# dually & 4x4 snowblower



## GLS (Nov 22, 2001)

Anybody see these yet? I was at farm & fleet and saw the yardman dually. It's a beast...it weighs a ton!


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## DYNA PLOW (Oct 14, 2000)

can you say marketing gimmic?
dan


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## Big Nate's Plowing (Nov 26, 2000)

I saw the cub cadet last year marketed as a craftsman 4x4 blower looks like another case of a different paint job


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## J.Henderson (Feb 11, 2001)

Were these at the F&F in Moline? I was there last Thursday and didn't see them.


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## Kent Lawns (Jan 18, 2000)

What is the width, hp and $ of the dually?


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## Mike Paulsen (Nov 16, 2000)

Think the dually is a 13 hp 45"cut for about $2300


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## Kent Lawns (Jan 18, 2000)

Thanks, Mike!


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## CT18fireman (Nov 30, 2000)

Someone tell Casey quick!!!


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Unless there's some kind of diff kit it would be pretty tough on the shoulders&back in extended use. The Toro PS units with diff. would likely have the same traction in rear wheel mode & be easier to maneuver. Never used one but the 13hp is likely not enough to power a 45" swath.


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## Got Grass? (Feb 18, 2001)

Yeah, I've seen them arround hee under diffrent names cant remember what tho.
Casey does have a point that thay would be hard to turn if the wheels were locked. I imagine thay took that into concideration during design. 

The blowers I like are the ones with Tracks, like a dozer only to scale. Havent seen them arround latly. Thay were on a chain drive much like a WB belt drive for turning. Only problem with them is thay lacked blowing power. People would get the thing jamed in the snow and with snow, by going to fast. That was the only way to stop them. 
Most blowers are not hard to turn at all as usually snow and ice are slick.


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## GLS (Nov 22, 2001)

Jeffrey:

Yes, this was at the farm and fleet in moline. I only saw the yard man dually, not the cub cadet, I just found that on their web page. It was just to the left of the toy land setup.

All of the specs and pricing are on their web pages (mtdproducts.com).


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## Evan528 (Jan 12, 2000)

Casey, I own a toro snow blower with power shift. When the power shift is engaged most of the machines weight is on the front of the machine so it dosnt have much traction. You actually have to put some pressure down on the handles to get it to move in certain instances. This machine will go through 2 ft of snow without lifting up over the snow wich is great...but does it have traction...no!


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

True. The only time we use PS is for banks at the end of drives. Haven't had a problem with slippage with the dif locked and PS off and with PS on it usually plows right through unless it's heavily compacted. That dually would likely run through 10 ft of snow if they put on a bigger engine to clear. How would you turn that beast???
BTW Toro now claims the dif kit is standard on all PS units, but if you buy in Canada it doesn't come included, which they neglect to mention. Dealer install & kit after purchase cost about $500 more than the 1232 PS which for some reason had the dif kit preinstaled when Toro claimed it as an option. I've been burned by Toro snow & lawn due to their innacurate literature. I now ask alot of questions when buying Toro.


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## J.Henderson (Feb 11, 2001)

Saw the Cub Cadet at Walmart. $1395.00 Has levers under the left and right grips for turning better. Want to turn left, grab the left one, want to turn right, then squeeze the right one. These along with the normal drive lever. Looked sweet. I recall had a 33" mouth on it and a 13hp motor.


OryanO, ready for some white stuff in the quad's? Are you independant or do you contract with someone?


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## Mike Paulsen (Nov 16, 2000)

the blowers have power steering . The work very good. My blowers have them. They are friction drive. When one of the controls on the handles are pulled then it stops drive to that side of the blower. We've put both controls on the right side so the left hand is free to run the shute at all times. Ours have track drive and I wish we had tires now because I think they would be faster.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Is that on a Cub, Honda or somehing bigger?
Would love to convince Toro to produce a 3215 hydro t-bar PS with joystick chute control.


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## Mike Paulsen (Nov 16, 2000)

That's on a craftman 928. Made by MTD. Have a yardman that has it to. Right now I'm looking at by a com. walk behind mower and have a blower from Rad put on it. Exmark and Snapper are at the top of my list. Exmark would be better for the mowing part of the year but with snapper you buy the traction unit and add the deck size to it .With snapper you can go with a 23hp engine and i think the more power for snow the better.


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## Kent Lawns (Jan 18, 2000)

You can get 23hp Kaw or 23hp Koh on the eXmark and add a 52" or 60" deck.

I don't know who makes a snowplower that would bolt right on, though.

~Sounds like a custom fab job.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Rad attachments page for Exmark claims a 44" swath blower for a TT46" WB????

Also this catch 22 statement "requires an optional drive kit"

Think I'd prefer to stick with designated blowers.


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## GLS (Nov 22, 2001)

J.Henderson, i'm waitin for the snow...I hope it's like last year, that was quite of bit of snow for this area. I am just independant.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

> _Originally posted by J.Henderson _
> *Saw the Cub Cadet at Walmart. $1395.00 Has levers under the left and right grips for turning better. Want to turn left, grab the left one, want to turn right, then squeeze the right one. *


Been wondering how well those levers work? Do they assist you with the start of the turn & then you swing the blower around or do you make wide turns? Don't the levers interfere with chute control? Have found the MTD 1028's light enough to swing around or use in 1 wheel drive in light stuff.


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## CT18fireman (Nov 30, 2000)

They work on the same principle as walk behind mowers. Not susre how well or the excat system. For lawnmowers it works well.


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## 4 Saisons (Dec 27, 2000)

I have one dually 13x45 and last year i did close 60 residential only with that. Set up was a 92 corolla 4wd and a 4X6.5 trailer.
even faster than a 30 hp tractor 54" blower. 

The axle is well supported but they still use bushing. 

Now, with the power steering, there is now no weak point at the center of the axle( I also dream of that for my ford's ttb) and is working very great, ya to turn right, pressing trigger right unlock a kind of differenciel on the right side (not really remenber well the way it's look like! I saw it once, it was during a storm minor downtime(fry belt), so the i take look closer with the wrecker and i was satisfied of the patent.) do a 360 on one wheel.

Front auger are fragile, same gage as the 33". need to replace both side at 150can$ each, if i buy them, they will be renforced before going under the carriage. Not sure mines will last the whole season even with re-alignement and welding job we did.


I also have 3 13hp33" (92,94) so most spare part fit for all.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

> _Originally posted by 4 Saisons _
> *I have one dually 13x45 and last year i did close 60 residential only with that.
> . *


Was wondering your average drive size & time to complete 60 drives with 1 blower.


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## 4 Saisons (Dec 27, 2000)

caseys

most driveway were double size, average may be 20x30, and near 10 were more than 1000sf, + walkway and stair

the average time needed to do the route was between 4 to 6 hours.complete job on light snow(less than 6 inches) or partial during storm.

I have few on a 2 lanes boulevard and with the bombardier clearing the walkways, those big apron are the most thought job to do, one of them is 30 feet width and it's no so bad to do, but it's need to be need behind the grader because after that, the effect of the salt & calcium will bring the apron slusshy and it will be another story to blow it..

the key of the success...an easy loading/unloading system, to save your backbone and be quick as you can. (could be done up to 150 times during a storm)

I was working solo, this year for my new employe I give him a 40 res, on the same route as the city loader. I will be happy if he doing right with is. Last years my whole route was over 3 city plow route...so this years will be easier to manage(= more driveway)


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

> _Originally posted by 4 Saisons _
> *
> 
> most driveway were double size, average may be 20x30, and near 10 were more than 1000sf, + walkway and stair
> ...


Your back & shoulders must take a beating doing 60 drives with a 1345 dually. Have you tried running a Toro 3650 single or an MTD 1028 in light stuff? Have found the ability to easily maneuver these units offsets their smaller width. Plus there is no reloading, or shovels necessary to work around cars or down narrow walks.
Sounds like you're running under 10 min. per drive as is.


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## Mike Paulsen (Nov 16, 2000)

4 Saisons that's what I've found too is the key of speed is in the loading and unloading. I've made a sled that goes on the back of the truck so the ones close together you can just drive the blower onto it. If you are two man team one guy can stand on it with the blower and be dropped off right in front of the driveway. Saved alot of time.


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## 4 Saisons (Dec 27, 2000)

Casey, did you ever try one. A 13/45 is easto drive as 10/28.

About blowing between car, like a truck...no services it's write on the contract, black on white, customer needs to remove is car from the driveway.

No problem with narrow walkway, only one problem with a gate, but does not matter me to shovel one walk. also no problem with the front of the garage door.

Yup 6 an hour is the average but in fact where i have a high density of customers it goes up to 10-12 an hour. usually i'am out of the car for less than 4 minutes.

