How well do the snowthrowers work?

[Jeff in Pa]

Originally Posted by bhunter

my driveway is 600 ft long and all up hill. I did have a blade on my old tractor and had no problems pushing down but had to stay in my path going up, scratching all the way, turn around and haul a$# going back down. Figured a snow blower would work going both ways, anyone have any input. Thanks

Snow throwers do work going up and down hill. I have two caubs, one with a qa42 and the other with a 42" blade. The blade only gets used to clear off a dusting otherwise it's the QA42 as my first choice.


Plus if you get more snow later in the year, it's much easier to throw snow away from the driveway than to try to get past the mounds from earlier in the winter.

[Rescue11]

I have a qa36 a that i ran on my 129, then put it on my 1450. I have a cub cadet wind breaker cab that is a "must" if you dont want to wear snow down the front of your coat (and inside aswell =) I have a 1864 that I have ran the blower on also. Previous to the blower I used a blade. Blades will go thru alot of snow, If you have 4wd, chains, weights, etc... For moderate to deep snow, a blower, hands down will beat a blade. The flip side is using it on rocky drives, streets, sidewalks, etc is dangerous. I have had good luck with a blower in Heavy wet snow, and Light Fluffy snow. Just make sure your belt is tight and as mentioned by others, the chute is painted or lubed. However a draw back to a blower over a blade is the huge amount of wear it places on the steering mechanism. Blades do not, but Power steering fixes that little problem =). Go with a blower, find some weight and you will never hafta worry about a 2' drift!

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by Rescue11

I have a qa36 a that i ran on my 129, then put it on my 1450. I have a cub cadet wind breaker cab that is a "must" if you dont want to wear snow down the front of your coat (and inside aswell =) I have a 1864 that I have ran the blower on also. Previous to the blower I used a blade. Blades will go thru alot of snow, If you have 4wd, chains, weights, etc... For moderate to deep snow, a blower, hands down will beat a blade. The flip side is using it on rocky drives, streets, sidewalks, etc is dangerous. I have had good luck with a blower in Heavy wet snow, and Light Fluffy snow. Just make sure your belt is tight and as mentioned by others, the chute is painted or lubed. However a draw back to a blower over a blade is the huge amount of wear it places on the steering mechanism. Blades do not, but Power steering fixes that little problem =). Go with a blower, find some weight and you will never hafta worry about a 2' drift!

What's wrong with using them on sidewalks? I'm curious because I've got quite a bit of sidewalk to clear at work and I was thinking of using the QA42A this winter to do the task. I've been going back and forth between the 54" blade I've got and the QA42A, leaning towards the thrower.

[Rescue11]

Originally Posted by jimbob200521

What's wrong with using them on sidewalks? I'm curious because I've got quite a bit of sidewalk to clear at work and I was thinking of using the QA42A this winter to do the task. I've been going back and forth between the 54" blade I've got and the QA42A, leaning towards the thrower.

Im sorry, i ment if you have a sidewalk, driveway, or street that is not hard surfaced, i.e. concrete or asphalt, it will throw rocks! ! They are awsome on sidewalks!

[Humphrey]

Snowblower, anything else would be a joke for me. Don't have a blower on the cub, but I have a single stage on the simplicity and a two stage on the craftsman. Both 42". If it is fluffy the single stage will clean house, wide open in high gear and the stuff is gone. After the initial pass on heavy stuff pick a gear and take a pass just wide enough to load up the machine.

The two stage is different by all means. The augers will only feed so fast to the impeller. Usually run in first or second on a six speed. Take passes wide enough to load the machine and just chew. If the snow is light or not very deep, discharge to the front of the machine and low so as to build up enough heavy snow to launch the stuff.

Biggest storm was 30" in about 8 hours last year, overnight of course. 18" of wet snow at a whack is nothing out of the ordinary.