# Blower advice - steep 200ft driveway



## jdnj1985 (Jul 25, 2019)

Hello all,

New to the forum here. I recently purchased a 1.2 acre property here in the northeast. The driveway to the property is approximately 200' in length and has a very steep grade (maybe 15%??). Photo evidence:










I'm assessing my needs for the upcoming winter. In my area, we can get anyway from 6" - 18" depending on the storm. I currently own an Ariens Deluxe 24 which served me well at my previous, small, flat property.

My initial plan was to upgrade to a track drive machine (Ariens Hydro Pro 28 RapidTrak or Honda HSS928/HSS1332), yet was told by a neighbor that while tracks are great, they may slip in icy conditions. Is there truth to this?

My backup plan was to get some heavy duty chains with v-bar for my current blower, yet I'm not sure if this would work either.

My last solution is to pick up a used ATV and attach a plow.

Can anyone, based on experience, shed some light and share suggestions?

Thank you!


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

* ALOHA From The Paradise City. :smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027:*


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## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

My brother has a VERY steep driveway about 100 yards long, and he has been using a Craftsman track drive blower for 30 years with no problem.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

*steep driveway*

Joel at Earth Tools has a sale going on now for their BCS tractors and implements.

The 11 horsepower BCS 739 with the honda engine like all the BCS tractors is gear driven. 
The Berta 2 stage snow blower with the 28 inch cut is gear driven as well. The 28 inch Berta 2 stage snow blower that is the recommended snow blower for it is heavy and will not ride up on the snow pack and will be able to handle the END OF DRIVEWAY MONSTER with no issues.

I guess I would look at the total utility of the machine as you can mount a flail mower or rotary mower with a bagger on the BCS 739 to let you have 3 seasons use of the BCS 739 2 wheel tractor every year with the snow blower and the lawn mower. BCS has many attachments for their 2 wheel tractors and it looks like the 739 would be a good match for your property as you can ride a sulky while mowing or using the snow blower too.

A dedicated snow blower is a one season tool but a 2 wheel tractor is a 4 season tool with snow blower and chains or a sweeper to clear leaves or small accumulations of snow. 


I would check with Joel at earth tools as a BCS 739 and a BERTA 28 inch snow blower may be less money than a honda 1332.

BCS has a nationwide network of dealers and repair shops as well and buying the 739 and the 28 inch snow blower from Joel will save you money. 

Here is the phone number for Earth Tools; 502-484-3088.

Before Joel ships a 2 wheel tractor or the owner picks it up he runs it and makes sure everything works correctly before the owner takes possession of it at the farm or it is shipped to the owner from Earth Tools.


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

That's a pretty long drive, I would first see how the tires go first as new blowers are NOT any cheaper in the warmer months, If you can find one for sale new at all. You may find it either works fine or you need the tracks, The Honda is a really nice machine but expensive, I also like the Ariens Rapid Track and it moves pretty quickly.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Hard to find unless you look used but I'd suspect a machine with an actual gear transmission would likely be better than a friction disc machine.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

From The Earth tools web site

These are summer sale prices Until 31 August 2019:

The base price for the BCS 739 with the honda GX340 engine,wet clutch, parking brake and electric and manual start is $3,619.00 plus tax 

The BERTA 28 inch 2 stage snow blower is $1,799.00 plus tax 

The remote spout control for the BERTA 28 inch snow blower is $200.00 plus tax

The shipping cost plus tax would be determined by the freight company to your door.

I don't have a price for V bar snow chains for the 5 by 10 by 20 R2 AG tires but they can be found at www.tirechains.com


Disclaimer: I have no affiliation or financial interest with Earth Tools or BCS.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

A good friction drive will transmit more propulsion that the tires use . Gear drives are nice but in this case nice to have but tot a solution.


The whole 4 season notion is a whole other discussion. They are clearly a niche product.


As for the hill and the northeast I have some moderate grades and since I try to maintain snow over gravel I inevitably end up with the snow pack converting to ice pack when things freeze after a winter rain. My biggest challenge is traction under my feet, so I wear stabilicers. My snowblowers are solid axle, chevron pattern gear and friction drive. Sometimes if it's icy I'll make a full bite downhill pass and a lighter clean-up pass on the uphill return. I'm dealing with about 400' plus some big areas. Depending on the particulars of the driveway and machine you're only looking at 4-5 round trips.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

*snow blower needs*

I mentioned the BCS 739 as an all around property maintenance tool simply because of the machines excellent reputation and the all gear drive train.

It all comes together because it is a primary residence apparently. He has an asphalt driveway that could become a skating rink. The need to spend money on a 4 wheel drive ATV and a plow is unnecessary when one could invest in a gear driven 2 wheel tractor to do multiple tasks including snow removal with a 2 stage snow blower.

