Thrower vs. Blade

[Smittyizer]

So, a little background:

This will be my second winter using my 782 to clear the snow from my concrete drive and out into the cul de sac of my suburban neighborhood. The tractor came with a 42” manual blade, but I have no weights or chains.
Last year, the unit worked well, and I enjoyed the little bit of time it took with this setup to clear things off. Exception being the whole manual tilt arrangement slowing things down. As winter wound down, I got it set in my head to go ahead and add a dual spool valve setup and front ports and convert the plow to power angle. A few months of collecting parts and a couple of days of actual conversion, and that job was done. All good for snow now! Until...I saw a qa42a thrower for what I thought to be a good price. So, I brought it home, changed the drive pulley and a few other things and had it all ready to go a few weeks ago with anticipation that I’d be set for anything now. And then came the snow.

Yesterday about 1pm it started here. Temperature was in the mid to upper 20’s all day, and still today. The snow lasted til maybe 11 last night I guess, about 2” is all that accumulated though. Finally got out mid morning to go play with the new to me thrower.

My experience is that the tractor has plenty of power to run that thing, and it does a fine job of cleaning down to the concrete. But...moderately wet snow like is common this time of year in my area really packs up in the chute, especially with the little protective fingers mounted in it. After these were out of the way, it did much better. Threw the snow maybe 6-8 feet at best though, and that is with a bit smaller drive pulley on the thrower gearbox, and still running wide open. I admit there is still some rust in the chute that could hinder performance some. Overall, I was satisfied though with the performance of the unit on my drive. When I went out into the cul de sac to clear what the plow truck had piled along the curb in front of my mailbox though, that was a different story. Since this snow had already been compacted and even more slushy than the stuff in my drive, there was no throwing it at all. It plugged the chute almost immediately.

So, that experiment over, I dropped the thrower and mounted up the blade. This time with power angle control.

Oh my! That’s the ticket for me. Can run it around the neighborhood at just over an idle, don’t get snow blown into my face, and still have good control over where I’m putting the white stuff!

I’m not going to give up on the qa42, as I have an idea in freshly dropped or powdery snow, and especially in deeper snow, it will probably do better than the blade. For now though, I’m leaving the blade mounted.

Anybody have any comments or suggestions on similar observations?

[R Bedell]

Your observations are correct.

Light or dry snow....snowthrower is good

Heavy or Wet Snow ....Blade is good.

You could always get a second Cub Cadet Tractor, and put a piece of snow equipment on each, and cover all the bases.

[Cambria cub]

And seems to me pushing snow is a little faster then blowing snow.

[bugeye]

Yup. Same experience wet vs. dry snow. Blower is heavy and will need more rear weight to counter balance for traction. With deeper snow, a plow may be traction limited. I have had to remove the plow and mount the blower as conditions warrant. Both are fun. Try silicone spray in the chute.

[Cub Cadet 123]

Plow is a lot more versatile. It can move snow, dirt, gravel, sand, mulch, debris, etc. and help grade land (though it isn't the best for that). The thrower is good for certain snow removal. A tractor for each implement is very handy and would explain why many of us have several tractors......or at least that is the reason we tell people to justify our addiction.

Cub Cadet 123

[Leadslingingdaddy]

I spray my chutes with Pam cooking spray from the dollars stores

[Sam Mac]

I have had both. Had a blade on a Cub 1210 along with a Yamaha blower with tracks. Used the blade unless the snow was 12" or more and dry. I found that it was easier to plow every 4-6" then hit the edges with the blower. Then I bought a used BX2200 and I built a snow plow for it. Sold the blade from the Cub and the blower never looked back. The BX2200 went down the road and was replaced with a BX2660 and a new modified plow. Pic is from when I lived in CT.

[alsparl]

I have the same machine set up as the OP (782 w/ blade) but I also use a 5hp 24" 2-stage walk-behind unit. If we get more than 3-4" of snow, my walk-behind is what I have to use. With neighbors on both sides of my 150' x 30' +/- driveway, I have to be a bit accurate where I place the snow and where I it to end up and continue to build my snow bank without throwing it all on the neighbors.

I used to have issues with the impeller and chute clogging in heavy, wet snow until I made a change (not original; just frustrated, searched, found solution). I noticed the impeller housing was about 3/4" larger diameter than the impeller itself all the way around. I took rubber mudflap material and made an extension to each of the 3 impeller blades so the end of the rubber flap was touching the exterior of the housing. I used (2) self-drilling screws on each flap to attach to the impeller. I have no more clogs and the distance is greater in all kinds of snow as is the more closely patterned discharge at that distance.

I have never tried this on a PTO driven unit like a QA42, only my walk-behind.

[Rescue11]

Its pretty much been said, the blower(thrower in your case) works better the more snow you have. Heavy snow works ok, but make sure to keep a stick NOT YOUR HAND for un plugging the chute. Oh, and keep the belt tight!!

I like a blade and rear bucket for lesser amounts of snow, rocky areas and heavy snow. Like Roland said, a tractor on each is ideal. Especially a Cab for the one running a blower. Working on getting everything set up that way again. Havent actually used a cub for snow removal in years! Good luck. Have pictures?

[Gompers]

As others have said, it’s pretty ideal to have both.

Those single stage throwers really shine in 6”+ of light snow. Keeping them loaded down is key. If you keep the chute full, they will throw a decent distance. The 2 stage blowers will move the snow a lot further, especially when it’s heavy and wet. If you run across a 450 or 364 blower at a decent price, you’ll probably be much happier with the performance, but they are quite a bit bigger than the QA single stage blowers.

As long as you have room to push the snow, a power angle blade is pretty ideal for pretty much everything though.

Weights and chains are an absolute game changer for both attachments. I won’t call them absolutely necessary if you’re on flat ground, but once you plow with them you won’t want to plow without them.