General Snow Blower Questions

[pfettig77]

I'm new to the idea of snow blowers. For the past 20 winters I've used my tractor and blade to move snow. I've had a couple of winters really kick my **** because of the sheer volume of snow here in NW Wisconsin. Even though I try to plow an extra wide path, sometimes I have a pretty narrow tunnel by the end of winter. Also, I feel like it beats up unnecessarily on my classic tractor ('57 Ferguson). Plus it puts a lot of gravel in my yard. I want to try a walk behind snow blower (I was told a 3 point blower might not work well for my scenario). I was thinking I should get one with tracks because my 325 foot driveway does have a hill. I want to buy used since I don't even know if a blower will work for me. Thoughts on this? Here are three for sale in the area.

28" Ariens
Old Honda HS50 (strikes against it are that it's old and it's been messed with)
26" Cub with tracks

 

[The Cobbler]

snow blowers aren't that great on stone. unless you have a packed base of snow overtop they will pick up stones and hurl them thru the air as well as take out shear pins . I would be more concerned about that than with having tacks or not

 

[SRSemenza]

I had a walk behind with tracks. I never used one with wheels. I did not really think the tracks did all that much. But I can't compare. It did seem that sometimes the tracks may have been a detriment due to better floatation, ie ; not concentrating the weight for traction. The tracks make perfect sense for getting through / riding on snow, but may be the opposite when riding on a driveway surface. I will take a guess that wheels with chains might be better than tracks.

You will still put a lot of gravel into the yard. You just won't notice or care as much because it will be spread around more.

Seth

 

[SRSemenza]

If it was me (just based on the ads) I'd go for that Ariens. Has good HP to width ratio. Looks in good shape. Electric start is a plus. And I bet that you could resell and get all your $ back if you don't like it.

Seth

 

[Steel_Rain]

Old Honda HS50 (strikes against it are that it's old and it's been messed with)

Wow, the stack on that thing is ridiculous.

 

[rlitman]

snow blowers aren't that great on stone. unless you have a packed base of snow overtop they will pick up stones and hurl them thru the air as well as take out shear pins . I would be more concerned about that than with having tacks or not

I made 1-1/2" wide skis for a two-stage Ariens that worked well enough at my parents over a 3/4" bluestone gravel driveway. I did have to set the blade pretty high though. I think well over an inch up IIRC.

On my own property, I can set my blade the thickness of a nickel off the ground and not have issues, but that's exclusively on concrete (and a well set brick path). There was that one time it ingested a 24oz ball peen hammer, but the handle was so rotted it didn't even break a shear pin. The sound of it exiting was very nearly a brown pants moment though and my chute still has that wart.

edit: gladly I found that hammer head in the middle of my lawn in the spring before my mower found it.

Certainly a single stage will throw stones.

 

[zendriver]

Buy one and they’ll never get enough snow to ever need it again.


Worked for me.

Hey, a football field length plus driveways is a lot of real estate to cover. I think I’d go as wide and big as possible.

You don’t wanna make a career of it

As far as scraping up gravel, just set the shoe high enough so you’re not scraping the driveway

 

[AA/FC]

Get a 3 point pto blower. I know you said some people have told you it wouldn't work very well..... Compared to what? Using a walk behind blower *****! Especially on a 325' driveway! I'd much rather have a 3 point blower mounted on a decent sized tractor than manhandle a walk behind blower. Sure, they are self-propelled, but they can be a handful to operate. I'm sure most people would agree with me. The reason why you don't see many 3 point pto blowers (compared to walk behind blowers) is because buying/owing/storing/maintaining a tractor that can run a 3 point blower is not realistic for most people. (unless you're in a rural area) If I already had the tractor, then I wouldn't even consider a smaller walk behind solution. F' that!


The only down side to a rear mount, 3 point blower pto blower is having to look backwards while blowing/driving in reverse.

Maybe you can find a rear mount 3 point pto blower that blows while driving forward? There is a large residential driveway snow plowing service near me that uses a fleet of mid sized Kubota tractors (with glass heated cabs) and they run around the metro area doing driveways with rear mounted snow blowers. These are blowers that only blow snow while driving forward. They are odd looking things, that's for sure. They can discharge off either side or directly behind. They just back up to your garage door, lower the blower, and drive forward. A few passes and they're off to the next customer. THAT'S the type of blower I'd be looking to buy!

Edit: Here you go. This is the blower I'd buy if I had a 3 point tractor.

3-Point PTO Rear Pull Snowblower

Products Detail Page

erskineattachments.com

 

[Beerhippie]

We own that exact Ariens where I work. I'm the operator 99% of the time. For a 100-yard long drive in heavy midwest snow, FORGET IT! You'll spend the entire winter out there.

See post above.

The Areins is a great machine, just not for the job you have.

 

[Kurt4440]

I have an 28" wide Ariens with a 10hp engine and a 30" wide Craftsman with a 13hp engine. My driveway is half the length of yours, but, it is a double wide driveway with a parking pad off to one side. Either of my machines will handle the Western New York snow. If you want to try a walk behind I would check out that Ariens.
Yes I have some experience.



I might get something like this when (if) I turn 80ish.

 

[Firebrick43]

Wow, the stack on that thing is ridiculous.

Doesn't it look like someone has put a flat head motor on it?

 

[MJD1]

Myself I despise snow blowers only one I cared for was an expensive all hydraulic powered one on a Holder 4wd municipal rig. Seems like as much snow ends up on the operator than actually gets blown where it needs to go. If the OP has a front end loader on the tractor a box pusher is the way to go for both heavy or light amounts of snow. Only issue can be making sure it's pushed back far enough to accept future snow falls

 

[kabinenroller]

I have an 28" wide Ariens with a 10hp engine and a 30" wide Craftsman with a 13hp engine. My driveway is half the length of yours, but, it is a double wide driveway with a parking pad off to one side. Either of my machines will handle the Western New York snow. If you want to try a walk behind I would check out that Ariens.
Yes I have some experience.



I might get something like this when (if) I turn 80ish.

The ATV/ Rammy blower seen above is mine. I purchased the blower because a walk behind Ariens was beating me up too much. The Rammy works well in most types of snow although being a single stage the wet stuff can be a challenge. It makes short work of my driveways, I have two long concrete driveways.

 

[Kurt4440]

The ATV/ Rammy blower seen above is mine. I purchased the blower because a walk behind Ariens was beating me up too much. The Rammy works well in most types of snow although being a single stage the wet stuff can be a challenge. It makes short work of my driveways, I have two long concrete driveways.

How long have you owned the Rammy, and how has it held up?
Would you make the same purchase again?
If not, what would you look at?

 

[kabinenroller]

How long have you owned the Rammy, and how has it held up?
Would you make the same purchase again?
If not, what would you look at?

This will be my third season with the Rammey. Last winter we had minimal snow so it was not used that much. I have a plow that I swap to the ATV when the snow is an inch or two. I am able to swap between the plow and blower in under 5 minutes, simple connections. If I were to change anything on the blower it would be the size of the discharge opening in the housing, I feel it is too small for the size of the auger. The blower was designed for a newer ATV so I had to change the angle of the mounting frame so that the blower would be vertical to the pavement, this probably would not be an issue with a newer ATV. The engine is a Briggs, so it is dependable.
The remote chute controls are great, I have the control box mounted with velcro so it can easily be removed when mounting the plow. The unit was designed and built in Finland, the importer is here in Wisconsin, I purchased it from a dealer that was in the same town as the importer. It was not an inexpensive piece of equipment but as I age and really do not enjoy snow removal this blower makes the job easier and faster.

 

[rust in the eye]

I don't envy your situation, that is a long driveway to clear.
Even at a 28" swath you'll need many passes, of a football field and end zones. How cold is it where you are?
Stay with your present arrangement, something else machine mounted or hire out. NFW would I attempt clearing that with ANY walk behind.
my $.02
EDIT: Ain't there some crusty old plow trucks availble around there?

 

[hobie18]

snowblower forum is a fount of information.
We no longer get snow. I made sure by having 4 snowblowers.
Is your full time job cleaning the driveway?
While I like to get out and clean off the whole neighborhood, it is no longer possible. Back and such have made it difficult.
If you get snow, or heavy snow, or wet snow, nope. And under no circumstances do you want to keep clearing the chute. A.plow has difficulty getting snow far away from the driveway. Snowblower will be a royal pain.

 

[pfettig77]

Ok. Thanks everyone. You've given me a lot to chew on. Guess I'll hold off for now.

We get some pretty brutal storms her and it's often well below 0. It actually takes me a really long time to do my driveway with the tractor because I spend so much time making and manipulating the piles. Sometimes I have a 6+ foot wall surrounding my parking area when I'm done. I've even crumpled the frame of one of my grader blades from trying to push piles. I have to do the whole thing backwards too. There's absolutely no way to do drag it while going forward. Also, if the snow is bad enough, I have had to do the whole thing sideways - just going back and forth the 12' width of the driveway. Maybe moving snow is just hard no matter what.

 

[pfettig77]

Wow, the stack on that thing is ridiculous.

