Snow removal

[Bret]

I don’t know; that’s why I’m asking you guys. I have a lot of things I rely on forums for:
46 cj2a
76 cj5
74 Chevelle
GM/Chevy trucks
Kubota
Smoking meat
Audio stuff
I get the best help from really great people. I never ask because I want to look like a fool, but it happens.

 

[Bret]

I don’t know; that’s why I’m asking you guys. I have a lot of things I rely on forums for:
46 cj2a
76 cj5
74 Chevelle
GM/Chevy trucks
Kubota
Smoking meat
Audio stuff
I get the best help from really great people. I never ask because I want to look like a fool, but it happens.

I trust experience over salesmanship and don’t mind a good ribbing every now and then.

 

[woodsy]

For the B2601 a blower in the 50" width range would be
about right for the width of tractor and HP.

 

[animals45]

That’s an idea I hadn’t thought about. I do a lot of mechanic work and have a hoist in my shop but I’m a real novice when it comes to welding The frame isn’t the only problem, though. Suspension, steering, brakes, studs broken in the exhaust manifold…all with rusted fasteners. Still, I’ll have to give that idea some real thought.

Those broken exhaust studs will be real easy to fix once ya have the body off . With a couple of the right guys 3 days is very do-able .
animals45

 

[Jsjac]

I have a B2650that has 19.5 PTO HP and use a land pride 64" snow blower on the three point hitch.
If the snow is over a foot deep or very wet,I have to go slower.
Works fine for me.
I think a snow blower will be better than a plow on your tractor.

 

[skeets]

I have a B2601 and want to know if it can really handle plowing snow.

Currently, I take care of a couple of gravel driveways at home, 600' of it on a hill. I use a 1976 CJ5 that is nearing the end of its time. The Jeep can struggle with heavy snow because it is so light.

My Kubota has an old heavy back blade and the front end loader, but I'm interested in removing the snow before driving on it. I'm a little worried that plowing with a FEL attached plow may damage the arms of the FEL and I'm not sure how the small tractor will compare to the Jeep.

Please let me know how you feel about the B2601's capability in asituation like this.

Thanks.

OK first off YES the 2601 will plow snow,
Second if you are going to plow you need a pusher blade, Im sure others have told you this already.
3rd depending on your tires you may or may not need chains, I have the R4 tires and they are skid steer tires and just about useless,, if you have them you might run them at 20 PSI and not the 40 thats called for in the book.
And weight on the back end ,the back blade will help.

4. I dont know your average snow fall, but you might think about a snow blower rather than a blade, though the blade can be used for a lot of things.

Can you use your bucket sure you can it is a PIA but yep you sure can. All this is just MHO

 

[Orange1forme]

I have a front mounted snowblower and in my experience it is a 1/2 hour swap process when just doing it. Probably could be done faster if need be and less clutter in the way.

In your statement of not wanting to be without the FEL, it is not really that big of a deal in my opinion.
What is the "need" for it during those 5 months and how often?

As others have said, the amount of snow is a big factor. You obviously have the pushing style down.
How often do you need to move said snow again?
Is a blower even practical - safe to blow it without damage to things?

 

[jkrubi12]

IMO using a tractor on hilly terrain presents its own challenges; by adding slippery wintery conditions you are amplifying the problem. Chains can help in mitigating the problem, but some rear ballast would also be desirable.

I am in the same situation, contemplating acquiring a snowblower or snow pusher setup for my B2601. I already have a plow and a snowblower and have used both very successfully for over 20 years. I'm just interested in getting more use out of my tractor, and driveway snow clearing seems like a nice activity for that.

I'm leaning towards a quality snowblower setup, to be installed in place of the FEL during winter months. I have considered the loss of FEL ability during this period, but if the FEL was really needed the swap could likely be made in an hour or two. One of my concerns with a snowblower is the heavy maintenance requirement of such a complex system, and the traction ability of my tractor on hills (chains likely needed, which may mean I'll also need rear spacers, not currently installed on my B2601).

Another concern is the time needed for snowblowing operations, considerably more than plowing IMO. I feel that the end result of snowblower removal is nicer, but there's also the occasional one-inch dusting that needs to be removed, which isn't really a job ideally suited for a snowblower as much as it is for a plow.

