pull-type blade at the time. It was fine early in the year, but eventually the snow on the sides would bet too deep and the cleared driveway too narrow. The quickest solution was to back in with the blade reversed to knock over the piles. After a morning of doing that I could hardly walk for a couple of days.

The municipality has the same problem when clearing the road. They use a large truck with a belly blade for several snowfalls until the road gets too narrow. Then they use a grader with a wing blade to knock back the edges.

The pull-type blower solved that--just drive ahead and the snow is gone.

Another advantage of the pull-type is you don't drive through the cloud of snow you are blowing. I've never had a regular blower but I imagine you get quite a bit of snow mist. At least I notice that with my pull-type when clearing the area in front of my garage/carport mentioned above. It is fine when I am going forward. But when I reverse to make another pass residual snow in the blower puts out a cloud that can be miserable to drive through on the 100' drive back to make another pass. Of course that is not a problem if you have a cab (which I don't).

I think the pull-type blower is the right choice for my location and conditions.

 

[buickanddeere]

I suppose different winter conditions and property configurations determine what works best for our situations.

We get a fair amount of snow here in 1' or less dumps and none of it melts. There are a few small snows starting in mid November. Largers snows are from mid December to mid February. The winter is mild and humid so there is virtually no melting. The old snow gets denser and we end up with about 3 to 4' in non-cleared areas.

I don't have a problem with buildup on the driveway. If I adjust the pull-type to make sure the leading edge contacts the driveway it does not act differently than my pull-type blade. I imagine my chains help mitigate the compaction of driving over the snow before the blower gets it.

Another advantage with a pull-type for my situation is the 35' area in front of the garage/carport. I just hand-push the snow 4' out from the building and can use the blower to pull it out from there. With a rear type blower I would be pushing the snow back toward the garage to blow it and would be left with a ridge by the garage door, which I would then have to clear by hand. The situation is the same at the two neighbours' places that I clear.

The neighbours' and my driveways are about a mile of clearing. I'm in my 70's. Although I can back up, I can't do it for a long time. In fact I quit doing the neighbours' for the year before I got my pull-type blower because it was too hard on my back. I had the pull-type blade at the time. It was fine early in the year, but eventually the snow on the sides would bet too deep and the cleared driveway too narrow. The quickest solution was to back in with the blade reversed to knock over the piles. After a morning of doing that I could hardly walk for a couple of days.

The municipality has the same problem when clearing the road. They use a large truck with a belly blade for several snowfalls until the road gets too narrow. Then they use a grader with a wing blade to knock back the edges.

The pull-type blower solved that--just drive ahead and the snow is gone.

Another advantage of the pull-type is you don't drive through the cloud of snow you are blowing. I've never had a regular blower but I imagine you get quite a bit of snow mist. At least I notice that with my pull-type when clearing the area in front of my garage/carport mentioned above. It is fine when I am going forward. But when I reverse to make another pass residual snow in the blower puts out a cloud that can be miserable to drive through on the 100' drive back to make another pass. Of course that is not a problem if you have a cab (which I don't).

I think the pull-type blower is the right choice for my location and conditions.

I can get closer to buildings with the backup blower than a drive through blower can.
Even with the top link shortened and the auger scraping the driveway build up still occurs depending on the type of snow and weather. riving through the snow first would just make the buildup worse.
Our municipality wings back the snow and/or uses a non drive through snowblower to keep the shoulders clear and the road full width.
I don't have a problem withsnow mist as I keep the tractor up wind and rotate the chute as required.

 

[Jack Yuan]

I've had both, and personally I prefer the "pull" type. No more soar neck but I did have a long drive to plow and if i had to buy again, I'd go with the pull type. Yes they are "more" expensive, around 2,000 more but well worth it for me. As stated, you do need a bigger tractor to pull them, my Kubota L4200 with loaded rear's had no problem at all. Now, I use a front mounted plow. If I were to buy another tractor, it would have a "front" mounted blower.

Thank you for your experience. These days I watched so many videos on youtube. For the "pull" type snow blower, it really need big tractor, I see the tractor in this video with "pull" type snow blower, the tractor is a little bit slipping when run forwarder.

By the way, how thick the snow will be in USA?

 

[GManBart]

Probably because there is a larger market for snowblowers in Canada than in the US. I have moved more snow than you have and know what works.
A drive through can be made done with for applications where snow is occasional and melts away between snowfalls. Build up on the wheel tracks will render the drive through useless after a few snowfalls.
A drive through looks good and of course people will purchase them if they don't want a front mount or if they can't backup. Soon the novelty of drive through wears off.

First off, you have no idea how much snow I have moved, so don't bother trying to use that as a qualifier. I've lived in 8 different states and moved snow in all but one of them.

If inverted blowers didn't work well, they wouldn't have essentially been invented in Canada and continue to sell there....lots of them. If they didn't work well, people wouldn't be posting in this thread to say they have no problem using them when there's a a couple of feet on the ground.

 

[GManBart]

I can get closer to buildings with the backup blower than a drive through blower can.
Even with the top link shortened and the auger scraping the driveway build up still occurs depending on the type of snow and weather. riving through the snow first would just make the buildup worse.
Our municipality wings back the snow and/or uses a non drive through snowblower to keep the shoulders clear and the road full width.
I don't have a problem withsnow mist as I keep the tractor up wind and rotate the chute as required.

Then you haven't used a good inverted blower. Many mount a small blade at the very back that allows you to get right up to something like a door, drop the blade, pull the snow forward a foot or so, then back up, drop the blower and clear that space. You can't get that close with a conventional blower.

