# Inverted blower guys... what is your plan



## snopushin ford (Feb 20, 2010)

So my question is what is your plan if you get a huge dump of snow? I know the tractors around 100hp can handle a lot of snow but what happened in Newfoundland made me start thinking. Lets hear what ya got! I keep debating on getting a rear facing blower.


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

I don’t have one, but I think all they can really do is make sure you have a FEL on it and then slowly knock down the drifts with the FEL and then blow away what you’ve knocked down. 

I’ve seen videos where bulldozers and excavators are used.

Sometimes there’s just too much snow.....


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## JoshA (Dec 12, 2008)

Blow early, blow often. 

Otherwise I agree, just like everything else except a rear facing blower, life would be quite a struggle in that kinda snow!


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

seville009 said:


> I don't have one, but I think all they can really do is make sure you have a FEL on it and then slowly knock down the drifts with the FEL and then blow away what you've knocked down.


FEL reduces the maneuverability of a tractor\blower combo. A Vplow is OK, but more than that anything off the front sucks. Always watching to make sure you're not hitting mailboxes, garbage containers, cars, etc.



JoshA said:


> Blow early, blow often.


I don't think anyone is going to work through 1.5"/hour snowfall rates and winds in excess of 80 MPH. It just isn't safe or wise.

These are basically once in a lifetime storms and normal snow management does not apply. No one reasonable is going to expect a clear driveway within 12-24 hours.

Back in '78, my dad used a front end loader to clear his driveways, after he was done with his commercials. The loader cleared the majority of it, a truck finished it.

Plowing with the storm in a case like this is as much a misnomer as any other major storm. Or zero tolerance.

You'd probably want to run in tandem because it's not a matter of possibly getting stuck, you will get stuck. So maybe a loader and blower. Or a tractor with a FEL and blower and one with just a blower. It's still going to be slow going no matter what.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

2 birds. .


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Mr.Markus said:


> 2 birds. .


I don't see any birds, just a tractor and blower.


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

Mark Oomkes said:


> FEL reduces the maneuverability of a tractor\blower combo. A Vplow is OK, but more than that anything off the front sucks. Always watching to make sure you're not hitting mailboxes, garbage containers, cars, etc.


would use it to break up those high drifts; saw pictures in the news that looked about 15' high. FEL would work it like a pile of dirt. V plow wouldn't cut it.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)




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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)




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## snopushin ford (Feb 20, 2010)

I think using the loader and blower would be my choice. I have a loader attachment and i also run chains on the front so i think i could do it. Its only more time right?? I just do 56 driveways but some are over 1000' long. I guess if a storm like that happened to me it sur would make some good stories.


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

I had a bad storm a couple of years ago, we received 80 cm's which would be just over 2 & 1/2 feet. And that doesn't include the drifting. I made it through with my 92" Normand inverted but it certainly helped that I had a 6 series JD so the blower was off the ground higher. That storm was so bad that the city had shut down and pulled plows off the street. 0 visibility, I remember after the winds died down and the city began plowing the streets, the amount of snow that was at the mouth of the driveway was so high that I had to lock in my rear differential to try and climb up it in order to pull it with the blower. I still just have my pull blowers but do look from time to time for a good used push blower.

St.John's Newfoundland can get some very serious storms, it's called the rock for a reason. Prince Edward Island does as well.


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## HadiCoop (Aug 1, 2016)

Mark Oomkes said:


> I don't see any birds, just a tractor and blower.


I see 2 big piles of snow at the garage door.


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## HadiCoop (Aug 1, 2016)

I have a tractor with a FEL and rear conventional blower. I think it’s really the best setup for big storms like the one we just got over the weekend and great for light snowfalls. Inverted blowers are great for staying on top of things, but sometimes you just get hammered and you can’t keep up and I hear if you don’t have a big enough tractor with a lot of horsepower, your almost better off with a conventional blower. You still have to back into the driveway with an inverted blower, where as with a conventional your still backing in, but your blowing on your way in instead of on the way out and your not packing down the snow either. Even with a small tractor you could handle a big storm, obviously it would take longer though.

It’s probably not safe either to be out in a storm like what NL just got. Sometimes you just gotta wait until it stops, the town was shut down anyways so nobody was going anywhere. This is where a rear conventional blower would shine or a bi-directional. And if you have a FEL, you can use your bucket or straight blade/box blade if needed.

I think it all really depends on the driveways you have that determines the piece of equipment or combination of equipment. Tractors are way better for snow removal than trucks, just my opinion though. Do not miss my plow truck one bit!


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

HadiCoop said:


> I see 2 big piles of snow at the garage door.


