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Snow tips


wis34

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Now that I have my 7016H...with snow blower and plow....chains and wheel weights too... what can I expect come winter? I have recently moved to western NY from Alabama, so dealing with snow removal is a new concept for me! For the half of last years winter that I was here, I just paid the man to plow me out. Now I am going to(try)take care of it myself! What tips can anyone give me? Am I better off relying on the blower vs the plow? Should I get some extra weight set up ready? I know I'll need to use the chains, but my lifelong NY'er brother in law swears I won't be able to do much without 4wd. After playing in the dirt with my simplicity for the last few days...I say NUTS to him! Any help will be appreciated by this new 'yankee'!
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LOL...Nah Roy...made it thru most of last winter ok...bought the house in oct...spent the winter working on it...except for Dec. 12- Feb.1--when i was getting rid of the house in ALA. I was actually colder in April than i was in Feb. Don't they have spring up here?
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quote:
Originally posted by Roy
"I have recently moved to western NY from Alabama" May God have mercy on your soul. You're going to freeze to death come winter.
Way to give him some confidence Roy!:D:D:D Heres the best advice I could come up with... 1 Wear warm clothing 2 Buy a snow cab 3 Keep enough gas in the garage 4 Keep the snowblower hopper full 5 If cold, go back to #1
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6. Try to keep the kind at your back. Once #4 has occured an the wind blows it in your face you will be at #5 soon :D I have run a similar rig for years, I keep the snow blower as full as possible by going as fast as possible on the hydro. Once you hear the motor pulling down, slow down on the hydro just to let the engine recover and back into the hydro. The tractor will clear anything that a 4x4 will, it may just not do it as fast, but then for us here that is the fun part. :D 1 question for advice is it paved or gravel driveway you are clearing. There will be additional tips for unpaved driveways.
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Hi Matt, Welcome. I live in Western Maine and have used both a 7012 and a 7118 to remove snow. Both used a 42 inch blower. Your brother-in-law is wrong, your 7016 with weights and chains will do just fine. Be sure to clear snow with the storm. By that if your area is supposed to get say 12 inches I would suggest going out and clearing the driveway at 8 inches or so, and then clearing again when the storm is over. If for some reason you cannot blow with the storm, don't worry your tractor can handle it, it just may take two passes to clear the snow. I clear a 200 yard driveway and several paths, takes me about two hours to clear everything. I have also used the same tractor to clear the private road I am on, takes a while, but the tractor can handle it. The real important key is to keep the snow blower hopper full. That will mean varying the speed of the tractor. The single stage blowers will throw the snow 30 to 50 feet, so don't let anyone tell you it won't work. If you have any more questions just ask. Rick........
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"Don't they have spring up here?" I believe that comes on a Wednesday or Thursday in late July or August. :D At least that was my impression when I had to travel to Buffalo on business for a couple of years.
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Thanks guys! the driveway is gravel. Rick, where in Western Maine?...I go to center lovell every summer(near fryeburg). Actually, goin up in about a week!
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Use the blower as much as possible. If you use the plow, the berms will be too high by your second or third storm with nowhere else to put the snow. Which will leave you no choice but to throw the new snow, if it's too heavy for the blower, over the berms with a shovel. Don't ask me how I know this.
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Matt, I live in the Oxford Hills area; south of Bethel and north of the Oxford. I get a lot of heavy wet snow and my two tractors have never given me any trouble cleaning the snow. Rick.........
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On gravel we tried to let the first snow pack down so the future runs with the snow blower you only clear to your snow pack and not totally to the gravel. This keeps you from blowing your gravel off the driveway an so you don't have gravel missles flying everywhere! Also set the ski's on each side of the blower to keep the blower up as high as possible. Again you want to pick up snow, not gravel. On my Dad's snow blower (gravel Drivway 1/8 mile long) we ended up rebulding the skis with extra thick metal on the bottom as the gravel after years wore them down so bad. On my blacktop drive I have my skis all the way up so I can scrap it clean.
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Never thought about the gavel missles! But i did throw a rock mowing the other day....took out a flood light from about 25 yards away!
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Yes you will enjoy both weeks of spring, and later both weeks of fall. If you plow, don't stop at the end of the driveway, just keep going further back. If Western NY is still like it was when I lived there, the snow doesn't melt between storms. If you don't leave lots of room you won't be able to put it anywhere.
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As others have noted keep the engine wide open, use tractor speed to control snow input. Keep the chute clean, smooth and slippery. Some use paste wax, PAM spray or other inside of chute. Suggest before season starts to clean and repaint the inside of chute smooth, and coat WELL with something to keep slippery. My 12.5hp and 36" blower do about 2.5 hours each snowfall in WI, (mine & neighbors) with out problem for 20+ years. And try to blow with wind at you side or back. Face likes it better. sm01
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Matt, In your first post you stated you had a blower and a plow. You could mount the plow to clear the first storm or two. But leave two or three inches of snow on the driveway. Cars will pack that down. Now dismount the plow and put on the blower for the rest of the winter. The problem with this suggestion is what happens if the first storm is a big one. In that case you will have to remove the plow and mount the blower which is never fun when buried in snow. I know some members here will start with the skids set as low as possible to allow snow to build up on the driveway. Then after a few storms the skids are raised till the cutting edge touches the ground. This allows for snow to build up to a point, but no further. What I try and do is walk the driveway after the first frost and remove any stones that could cause a problem. Note my driveway is a mix of stone dust, reclaimed asphalt, and gravel. I have my skids mounted so the cutting edge is scraping the ground since part of my driveway is paved. On the gravel sections I raise the blower slightly to avoid throwing gravel. Rick.......