I think he was trying to be funny.

 

[pfettig77]

Get a 3 point pto blower. I know you said some people have told you it wouldn't work very well..... Compared to what? Using a walk behind blower *****! Especially on a 325' driveway! I'd much rather have a 3 point blower mounted on a decent sized tractor than manhandle a walk behind blower. Sure, they are self-propelled, but they can be a handful to operate. I'm sure most people would agree with me. The reason why you don't see many 3 point pto blowers (compared to walk behind blowers) is because buying/owing/storing/maintaining a tractor that can run a 3 point blower is not realistic for most people. (unless you're in a rural area) If I already had the tractor, then I wouldn't even consider a smaller walk behind solution. F' that!


The only down side to a rear mount, 3 point blower pto blower is having to look backwards while blowing/driving in reverse.

Maybe you can find a rear mount 3 point pto blower that blows while driving forward? There is a large residential driveway snow plowing service near me that uses a fleet of mid sized Kubota tractors (with glass heated cabs) and they run around the metro area doing driveways with rear mounted snow blowers. These are blowers that only blow snow while driving forward. They are odd looking things, that's for sure. They can discharge off either side or directly behind. They just back up to your garage door, lower the blower, and drive forward. A few passes and they're off to the next customer. THAT'S the type of blower I'd be looking to buy!

Edit: Here you go. This is the blower I'd buy if I had a 3 point tractor.

3-Point PTO Rear Pull Snowblower

Products Detail Page

erskineattachments.com

Those things are $10,000. Holy cats! That's a lifetime of paying someone else to do it.

 

[dscheidt]

For many years, my parents had a steel slag driveway, 300' long, 10' wide, in lake effect snow land Indiana. They cleared it with a 26" wide walk behind. Slag is better for this than lots of gravel (it compacts better), but there were lots of thrown stones. It generally sucked, but it really wasn't hard to do it, it just took 45 minutes or an hour if there was 12" of new snow. The trick in heavy snow is that you don't take a full width bite, unless you absolutely have to. Means more passes, but you can use a higher gear, the machine throws the snow better, so it's faster but more walking.


If you ahve space for it, a clapped out plow truck would be the way I'd go.

 

[pfettig77]

snowblower forum is a fount of information.
We no longer get snow. I made sure by having 4 snowblowers.
Is your full time job cleaning the driveway?
While I like to get out and clean off the whole neighborhood, it is no longer possible. Back and such have made it difficult.
If you get snow, or heavy snow, or wet snow, nope. And under no circumstances do you want to keep clearing the chute. A.plow has difficulty getting snow far away from the driveway. Snowblower will be a royal pain.

I've read a lot of that forum. I didn't actually join and ask any questions though.

 

[pfettig77]

For many years, my parents had a steel slag driveway, 300' long, 10' wide, in lake effect snow land Indiana. They cleared it with a 26" wide walk behind. Slag is better for this than lots of gravel (it compacts better), but there were lots of thrown stones. It generally sucked, but it really wasn't hard to do it, it just took 45 minutes or an hour if there was 12" of new snow. The trick in heavy snow is that you don't take a full width bite, unless you absolutely have to. Means more passes, but you can use a higher gear, the machine throws the snow better, so it's faster but more walking.


If you ahve space for it, a clapped out plow truck would be the way I'd go.

I should have mentioned that my driveway is actually packed down crushed limestone on the slope and just "dirt" on the flat parts. Not really loose gravel. If I could do the whole thing in an hour that would be awesome. It often takes hours to do it with my tractor. I do have space for a truck (120'x60' pole barn) but not the funds. Even the ugliest beater you've ever seen is a few thousand dollars around here.

 

[hobie18]

If you ask the forum aboit a snowblower for a large driveway, you will get plenty of advice.

 

[bdbecker]

...For a 100-yard long drive in heavy midwest snow, FORGET IT! You'll spend the entire winter out there...

Totally agree. Between my driveway and patio, I've got roughly half of the square footage of the OP to clear. After a heavy snow, it usually takes a good 2+ hours to get everything cleaned up. Granted, I'm a bit OCD about getting everything as clean as possible, and I have to make a lot of direction changes.

 

[canuckian]

I used walk behind blowers for years but those driveways were small compared to the OP’s. moved from that to putting a plow and then a blower on my lawn mower/tractor. Got sick of being covered in snow so gave in and got a subcompact tractor with a heated cab and front mounted PTO driven blower. I’ll never look back. When I retire this one I’ll get another or maybe something different depending on my needs. I still have a small walk behind for walkways too small for the tractor but I get my kids to take care of that part lol.
Since OP already has a tractor, I’d take a closer look at either a rear mount blower or a box blade/snow blade as mentioned above. IMHO Life's too short to spend the better part of the day wrestling with a walk behind blower on a huge driveway. That being said, if you like being out in the snow exercising no matter if you want to or not, have at it!

