tigercat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2012
- Threads
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- 280
This is my thought process on upgrading my snow removal equipment around my home. Your areas could be different and therefore your outcome choices might be different.
I'm getting older and I don't like the cold anymore, so I was thinking about the upcoming winter with any improvements I could do with my equipment to make my snow clearing job a little easier and therefore sooner to be back into the warm house.
My property is flat with a driveway that can easily park 15 cars. I have 200 feet of sidewalk to clear near the road and around the side and back of the house. The sidewalks are 54" wide. The sidewalks must be cleared or the town will give you a gift after 72 hours.
Currently, if we get 10" of snow it will most likely be 1 1/2 hours before I'm finished, maybe sooner if it's powdery stuff.
Currently my snow blower is a Ariens Platinum 30" with hand warmers. A 28" deluxe as a back up. The 30" does a fine job, but again I'm looking for a faster job. Ariens is one of the best and most popular in my area. So I will only consider this brand. It has a removable snow cab which is welcome with wet or blowing conditions.
So here are my upgrade ideas:
I was thinking of a plow for my Jeep or pickup to help along with the time. After looking at different models and prices, I concluded I still need to fire up the blower to do the walks and back side of the house. So for me the plow is a waste of money.
I then started looking at a John Deere X370 with 44" blower up front. Then because I don't want to sit in the cold, I was thinking of adding a hard cab for it. It will be about $8,000 for my dream of speed. I can do everything with this set up, plus using a wider cut. I should knock off my time by 35% I guess.
Then I really looked into the Deere Blower set-up. The cons could be reliability. I think the X370 should run fine, but they recommend that $100 grill cover because of the air cleaner could freeze up and cause engine issues. Ok, no big deal.
Then I noticed the 44" blower has a 12" plastic impeller. The height of the housing is 18". The size of the impeller, the height of the housing and the plastic impeller ( I can get 18" plus with the plow drifts by the road.) The blower is not tall enough, and that impeller is plastic. These issues with the blower is a turn off.
Lastly the parking. I can park this in the garage but it will become annoying at times. I simply don't want to over crowd the already full garage.
So I started looking at the third option, a larger 2 stage Ariens. Ariens makes the Professional model with a 36" wide blower. The auger is 16" in size. It has a hydrostatic transmission so this should run with no maintenance. I can add the snow cab when it's really crappy outside not to get extra wet or to cut the wind down on my face.
I think with the bigger impeller, the Ariens should blow snow more efficiently. The width will be almost the size of the John Deere set-up, so on heavy snow the time for clean up will be the same or faster. Light snow the tractor will be faster because it is wider. There are really no cons with this choice. I'm getting fat so to walk a little is better for your health as well. It will keep me warmer then sitting on a cold tractor as well.
So I'm going down to the dealer tomorrow to order / purchase the Ariens Professional model with a 36" wide blower, model # 926072 snow blower. It's around $3,500 so the price is 1/2 what the tractor is.
I have an older Ariens 28" that I will sell to offset the price a little. Regardless I'm still spending a lot of money to attempt to finish up my walks in a quicker fashion. I hate the cold!
I hope my thoughts on upgrading may help someone less experienced in their snow removal choices. :smile:
I'm getting older and I don't like the cold anymore, so I was thinking about the upcoming winter with any improvements I could do with my equipment to make my snow clearing job a little easier and therefore sooner to be back into the warm house.
My property is flat with a driveway that can easily park 15 cars. I have 200 feet of sidewalk to clear near the road and around the side and back of the house. The sidewalks are 54" wide. The sidewalks must be cleared or the town will give you a gift after 72 hours.
Currently, if we get 10" of snow it will most likely be 1 1/2 hours before I'm finished, maybe sooner if it's powdery stuff.
Currently my snow blower is a Ariens Platinum 30" with hand warmers. A 28" deluxe as a back up. The 30" does a fine job, but again I'm looking for a faster job. Ariens is one of the best and most popular in my area. So I will only consider this brand. It has a removable snow cab which is welcome with wet or blowing conditions.
So here are my upgrade ideas:
I was thinking of a plow for my Jeep or pickup to help along with the time. After looking at different models and prices, I concluded I still need to fire up the blower to do the walks and back side of the house. So for me the plow is a waste of money.
I then started looking at a John Deere X370 with 44" blower up front. Then because I don't want to sit in the cold, I was thinking of adding a hard cab for it. It will be about $8,000 for my dream of speed. I can do everything with this set up, plus using a wider cut. I should knock off my time by 35% I guess.
Then I really looked into the Deere Blower set-up. The cons could be reliability. I think the X370 should run fine, but they recommend that $100 grill cover because of the air cleaner could freeze up and cause engine issues. Ok, no big deal.
Then I noticed the 44" blower has a 12" plastic impeller. The height of the housing is 18". The size of the impeller, the height of the housing and the plastic impeller ( I can get 18" plus with the plow drifts by the road.) The blower is not tall enough, and that impeller is plastic. These issues with the blower is a turn off.
Lastly the parking. I can park this in the garage but it will become annoying at times. I simply don't want to over crowd the already full garage.
So I started looking at the third option, a larger 2 stage Ariens. Ariens makes the Professional model with a 36" wide blower. The auger is 16" in size. It has a hydrostatic transmission so this should run with no maintenance. I can add the snow cab when it's really crappy outside not to get extra wet or to cut the wind down on my face.
I think with the bigger impeller, the Ariens should blow snow more efficiently. The width will be almost the size of the John Deere set-up, so on heavy snow the time for clean up will be the same or faster. Light snow the tractor will be faster because it is wider. There are really no cons with this choice. I'm getting fat so to walk a little is better for your health as well. It will keep me warmer then sitting on a cold tractor as well.
So I'm going down to the dealer tomorrow to order / purchase the Ariens Professional model with a 36" wide blower, model # 926072 snow blower. It's around $3,500 so the price is 1/2 what the tractor is.
I have an older Ariens 28" that I will sell to offset the price a little. Regardless I'm still spending a lot of money to attempt to finish up my walks in a quicker fashion. I hate the cold!
I hope my thoughts on upgrading may help someone less experienced in their snow removal choices. :smile: