# Snowblower, Rear Blade or FEL for snow removal?



## Melensdad

I know that DaveNay is has become confirmed SNOWBLOWER guy after destroying his JD's front end trying to bust drifts.  And I know I prefer a blower for snow removal.  

But I'm wondering if maybe I have just gotten so used to using a blower than I'm missing something because one of my neighbors is a confirmed FEL guy for snow removal.  I even offered to let him use my rear blade for the winter to put on the rear end but he declined saying the FEL is just fine.

I've never used a FEL for snow removal unless the rear blade was installed too, and then I think I moved a lot more snow with the rear blade than the FEL.

What say you blade and FEL guys?

I've been looking at MadReferee's hydraulic chute aduster on his blower with lust in my eyes... if there is some advantage to giving up my snow blower, I'd like to hear about it before I modify mine to accept a hydraulic cylinder to adjust the chute rotation!!!!


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## Doc

I tried it one year with just the FEL, and it was what made me buy a blade by the next season.  I did a lot of back dragging with the FEL.  Course I have a 400 ft gravel drive that is uneven.  Going at it with the FEL an inch or so above the drive did not do a very good job due to the uneven parts of the drive.  So I ended up back draggin the whole thing.  Looked and felt awkward doing it that way.


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## Keweenaw4310

We just recently had this discussion on MTF.  If anyone is interested in what came of it over there, here it is...

http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=14076&highlight=%27snow+removal%27

Snowblowers have a way with snow that a FEL can only dream of in my opinion.


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## snowmenkc

I would prefer a blower for snow removal.


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## Melensdad

snowmenkc said:


> I would prefer a blower for snow removal.



Last year I didn't hook up the snowblower to my tractor (lots of dumb reasons).  I used a rear scraper blade hooked up to my tractor for snow removal.  Needless to say we had one of our snowiest years in recent memory.  

The rear blade is, in my experience, much faster and more efficient than using a front end loader provided the new snowfall is less than 6" deep.  The challenges to the rear scraper blade come when trying to push deeper snow and it simply rolls over the top of the blade_ (my blade is about 14" tall)_ and snow deeper than about 6" will simply bunch up and spill over, even if the blade is angled to move the snow to the side.

The other problem with a rear blade is that as the snow accumulates over the season berms of hardpack snow build up along the edges of the driveway/roadway from previous snow removal.  Effectively they prevent snow from being pushed off to the sides because they act as barriers, the net effect is that new snow mounds up against the old snow and makes for an ever narrowing drive/roadway.  When this happens the front loader is needed to lift and move snow, a slow and tedious process.  

On the other hand, if the winter is mild or if heavy snowfalls are rare, the rear scraper blade is an awesome tool for snow removal, its very fast to use and very effective.  

While the weather here is still in the 70's and 80's, I've already checked out the condition of my snowblower and expect to be using it again this year.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Blades are faster as long as the snow isn't too high.

The blower is nice unless you have wet slushy snow that ices up the chute.

Blades don't have shear bolts.

Blower's can throw the snow far and away.

The FEL can help scoop and move snow and works great on pavement but you don't want to do tons of snow with it.  I hate using my FEL on my neighbors gravel driveways.

This year I'll have my snow blower, rear blade, FEL, and truck mounted snow plow so I think I'm covered.

I just finished my annual Snow Blower Chute painting.  I paint the chute with several coats of graphite based paint and then a few coats of Fluid Film.   It really helps to keep the chute from getting clogged.


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## muleman RIP

I like my nice WARM chevy 3500 with a western plow. I would not like to do my 3/4 mile lane with a blower the way the wind blows up here. If it gets too much for the truck I can always fire up the skid steer or the Case 4wd backhoe. The skid does not have a door but I made lexan side windows so it only blows in on your knees. It is my primary shovel around the house and barn.


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## Trakternut

If you already have the blower, use it!  FEL's are okay, but you have the piles to deal with. Rear blades are okay for small amounts.