 

[kco]

I can get closer to buildings with the backup blower than a drive through blower can.
Even with the top link shortened and the auger scraping the driveway build up still occurs depending on the type of snow and weather. riving through the snow first would just make the buildup worse.
Our municipality wings back the snow and/or uses a non drive through snowblower to keep the shoulders clear and the road full width.
I don't have a problem withsnow mist as I keep the tractor up wind and rotate the chute as required.

This photo shows the garage and carport that I hand push the snow 4' (i.e. no lifting or shovelling) so I can get it with the pull-type and pull toward the place from where this photo was taken:



This is a photo showing a side-on shot of the garage/carport area.



My point is, with a pull-type blower and the snow 4' out I can completely pull the snow away. With a normal blower pushing toward the garage it will leave a ridge of snow that I would have to hand-clear. It does not matter how close I could get to the garage, it will leave a ridge that I have to shovel by hand over the retaining wall.

When I back up to the garage for another pass from the place where the first photo is taken I always get some spray from residual snow in the blower as I drive through it. You can see such the spray in the third photo in the thread I linked to in my previous post. I left the blower running while I snapped the photo.

I get virtually no wind in my area but there can be a very light breeze. I travel up and down the driveways while blowing and there are many corners and turnarounds on the driveways. So it is impossible for me to control the direction with respect to the breeze.

I guess our snow and weather conditions are quite different. I do not get a buildup of snow on the driving surface throughout the winter, and the blower clears as well as a pull-type blade.

A blower is not an option for the municipality to clear snow from the shoulders. There are no shoulders and two cars cannot pass in some places, particularly in winter. If you go off the driven surface you are in big trouble, in places 30' almost straight down through the trees.

For my conditions a pull-type blower is the best solution. The second best would be a cab tractor with a front blower. I would not have a push type blower because it would require too much looking back at the blower. I can see a pull-type would not work if snow conditions make it impossible to drive through first. In fact, I have a lot of hills and a pull-type would often not work for me, or I would at least have to blow only downhill, if I did not have chains.

To each his own--I'm still a pull-type fan.

 

[Al 2]

Check out the Pronovost PXPL pull push type. Looks like a good unit to me.
Look here: Pronovost PXPL Snowblowers - YouTube
Al

 

[Egon]

Folks, it's summertime, time to do some fishing.

 

[Egon]

Here's some Folk that may be able to answere snow moving questions! Heck they even use a hoe.

 

[leonz]

Here's some Folk that may be able to answere snow moving questions! Heck they even use a hoe.

View attachment 473466View attachment 473467

==========================================================================

Can you imagine what would happen Egon if they received that much
high moisture ocean air generated snow over here as they do in Scotland
where the photos were taken?? It would be total chaos.

 

[leonz]

Thank you for your experience. These days I watched so many videos on youtube. For the "pull" type snow blower, it really need big tractor, I see the tractor in this video with "pull" type snow blower, the tractor is a little bit slipping when run forwarder.

By the way, how thick the snow will be in USA?

Hello Mr. Yuan,


The amount of snow and the type of snow depends on many factors due to our geography and the Jet streams behavior.

The Great Lakes is a huge driver of our weather patterns in winter which will depend on the water temperature which can create huge heavy snow snow storms that can stop everything for days on end due to low visibility
high winds due to the Jet Stream if the Great Lakes are still warm enough to evaporate where this moisture is picked up and carried eastward. If one or more of the Great Lakes are frozen over which does not happen very often we have very small snow volumes.

Lake Eire and Lake Ontario are huge weather generators the year round unless they are frozen over.
With Lake Erie Being an average of forty feet deep(12 Meters on average) it will freeze first if the
weather is cold enough.

The same thing can occur in the Eastern Coastal areas due to the Gulf Stream and the Northern Canadian Maritime's creating a huge potential for warm ocean fed snow storms being created by winds from the west or due to high south wind storms bringing moisture coming from the Mid Atlantic or Carribean ocean areas.

 

[buickanddeere]

First off, you have no idea how much snow I have moved, so don't bother trying to use that as a qualifier. I've lived in 8 different states and moved snow in all but one of them.

If inverted blowers didn't work well, they wouldn't have essentially been invented in Canada and continue to sell there....lots of them. If they didn't work well, people wouldn't be posting in this thread to say they have no problem using them when there's a a couple of feet on the ground.

Don't see them around here because they don't work as well as a front mount or a backup blower.

 

[buickanddeere]

Then you haven't used a good inverted blower. Many mount a small blade at the very back that allows you to get right up to something like a door, drop the blade, pull the snow forward a foot or so, then back up, drop the blower and clear that space. You can't get that close with a conventional blower.

We use the loader bucket which will blade scrape and also lift buckets of snow.

 

[buickanddeere]

Hello Mr. Yuan,


The amount of snow and the type of snow depends on many factors due to our geography and the Jet streams behavior.

The Great Lakes is a huge driver of our weather patterns in winter which will depend on the water temperature which can create huge heavy snow snow storms that can stop everything for days on end due to low visibility
high winds due to the Jet Stream if the Great Lakes are still warm enough to evaporate where this moisture is picked up and carried eastward. If one or more of the Great Lakes are frozen over which does not happen very often we have very small snow volumes.

Lake Eire and Lake Ontario are huge weather generators the year round unless they are frozen over.
With Lake Erie Being an average of forty feet deep(12 Meters on average) it will freeze first if the
weather is cold enough.

The same thing can occur in the Eastern Coastal areas due to the Gulf Stream and the Northern Canadian Maritime's creating a huge potential for warm ocean fed snow storms being created by winds from the west or due to high south wind storms bringing moisture coming from the Mid Atlantic or Carribean ocean areas.

Don't forget about Lakes Michigan and Huron. Georgian Bay is pretty much lake sized too. Buffalo New York is one of the most notable municipalities for being buried in snow.