I'm actually considering acquisition of another tractor, possibly a BX, for dedicated snow removal use with a front snowblower setup. But that somewhat defeats the purpose of having a tractor with lots of attachment capability, which is one of the reasons for owning a tractor in the first place.

 

[gssixgun]

The one HUGE advantage to a SnowBlower vs any Blades I didn't see posted yet..

I do 1 mile of Road to the highway, we get serious snow here, average about 9 feet per year
We have used a Roadgrader, D7 D9 D4, F250 with plow, and a Skidster

The overall issue was always the same, over the winter the berms built up making any plowing more difficult..
The real kicker comes when April gets here and those berms melt INTO the road, softening the bed..

I switched to a blower in 2007/2008 on my old L185DT this was a game changer, it tossed snow about 20' out into the woods to the far side of the drainage ditches..
In 2012 I retired the L185 and bought the L3600, the only real difference is I can wait longer to move more snow and it throws it about 30' into the woods..
I can go multiple years without having to add gravel to our road now, the potholes are minimal in the spring...

My 60" FarmKing will literally throw slush, the l3600 is rated for a 72" Blower but a 10' plus cleared path is fine for us..

JMHO


ps: Front vs Rear blowers

My Neighbor at the front of the road bought his B7400 in 2004 IIRC he had the Front blower on there, it worked great until 2015 when the shaft gave out..
Can't remember all the reasons the Kubota dealer told him they couldn't replace it for him. He first got a Front blade then a Rear Pull Erskine Blower, honestly they never did what he asked of them, but as he has passed 90 now I do most of his snow removal for him
Rear vs Front:
This might be operator error or just a smaller tractor but I pulled him out of our ditches at least every other season. It seems that a Front mount tends to pull you into trouble, or at least that was the claim,..
I do know he replaced way more parts with his blower and shaft then I have since 2007
I also still have complete use of my Bucket on the FEL, if I need it to clear in tight areas
Of course my neck and back don't like going backwards

 

[nbryan]

If that’s funny, I love it.
The blower says pro hp 15-35 and Kubota says the tractor has 19.5 hp. Am I missing something?

My B2650 is 19.5hp rated PTO too.

I'm running the front mount B2782B 64" blower off the mid-pto and as far as power supply from the tractor it's fine. As the snow depth/consistency/temperature changes I just go whatever speed using the gear range and especially HST pedal to adjust snow feed rate that keeps the engine from going much more than 100-150 RPM slower than unloaded. So say I set at 2500rpm (my engine operating rpm, as well as blower), get blower going and load it up eating snow until the load slows the rpm to about 2350-2400. Feather the hst pedal a bit as needed. Up to about 4" deep mid gear range is fine, drop to low gear much deeper.

But the 19.5hp pto moves a TON of snow with the 63" blower and has done it for me for the last 6 winters here in Manitoba. Gets very cold and lots of snow.

Keep the driveshaft components and blower well greased and lubed, and check for loose shaft set screws and loose bolts on the blower and reduction box, and change the worm gear gear oil yearly.

I love how much I've been able to open up winter trails for logging and dog walking with this machine.

Never mind keeping the 300 ft driveway and parking lot clear.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

If you get a lot of snow ,you need a blower to get RID of it BEFORE the next batch of white appears.
One option, if you have SSQA, is to buy a selfpowered SSQA mounted snowblower. Yes, store bought ones are pricey, though if you're a bodger , they can be cheap to make. The joy of them is you can attach and go in 60 seconds or less, swap between blower or bucket or forks or pusher or whatever, whenever.
Actually you may not get a lot of snow but have no where to PUSH it after 2-3 dumps. That was my problem with the property next door, forces you to be creative and think ahead cause once it freezes, it ain't going anywhere soon !
Generally speaking if you're plowing, you need a more stable machine, heavier too as you're usually going faster. Snowblowing is always a slower operation.