Blowers get rid of the snow once and for all!


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## thcri RIP

I use a FEL and love it.  But I would love a front end snow blower.  Just can't afford it.  I would never get a rear mounted blower as I think my neck would suffer greatly.

I have a wide long concrete driveway so I do have spill over my FEL and have to make a few extra trips down the driveway to get it all but is not bad.  I was thinking of getting a box blade that would be 72" a tad bit wider than my FEL and tires to pick up the spill.  But it sure is nice to have the bucket so on heavy snow years you can pile it up.  The neighbor kids just expect me to come over and pick up as much snow as I can and build a pile for them to play king of the hill on.

murph


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## mla2ofus

Get an old Dodge 3/4 ton 4WD in decent shape, hang a GOOD HEAVY DUTY plow on it, Put a pair of heavy duty chains w/ cross links tied together in the middle on the front tires and load about a 1/2 ton of weight in the front of the bed. Get the heater working A+. Don't even register it, that way you're not putting wear and tear on it off your place.
                               JMHO,
                                       Mike

  ps: I know a lot of folks will want to badmouth the Dodge but I saw lots of old Dodges in Idaho w/ plows and they seldom had frame or drivetrain trouble. I like Chevys myself but I wouldn't dare hang a heavy plow on one or a Ford either.


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## Erik

you have the blower - use it and enjoy!
I have a loader and box blade - and plan my snow piles so I can regrade the transplanted gravel after a thaw.


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## Ice Queen

Use a high powered blower and blow the snow over to Wales then I can go out and play!


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## JimR

I think a front mounted snowblower would be the way to go.  My farmer/neighbor has an 8 foot Fisher blade mounted to the FEL of his 90+ HP 4WD JD.  It sticks out pretty far and shoves his tractor sideways when he is plowing with the blade angled.  My Ford F250SD does a better job plowing the same area.  Although he does have the advantage when it comes to pushing more snow in a straight line and up a banking because of his FEL.  I use my tractor with the rear blade for scraping my uphill driveway down to the tar after clearing it with the pickup.


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## BigAl RIP

JimR said:


> I think a front mounted snowblower would be the way to go. My farmer/neighbor has an 8 foot Fisher blade mounted to the FEL of his 90+ HP 4WD JD. It sticks out pretty far and shoves his tractor sideways when he is plowing with the blade angled. My Ford F250SD does a better job plowing the same area. Although he does have the advantage when it comes to pushing more snow in a straight line and up a banking because of his FEL. I use my tractor with the rear blade for scraping my uphill driveway down to the tar after clearing it with the pickup.


 
   Without a doubt , a front mounted snowblower is the way to go . Unfortunately the cost is up there plus you need a pto connection in front or a hella hyd pump to run a hyd controlled unit . Skid steers loaders have the large pumps to do this but most of our smaller CUT's don't have that or a mid mount PTO setup .
 So we drive backwards and get a sore neck . 
 I now have a 8' adjustable snowplow  on the front of my Kioti DK45 and a Trackless 72"blower on the rear with cab controlled  hyd adjustble chute and flapper . I can easy handle 30" of snow in one pass with the blower or windrow with the front blade and blow it away for good . My blower will move snow about 50-75 feet depending on my rpms


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## JimR

BigAl said:


> Without a doubt , a front mounted snowblower is the way to go . Unfortunately the cost is up there plus you need a pto connection in front or a hella hyd pump to run a hyd controlled unit . Skid steers loaders have the large pumps to do this but most of our smaller CUT's don't have that or a mid mount PTO setup .
> So we drive backwards and get a sore neck .
> I now have a 8' adjustable snowplow  on the front of my Kioti DK45 and a Trackless 72"blower on the rear with cab controlled  hyd adjustble chute and flapper . I can easy handle 30" of snow in one pass with the blower or windrow with the front blade and blow it away for good . My blower will move snow about 50-75 feet depending on my rpms



You could mount a big pump on your rear PTO and run lines foward in order to run a front mounted snowblower.  I do have a mid mount PTO on my Cub Cadet.


