front mount or rear mount snowblower

[glassman_48]

Most of the driveways on the lake are short and there is almost no where to plow the snow, to many trees.  When I sold my 29 hp and blower everybody was bummed, I cant plow a lot of the driveways in a blizzard your going in between trees to find a place to plow the snow it causes a lot of problems.  My 45 hp tractor I keep at my glass shop so the next tractor is coming back home. 

[Roger2561]

Glassman_48 - I have a JD 4500 (~40HP) and I have a 6 foot wide, Erskine front mount snow blower with a hydraulic powered shute.  It's powered from the rear PTO, there's a shaft that runs the entire length of the underbelly of the tractor.  It uses the same hydraulic QD's as the front end loader.  It is pricey but worth the money due to suffering from degenerative disk disease in the my neck.  I clear my 200' driveway and 2 of my elderly neighbor's driveways.  There's no way I would be able to use a rear mounted blower, my neck would ache for at least a week, possibly more with it craned around for that amount of time.  Good luck with your search.  Roger 

[glassman_48]

roger2561,
Do you lose a lot of ground clearance?  Is it hard or time consuming to put it on?  I use the tractor in summer to disc and plow a deer plot and wondered if it could be left on or would it get in the way of rear attachments.  I will get to a dealer and have them put it on and remove it, does in increase the length for trailering?  If they make a blower to attach to your quick attach bucket, would that have to be run off hydraulics it would not seem that a compact tractor would have the gpm to run one hydraulically.  My neighbor would have to take his off in summer if he has a drive over mower deck if I am seeing this correctly in my mind. 

[Blaszer]

My boss has a new JD 60 horse tractor with a blower attached to his loader arms...Theres a pto driven hydraulic unit that powers the blower and all chute functions....Its a pain to install and cost almost 20 grand

[glassman_48]

My boss has a new JD 60 horse tractor with a blower attached to his loader arms...Theres a pto driven hydraulic unit that powers the blower and all chute functions....Its a pain to install and cost almost 20 grand

Blaszer, yikes, john deere stuff is usually high, but thats a bunch extra, I sold my 29 hp hydro about 6 years ago, I dont remember my back being that wrecked, I moved the seat 20 degrees and used my left foot for the hydro pedals and it worked out.  Having everything in front like the one I used a bit of my neighbors was sure nice though.  I will go and demo and see how everything lays out.   Thank you

[r.man]

I have seen an adaptation profiled that added a rear facing seat between the front and rear wheel on the side of a tractor. An idler steering wheel used a belt to connect it to the regular steering shaft and hand controls got clamped to all the controls to bring them within reach of the operator. Drive facing rearward like a forklift and in the summer unclamp the extensions and take the steering belt off to use the tractor forward facing. Probably not doable on a loader tractor.

[Roger2561]

roger2561,
Do you lose a lot of ground clearance?  Is it hard or time consuming to put it on?  I use the tractor in summer to disc and plow a deer plot and wondered if it could be left on or would it get in the way of rear attachments.  I will get to a dealer and have them put it on and remove it, does in increase the length for trailering?  If they make a blower to attach to your quick attach bucket, would that have to be run off hydraulics it would not seem that a compact tractor would have the gpm to run one hydraulically.  My neighbor would have to take his off in summer if he has a drive over mower deck if I am seeing this correctly in my mind.

glassman_48 - The avatar shows it from the front end.  The unit installs and removes quite easily.  To install it the front end loader has to be removed.  Erskine provides a plate with 2 heavy duty pins sticking out, facing forward.  The blower unit has a receiving unit for the pins.  Turn off the tractor to connect to the QD's on the tractor with the hydraulic hoses.  Restart the tractor and use the hydraulics to line up the receiving holes on the receiver.  Drive tractor ahead to engage the receiving holes.  Install the quick clips to hold it in place.  At the rear of the tractor is where you'll find the transfer case and PTO shaft.  Using the jack that Erskine supplies, raise the entire frame work to align the connecting plate with the drawbar.  Once the frame is connected to the drawbar rotate the transfer case to it's upright position and bolt it in place - this part takes the longest due to needing a wrench to turn the bolts and tighten in place.  Connect the PTO shaft to the PTO on the tractor and you're ready to go.  Installing takes a bit more time than removing it.  It takes around 5 to 10 minutes to install in, removing it takes perhaps 2 minutes.  I've had mine approaching 10 years and it's never given me any problems.  The only time I sheared a pin was when a piece of asphalt approximately a foot by a foot got caught in the auger; it didn't go anywhere.  If it's maintained, it'll last a long time.  I hope this helps.  Roger   

[Ed]

HAD a rear blower for my NH2120......my back and neck couldn't take it.

Went back to the front mount on the 955 Deere.

With the higher rpm of of the mid pto, the Deere will throw snow further than the 2120 did.

Both have hyd rotate, I added a cable control for the spout on the Deere, no need to get off the tractor all the time.

Ed

[glassman_48]

roger2561,
That makes sense, thats a good explanation.  Thank you and all you other guys that are giving your input.  Going to try to go down this saturday and demo one.