David Eilers

Snow Day

Today we received our first "big" snow. Anything over a few inches is a big snow for us. So, I'll be shoveling and using the tractor to clear some area. Thankfully, this stuff should melt pretty quickly over the next few days.

Anyone plow with a quad or ATV/UTV? Is that heavy enough to do a decent plow job? Most of my plowing is pavement (about a half acre worth). We could use a small little runabout vehicle for the property anyway.

2022-01-06-snow-day-lowres

15 Comments

  1. Barry
    Dave - The perfect opportunity to buy another CJ! You need a FARM JEEP, not an ATV/UTV. I'm betting for about the same amount of money you can find a road worthy CJ with a snow plow setup. Come on eWillys world - Let's find Dave a plow Jeep! Barry
  2. Allan J. Knepper
    "small little runabout vehicle"..........isn't that the definition of a flat fender Willys ??? Please don't go over to the dark side and drop down $30,000 for a piece of crap Willys wannabe ATV/UTV. My input as a really old man would be.......enjoy many iterations of Willys .......but.....to do real work plowing snow, seems most Willys set ups are OK, but really not up to the task of getting lots of snow moved quickly. Also, not only with a Jeep, but any vehicle with a plowing history.......it really beats them up......frame, springs, driveshafts, axles, etc. etc. If you really want to get snow work done......you already have a tractor......lots of snowblower setups available as well as blades that can be made to work with your loader or attached separately.
  3. Richard L Czerwonka
    Dave, Just moved to Spirit Lake Idaho this last fall (october). We have around thirty inches accumulated and have plowed about 8 times. I have a 42' ford 2N with a plow blade I run in reverse, and a troybuilt snoblower... So far just having fun moving snow but my neighbors all have 4x4 quads with sno-pushers that seem to do very well.
  4. Cj667v6
    heres the big reason you get a --- JEEP --- registered trademark -- and dont buy an " ATV " ---> JEEPS CAN DRIVE ON PUBLIC ROADS !!! -- ever see an " ATV " out on the INTERSTATE ?? ... i didnt think so ... i drove my multi-purpose 1967 CJ-6 V-6 to another state last week , on an interstate highway , over a high mountain pass , 4200 feet above mean sea level , it has a warn overdrive -- when i got back to the ranch , i put the warn hubs in and used it to haul all the beer cans off the property , my snow event has melted off ..
  5. David Eilers
    I figured my question my trigger various responses :-) Rick: Spirit Lake is one area where we looked for places to live. It is a beautiful area. Hayden Lake, CDA, and Fighting Creek (south of CDA) always felt like home as I had family there growing up. I hope you enjoy it (and thanks for the feedback). Vernon: actually, people around here drive at a on the road all the time. But, I hear ya. Allen: I am definitely not interested in the high end atv/utvs. None of my current jeeps are setup to be a useful tool for working around the property. Moreover, a quad/atv is something Ann can use more easily. Barry: if there was a turn key plow Jeep near me I would consider it, but plow jeeps are rare here. I just don’t want another project. I could just get a plow blade for my tractor (and might still do that), but I still need a small runabout vehicle for the property (doesn’t even have to be 4WD). I plowed the driveway and parking lot with my tractor and the dump bucket. It worked okay, but a plow blade with a rubber bottom would be better and quicker (I had to be very careful with the height of the bucket so I wasn’t damaging the pavement).
  6. John
    You should be able to get some skids or easily make some ( Think feet on washing machine or dryer) to adjust to keep blade off pavement. For a tractor you may also need wheel weights to put a little more pressure on ground to push the snow. Good luck with whatever you find.
  7. Tom in Paris
    We're getting our first good snow today too. So far we've gotten about 8 inches, so everything is shut down. I plowed my driveway (150 feet) with my lawn tractor fitted with a 42 inch blade. Took my CJ-5 around the neighborhood, and met a UTV that had been doing donuts. I yelled "Get a Jeep!" at him just for fun. If the snow is dry and not real heavy, I have no trouble moving it with my John Deere mower with the blade and tire chains installed.
  8. Jack B.