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## BigAl RIP

JimR said:


> You could mount a big pump on your rear PTO and run lines foward in order to run a front mounted snowblower. I do have a mid mount PTO on my Cub Cadet.


 
 I doubt that even my tractor, with  41hp at the pto ,could run a pump big enough to handle a 6' hyd. blower .
Now you got me thinking .......... I'm off to go see how much GPM it would require .
 thanks Al


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## JimR

BigAl said:


> I doubt that even my tractor, with  41hp at the pto ,could run a pump big enough to handle a 6' hyd. blower .
> Now you got me thinking .......... I'm off to go see how much GPM it would require .
> thanks Al



41HP should be able to run a good size pump.


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## Blackfoot Tucker

I live in Park City, Utah, and we typically get quite a bit of snow each winter (maybe that's why there are three ski resorts in town).

The people here for whom cost is no object have heated driveways. The cost to install and operate is IMHO huge. About ten years ago the cost of the boiler and tubing in the driveway was about $10.00 a square foot. You also had to use concrete as opposed to asphalt which adds to the cost. Another rules of thumb (back then) was it would cost about one dollar per square foot to operate over a winter. It certainly wasn't a option for me.

My driveway is about 8,500 square feet, so I wanted a method that was relatively fast and "painless". I considered a snowplow for my pickup, a tractor with front end loader, a snowblower for my lawn tractor as well as having my driveway "professionally" plowed.

I ended up buying a used Bobcat 763 with a heated and enclosed cab, as well as the factory high flow hydraulic option. I also bought a used Erskine snowblower for the Bobcat. After using this setup for about nine years I still think it's the way to go.

With the blower, I can put the snow where I want it, and sometimes that means blowing it it stages to put it where it needs to go. With a pickup mounted plow, I would be out of room to put snow by the middle to end of December. A FEL would be much slower. It's also a significantly larger piece of equipment.

Prior to buying the Bobcat I wanted to see if my wife (now ex-wife) could operate a Bobcat by herself. We went to the dealership and they put her in a new machine, gave her some basic instructions and pointed to a big pile of sand. About ten minutes later she came back with an ear-to-ear grin. It's that easy.


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## BigAl RIP

Blackfoot Tucker said:


> I live in Park City, Utah, and we typically get quite a bit of snow each winter (maybe that's why there are three ski resorts in town).
> 
> The people here for whom cost is no object have heated driveways. The cost to install and operate is IMHO huge. About ten years ago the cost of the boiler and tubing in the driveway was about $10.00 a square foot. You also had to use concrete as opposed to asphalt which adds to the cost. Another rules of thumb (back then) was it would cost about one dollar per square foot to operate over a winter. It certainly wasn't a option for me.
> 
> My driveway is about 8,500 square feet, so I wanted a method that was relatively fast and "painless". I considered a snowplow for my pickup, a tractor with front end loader, a snowblower for my lawn tractor as well as having my driveway "professionally" plowed.
> 
> I ended up buying a used Bobcat 763 with a heated and enclosed cab, as well as the factory high flow hydraulic option. I also bought a used Erskine snowblower for the Bobcat. After using this setup for about nine years I still think it's the way to go.
> 
> With the blower, I can put the snow where I want it, and sometimes that means blowing it it stages to put it where it needs to go. With a pickup mounted plow, I would be out of room to put snow by the middle to end of December. A FEL would be much slower. It's also a significantly larger piece of equipment.
> 
> Prior to buying the Bobcat I wanted to see if my wife (now ex-wife) could operate a Bobcat by herself. We went to the dealership and they put her in a new machine, gave her some basic instructions and pointed to a big pile of sand. About ten minutes later she came back with an ear-to-ear grin. It's that easy.


 What you have is probably about as good as it gets unless you have the big bucks to buy your own Personal "Osh Kosh" Blower


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## Erik

I suspect if he could afford one of those he could also afford to just buy an island in Panama and build a winter house down there...