 

[Bugzilla46310]

This was with my now gone 4WD Simplicity Legacy with a JD54” front blade mounted to the tractor. A lot less tractor than my BX which I have not plowed with yet. About a 1200’ driveway. This was a heavy snow we get every 5 or so years. May be a normal snow for Tomah!

 

[DustyRusty]

That is the type of snowfall that is best with a snowblower on the front of the BX. No built-up snow on the sides when the next snow drops another foot of snow and the driveway keeps getting narrower because of the snow build-up on the sides.

 

[mikester]

I have a B2601 and want to know if it can really handle plowing snow.

Currently, I take care of a couple of gravel driveways at home, 600' of it on a hill. I use a 1976 CJ5 that is nearing the end of its time. The Jeep can struggle with heavy snow because it is so light.

My Kubota has an old heavy back blade and the front end loader, but I'm interested in removing the snow before driving on it. I'm a little worried that plowing with a FEL attached plow may damage the arms of the FEL and I'm not sure how the small tractor will compare to the Jeep.

Please let me know how you feel about the B2601's capability in asituation like this.

Thanks.

Your CJ probably weights 3,800lbs without the plow

The B2601 weighs 1,600lbs bare

You've already stated "The Jeep can struggle with heavy snow because it is so light"

I "feel" the B2601 would work great for you plowing snow in Florida.

 

[bearskinner]

You need a front mounted blade, not a FEL mounted blade, if you want it work good for you!
You also use the same system for a front mounted snow blower too.

I had used a front mounted blade on my BX25D for a couple years, and it works well till you run out of room to push it. A front mounted snowblower ( on the same mount) evacuates the snow far enough away and cuts such a clean edge, I will never go back to a front blade. The blower cleans the snow off the road completely. As a help to the snow blower, a rear blade at 45 degrees really helps flattening out rough spots, and leaves a nice little row of snow to go back over with the blower and get it 25 feet off the low side of the road.
Gotta use what you find works best for your situation.

 

[ve9aa]

It's funny. People argue about blower vs. blade and the blade guys are SURE they have the right tool.....until they don't.

Us blower guys are sure we have the right tool, until we don't.

I live in the snowbelt and a blower is an obvious choice and what works well for me....95% of the time.
If I lived in southern Ontario, SW BC or SW NS, I'd have a blade all day long.

Same as if I lived in the mid-tier states where their definition of snow and our definition of snow are
2 entirely different things. Not only levels, but moisture content and temperatures play a large role.

We have to remember this is a worldwide forum but even in North America alone, what works in, say, the middle of Missouri may not work for the middle of Alberta and so on.

Happy snow removal fellas ! (You Florida guys; look away....look away right now!)

 

[Sporto]

As ve9aa said
It's funny. People argue about blower vs. blade and the blade guys are SURE they have the right tool.....until they don't.

I agree that there is no fits all solution, I thought I had a good solution. I had bought a 5ft blade for my quad and our first year here was a drought so for the several snowfalls we got it was perfect with only 200ft of driveway (66 meters). However the next year we got dumped on big time. So with the quad unable to it push far enough away or even clear it, and to top it off getting stuck in the middle of the driveway out came the mighty B2601 (bucket only) to the rescue. While this is not the best situation it worked. So in the end it looks like I will be getting a blower as well which will give me 2 tools to use. And as a bonus more implements

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm.. I've got access to 3 walkbehinds, 2 tractored blowers and 2 blades on tractors....
NONE are needed so far....
Lasy night I could have used a SQUEEGEE..... for the rain.....
sigh, ever since I made my SSQA gas engine blower, the white stuff has kept far,far away.

 

[Bugzilla46310]

That is the type of snowfall that is best with a snowblower on the front of the BX. No built-up snow on the sides when the next snow drops another foot of snow and the driveway keeps getting narrower because of the snow build-up on the sides.

But then I get to play with my old 1978 ish 8hp 2 stage simplicity walk behind snowblower. Only needed to do that one time in the 16 years we lived here.

 

[Vertikal]

I guy I know swears that his B2660 blower will fit on my L185DT off the 3 point but I believe that is a front end unit….I’d love to make it work without gear boxes to spin the correct way but there is just not a lot of reliable info on the compatibility of these old components…anyone have any experience or opinions?