Rear-Facing Snow Blower

Friends

I just bought the 8N with snowblower in November. I haven't used the blower yet, but have used the N with a post hole auger and last night with a rear blade to establish a base on the driveway (we have about a foot of snow in North Bay and it was about -15 (Celcius) last night). I have been told that a rear-facing snowblower is quite a hassle (thanks, John), but it's all I have to work with this winter. I shovelled our 200ft. driveway for the last 2 years, but our new driveway is about 500ft. plus another 200-300ft to the garage and barn. Plus it's very open and we're told it will be subject to a lot of drifting.

My question/plea to this forum is this: Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make my snowblowing task easier? I do have tire chains.

Thanks

Gary from North Bay, Ontario

PS. I will try to post a picture. If I can't, it's in the Tractor Photos gallery under 19XX 8N. We've been so busy I haven't had time to look for the serial number and compare it to the ID info on this site.

Are your tires loaded?
That means full of calcium chloride in water solution (the CaCl is a cheap antifreeze and has a higher density than water for a few extra pounds). You can do it yourself or you can call a tire service who can come to do it for you. You put in tubes and just run in the solution by gravity. The extra weight is right where you need it and can help traction significantly even if you already have chains. Regarding Blowing with the Non-live PTO.
The technique you need to try to perfect is to blow enough snow to allow the reverse gear to keep moving but not too much that the engine gets overloaded. In other words if you're facing 3 feet of fluffy snow, set the height of the 3 point hitch at ~1.5 feet off the ground and complete the first pass. Then go over the same territory with the 3PH right down to clean it up. If the snow is heavier, maybe you'll have to take it off in 3 passes of 1 foot each. Just play with the goal until you get a feeling for how much the tractor will take.

I've seen one fellow on this board a few years back claim that he had found the right technique for your setup so don't be discouraged until you try it.

Regards,
John

The URL is:

Link

You can find it by right clicking when viewing the picture in the gallery and then choose properties.

John

Dean

Because underdrive will slow the pto down too.

If we are talking about a v-blade drag behinder, I would be inclined to use OVERDRIVE so the snowblower is turning rapidly, use lowest forward gear to achieve slowest drive speed.

Either way, if the snow is real heavy I don't think an N is gonna be ideal for this job.