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Matt, First, if possible/viable, get the driveway paved. Rocks and gravel are not snowblower friendly. Second, get a backup machine like a walk behind blower (when the 7016 breaks a belt or is disabled due to a real time game over failure)so you can still get out of the "drifted in prison". Personally, I sware by my Gravely 2-wheeler with a MA-210 blower; never any clogging problems even with compacted snow/slush due to an excellent 2-stage design
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quote:
Originally posted by wis34
LOL...Nah Roy...made it thru most of last winter ok...bought the house in oct...spent the winter working on it...except for Dec. 12- Feb.1--when i was getting rid of the house in ALA. I was actually colder in April than i was in Feb. Don't they have spring up here?
LOL, I moved to Chicago back in 1996 in December from Huntington Beach, CA and all I had was my CA winter coat (windbreaker) on to unload the UHaul truck. I was ready to get in the truck and drive it back to CA. This snow and cold was a new concept for me as I had to shovel, snow blow and plow the drive and sidewalks for an apartment complex of 300 apts on 10 acres. I learned real quick what not to do..Do Not blow snow into the wind!
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Welcome, Matt. Lots of great advice here already. Been using a 3416H to clear gravel drives since 75. First Outside Ithaca, NY, and now in central NH. Plenty of snow at both places. The first winter we just had the plow (inadequate) the second we added the snow thrower (Great). You are going to catch some stones no matter what. They wont hurt the thrower, but they can damage what they hit. I try to keep the chute pointed well away from the buildings and watch for passing cars. Things I do: Use only Simplicity belts on it. the key is to keep a high volume of snow going through it, and the torque of that 16 Horse will pull apart other "power rated" belts. Keep a new belt on hand. Make sure the pulleys and idlers are clean and straight, and the idler pivots move freely. Ice in those pivots can cause the belt to jump. Engage the PTO at idle and the thrower lowered, and visually confirm the belt is tracking correctly before continuing. The front PTO seems to stop the thrower quickly, and I have had the belt jump from that as well. Avoid running thrower in raised position, the belt angles are tighter when raised. I would also recommend that you familiarize yourself with how the belt guard on the throwers main pulley is moved out of the way to put a new belt on. There is a bolt on top in front of the ID tag that has to come out, and a clamp on the shaft that needs to be loosened. It then slides out of the way.
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I have a 300' gravel driveway, and I wouldn't consider a blower. However, a problem can arise just using a plow. I set the plow so the plow is just off the gravel (I see others intentionally pack down an inch or two). My driveway is shaded, and I don't like driving on rutted ice. The problem is when the snow is too deep. It quickly builds up and then I am in trouble. I use a few techniques to battle this. Plowing near the edge first to allow later snow a place to go is the main one. Last year we had multiple snows in quick succession, so I ended up plowing snow into 4 large piles, and using my 4wd loader to remove those piles. You will have deep snow it Western New York, so you will have to use some of the tips others mentioned. Your tractor will move a lot of snow, but there ultimately needs to be a place for it to go.
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Matt, I want to stress I use a blower on my gravel driveway and don't have a problem with gravel. My driveway is 200 yards long and the private road I am on is half a mile of gravel. All I do is go slow and keep my hand on the lift. As soon as it appears I am throwing a little dirt or gravel I raise the blower. For me the key is walking the driveway several times a year and remove any large stones that work their way up to the surface. You really only need to be careful the first 2 or 4 times you clear the driveway with the blower. After that the surface is usually hard packed snow and the blower won't dig through that. The problem with a plow is you need areas to put the snow so you must clear enough area at the start of winter to hold all the snow you get in a year. Also you must plow with the storm so that will mean getting up several times at night. While a 7016H or a 7118H can plow the snow, it does not have the weight needed to push snowbanks back. So if you don't give yourself enough room, you may need to hire someone to push the banks back. Rick.......
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quote:
Originally posted by RickS
Matt, I want to stress I use a blower on my gravel driveway and don't have a problem with gravel. My driveway is 200 yards long and the private road I am on is half a mile of gravel. All I do is go slow and keep my hand on the lift. As soon as it appears I am throwing a little dirt or gravel I raise the blower. For me the key is walking the driveway several times a year and remove any large stones that work their way up to the surface. You really only need to be careful the first 2 or 4 times you clear the driveway with the blower. After that the surface is usually hard packed snow and the blower won't dig through that. The problem with a plow is you need areas to put the snow so you must clear enough area at the start of winter to hold all the snow you get in a year. Also you must plow with the storm so that will mean getting up several times at night. While a 7016H or a 7118H can plow the snow, it does not have the weight needed to push snowbanks back. So if you don't give yourself enough room, you may need to hire someone to push the banks back. Rick.......
I agree 100%. After all these years I cant imagine going back to a plow... I have a blast! Anything less than 14 horse I might not, but I know people with 10 horse tractors who say it's completely adequate
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All of the above posts have valid points but no body has mentioned the most important part YET..... YOU NEED MORE THAN ONE TRACTOR;);):D This was the last winter that I did not have a blower 2007:(
[img]/club2/attach/Michiganmobileman/lastplow.JPG[/img]
. I was glad we didnt get more because there was no where for it to go. Last year I put the plow on the 919 and the blower on the 7016. Used the plow with the skids set low after the first several snow falls. This left me with a good clear base for the rest of the winter to run the blower on. I have about 500-600 feet of our drive plus a bit around my brothers house next door, and sometimes the neighbors..... The blower will take a while to get used to but the guys above pretty much all said it keep the hopper full and listen to the engine. You will get the hang of and be throwing that snow plenty far away before you know it!! Greg
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Thinking I may have to fabricate a mount...and put the plow on my model L gravely! Although i can't imagine she'll like being started in the winter.
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