Blade or loader

I always enjoy the feed back and different ideas from this Forum so I will throw this out for feed:
Looking at putting a loader on a 100 HP green tractor for snow, trying to determine if a blade would be a better choice. Have a red 75hp loader tractor with blade on bucket but just isn't heavy enough for the snows we have been getting in PA.
Red tractor is 8000 pounds, green tractor is 14,000 pounds, should I just try to load up more weight on the red tractor or start over with the green?

Forgot to add this Red tractor gas 2 wheel drive, green tractor diesel 2 wheel drive

If you start over, might as well paint the green one red so it'll work better :shock: Just can't picture the amount of snow that a 75HP tractor wouldn't handle. Guess I've led a sheltered life.

Good Luck,

Dave

The heavier the tractor the more helpless they seem on ice and snow. We have a JD 4020 gas with a loader on the front and a blade on the rear.I think you have to have something at both ends to do a proper job. I also found out that tire chains are NEEDED on something like this. If you are needing to clear really heavy snows and cut your time down then a snowblower just may be in order.

Get some tire chains and a PTO powered snow-blower, and you'll be all set. My little 30 horse tractors move a lot of snow with a 6 footer. I paid $350 for the Deere model 240 blower many year ago, and it works great for deep snow. You could run something a bit bigger.

I agree but would amend your statement to say ".....with chains."

Heavy enough? I worked for a fellow years ago that had an ancient Farmall M with New Idea loader and a blade. It was a snow pushing fool. If you can't move snow with a loader on a 75 horse tractor you need to learn how.

Snowblower. A blade is a waste of time around here except for scraping along the edge of buildings and doorways.

I have a JD 870 4 wheel drive with turf tires and no chains, loaded rears and a box blade on the back and a plow on the front and I live in western NY and there isn't a snowfall that my JD doesn't laugh at. I plow about 300' of drives. It's not not your horsepower. It's how you apply it. Get chains.
No way you get more snow than we do.

I have a JD 620 and a JD 4320. 45hp vs 116hp plus the weight difference. Without tire chains on ice they will move about the same snow. The 4320 has a small weight advantage but not equal the the amount of weight or hp. Add tire chains and they both turn from wimps to tigers in the snow.

If it was me, unless I wanted a loader on the green one, I'd put tire chains on the red one and add a 3pt blade for weight or a snowblower.

I started out with a back blade on a Massey 35, went to a loader with a 5' bucket and now I use a Farmall H with a #31 loader with a blade on it. I live in Oswego County NY where we sometimes get a lot of snow and it seems to me that the most important thing for me is loaded tires, wheel weights and chains.
Zach

Use a snow blower.

I woud just add chains to the tractor and keep what you have.Snow blower is nice but not as nice as some lead you to beleive.Always craneing your neck backing a snowblower is a PITA.Loader can do a good job once you know how far away you have to put the pile so you don't have to push twice. I have 65 Hp 2 wheel drive chained up and can clear all the snow in Manitoba that I have to,Only6 ft bucket.

Get chains and either a front loader or a front blade. I have plowed thru 4 foot drifts with a 641 Ford with a front blade and chains.

Pick the one with the best cab and add a snow blower. I move more snow with my small compact 4wd with a blower than my larger tractor with the chains on and a blade. I do have a front loader on the compact too and the trans is a hydo. You would be able to handle a double auger blower with your large tractors and would move alot of snow without much wear and tear on the unit. Better dress warm though if you don't have a cab on the snow blower tractor.

Get an old four wheel drive truck with a plow and you are inside where it is warm and comfy and can play all day if you like for the same money.

You can get a mighty sore neck...and shoulders,
twisting around to see what that back blade is
doing

Remember that horsepower is useless without traction. Earlier this week I watched a Ford 7610 (2wd, cab, no chains and unloaded tires) struggle to get out of its own way. My little Ford 3000 had half the power, but had loaded tires and chains, and had no issues.

I guess a good question to ask is, how much snow are you trying to move and how far? For the cost of a loader on your Green tractor, consider a blower for the back of the red one. It will improve your traction with the loader and do a much better job with the snow than a blade. Trying to push heavy snow is just a bad idea...

I would get a snowblower so it blows the snow far enough away. Put chains on too. Hal

Years ago I had an M with a rear blade that was a 'hog on ice'(new tires/callcium).'Mannufactured'a crude hitch and put the blade (7ft.)on the front,and it became a snow pushing monster...unstoppable.

Chains and weight are the key. H.P. is secondary. Plows and buckets will move all the snow you get. Snow blowers are expensive and high maintenance. A pickup with a nice warm cab is hard to beat. Speed has a lot to do with moving snow. We seem to get a little snow up here in Maine and there are not a lot of snow blowers around. Just my 2 cents

I use my 202 Massey all winter without chains. It has a backhoe on the back which helps with traction in a big way. Chains would be nice but I have never been stuck and there hasn't been a time when I couldn't push the amount of snow we had.
So far we have around 3-3.5' on the ground.
Pics here http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=730958

How much is expensive?
How much is the extra, time, wear, tear and fuel used while pushing and re-pushing snow? Vs. blowing the snow away and not making ridges and mounds with a plough that cause drifting.
Snowblower service costs? Yup a few strokes on the grease gun and a couple of shear pins had us down to only eating kraft dinner for a week.

Any snow blowers I have run always leave a little snow that gets packed down and turns slick unless bladed off.

you can do more with the loader, but it is more budget. A blade is Ok for light to moderate snows but to deal with banks and accumulations and big snows, and you have MFWD, go with the loader. If only 2WD, then chains and loaded tires are a must with a loader and help a lot with anything else, too.

I don't know how heavy your snow gets there or how much you usually get at a time,but here in central MN you can get 14-18" snows but usually only 8-12" at a time. You may laugh, but I only use a Farmall Super C with a 7ft blade. It has 4 rear IHC weights, chains and no fluid in rear. I have no trouble pushing most 12" snowfalls to any distance I wish. It will push 4ft banks easily. A few years back, I thought I'd try to see what the old girl would do, so I plowed my township road with 10 to 20 inch deep snow for 3/4 mile to the county road, just so the neighbors could get out. It was in a 20mph wind with no cab or heat-hauser. The tractor did just fine but I was frozen. It did want to drift back in by the time I had gone the full distance. My D-17 w/loader and my IHC 756 just set in the barn.
I think all you need is good traction. Oh, I also prefer a blade to a bucket.
I had a loader on the Super-C and it was fast lifting, but wasn't as fast at moving snow as the blade. A neighbor has a newer small Massey Ferguson 4WD with a bucket. We've worked together helping plow an elderly widows 500ft drive and yard area. He had a blade made for his tractor loader after he saw how much more snow I could move with the Super C.
I should go out to push a little snow today but I'm waiting for a bit warmer temp.

Yup, blowers will leave a small ridge. This is why you should put the blower on the back of the tractor and keep a bucket/blade on the front. You just need to use the right tool for the job.

If the snow is over 12", a bucket/blade is no longer the right tool...

I move alot of snow falls over 12 inches and many piles.

Put a loader on the front of the Green One and a good BIG blade on the back. If money is a concern, just get the big blade for the back of the Green One. If money is no object, then get a loader, back blade and rear mounted snowblower for the Green One. That way, you'll have more options. Problems weith a blower are: Too many moving parts; Expen$ive; messy if you have lots of buildings, trees, people, cattle, cars nearby; gets downright hard to see out the window with any wind at all; only does one job. With blade and loader you have tools that can and will be used for lots of things. Size of blade? A neighbor has a really big articulated John Deere with a blade that is about 16 feet wide and 4' high. Something like you'd see in a mall parking lot.

