JDQA snow pusher on BX23s

[91diesel]

I'm in Fairbanks, Alaska so the idea of being able to just go get a SSQA down the road doesn't apply. There's a 60" JDQA snow pusher for sale here, I'm thinking of getting it and welding a SSQA plate on it to use with my BX. Opinions? I already have a SSQA plate to use. I think I may have to cut off the JDQA stuff due to it being essentially the same width. I have a rear mounted snowblower..... I'm thinking the pusher will be the ticket, although I find the bucket handy in moving snow on the edges of hilly driveways. I know in general there's no contest between a bucket and a pusher, but if you have a blower on the back..... is it worth the expense do you think?

 

[91diesel]

No opinions on a snow pusher vs bucket.......when you have a rear mounted blower?

 

[DustyRusty]

I would be hesitant to purchase a JD anything and try to adapt it to the Kubota. JD uses its own proprietary designs, and you will always be attempting to work around the way that they design their instruments as compared to Land Pride / Kubota.
If you want a snow pusher, then buy a Kubota. I have watched a lot of videos of how the Kubota snow pusher works and it appears to be quite slick. I am just not certain that it is a good fit with the BX. I have had 2 BX tractors in the past 20 years, and I will tell you that if you encounter heavy wet snow, the BX will not be able to push it very far. I both snow blow and snow plow in the winter depending on the type of snowfall that we have. If we get a lot of heavy wet snow, neither the snowblower nor the plow will clear the pavement in one pass. I have seen snow so deep that if I don't have the snowblower lifted 6 inches off the pavement, the snowblower will be overwhelmed and just load up. I am certain that you get a lot more snow than we do in CT. There was a time when I would plow with the storm, but in my old age, I prefer to stay inside until it stops falling. Most times I can get away with it, but occasionally we get a blizzard that requires either plow with the storm or getting out the dump truck to open up the road in the morning.

 

[91diesel]

We probably get more buildup over the winter, but per storm anything over 12" is very rare. No pavement I'm dealing with either, just dirt/gravel driveways so we let a base layer build up and then plow/blow on top of the 1st 3-4". I usually plow with my SxS (another story with that plow mounting system!) but let's just say I like to have a backup to the SxS. Hence, I was wondering about how much more I'd like a snowpusher/blower combo vs the bucket/blower combo I currently have. I was thinking I'd weld a spare SSQA plate I have onto the snow pusher. I know people say just get the kubota, etc, but up here in Fairbanks, that's not always an option. I suppose I could also just weld wings on my SSQA plate and sorta make a makeshift pusher/plow.

 

[BAP]

Doesn’t matter the brand of the snowpusher as long as you adapt it to fit your tractor. If you already have the SSQA plate, I would buy the JD pusher and adapt it to fit. Not too hard to do if you have torches and a welder. With limited availability, you have to make do with what is available. Your tractor won’t know or care what color the attachments are.

 

[91diesel]

That's how I felt. I guess I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on how much better a snow pusher is than a bucket (I know they are....), but when you have a blower on the back anyway. If I didn't have the blower, I wouldn't be asking this because the bucket is pretty terrible for plowing snow. But with the blower, the short comings of the bucket are muted drastically. I just don't want to spend money/time if it's not necessary.

 

[Kennyd4110]

I would be hesitant to purchase a JD anything and try to adapt it to the Kubota. JD uses its own proprietary designs

Really?

What he proposes is simple and 100% doable.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Some JD guy will CRY when he sees a green pusher on your orange tractor ! Then he'll say 'I'd have given you 500 over what you bought it for'.....
Kinda depends on money and time... can you modify the JD unit for less time/money than just adding 'wings and supports' on the SSQA plate ?
Someone here posted a SIMPLE effective mod to a bucket to become a pusher, could be a cheaper, easier option ??
Never used a pusher so I don't know how a 4' pusher would do vs my 4' bucket. Be interesting to know though.

 

[chim]

There's no reason you couldn't go ahead with that project. Sounds like a fun project. Several here have modified snow plows from jeeps/trucks for tractor use. Don't know why it would be all that different to do what you propose. If the pusher isn't much wider than your bucket, it might be easier to just add wings to your bucket.

 

[91diesel]

The pusher is 60" so wider than my bucket which is 48" (I think) on the BX-23s. I checked at the company I bought the tractor from. They have snow pushers but want $2700 for them (apparently commercial grade Land Pride ones). This one for sale is a Frontier model with a steel back drag bar and he wants $1200 for it. Those wings on the bucket look pretty sweet, how are they attached? How resistant are they to bending?

 

[DustyRusty]

Do you think that your tractor has enough weight and power to push that snow pusher?

 

[91diesel]

That's kinda what I was looking for here. I'd say in general yes, if the snow is that much I'll just turn around and use the blower on the back. Like for instance, right now the snow has been so light that I'm using a leaf blower to clear my patio. I think I'll continue to hold off on it, I have the SxS to plow with and I'm more confident of the re-enforcing we did to the plow/winch mount. I also mocked up a mount for the plow to the SSQA plate for a backup (it makes the set up long and unwieldy though). The snow pushers seem to be really great in parking lot style situations, not so much for gravel road situations. I haven't gotten tons of 'pushers are so amazing you'll never regret it!' answers here, so that's an answer itself.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

new neighbour (mr knowitall..) used his ATV and plow to clear his 1/4ac gravel driveway/lot last winter. BOTH neighbours, cross the road were mighty 'upset' to see millons of stones in THEIR pristine golfcourse grade lawns ! It took him and 2 others ALL day to rake,brush and vacuum to retrieve the stones...
meanwhile I used a snowblower and had ZERO problems with same neighbour.
Unless the gravel is well frozen, with 2-3 inches of compacted frozen white on top, any pusher will find the gravel and 'relocate' it.....

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I had a five foot snowpusher on my B2301 and loved it. With a gravel driveway, I found it difficult to get just the right angle to the bucket to get snow off and not dig up the gravel. I also didn’t like the fact that I needed to constantly dump the bucket and find the right angle to the bucket all over again.

With a snow pusher, I can adjust the blade up a little so it doesn’t dig the gravel, set the angle once so the shoes are level with the ground, then push, lift, repeat. It’s much

When I bought a bigger tractor, I didn’t think twice about getting a snow pusher with it.

One other thing, the B2301 with R4 tires was completely useless pushing snow without chains.

 

[91diesel]

Agreed on the chains! first couple of things I did on my steep hillside, install back wheel spacers and chains for the winter. I also got some screw in studs for the front wheels that seem to help a little.

 

[Popgadget]

I’d weld the plate on and go for it!

 

[Mrlunchbox]

My little 1880 pushes over a foot of snow with no problem. Combination of 4x4 and plenty of weight. It bogs down but the torque kicks in and she does just fine. Ive got the 60" model.

 

[Bugzilla46310]

Making adapters to put a JD 425 quick attach 54” 4way blade on my BX. Pushed fine with the JD 425 2WD, the Simplicity Legacy 4WD after that. See no issue with the BX. We have a 1400” stone driveway. I say go for it.