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## BigAl RIP

Erik said:


> I suspect if he could afford one of those he could also afford to just buy an island in Panama and build a winter house down there...


 

LOL , I don't own the island .... just a little piece of it . It was pretty cheap back then .


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## JimR

Erik said:


> I suspect if he could afford one of those he could also afford to just buy an island in Panama and build a winter house down there...



I like that reply, ROLMAO


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## Doc

Blackfoot Tucker said:


> I live in Park City, Utah, and we typically get quite a bit of snow each winter (maybe that's why there are three ski resorts in town).
> 
> The people here for whom cost is no object have heated driveways. The cost to install and operate is IMHO huge. About ten years ago the cost of the boiler and tubing in the driveway was about $10.00 a square foot. You also had to use concrete as opposed to asphalt which adds to the cost. Another rules of thumb (back then) was it would cost about one dollar per square foot to operate over a winter. It certainly wasn't a option for me.
> 
> My driveway is about 8,500 square feet, so I wanted a method that was relatively fast and "painless". I considered a snowplow for my pickup, a tractor with front end loader, a snowblower for my lawn tractor as well as having my driveway "professionally" plowed.
> 
> I ended up buying a used Bobcat 763 with a heated and enclosed cab, as well as the factory high flow hydraulic option. I also bought a used Erskine snowblower for the Bobcat. After using this setup for about nine years I still think it's the way to go.
> 
> With the blower, I can put the snow where I want it, and sometimes that means blowing it it stages to put it where it needs to go. With a pickup mounted plow, I would be out of room to put snow by the middle to end of December. A FEL would be much slower. It's also a significantly larger piece of equipment.
> 
> Prior to buying the Bobcat I wanted to see if my wife (now ex-wife) could operate a Bobcat by herself. We went to the dealership and they put her in a new machine, gave her some basic instructions and pointed to a big pile of sand. About ten minutes later she came back with an ear-to-ear grin. It's that easy.


That is the best solution I've heard of.  Those Bobcat's are something else.  A work horse for sure.


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## Blackfoot Tucker

It does work pretty well. The 763 uses a 46 HP Kubota Diesel engine which is normally aspirated. The next larger machine of that era would be an 863 which has a 73 HP turbocharged Diesel.

My house is at an elevation of 7,200 feet, so I lose about 20% of the Bobcat's power. My one regret is not going with an 863 high flow. 

I will also say that the Bobcat is a very handy machine. I used it extensively when we were building the house, then again during landscaping. Just last month I used it pick up a boat off it's trailer to turn it upside down for repair.

My Bobcat has a pretty good life. It lives in the garage, doesn't get "beat on", and gets about 40 hours of use a year. 

When we get a big snowstorm it's really nice to blow the whole driveway and stay warm and toasty in the heated cab. It takes about 25 minutes to do the driveway.


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## Doc

You lifted a boat?   So ....how much can that puppy lift?
Do you have various attachments?


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## Blackfoot Tucker

The boat is a 15' Boston Whaler Sport. I'm in the process of restoring the boat and it was completely stripped of engine, interior, etc. I think the bare hull weighs about 600 lbs.

IIRC this model Bobcat is "rated" to lift 1,500 lbs. 

The only attachment I have, other than the snowblower, is a 66" bucket.


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## rico304

B_Skurka said:


> I've been looking at MadReferee's hydraulic chute aduster on his blower with lust in my eyes... if there is some advantage to giving up my snow blower, I'd like to hear about it before I modify mine to accept a hydraulic cylinder to adjust the chute rotation!!!!


 

RIP MadReferee...


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## snowbird

After retiring from farming I kept my 170 hp JD farm tractor with JD bucket on front and 8 foot snowblower on rear.  If needed, I have chains for the rear tractor wheels.  This fall I also bought a used power broom for my Toro groundsmaster (with heated cab).  Let it snow!


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