Any Snow Pushing Tractors Out There?? -- I hate snow blowers.
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I have both a plow and a snowblower, but find myself using the snowblower more, if only because the plow tends to build a wall of snow at the edge and end of the driveway, so after a couple of storms you run out of places to put the snow.
As mentioned, you have the wrong snowblower for the job. I have tried electric and battery powered units, and they just don't suck. My ancient 10HP 2-stage will suck up ice and slush and pump it out the impeller, is very difficult to clog.
If you go shopping, expect to spend $$$$ on a big heavy self-propelled 2-stage gasoline motor snowblower, ask to see a demonstration of how the unit is steered (some units have independent left/right powered wheels and can turn in place like a tank).
Exactly what I was going to say. When that first snow of the season comes, how far are you going to push it so you know you have room for all the rest of the ones that could come.
I was unable to move our snow for most of the winter last year due to knee replacement surgery, so we hired someone with a blade on his truck. Because of what was anticipated, he ended up pushing a couple of piles to the middle of our side yard to make sure he could keep the drive clean.
By the way, the blower I have is a 2 stage, 24" wide, that my Dad bought from Montgomery Ward in 1985. It will cut through a 4' deep drift without any issues, and If I don't let the chunks the snowplow throws in the end of the drive freeze solid first, will clean up the drive approach without a problem.
We have a 2 stage Toro, that replaced an old 20+ yr old Toro with a seized engine (could not get a replacement Tecumseh, and heard too late about shops that would adapt a Briggs for it).
The old Toro would go through anything, sometimes slowly in deep snow. It could just stop in very deep snow despite having a "power shift" feature moving the wheels back.
The new (~3 yr old at this point) Toro is much quicker at actual snow, even to 20" deep accumulation (haven't yet had an opportunity for deeper). And, despite the lack of "power shift" I haven't had slippage of wheels to the point of unusuability.
However in our area (Harrisburg PA) we often get heavy glop storms as opposed to just plain snow. Very heavy to shovel even 3" of glop, but the glop will solidify at the bottom of the chute when I try to blow it with the new one.
The old one had a main auger that looked solid - hollow solid stem and flights with no holes in them. The new one's main auger has holes in the flights and a much thinner looking stem.
The new one still has sticker labels boasting of the anti clogging system. I should video it in the glop and send to Toro. But like I said so far it's much better on less gloppy snow.
You are right. I have electric powered single stage, non-self-propelled blower. I feel electric powered blower requires less maintenance than gas powered blower. My drive way is about 120 feet long, with slightly slope.
Last edited by artking09; 02-04-2015 at 01:29 PM..
Reason: edit
You are right. I have electric powered single stage, non-self-propelled blower. I feel electric powered blower requires less maintenance than gas powered blower. My drive way is about 120 feet long, with slightly slope.
That would be a toy, not for serious snow removal in wet snow.
I am glad here in montana, we have such dry snow, I clear things off in minutes with a leaf blower. Just turn it to high, and blow the snow away doing a much wider swath than a snow blower covers. We also don't very often have over an inch or two of snow at a time, and our total for the year is only 30(+-) inches per year. Our lawn is not growing, but is still green this year.
I know we in Montana have a reputation as we are right next door to Canada for heavy snow. We do at places like Big Sky where our big ski resort is, but we also have areas like where we live in the rain/snow shadow of the rockies have only a little light snow compared to the north east, or even the deep snow areas of Montana.
Unless you have a blade that you can angle, they are a pain in the ass, you have to keep changing the angle by hand . I had a snow blower on my John Deere 318 that would throw the snow 30'. I could put it all in the neighbors yard if I wanted too. I sold it and bought a medium sized Toro and it can handle just about any snowfall. We just had 19" drop this past Sunday and the Toro handled it just fine. As mentioned above, after the first snowfall and if the snow doesn't melt, it gets harder and harder to plow with a blade as you have no place to push it.
I found out that snow blower is not a good tool to remove snow, especially for wet snow. First, you have to push it hard to move forward during a heavy snow;
Erm. Mine pushes itself. It's tires turn on its own, I just guide it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by artking09
Second, it gets clogged easily and now much useful for ice or wet snow.
In three winters mine has never gotten clogged.
Except that one time it chewed up a piece of asphalt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by artking09
You are right. I have electric powered single stage, non-self-propelled blower. I feel electric powered blower requires less maintenance than gas powered blower. My drive way is about 120 feet long, with slightly slope.
Electric are great in theory, but I find they're really lacking in power. I'd get a gas 2 stage one.
Gas is a headache, but electric just can't handle big snow on a big driveway
Quote:
Originally Posted by artking09
You are right. I have electric powered single stage, non-self-propelled blower. I feel electric powered blower requires less maintenance than gas powered blower. My drive way is about 120 feet long, with slightly slope.
Absolutely, an electric snowblower requires less mentenance. People aren't choosing gas powered because they like the cost to maintain a gas engine, or the smell & noise (well, not most people).
People choose gas-powered 2-stage self-propelled snowblowers because they work.
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Gas is a headache, but electric just can't handle big snow on a big driveway
