plowing a driveway

We are having a house built on 60 acres. The driveway will be 1600' - 1800' long and will have an elevation change of approx. 250 feet. What's the minimum tractor setup to efficiently clear snow?
The other requirements for the tractor won't be major -- small mowing projects, moving some firewood in a front end loader, maybe running a log splitter off the PTO, etc.

Thanks,

macdad

Attached is "my" minimum. Fast, good view, fun, quick change to FEL.

Where are you located? Your profile is empty so we don't know if you're looking at 2" of snow four times a winter or 12" once a week.

I'm considering the snowplowing issue myself. I plan to add a backhoe/loader to my growing fleet this spring, but this winters combination of extremely cold temperatures/or wet, rainy snow have left me wondering if I want to be plowing in an open vehicle.

That 1600-1800 feet will seem like 1800 miles on a bad night...

I'm also thinking a pick-up mounted blade could probably pay for itself in 2 or 3 years with a few local jobs on the way to work...

Hmmmm....


Gregg

Sorry, I'll get the profile filled out.

North Idaho - 8-12" overnight accumulations happen at least a couple times a winter and there will be snow on the ground for 3-4 months most years.

Thanks again.

With that much snow and that long a driveway, I'd vote for a rear mount snow blower. If I had enough money, I'd get one of the inverse blowers, the kind that work when moving forward. The standard rear snowblowers only work when moving in reverse. 1800' downhill is a long way to go in reverse. Here's a link to a thread on TractorByNet of just such a set up.

The issues with the alternatives, as I see them...

1. Front mount blade - Lose the use of the FEL. Not good if you have to relocate snow. Plus, with that much snow, you have to be sure you will have enough area to push the snow. This issue is my biggest concern with blades, front or rear, and why I don't think they're that much better than just using a FEL.

2. Front blade mounted in the FEL bucket - Could be an alternative since you retain use of the FEL, but could be a bit of a pain removing the blade when you need to use the FEL.

3. Just use the FEL - 1800' is a long distance to push snow straight ahead. This is what I use on my house driveway, parking area and at my barn driveway.

4. Front mount snow blower - more expensive and you lose use of the FEL. Front blowers are more expensive than rear ones.

5. Rear blade - lots of people use the rear blade in conjunction with a FEL.


Whatever solution you decide upon also consider;

1. Rear remotes to control the snow blower. Extra rear remotes are a good idea anyway. At least one, maybe two. Front remotes if you decide to go the front blade or front snowblower route.

2. Extra weight, either wheel weights or filled tires.

3. Tire chains

4. Cab - Clearing an 1800' driveway will take a while and it will be cold. Add in a snow blower coating you with drifting snow...yikes!

5. Lights - Lights on the ROPS facing forward and backward. The standard headlights are useless with a FEL.

MikePA
What are you using now to move snow? Any pictures?

I use a 7' rear blade and it works pretty good, esp for the price ($185). I wouldn't mind having a rear snowblower though and might pick one up eventually if I found a used one cheap enough. The downside of the blade is when you get snow after snow after snow with no melting. Also the piles are right along the driveway so they will tend to drift back into the path from the wind. I use a 4WD JD 990 with loaded R1s and dont have a problem with traction.

At the risk of offending the tractor owners among us (myself included), how about a truck mounted blade... mounted on a truck? That's a long drive to plow and now that I'm doing my own 750' drive with my tractor/rear blade I'm struggling a bit. The typical tractor blade is only about 14" high so once you've got that bank built up along the drive you're out of luck. A truck blade is quite a bit higher and a truck can go faster to throw the snow higher and further. Also a nice warm cab to sit in. Plow the drive on your way out to work in the morning.

OK, having said that I'll ask the more general question: Which is better, a truck or a tractor for snow removal?

Hope I didn't open a can-o-worms [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Rob:

Where we live there are many trucks with front blades and sand/salt spreaders mounted on them. Many are obviously custom plowing driveways and parking lots etc.

For the long driveway they would be quicker and easier. Probably even push more snow than most small tractors.

One could even have an old truck, unlicened, just dedicated to snow removal for much less cost than a small tractor.