And removing those isn't included in the contract if it's in meatchicken, other areas may vary.
Sidebar: did I use " meatchicken" correctly? I feel I may have overstepped my range here, as I don't neccesarily belong to the OG club here. Forgive me if I have stepped out of line.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

HadiCoop said:


> I have a tractor with a FEL and rear conventional blower. I think it's really the best setup for big storms like the one we just got over the weekend and great for light snowfalls. Inverted blowers are great for staying on top of things, but sometimes you just get hammered and you can't keep up and I hear if you don't have a big enough tractor with a lot of horsepower, your almost better off with a conventional blower. You still have to back into the driveway with an inverted blower, where as with a conventional your still backing in, but your blowing on your way in instead of on the way out and your not packing down the snow either. Even with a small tractor you could handle a big storm, obviously it would take longer though.
> 
> It's probably not safe either to be out in a storm like what NL just got. Sometimes you just gotta wait until it stops, the town was shut down anyways so nobody was going anywhere. This is where a rear conventional blower would shine or a bi-directional. And if you have a FEL, you can use your bucket or straight blade/box blade if needed.
> 
> I think it all really depends on the driveways you have that determines the piece of equipment or combination of equipment. Tractors are way better for snow removal than trucks, just my opinion though. Do not miss my plow truck one bit!


The only thing holding up my plow truck is the number of newbs driving tractors throughout town holding up traffic...
We get it...trucks are for getting coffee cause who wants to spend 30 minutes driving around the corner in a tractor....


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## HadiCoop (Aug 1, 2016)

If he wasn’t going as fast, the piles might not have been that big. If we left piles like that in our area, we’d be fired no doubt. To me, that’s just a piss poor job anyways. Must be doing it cheap...

this is where having a front end loader helps to get as close as possible (within inches) to the garage door and pull the snow away and leave it looking nice. If I have to get and do the walkway, I’ll quickly clean up the little strip of snow in front of the garage, it takes an extra 5 seconds and I’m already out of the cab so it keeps the client happy. 

Depending on how much snow there is, let’s say a couple inches, I’ll pull all of it down to the road, spin around and then blow it up onto the lawn. If there’s a foot like we got over the weekend, I’ll just blow the whole driveway, spin around right in their driveway pull away from the garage all drifting or piles left from the blower and quickly push it off to the side. Another method is to drive in and back drag with the FEL the length of the machine or halfway down the driveway, and then blow on your way out. This way you wouldn’t have to turn around in their driveway or (depending on machine size) on the road. There again, it all comes down to what your doing. I have a smaller tractor which is awesome in tight areas. It works well for what I’m doing and I find it’s very versatile. You really just have more options.


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## HadiCoop (Aug 1, 2016)

Mr.Markus said:


> The only thing holding up my plow truck is the number of newbs driving tractors throughout town holding up traffic...
> We get it...trucks are for getting coffee cause who wants to spend 30 minutes driving around the corner in a tractor....


I think the newbs are onto something with the tractors, like a lot of other bigger companies all over as well. By the way, I get coffee with my tractor.

Trucks have their downsides, and so do tractors. I'm sure you need your truck because your route may be spread out. Obviously this is where the travel speed of a truck will shine. I only do in town, so a tractor is the cats ass!


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

I found a photo that was taken back about this time in 1992. Moncton, New Brunswick saw 160 cm of snow fall in 72 hours. That's over 5 feet total accumulation. Gives you an idea of just out of nowhere how things can get very serious. This area less than two hours east of me is known for storms like this.


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## snopushin ford (Feb 20, 2010)

CAT 245ME said:


> I found a photo that was taken back about this time in 1992. Moncton, New Brunswick saw 160 cm of snow fall in 72 hours. That's over 5 feet total accumulation. Gives you an idea of just out of nowhere how things can get very serious. This area less than two hours east of me is known for storms like this.
> View attachment 200669


wow thats crazy!! I do want to experience something like that in my lifetime. Do you have a rear facing blower?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

snopushin ford said:


> wow thats crazy!! I do want to experience something like that in my lifetime. Do you have a rear facing blower?


No you don't.


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

snopushin ford said:


> wow thats crazy!! I do want to experience something like that in my lifetime. Do you have a rear facing blower?


No, but I do keep an eye out for a used 98" Normand. Here is a company blowing driveways on Prince Edward Island with a 7 series JD


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## HadiCoop (Aug 1, 2016)

The only way to do it ^^^


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## snopushin ford (Feb 20, 2010)

Mark Oomkes said:


> No you don't.


come on, where is your sense of adventure!!


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

snopushin ford said:


> come on, where is your sense of adventure!!


I've seen 5'+ in 4-5 days, it isn't fun. That was when Buffalo got 7' in the same time frame. We plowed everything twice starting at midnight and finishing early afternoon. By midnight there would be another 10-12" on everything.That was the official total. Our airport is on the east side of town, away from the lake. We had a couple routes about 10 miles closer to the lake, they had 6'+ on that side of town.

I've seen 22" and tons of wind in 24 hours. That was a weekend and wasn't so bad, everything just shut down. Still took 2 weeks to get everything cleaned up...fire exits shoveled, snow pushed back, etc.

There's adventure and there's sanity. And I didn't have much to start with. I know of one contractor that did have a mental breakdown during that storm.


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## zlssefi (Dec 29, 2011)

Connecticut had a storm about 6 years ago that was 34 inches in 18 hours. Again, luckily it was a Friday night and everything shut down for the weekend, except the air traffic control tower that we do. Our guys kicked ass, stayed in dedicated spots on each account to limit travelling. travel was basically impossible unless you plowed your way around. Even the state guys went back to their garage at midnight and weren't seen again until afternoon on Saturday.


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