Up North Snow Moving Setups

[cfpinz]

This question is meant for those in the frozen North who deal with deep snow each year. We're having a pretty good storm here, probably 20" of snow but the wind is gusting past 50mph. We get drifts here in the 4-6' range on occasion. That being said, this is a 5 to 10 year storm for us.

My big tractor now is a Ford 7710 with a cab, ldr and 4wd. Have a 10' blade for the back, as well as a 8' snowblower. I need another tractor to put in front of the new round baler and I'm looking at old Ford TW-15's and 8630's, something around 120 HP at the PTO. Maybe something a little newer but I like mechanical stuff.

How would you folks up North setup a tractor like that if you had your druthers? Anyone ever adapt a PTO driven 3pt blower to the front?

Just looking for ideas here while waiting for the wind to die down.

Thanks.

 

[John SD]

This question is meant for those in the frozen North who deal with deep snow each year. We're having a pretty good storm here, probably 20" of snow but the wind is gusting past 50mph. We get drifts here in the 4-6' range on occasion. That being said, this is a 5 to 10 year storm for us.

My big tractor now is a Ford 7710 with a cab, ldr and 4wd. Have a 10' blade for the back, as well as a 8' snowblower. I need another tractor to put in front of the new round baler and I'm looking at old Ford TW-15's and 8630's, something around 120 HP at the PTO. Maybe something a little newer but I like mechanical stuff.

How would you folks up North setup a tractor like that if you had your druthers? Anyone ever adapt a PTO driven 3pt blower to the front?

Just looking for ideas here while waiting for the wind to die down.

Thanks.

For 8630 money you might be able to get into a 276 or 9030 bidirectional which wouldn't have quite the ponies. If you don't need the loader, put the snowblower on the cab end where you can see stuff looking ahead . Or if the bidirectional has front PTO/3pt, and many do, put the snowblower on the engine end :idea:

So far this season I've done 25 hours of snowblower work with my Kubota. I have a 8' Red Devil with hydraulic chute and rotation. Nice to not have to get out of the tractor to change direction 8)

While the rear mount snowblower is a PIA to spend hours looking backward, in long stretches I have discovered I can sit crosswise in the buddy seat and put my right leg up in the regular seat. I can easily get to the shuttle shift if tractor starts to pull down or starts getting pulled into the snowbank.

Or I can sit in driver's seat and put left leg on buddy seat. That is a bit more awkward. Not quite as comfortable and access to controls not as handy.

 

[Nesikep]

I have never seen that much snow up here.. Most I've seen is about 18"-2ft at a time, and that has happened maybe once in the 25 years I've been here. If I do have to move snow, I have the prehistoric Ford County with a 9ft blade to move it.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We get about 30 feet of snow a year UP here and I move it all with an 8' blade on a 3/4 truck. I have a backhoe and a loader tractor as well as a rear blower but only use them when I need room and really need to put the snow up high. Tried using strictly the rear blower before but when doing about a mile of driveway and such it just takes too long. When we get big snows (2 to 4 feet in a day or so) I can go out multiple times with the truck and still spend less time than once with the blower.

 

[dun]

I think the best solutions is to MOVE!

 

[cfpinz]

Thanks, all.

I looked at a few of the bidirectionals this afternoon online, looks like they'd be great for snow and loader work. Just concerned they'd be a bit small and awkward when hooked to a roller. Honestly, I've never sat in one.

Back in the winter of 09/10, we had two snows less than a month apart that were 24-30" deep depending on who measured them. Most years we get a foot or so total, maybe two.

I've owned a few trucks with blades but never had much luck with them, between the mountains and wind they don't do very well on uneven ground. If I used the blower and cleared the drive now, it'd be drifted back shut in 20 minutes.

If we ever do move, it'd sure be nice to go somewhere the wind barely blows!

Thanks again.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I push most of my snow on the downwind side and open the driveways up nice and wide. We get plenty of wind (farm is 1/2 mile inland from the largest body of freshwater on the planet so its rarely not windy here). No matter how I've cleared the snow I always end up with drifts I just find the plow to be faster. And on the longer stretches get a nice heavy blade clipping along at 20+ MPH and the snow ends up quite a ways from where it started.

If money was no object I would love to have a mid size articulated end loader with a quick attach power angle blade, snow blower, and bale spear up front. Use the plow for your day to day plowing, then use the blower when necessary. Would be the ultimate farm loader.

 

[John SD]

Thanks, all.

I looked at a few of the bidirectionals this afternoon online, looks like they'd be great for snow and loader work. Just concerned they'd be a bit small and awkward when hooked to a roller. Honestly, I've never sat in one.

Back in the winter of 09/10, we had two snows less than a month apart that were 24-30" deep depending on who measured them. Most years we get a foot or so total, maybe two.

I've owned a few trucks with blades but never had much luck with them, between the mountains and wind they don't do very well on uneven ground. If I used the blower and cleared the drive now, it'd be drifted back shut in 20 minutes.

If we ever do move, it'd sure be nice to go somewhere the wind barely blows!

IIRC, over the average winter season here we get something like 60" of snow, but of course it varies a lot. Little to no snow usually guarantees a drought the following summer.

Neighbor has a 9030 he bought new, and a couple years ago bought a used TV145. He says the older bidirectional is rough riding in the field and the cab is quite small. The newer bidirectionals have bigger tires, more HP, longer wheelbase/ride better, and have a nicer cab. And priced higher too of course :shock:

Here are some TV145s on Tractorhouse but likely more than you want to spend. http://www.tractorhouse.com/list/list.a ... ltxt=TV145

The TV145 has quite a few more ponies under the hood compared to the 9030. Several around here and most of them are used with a mounted swather head and pull a hydroswing to boot. 9030s could do it, but it worked them hard and overheating became an issue.

Both bidirectionals of neighbor's are used mainly as loader tractors and he doesn't do field work with them anymore. He has a swather head for the 9030 but doesn't use it anymore because the young man on the place with him has a 4440 and a newer Hesston hydroswing. They run two round balers on a 4040 and a 4250. The last few years he did use the swather on the 9030 the air didn't work. I see he didn't go to the trouble to fix it. He just took the doors off the cab.

The thing about a snowblower over a blade I like best is if you move the snow, it is gone. With a blade or bucket, you can't help but leave a ridge, which is guaranteed to make an even bigger and tougher snowbank to remove next trip over it :idea:

 

[cfpinz]

Those 145's look like the ticket if you dealt with this stuff year in and year out. They'd sure be handy but I can't justify that much money for my purposes. Sure be nice with a swather head right there in front of you, too.

Thanks.

 

[John SD]

Those 145's look like the ticket if you dealt with this stuff year in and year out. They'd sure be handy but I can't justify that much money for my purposes. Sure be nice with a swather head right there in front of you, too.

Thanks.

Found some specs and one pic of a TV145 on tractordata.com IIRC the engine in the TV145 is the same as used in the Genesis tractors. http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractor ... tv145.html

This 9030 is similar to my neighbor's tractor. http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/Ford_Ver ... irectional

Ford 9030 and Versatile 276 are pretty much identical tractors except for engine and paint. On the 9030 Ford blue replaced the Versatile red of the 276. The Ford 268T engine in the 9030 replaced the Cummins 4cyl used in the 276.

 

[John SD]

Here is a 2009 TV6070 I just ran across tonight for sale by owner. http://sd.craigslist.org/grd/5430580319.html

 

[John SD]

Here looks like a real nice low hour TV6070 with loader and 16' hay head. Just in time for upcoming hay season

http://sd.craigslist.org/grd/5531437313.html

 

[cfpinz]

That's pretty sweet, but about one too many 0's in the pricetag for me! You could sure cover some ground with that swather head on the front and pulling the MoCo behind.

Wound up buying a NH 8260, 4wd with a Quicke loader. Going to try and find a used 10-12' plow off a dump truck and add to the front of it, along with my 8' snowblower on the back. Figured that was the best way to go for my situation, as it'll be a hay and field tractor 99% of the time, and move snow 1% or less.