 

[pfettig77]

This is being auctioned off close to me. I suppose I could give it a try (if it goes cheap) just to see if it works.

I should reiterate: I do have a tractor with a blade and it does move snow well enough, I just don't like how abusive it is on the tractor and I'm also just looking for a more efficient way to get it done. It takes a really long time and puts a lot of gravel in my yard.

 

[Firebrick43]

You could always plow the drive in normal snows and first small snows and just use a good walkbehind after that.

Get a gravely MA210 snow cannon or a bcs/grillo walk behind tractor and a Berta snow blower and they will throw the snow 60’. Some of the gravely’s and most of the bigger BCS and grill is have steering brakes, diff locks, and larger tires that when coupled with tire chains are pretty good and won’t beat the operator up if they don’t try and man handle the beast.

 

[kbeefy]

I have a 32" Ariens, and doing a 300' driveway would take forever!

Since I got a plow on my truck, I only use the walk behind for drifts on the porch and cleaning up right by the garage.
Much nicer sitting inside listening to the radio than walking behind the blower.

 

[Lassen Forge]

We had a track driven Ariens 2 stage walk behind - it would throw Sierra Cement, but man, do NOT aim that outlet near anything that won't survive a 120 MPH rock thrown at it (like a pickup's or house's window glass) clearing a gravel drive. BTW, I had the thing for years, and realized it had skids I could raise, which lessened the rocky relationship I had with it... but did not solve the problem completely.

 

[cherrybomb]

I agree,your probably over working your big tractor.A large garden tractor,even used,with a front mounted snow blower would make more sense to me than a walk on.Thats a lot of snow to be moved,for sure

 

[AA/FC]

Those things are $10,000. Holy cats! That's a lifetime of paying someone else to do it.

Yeah, a BRAND NEW one is 10K...... I'd be looking for something used. Even if it's a standard 3 point reverse blower.

 

[zendriver]

This is being auctioned off close to me. I suppose I could give it a try (if it goes cheap) just to see if it works.

I should reiterate: I do have a tractor with a blade and it does move snow well enough, I just don't like how abusive it is on the tractor and I'm also just looking for a more efficient way to get it done. It takes a really long time and puts a lot of gravel in my yard.

Just me, but that seems a bit much for an old Ferguson tractor.

 

[Firebrick43]

Just me, but that seems a bit much for an old Ferguson tractor.

Biggest Ferguson branded tractor in 57 was 37HP in a TO35. Pretty iffy for that tractor. According to tractor data one of the first tractors branded massey fergusons came out in 57, the 50, that was 42 hp, probably be ok for a 7' blower.

 

[djbmw]

Get some chains for your tractors tires, and a 3pt 60" or 70" or whatever size matches your pto hp rating snow blower on the used market for $1,000 and call it a day. You'll do 2 passes and your driveway will be clear. Less than 15 min.... and you wont have to break a sweat.

 

[Schurkey]

You HAVE a tractor. Get a 3-point snow-blower, and learn to drive in reverse.

I have an Ariens 8526, worked wonderfully when I lived in-town with a normal-size driveway and sidewalk. I looked at a bunch of snow-blowers before I bought that one, and the Ariens was far and away the best of the bunch--the others had a tiny second-stage, or plastic chutes, or some other unreasonable cost-saving compromise(s).


Having moved more rural, I have a bigger driveway and bought a Big-Box-Store John Deere D170 with the 44" snow blower attachment. The snow blower works GREAT...but the D170 won't push it even with official J-D weights hung off the back. No traction, no locking differential. Tire chains with V-bars make a HUGE improvement...for half-a-season. Then the V-bars are worn out and useless because the Chinese won't harden the V-bars.


Lastly, I bought a K2500 8-lug with a V-plow. Made the mistake of pushing snow UP-wind the first year, which was a big mistake. The nice thing about the snow blower compared to a plow is that the discharged snow from a blower doesn't form a snow drift/snow bank; and the downwind side of a snowdrift promotes snow accumulation. So now I'm careful to plow snow to the DOWN wind side of my driveway so the driveway doesn't fill-in as fast. The problem there is that the snow drift on the downwind side can become so tall the snow blower has trouble lofting heavy/wet snow high enough to go over the top.


Short story: I want a tractor with a 3-point snow blower that will move snow three properties over. And a cab. With a heater.