(quoted from post at 14:18:58 02/01/11) I always enjoy the feed back and different ideas from this Forum so I will throw this out for feed:
Looking at putting a loader on a 100 HP green tractor for snow, trying to determine if a blade would be a better choice. Have a red 75hp loader tractor with blade on bucket but just isn't heavy enough for the snows we have been getting in PA.
Red tractor is 8000 pounds, green tractor is 14,000 pounds, should I just try to load up more weight on the red tractor or start over with the green?

Click to expand...

Peat,

Well, the only PRACTICAL answer here is this... Add chains to your rear tires, and more weight to the rear of the tractor. You likely don't have enough weight on the rear if you are having trouble moving snow. Options are steel (cast) rear wheel weights, a barrel of concrete on the 3-pt hitch (or solid mounted to the rear axle if no 3pt) and a full load of Calcuim Chloride in your rear tires. A rear blade may also help, but they aren't THAT heavy, and they are also a real nuisance when getting into tighter spots. They can also get you hung up and stuck really bad when you get in the real deep snow, loader or no loader on the front.

Unfortunately, your description of your "red" tractor is not very good. There are a lot of "red" tractors out there. For example; what make and model, and how is it currently equipped? Yes, we know it is 2wd and has a loader with a blade on the front. How good is the rear and front rubber? Are rear tires already loaded or not? Are there rear weights on it already or not? If so, how many? ETC, ETC, ETC... Got any pics of it? They are worth a thousand words.

Also, how much snow depth are you struggling with? A few inches? A foot? A few feet?

All I know is that putting a loader on any tractor isn't worth doing these days unless you really need it, as they are deathly expensive, and along with any loader, you will need a MINUMUM of CACL in the rear tires and lots of steel wheel weights to make the tractor able to be worth a damned. And, that adds all up to a LOT of money that would need to be spent!

Weights and chains on your red tractor. The only smart way to go.

Snowblowers are nice when you have a good cab tractor and the money to purchase a blower, but you'd better keep a loader or plow around for a backup!

One last thing I just thought of. If you have a blade on the front of your loader, you will likely not have good luck plowing snow. I had a setup like that once, and I got rid of it. Too bulky and clumsy, and puts too much weight and leverage way out ahead, making it difficult to stay straight while plowing, especially when going against existing deeper banks or ridges formed while plowing. Also requires more weight on both the front (for steering control) and on the rear (for traction) of the tractor.

The only "right" thing to have is a plow setup similar to a pickup truck mounted to the front of your tractor. (In other words, REMOVE the loader from the "red" tractor and put on a plow apparatus.) Of course in your situation, that doesn't make much sense.

You could add a nice hydroturn plow to your bare-fronted "green" tractor easier. Again, what you do really all comes down to the money you can afford to spend, and your personal preference.

These days, for around $2,500 or so, a cheap 'ol beater pickup truck with working 4x4, heat and a snowplow on the front works great too.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Andy

The big thing is not trying to move it all at once. I can push tons of ssnow with the B farmall 11.2x24 tires and chains with 6ft blade on the front. Been usinf the set-up for 40 pluss yrs now and no complaints yet.

My 70hp tractor with a plow on the front would run circles around my 110hp tractor - both 2 wheel drive.

The difference is the 70hp had 12" rear tires and the 110hp had 16.9" rear tires.

once you get ice under the wheels your not going to push snow and the wider the wheel the more prone it is to ice. Tire chains are the solution.

Skinny tires and chains are what you need not a bigger tractor

A snow blower is the best way to go IMHO. I am partical to snow blowers since I worked at an airport for 27yr. You do not get high banks or run out of room to pile the snow by the end of winter. Erskine snow blowers are a pull behind model that you can use even without live pto. They are pricey,..but hey do a good job and you won,t have to look backwards all the time. Check them out on line. www.erskine snowblowers.com.

Turn the top link out longer. Mine will dig into the gravel if the top link is adjusted too long.