Blade or Thrower? what are you gonna use?

Hi, Im just wondering what some of you guys prefer for snow removal? The Blade or a Thrower I have a SS16 that im setting up for a plow and a old Craftsman with a honda snowthrower so im ready for anything. I know its early but last year I was down to A shovel! I live in Cleve. Oh. so we do get some snow here. This is a great forum Ive learned alot of good information here But im suprised there arent more postings. We could learn from each other and its free. please post and add some pictures Thanks Steve

I always used a blade and could push snow higher than the tractors hood. I used automotive tire chains (a LOT cheaper than Sears' chains) cut down to fit, wheel weights, and a lot of weight on the rear, usually my disc or the tiller on the 3-point hitch.

The snow we had here last year was just too much for the plow on my Suburban. I couldn't get enough weight on it to keep the wheels from spinning. Yes, I had chains on. I only did half the driveway (about 2 hours) before the guy next door with his 4 wheel drive compact tractor did the rest for me.

I know that if I had a thrower it would have been a different story. But the fact is we only get a large snow like that once every few years. Never have I remembered getting TWO storms that size. I will look for a snow thrower that I can use on the tractor, but I'm not going to go crazy doing it.

I've been told that the single stage snow throwers aren't very good at moving heavy snow. I'm gonna run a blade with weights and chains for my 1st winter.

Fortunately I have enough tractors to have a plow on one and a blower on the other.
I plow until the banks are too high and frozen. Then I use a blower.
I have 32", 36" and 43" blowers. My favorite is a 32" that I modified to scoop more snow.
I have even blown slush. With the larger paddles, it almost never cloggs.

We've had more normal storms this year, with each one giving us from 4" to 12" per storm. Last year was crazy with the amount of snow depths we received. The blades have been working fine dealing with the snow from this year's storms.

The problem is that every time I plow, more of the stones from my driveway end up in piles along the drive. It's become an early spring ritual to go out and rake them all back into the drive and drag it flat. That's probably a good thing that time of year to help with the cabin fever.

I wasn't successful in finding a snow thrower attachment last year, but my hunt continues. I saw one the other day that has gauge wheels instead of shoes. That would work great for my stone driveway. I'll try that for sure if/when I get another thrower.

I added a page to the site yesterday about my recent dozer blade experiences. It can be accessed from the main page, or at this link:

http://vintagesearsgardentractors.com/snow_blade.html

Spence

I've used a single stage thrower on my SS12 and found myself doing a pass and then having to blow what I just moved, over and over as I couldn't get enough distance with the single stage. I've been using a plow this year till now when getting in the driveway is like threading a needle it so narrow and the banks are too high. I just this weekend adapted a 44" Wheel horse two stage snowblower to the SS12 and it worked great until the drive chain broke at the closer link (easy fix). Twelve horse is a little under powered in the super deep stuff, so I just go a little slower. In my opinion a two stage blower is the way to go.

I have had a GT16 (new in 1977) with both a dozer blade and 42" snowthrower. Last year, in NJ, we got 'hit' with several monster storms that dumped over 20" plus of drifted snow. Although my tractor has heavy-duty snow chains made from truck snow chains, 50lb wheel weights on each rear wheel and another 75lb weight on back plate, the big drifts were too much for the 16horse tractor to move. I had to cut a path, first with a small single stage blower..then work the tractor back and forth with light passes. By the time the 3rd blizzard hit (around mid Feb), I dragged my snow thrower out of storage and assembled it onto the tractor. (Past seasons, I had always kept the blower permantly mounted, since I don't have enough grass to mow in summer and all of my driveway and parking area is asphalted). Once mounted, the old drum-style single stage thrower cut through the big drifts with no problems...just keep the forward speed in lowest-gear possible with RPM's full tilt. A great product to spray inside the auger drum and chute is "Snow Go"... a silicon-based lubricant. I bought it on-line much cheaper (Amazon, I believe) than Sears.com. It works great..especially on wet-slush, since this is what clogs in the discharge chute. Just last week, my auger chain popped-off and jammed, just as I completed my last past. First time in 39 years that I had a major break-down with this blower. My first house had a stone-based driveway and I would throw a heck of a lot of stones onto my lawn for spring clean-up. This homestead has a 200 foot driveway with another 50'x75' extension in front of the garage. Hats off for a well-built piece of machinary from Sears. The only drawback switching from blade to thrower is the amount of labor needed to unhook the mounting parts, etc. ..not counting the weight of everything - especially doing it yourself. Suggest automotive floor jack with wheels and wheeled creeper for laying under tractor to assemble the rods and clips. Just this week, looked at a recently-rebuilt cub-cadet 3000 series with a refurbished 20hp B&S twin and attached 42" DUAL-stage thrower, snow chains (light duty) and rear weight box. Shop is asking $2000, would only buy it as backup for my 40 year old GT...leaving dozer blade on GT and having newer thrower available.
See pictures of Snowthrower - https://servimg.com/view/16235460/1
https://servimg.com/view/16235460/2
https://servimg.com/view/16235460/5