3 point snow throwers?

How well does a rear 3 point snow thrower work?
What do they cost?
Are they worth the money?
Does anyone have one that they can comment on?

I got about 10 inches of snow today and drifts up above my knees, (I am 6 feet tall too)
My Deere tractor works nice for most of the snow but those drifts need to be shot out of a chute and thrown over the fence.

How much horsepower do you have? Live PTO?

I just finished clearing ~12" off our driveway here in SE Wis today with a 78" wide blower on the 3-point. I now use a M5700 Kubota but originally had a Massey 165. My suggestions:
1. look for a 2-stage unit with a horizontal auger that feeds the snow into the blower fan.
2. The ability to go backward slowly is important, especially on that first pass.
3. Traction seems to be more of an issue than power, even with only ~50 HP that I have had available to me.
The Kubota is nicer because it has a slower reverse gear as well as 4 wheel drive (see 2 & 3) above.
By the way, you do get a crick in the neck from using the unit, but this may be eased by snow that blows behind your collar if you point the chute wrong.

They are great....
I have one for our 4440. A McKee snowlander 8 foot model, twin auger two stage. Reverse speed is a issue, however, the 4440 quad range, A1 is just about right. Maybe a little fast, but that brute has enough horse to truck on through 2.5 ft of snow in one pass. 4 ft might take two passes...no big deal....wouldnt really want one on a open station tractor though... and you still need your loader tractor for the tight spots....oh yeah, snowblower makes gravel stones into flying projectiles...hard on windows, vinyl siding, cars, ect....my neighboor learned all this the hard way.....the costly way....

Using 78" McKee 2-stage on AC WD for about 10 years. Works great but I need tire chains for hills. Can blow only down hill. I like being able to move the snow far off the road instead of it building up on the sides as it does with a blade.

I have a 24hp deere. Rear PTO. I would love to have one of these for the deep snow.
I dont have a cab on my tractor. I would need to just have the chute pointing down wind.

How much snow did you get? What area of Mich are you in.? What did you pay for your snowthrower.
I am in Ortonville.

Get abpit 100" of snow a year so it has had some use. Paid $800 for the blower used, from a dealer.

Emmet and Cheboygan counties

They work great but, as somebody mentioned you have to be able to get the tractor going slow enough in reverse, they should be sized to be just past the outer edge of the rear tires but sometimes this overworks the tractor, they work better in dry fluffy snow reilly wet snow will jam if fed in to fast, just blow fresh snow not old banks or piles as this will overload tractor and break shear pins, go easy maybe do 2 cuts on deep snow last year 2 people I know damaged there tractors when blowing snow.

Years ago we had a snow blower at the airport and used a farmers 4440 to run it a couple of years. The blower was rated for 100 hp, and it would shear pins real quick with tat tractor. I know what you mean about the fast reverse. If the engine started to work it was time to stop and let the blower clear out or you would be replacing a pin.

I have a 3pt John deere 676 2 stage(78" wide and about 24" tall) single auger and it is mounted on my 544 hydro. Cant beat a hydro with a blower. The blower works great in large or small amounts of snow, but throws it a heck of a lot farther in deep snow. Open cab, i have a 1/2 mile drive ways in the middle of a60 acres of tillable, so no can thing kinda bites. i picked up a Lorenze (OMC) 8"x4.5" 3 auger blower for the Oliver 1750 WITH a cab and heater. Have yet to try it out good. Didnt have enough snow to really allow it to work, and the replacement PTO I recieved would not stay locked on the pto, This week I got a new one and will see what it does after this weekends snow. Deep snow, blowers rock, shallow snows, I"d rather have a plow on my trucks.

I use a 3 point V-Type Erskine snowblower that you drive through the snow on a Model 60 John Deere. It is a 5 1/2 foot wide with a 2 foot wing on it. If the snow is deep I raise it up & make a another pass. I use to have a 5 foot Mckee backup but the reverse in these 2 cylinders are so fast it was so hard on the clutch facings.

