Snow Removal

[HuntIL2]

OK so I recently bought a MX5400 and I'm debating whether to try and use it to plow/remove snow from my gravel driveway at my farm. I don't need it to be perfect, I just want access to the building and property. I would say it's around 300-400 feet long. Is this even a good idea?? If so what snow implement should I look for?

Thanks

 

[jimh406]

My driveway is about twice as long. I use a rear blade on my tractor. It's the most cost effective solution.

You want to angle it, so you need at least a 7 ft one that's what I use. 8 ft would probably be better depending on where you park your tractor. You need to make sure it will go through the door.

Also, I do reverse mine for snow and angle the top to the front. That minimizes the digging effect.

I leave my bucket on to move piles as needed. Also, you will probably also want to get chains for at least the rear.

 

[mcfarmall]

Same as Jim. Hydraulic angle rear blade...7 footer, the lightest I could find, tilted front down. Almost never use my FEL bucket.

 

[Roadworthy]

I've got about as much driveway as you do but only have an L2501. I did spring for blacktop over the old gravel bed. I bought a couple Edge Tamers to prevent damage to the surface. That will leave about a half inch of snow but also protect the driveway and my front loader. which I'm using to remove the snow.

 

[woodsy]

I would think it depends on how much snow falls in your area on a typical winter.
A few feet of snow over the winter a blade or just the bucket would work good enough probably.
8-15 feet of snow like we sometimes see a snowblower works well in that
you only have to move it once, no pushing it back every 3rd storm like I did when i used a front blade on a green colored machine.
I use to spend as much time pushing it back as i did plowing it on bad winters.

 

[Vlach7]

Same as the other guys with a 7' rear scraper blade, very versatile accessory, got the heaviest one I could find, more metal, so I don't bend it like my neighbors, need to straighten and weld reenforcing metal on theirs. Great for recrowning the dirt/gravel driveway after winter.

 

[Dennis.D]

If you don't access the building very mush a snow blower might work for you. I have a few buildings that are off the beaten path. Sometimes I need to get into them in the winter and sometimes I don't. I have a snow blower that will blow a path to the buildings any time during the winter. As long as it's not all ice. A rear mount snow blower is reasonably cheep and your tractor has enough power to blow very deep snow. The down side would be if you use it a lot you will have the dreaded tractor back from looking backwards for long periods of time.

 

[mcmxi]

OK so I recently bought a MX5400 and I'm debating whether to try and use it to plow/remove snow from my gravel driveway at my farm. I don't need it to be perfect, I just want access to the building and property. I would say it's around 300-400 feet long. Is this even a good idea?? If so what snow implement should I look for?

Thanks

I have an MX6000 with a Land Pride STB1596 hydraulic angle snow blade up front and it's the bees knees on gravel and asphalt for that matter. Depending on how much snow you have and where you're able to push it a blower might be better though. I use a Land Pride SB1574 blower out back that is also very good.
A rear blade isn't ideal for me based on the one I used on a BX25 and the one I used just a few days ago behind a NH tractor. Affordable for sure, but there are better options if you're willing to pay for the benefits.

You can see the before and after when using the front snow blade on the gravel driveway.

 

[mcmxi]

A friend recently bought a W.R. Long FBH 96 with hydraulic angle from Everything Attachments because he couldn't find a Land Pride locally. I think he paid more than I paid for mine and it's not as good as the Land Pride. It's underbuilt in comparison whether it's the steel used, the hoses the fittings, the height etc. Also, it doesn't look like the blade is able to adjust to the terrain i.e. rotate about the center line (front to rear) of the tractor. The Land Pride has +/- 5 degrees of cant which really helps when the bottom of the blade doesn't want to be parallel to the contact patches of the front tires.

Front Blade Hydraulic Angle For Tractors

The Front Blade comes in 60', 72', and 84' widths and angles up to 30 degrees to the right or left. Free Shipping

www.everythingattachments.com

 

[Mountainhill]

A good quality Rear Blade, it can do snow and also road grading on the gravel section of your driveway.

 

[hwkmn05]

OK so I recently bought a MX5400 and I'm debating whether to try and use it to plow/remove snow from my gravel driveway at my farm. I don't need it to be perfect, I just want access to the building and property. I would say it's around 300-400 feet long. Is this even a good idea?? If so what snow implement should I look for?