Egon

If I already had a 4x4 vehicle, think I would vote on a snowplow for it. I am seriously considering that approach when I replace my F350 crew cab 4x2, even though I will have a tractor available. All the commercial guys around here seem to lean towards the 4x4 pickup with front blade so they can blade and then spread melting compound at the same time. It seems this kind of rig plows much faster than any tractor or TLB.

I use back blade now (very short driveway). In my opinion, It would ruin a good truck by putting a plow on it. Perhaps an old farm beater but not a good one. The beating that a plow puts on a truck (even a heavy duty one) over six months of plowing and driving around is enormous and expensive!

The weight and work stresses everything from engine, shocks, steering, breaks, and tires. Many manufacturers will void the warranty if they know you are snowplowing (light duty trucks anyway). Several MFRs offer a plow package on heavier trucks but expensive to use a few time a year. I think this is tractor work.

Purely from a cost basis - it is usually cheaper to hire someone to plow 3-4 time per year. let them trash their stuff. When you factor in equipment cost, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and fuel I think you will see that plowing a driveway like that with your own stuff is VERY expensive.
[img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] My 2 cents worth.

A truck would probably do it faster and better but not cheaper. If you already have the tractor or have other uses for it, a light duty blade (all you need for snow) runs less than $200.

As for time, it takes me two passes to do my driveway, once out and once in. I do it at about 5mph though I could do it faster. The time isn't bad.

<font color="blue"> What are you using now to move snow? Any pictures? </font color>
The only thing I use to plow snow is the FEL. Attached is a picture (from last winter) of the driveway I clean, marked by the red lines. The picture is taken from the garage where the tractor lives. I put the FEL into float and push the snow right across the street and empty the FEL. Two or three passes and the straight portion of the drive is cleared. Then, starting from the garage, I swing the FEL into the parking area and take that across the street.

Across the street is a residence (former church) whose driveway is marked by the red line. I start at the right end of the red line and push the snow the entire way to the other end of the red line and dump it. If the snow is deep, I stop half way to empty the bucket.

I also use the FEL to clear another driveway plus the paddock/driveway area at the barn, where I can push the snow starting at the street, the length of the driveway (100') plus another 70' out into a field.

The deeper the snow, the less I can push the snow and the more I have to stop and empty the FEL.

I'm using a combination of back blade and FEL. I only have a 6' back blade, which makes it the same width as the outside of the rear tires. When I angle the blade, I lose a couple of inches on each side and then I have to clean up with the FEL.

I managed to catch the blade on a rock frozen into the ground and bent the heck out of it. It wobbles on its pivot now and it keeps bending the 3/4" hitch pins that are used to set the angle. Next year, I will either have a 7' heavy duty blade, or a 3 point blower. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Steve

I like your breakdowns, Mike.

Here's what I use and my winters up here by Lake Erie are pretty similar. I use the FEL mainly for relocating and back dragging. I like the back blade because you can angle it. I've tried to push snow with the FEL and 21hp doesn't do the trick for me, but my neighbor has a "real" tractor with a fixed blade on the front and he has no problem. I also take the pin out of the blade to allow the blade to follow the side to side contour a little better
I back up when I have some serious stuff to move and just go in forward (with the blade backward like you see it) and that throws better and will do a well enough job on about 6-8 inches. It depends on the snow and if the wheels are floating or not. My backblade is 72 inches. I also clean a couple areas off the side of the drive to give the snow someplace to go every now and then. Sort of like when the plow dumps his load into your drive. If you push an area back a little bit ahead of your drive, this is where his snow will spill into. I just push the snow back into the yard to give myself some relief areas for this. My drive is about 540 ft and circles around my house with a parking area at the bottom of the circle.
There were a couple time when it took me a little over an hour and a heated cab would have been real nice!

Last year in Eastern Pa we had a hard winter. I used a clamp-on snow blade my neighbor owns that was built by Earth & Turf Products. It was really great because the blade was out in front of the tractor bucket and you could lift the loader up and push the snow back out of the way. I think it was a 90" wide blade but I know they make some smaller ones too. The blade was well built and no problem for the 35Hp tractor to handle.