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RayP(MI)
01-28-2005 17:59:22
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Re: Snow Blowers on a skid-steer in reply to Bill from MA, 01-28-2005 13:51:11
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Depends on the job you want to do! A blade will move a lot of snow, if you can roll it off to the side, or don't have to push it too far. Soon's the blade is full it's going to dribble off the edges, and you're going to have to make additional passes to clean up what you left. Clearing an area, like a parking lot can take lots of back and forth! If you have a decent snowblower, and can move the snow once, and it's no longer a problem, you can move lots of snow. By their nature, the blowers need to travel slowly, a problem for some rear mount pto driven units on farm tractors, where the reverse gear moves too fast, or you don't have a choice of reverse gears. A hydrostatic drive is a real help, as you can taylor ground speed to the depth of the snow, slowing down in deeper snow, and speeding up in shallower snow. My experience with blowers is that they work best when they're loaded to just about capacity. I have a 4' blower on a 14hp (upgraded to 18hp) hydrostatic garden tractor and it'll move a lot of snow. Traction is very necessary, and I have chains, wheel weights and a rear mounted weightbox to keep those rear tires gripping. When you get to the point that you're moving snow you've moved before, it becomes packed, and much harder to move - either with a blower or blade. Also have a 7,100lb 4wd diesel truck with blade, and lots of experience with both blowing and pushing snow. One nice thing about the truck - you don't get covered with snow when you come around the corner of a building and get caught by the wind! In answer to your question, a skid steer would probably do well either with a blade or blower, but you might want to put chains on front tires to improve traction!
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