    Hi Dave, I've been moving snow for almost 40 years here in eastern Idaho. You can find a lot of different ways to push it, but for my money nothing beats a good snow blower. It looks like you've got quite of property there, you need one of those nice green and yellow lawn tractors with a mower deck and enough power to run one of their two stage blowers. Jack
  10. Barry
    Dave, You might check out https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/snow-removal/ for some ideas on using your tractor. We haven't gotten much snow in the last couple of years, but I plow a 1400' gravel driveway (elevation change of 250') with a 1964 Cub-Loboy with a 54" front blade (for under 6") and a New Holland TC40DA 4x4 with a 7' blade mounted on the FEL. The idea for latter setup came from the TractorByNet folks. Here is thread http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/150546/#post-1703531 of Jeep guys mixing quads, tractors and Jeeps. But I would really like a cab and have hopes of adding a top and a front blade if I ever get our 2a put back together.
  11. CraigInPA
    My neighbor tries to plow with his large ATV. It's useless if there's more than 2" of snow on the ground. Here in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, if it's less than 2", and the weather forecast isn't for another snow storm for the next week, you don't even bother to plow or shovel. Mother Nature will take care of the snow for you.
  12. David Eilers
    After some research yesterday, I ran across some snow pushers, which seem to work really well on paved parking lots (pusher examples: https://www.landpride.com/products/842/spl05-series-loader-mount-snow-pushers), though the price of these is way more than I want to pay. I think I could build a pusher that would meet my needs. I have a quick release system on my tractor, so I might be best served to create a quick release template that attaches to the tractor arms to which I could attach a home made snow pusher (as well as other items that I haven't thought of yet). Craig: That was my concern, that the ATV's might be too light, especially if the snow is wet. We get some wet and some dry snow here. Barry: Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. Martin: I forgot about that one (I think I listed it on eWillys, too). Jack: At this point, we don't *usually* get enough snow to warrant a blower. Most of the time, it's just a few inches. John: For a skid idea for a bucket, I ran across a mention of some folks attaching a PVC pipe to the bottom of their bucket. I don't know how well it would hold up, but might be a quick, cheap solution (worth a try as I have extra PVC pipe).
  13. Allan J. Knepper
    Dave......looks like you are getting a lot of good input. I too have heard good things about using the PVC solution for the edge of the blade. I am going to improvise that idea on the bucket of my Case 530 loader tractor. Also....lots of blades use "shoes" on the bottom which are simply round steel pads with a shaft/pipe welded to them. They can fit in a sleeve or bracket and let you keep the blade or bucket edge slightly off the surface. As to your "quick tach/detach" idea. There are a LOT of solutions out there for mounting of tools on the front of skidloaders/skidsteers which can easily be adapted to blades and buckets. Lastly......you may need more weight on the back of the tractor for some tasks. I you have a 3pt., there are a variety of "carriers" that mount on the back and are very handy for tasks on the property and keep the bucket free for digging, pushing etc. Depending on the heftiness of the carrier, you can then add weight inside the carrier in the Winter.......old cracked engine blocks work great !!! Have fun
  15. Mark J
    Dave, Check outa snowsport plow. I think DR sells one under there name. It requires a front receiver (2") . The plow frame slips into the 2" receiver and pins there same as std hitch would The frame is H shaped and weigh's around 100lbs (May be less). The Plow is an aluminum extruded affair that has a 1 inch thick rubber cutting edge on the bottom and the sides. To haul the plow is lifted to the hooks in the top of the frame. To Plow the plow is looped over the upper frame and drops down to the ground. This system is powered by (ARM/Back Strong) if you know what i mean but there is nothing to hook up, no chains, hydraulics or wiring. This thing pushes snow and when you back up it simply back drags. I am in my 14th season with mine and am in Maine so this thing works ! It also stores easily . Good luck ! Mark

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