Snow plow or snow blower?

Having had an old Ford with a rear blade and a loader, I wouldn't go back to clearing with either of them for love nor money.

This is the only way to go as far as I am concerned. Sore neck or not!

Rod

As a "kid" of only 54, however, I much prefer the snowblower to the blade. It gets rid of the snow and greatly reduces drifting. Once you know your route and have a bit of snow-pack on it, it works very well. Put new gravel on the driveway only in spring.

I particularly like the snowblower's ability to take on extra work such as running a driveway a half-mile to the sugar bush through 18" snow, with crust, so that you can drive back there, if you wish. It just chews it up and spits it out. Small, dead branches don't seem to be much of a problem, either.

Add to your equipment list a good snowmobile suit, the best snowmobile mitts you can afford, and most important, a Bell-type, full-facemask helmet. Nothing else will keep the snow out of your eyes and nose when you have to turn the discharge upwind to avoid a window on a building, for example, or your wife's car.

I bought a used, 5' model, by most standards small and narrow for a 37 hp tractor, but it works well in restricted areas and I have yet to encounter a drift I couldn't devour in one pass.

As a "kid" of only 54, however, I much prefer the snowblower to the blade. It gets rid of the snow and greatly reduces drifting. Once you know your route and have a bit of snow-pack on it, it works very well. Put new gravel on the driveway only in spring.

I particularly like the snowblower's ability to take on extra work such as running a driveway a half-mile to the sugar bush through 18" snow, with crust, so that you can drive back there, if you wish. It just chews it up and spits it out. Small, dead branches don't seem to be much of a problem, either.

Add to your equipment list a good snowmobile suit, the best snowmobile mitts you can afford, and most important, a Bell-type, full-facemask helmet. Nothing else will keep the snow out of your eyes and nose when you have to turn the discharge upwind to avoid a window on a building, for example, or your wife's car.

I bought a used, 5' model, by most standards small and narrow for a 37 hp tractor, but it works well in restricted areas and I have yet to encounter a drift I couldn't devour in one pass.

I'm in NH, and live at the top of a hill. Driveway is about 1/2 mile, up hill to the house(15% grade in spots), twisty, and gravel.

After early fall and late spring snows, I use a grader blade on the back of my IH584. It allows me to carefully control the depth. Best to leave a bit of snow rather than tear-up the road.

After the ground freezes, I generally plow if the storm has left me with less than a foot or so. I always push the snow to the downhill side of the road so the spring run-off will drain away from the road.

If we get 2-3 feet, I first make a couple passes with a 7 ft wide blower on the back, leaving 3-4 inches of snow, then go back and plow that off. If I try to blow right down to the ground, I invariably pick-up gravel, sometimes shear the pin, and always end-up packing down a layer of snow on the road, which is then nearly impossible to plow off.

All of my equipment was purchased used, $500 for the plow, $1200 for the blower, and has done fine. If there are direction changes or switch-backs on your road, then you will want hydraulic rams on the plow and blower chute direction.

Best of luck,
Jim

If no room the plow is a heap of useless metal!