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Snow Blower VS Snow Plow


Boney

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My driveway is asphalt and this year I got lazy and didn't take the time to switch from my already installed dozer blade to the thrower. Boy do I regret it. The chains spinning (even with w/weights) did a lot of minor damage to my drive. With the blower, there was no damage. I know next year I won't be so lazy.
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I prefer to use the snowblower, but if I could only have one or the other, I'd probably go with the plow... It will handle 2" - 3" snows, in addition to that transitional slush and freezing rain better than a snowblower. Only problem is if you're in a Noreaster, you're plowing once an hour or so, just to keep up... because once the snow gets REAL deep, the plow's too small... Another problem with using a plow is that by spring your 3-car driveway is down to a 1-car driveway as the piles keep creeping in when you plow. A snowblower spreads it out 15 - 25 feet or more, preventing the big banks and piles...
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I think the blower leaves a neater look. Buton small amounts of snow plow is a lot quicker
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We use our snowblower on the 917 to clear our snow, we have a gravel driveway. Only thing it dosent blow is the slush. Keeps clogging up,
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I prefer the plow because I have an asphalt drive and a gravel drive to plow. I agree with Kent though- I have to push the snow WAY OFF the driveway sides so the driveway doesn't shrink.
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I use the plow until the berm is to high to roll more over it, then switch to the blower. My first snows in late Sept or Oct are the ones I'm seeing now, so my berms last all winter. First inch or two I pack down on the driveway, that way I don't have rock problems.
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With a gravel drive its the plow for me,its also {sic} fun for me. I actually enjoy plowing my drive the neigbors and any body else that needed it. The sad part is I moved to NC and the plow blades have sat idle ever since.
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Two driveways, one crushed limestone one gravel, both pretty hard packed. I use the blower because in my case it moves less material out of the drive. It moves it further, but there is less to rake back in the spring. Also it moves it far enough that there is still some place to put the fourth or fifth heavy snow. We also get a lot of drifting in our drive and that 20 hp. Kohler doesn't really care how deep or heavy it is.
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Hi, Plow. It's cheaper...($850 blade and $2300 blower)....and at my house the worst we get is 12 inches. Two passes with the blade....no problems. Ron
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I've found that the plow is not only better for most of the snowfall we get here in CT, but it's a lot more useful the rest of the year too.......
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I use the blower on my gravel drive. It takes about 1.5 hours to do it all. The biggest problem is the change from the easy stuff in the driveway to the stuff the state leaves at the edge of the drive. For most of the drive the 707 is in 2nd-lo (without enough snow, that blower is a dog). At the road I have to creap. I don't go all the way to the gravel. It cleans well, and doesn't throw rocks.
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On the shore of lake Michigan where you can get 2 ft over nite the blowers the thing. But you still need the plow out by the road for that heavy crap the county leaves. This is a good reason to tell the wife that you have to have at least two tractors, and to do a quality job you can finish up with the center grader blade. That makes it 3 tractors. With the blower you need a cab and you don't want to take that off in the summer to mow lets see now thats 4 tractors. And of corse the the pulling tractors the rototiller ect. ect.
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A plow is nice if you have a couple of inches all year. But if you really want to move snow, let the blower throw it 40-70 feet. I reduced the pulley size on the blower, which increased the auger speed a little and that snow now moves across the street into the fields. The slightly high auger speed handles the slushier stuff real well also.
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On Long Island it's been feast or famine as far as snow goes, past 2 winters have been the wildest I can remember. I've got a 10hp walkbehind blower, garden tractor with a blade, and a 4x4 Cub with a loader on it. I think If I had to only have one, it would be the walkbehind blower. It has cut through 3 feet of hard slush from the highway plows, and can pick up as little as 1" if I'm to lazy to shovel. Best part is you can turn it around in it's length and blow snow without a lot of backing up. Only problem is when I used to go hustle $$ with it, it's to slow under power and too hard to push for long distances. My solution was to put it on a small trailer behind my 6216 with a plow on it. The plow came in handy for scraping the stuff that got packed down when people drove or walked up the driveway, and I could zip around the neighborhood looking for customers. The winter of 2002 I blew the motor on the walkbehind, so this winter I used the 4x4 Cub with the loader exclusively. Lots of fun, and really fast out on the road between jobs but 2/3 of your time is spent carrying snow to a pile or backing up.
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I always wanted a blower, but my plow does fine on the 9020. Now that I have the driveway blacktopped, I lost the turf tires and chains and went to 29x12.5-15 lugged tires and it still plows just fine. Still can't justify the snowblower purchase. Anybody want some turf rears? If not, they make good brushfire starter:D[:0]
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