Work great for me, not neccessary for every one.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

4 Saisons,
I run a blowers & trailer setup on all our res. drives. Have found it productive & profitable. We work around cars as I found it difficult to syncronize car removal with an unpredictable schedule. Was thinking of adding a 45" width for some larger drives but had concerns with turning ability (which sounds acceptable) & ability of the 13hp to process enough power to clear 45" width in heavier falls.


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## kutnkru (Jan 3, 2001)

Hey casey I was wondering if it wouldnt benefit your operation to possibly add even one of those cheap $900 snobears to your vehicle??? 

This way you could push the piles at the end of the drives to the sides while the other guy was clearing the drive/walks. I would think that the time you saved clearing out near the street you could add two or three more clients per route???

Just curious.
Kris


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Kris,
If that's the Wally World plow, I tried one as a back-up & on a few larger drives a couple years ago. Let's just say you get what you pay for. No down pressure, garbage, junk, POS. Might be good for a homeowner with a long drive but I doubt it.


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## kutnkru (Jan 3, 2001)

I can see where the down pressure issue could be a severe problem. I just figured that it could save your blower crews some major time trying to inch thru the bigger berms of snow at the ends of the drives.

Wasnt even thinking in terms of driveway use, solely for clearing the ends of the drives. One swipe left on swipe right ... nothing more nothing less.

Just a thought, guess not.
Kris


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Toro PS does it better.
But I actually tried that for plow banks in '99 when we got a huge storm.


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## mtnbkn9 (Nov 29, 2001)

I was at the Moline F&F with J. Henderson And I didn't see them either


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## GLS (Nov 22, 2001)

> *I was at the Moline F&F with J. Henderson And I didn't see them either*


 Sorry, I was just there too, they must have got rid of it!


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## DaveK (Jul 9, 2001)

*What's your opinion of this one.*










I saw this one at the local hardware. Only 28"width but has some nice features. I don't use blowers now so I have no idea what brands are best. I do know that Honda has the best engines. 

Specs on this one:
10 HP Snow King Engine (who makes Snow King engines?)

Track Drive with Weight Transfer System (sounds good, is it?)

Power Steering with Trigger Control

6 Fwd/2 Rev

Heated Hand Grips (Didn't have those 10 years ago)

Power Chute Electric Rotation (toggle switch to rotate schute direction)

Convenient One Handed Operation (you can still eat donuts  )

Oil Included in Engine (imagine that)

So what's the verdict, yea or nea?
Suggested retail price $1199


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## Kent Lawns (Jan 18, 2000)

1.) Snow King is made by Tecumseh.

Which really isn't bad because they don't get many hours and being a snowblower they don't get hot.

As long as it starts and had good power... it's just a different set of requirements than a lawn mower. Tecumseh kinda has a niche in the snowblower market.

2.) The weight transfer makes sure you have good traction that it cleans well. It works well with tires, I don't know about with tracks.

3.) Heated grips... it's not like you're not wearing gloves. It's new on a snowblower, I think. Works well on snowmobiles, I know.

4.) Electric chute rotation: To our company that would be the big one. Depending on your situation, that could be a real nice feature.


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## DaveK (Jul 9, 2001)

I checked out the chute rotation close up. Seems to have an adequate sized motor with gear drive to rotate chute. Nearly the same size as the one that engages the transfer case on my truck.

I would think that the tracks would have more traction than tires. But then I haven't used a snowblower in so many years that I don't know if traction is a concern.


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## Kent Lawns (Jan 18, 2000)

It must have electric start with a battery to run the electric chute rotator?

I personally wouldn't get tracks because on manuverability and maintenance reasons. I just don't think they're necessary most of the time.


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## DaveK (Jul 9, 2001)

Yes, it had electric start.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Tecumseh Snow King's 8, 10, &13hp have been very reliable, some with 4 years com use & no major probs.
Have wondered about those tracks when I looked at a Honda 2 stage. Dealer & common sense tells me tight turns would be very difficult. Good for straight blowing but not tight confines.


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## DaveK (Jul 9, 2001)

> Good for straight blowing but not tight confines.


I would think it would turn as tight as any blower. 
Stop one track and keep the other turning.....

If they would only make it to work like an excavator or even a skidsteer....... then it would turn on a dime.


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## casey (May 14, 2001)

Personally I'd stay away from tracks & unlocking axles on a 1028. They're light enough to yank around. Only benefit I see would be for sidewalks, & possibly better traction.


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