We use a "Schwiess"(sp) Made in Jackson, Mn. 9 feet wide, with 3 augers, and 1,000 rpm. on a 4960 JD.Can go thru 5 foot drifts slowly. It makes moving snow almost fun. Do some extra work with it so it keeps busy when snow hits.

I have a McKee about 80"wide, 2 stage, Hasn't been used since the early 80s. Faster to use the 9' blade. But it was nice when we used it on the bigger snows we got back in the 70s-80s. Only thing wrong with it is the single auger. My father always wished he's got the optional second one. A power chute would be nice too.

We got 9-10" here in St Johns today. Almost got out the blower but decided not to take the time to hook it up. Might still if the current snow remains and more comes and piles on top.

8' wide, double augers, gear box rated at 60 hp. We put on a tall shute on it so I can blow into trucks after it's windrowed to center of street. Windrows about 4' tall and 6' wide work best. Power it with a IH 966 Hydro. chained up. If I have good drivers and the snow is just right I can load 3 - 16' farm trucks that have 6' sides and with end gates (just like we used to use cutting silage)in less than ten minutes total. In the early 1970's they tried to use it on a IH 1466 Reg. trans, JD 4430 Quad Range, Case 1070 Powershift and they were all too fast in reverse. The blower sat in a fence row until 1984 or so until I convinced someone to try a hydro. Tried out the the 966 and bought it the next day. Works perfect for any condition. If I push it I will shear a bolt or two. I have ran this set up every year since. In the late 80's and early 90's when we got a lot more snow we loaded about 100 loads a day for two or three days straight. Last year I took out 1 bearing when I hit a chunck of cement in the windrow. Only thing we have ever done to it. Later, Funtwohunt

I think 24 HP is too small for any kind of tractor mounted blower. I feel you need at least 40HP, live PTO, live hydraulics, and a slow reverse to make these work. A good blower should have a feed augur separate from the throw auger.

I remember our neighbor had a setup like this, and it worked quite well on his 60's era 2WD mid-sized Deere farm tractor in Michigan's snowy Upper Peninsula.

After years of plowing with a front and rear blade, and impressed by the neighbor, my Dad bought a cheap single stage Vee unit to run off our Ford 9N. It proved a dismal failure. It would clog and overwhelm the 9N in heavy, wet snow. Dry snow would blow OK, but the operator would get covered with "overspray" very quickly.

Eventually, I was old enough to go plow snow with the tractor, but even as a 13 year old the novelty of playing with "adult Tonka toys" wore off quickly. It was cold, miserable work.

Ultimately, my dad sold the cheap blower and bought a Meyers snowplow for the 4WD pickup truck. That setup proved the cat's meow. You could plow snow in shirtsleeves, with the heater and radio going. With chains on all 4, the truck could go anywhere the tractor could. We never went back to plowing snow with the tractor.

I have a 50" snow thrower on a JD "M" (the "M" has about 20 HP). It's not the ideal tractor for a snowthrower but does an adequate job - plus I like running the engine in the winter just to burn off any internal engine moisture build-up and to charge the battery. Some tips to consider - 1) it's not a bad thing to be somewhat underpowered, just lift up and take two passes. Takes longer but you won't bucker up your machine as you will know when you're pushing things to hard. Keep in mind that snowthrowers have a set capacity. More HP won't increase this capacity. 2) Replace the top-link of the 3-point with a heavy duty chain. This allows the snowthrower to float a bit in uneven terraine and thus prevents scalping.
3) Snow throwers usually have skid pads that are adjustable. To make two passes, I will lower the pads to desired height for the first pass through all the snow and then raise them for final pass through. I find it less fatiguing to just drop the thrower on the pads rather than futzing around with trying to find proper height using 3-point lift. 4) if common sense is lacking, do not operate heavy equipment. And 5) find a way to enjoy the process. I enjoy hearing that little two banger JD pop through the big drifts. Sweet music - for me anyway.