Thanks

7 ft rear blade on a 65 in wheel base. Not interested in a plow because I love moving banks with the loader and Im not interested in blowing backwards down a 1200 ft driveway with a slight grade, for those 1 or 2 storms of the decade.

 

[mcmxi]

A good quality Rear Blade, it can do snow and also road grading on the gravel section of your driveway.

I've owned two rear blades, one I used with the BX25 and a bigger one I used with the MX6000 open station. In retrospect I should have kept the Land Pride RB3796 (corrected) rather than sell it for what I had into it. It's hard to argue against them as an affordable multipurpose implement.

Even though I didn't use the rear blade much, it was still good to have for certain tasks. I have a box blade and a land leveler/land plane which are both way better at moving dirt or maintaining a gravel driveway than a rear blade. I'm just about as pleased as I could be with my current set up for snow removal, but if I had a much longer asphalt driveway I'd buy a rear pull snow blower.

I hope that I'm still around to move snow for many years to come, so investing in good equipment is not a difficult decision for me.

 

[top gnome]

I used a backblade quite a bit. This year I bought a front blade for the ssqa hookup so I could leave the back hoe on. Dont know how well it will work but will find out this year.

 

[hwkmn05]

I've owned two rear blades, one I used with the BX25 and a bigger one I used with the MX6000 open station. In retrospect I should have kept the Land Pride RB1584 rather than sell it for what I had into it. It's hard to argue against them as an affordable multipurpose implement.

Even though I didn't use the rear blade much, it was still good to have for certain tasks. I have a box blade and a land leveler/land plane which are both way better at moving dirt or maintaining a gravel driveway than a rear blade. I'm just about as pleased as I could be with my current set up for snow removal, but if I had a much longer asphalt driveway I'd buy a rear pull snow blower.

I hope that I'm still around to move snow for many years to come, so investing in good equipment is not a difficult decision for me.

Rear pull forward blower would be the best Im sure.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

rear blades and rear blowers are for physically fit young guys...
I gave up a decade ago and went with a front mounted blower....go get RID of the snow
best thing I did and have never looked back since.

 

[jimh406]

rear blades and rear blowers are for physically fit young guys...

I don't understand your reasoning at all.

It's harder to put a front blower on than a rear blade and harder to adjust as well. The front blower has a subframe and midpto to hookup. the rear is a basic three point. With a hydraulic rear blade it's just as easy to adjust direction.

Fwiw, I have minimal angles to change to do driveways and around my buildings. I do all with the right then all with the left then all with the straight. You do have to think about it. I don't have a hydraulic adjustment, and most people wouldn't think an over 60 is a young guy although I wish I was fit.

 

[hwkmn05]

I don't understand your reasoning at all.

It's harder to put a front blower on than a rear blade and harder to adjust as well. The front blower has a subframe and midpto to hookup. the rear is a basic three point. With a hydraulic rear blade it's just as easy to adjust direction.

Fwiw, I have minimal angles to change to do driveways and around my buildings. I do all with the right then all with the left then all with the straight. You do have to think about it. I don't have a hydraulic adjustment, and most people wouldn't think an over 60 is a young guy although I wish I was fit.

Im going to give this one with wings a try this winter. Last user swore by it. Angled or not, works as a front pusher. For the amount of snow we get, a front blower is stupid $$ and not worth it to me.

 

[woodman55]

If you have a front loader with the skid steer quick attach, a snow pusher is another option.

 

[Tarmy]

I have about the same deal as you OP…

I do not live at my place full time in winter…so when I get there there can be a couple feet of heavy snow. My rig can move around ok…not great…and I use the front loader to push and move snow and the berm at the main road. Takes me from 1.5 to 3 hours to get enough out of the way to move my 4x4 in and out. It certainly isn’t pretty!

the other issue with doing it this way…with gravel/rock drive…is you inevitably get rock all over the place on either side of the drive and you have ruts to clean up in spring.

 

[i7win7]

My rear blade has to be manually angled. It has a hydraulic swing. 7 foot blade fits in garage door, swing pushes snow past tire tracks into ditch.