I look at the gravely 2 wheel tractors and in the past they were used the year round for many tasks.
The gravely 2 wheel tractor lost its place in the market because of less expensive junk riding lawn mowers like my LA115 and others.

In Europe a 2 wheel tractor on steep land that is used for small side hill farms, vineyards and orchards. 
In Asia they use 2 wheel tractors for many tasks as they are less costly to purchase. 

The only other snow blower I would recommend is the Toro 1428 OXE with snow chains and loaded tires. The downside in that case is that it can only be used for the winter months unless he uses it to turn over 
compost piles to aerate them.

When one looks at the 4 wheel drive sub compact tractors you are looking at the price of a small car with the mower loader and snow blower attachments. 

The downside of having a sub compact tractor is that if you do not buy one with a new loader they are much harder to sell outright and you are taken to the cleaners when trying to trade them in for something else if it has less than 1000 hours on it.

The other thing is that he could have two 20 horsepower lawn mowers; one with a snow blower attachment and snow chains and the other with the lawn mower for less money and that is because they are less costly to buy. Unless you have the tires loaded to go along with the snow chains on one of these lawn tractors they are worthless because the rear axles only transmit a bout two horsepower to one side or the other not both due to the hydrostatic transmission which is usually made by the tuff tork people.

The added advantage of the all gear drive is the differential lock which delivers power to both wheels at low speeds and in doing so allows the heavier BERTA snow blower attachment to clear the snowpack and the END OF DRIVEWAY MONSTER and not ride up on the frozen snow pack.

The gear drive two wheel tractors have very little power loss compared to the belt drive snow blowers with their friction disc drive. 


I guess we will have to wait and see what if anything he does if he decides to share that with us.
I only mentioned the BCS 2 wheel tractors in greater detail for his benefit if he intends to stay there for the long term. Our neighbor bless her heart used gravelys from 1952 until they were no longer made on a gravel driveway and she switched to a wheel horse lawn tractor and snow blower for her paved driveway after that.


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## hemiguy (Feb 4, 2015)

Hi.
I have a long driveway in New England with two uphill sections. I use a1969 Ariens that I upgraded with 15 inch sno hog tires. It goes up the slope with no problem, no chains either, and I rarely lock the differential. I think you will be ok with whatever you decide.
Attached a pic of my driveway sheet after thunder storm today.

John


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## firedudetl1 (Jan 26, 2016)

"where" are you in terms of what do you expect for snow fall? 200 ft adds up fast and you'll be doing it 2 or 3 times depending on the width of your machine... I had a 16 hp riding mower with a 48 inch mower deck and a 42 inch single stage snow blower/thrower - chains and weights and I did a lot of driveways and sidewalks - I currently have 3 "walkbehind" ariens and they work well for what I have to do, but I also have a "dedicated" 89 gmc for doing the driveways...so other question is what are you driving, would it be worth getting a plow...one/two passes and you're done...good luck - welcome to the forum and the northeast....


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## firedudetl1 (Jan 26, 2016)

https://providence.craigslist.org/grd/d/north-smithfield-1970-bolens-tractor/6944232102.html

something like this might be the way to go - lawn gets done during the summer, driveway during the winter..


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## tdipaul (Jul 11, 2015)

.

Spending $6000(?!) on a BCS tractor/snowblower is not recommended. That kind of money buys not one - but TWO - nice new Honda's, an awesome used ATV/plow or maybe a decent UTV with a cab too, like a Mule or a Ranger. Or a massive X7 series Deere garden tractor with a 2 stage blower and a mower. Or an older F250. The list goes on and on at the $6k level

The $2000, 50 year old Bolens above that still "needs a battery and some TLC" is overpriced by at least $1500. 

Can't go wrong with an Ariens, Honda or Toro. 

The new $2500 Platinum RapidTrack 28 has my attention!


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## firedudetl1 (Jan 26, 2016)

price is always what someone will pay, so $2k is too much to some, ok to others and cheap to the guy who really wants it...other thought is there is a lot of "extras" to that Bolens and if the OP has "land", there's a value to having a machine that can do multiple tasks....
to the OP
having said all that, $2k is a lot of money as is $2.5k, there's a lot of old Ariens out there (and I have 3..)that could do the job, maybe the better thing is to find an old 8hp Ariens (or Toro power shift, or Honda) for short money, try them for a season or two and then "upgrade". Just have to hope it's not a "record breaking snow season" and you get broken too...
good luck


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## tdipaul (Jul 11, 2015)

for perspective...

https://cnj.craigslist.org/grd/d/bedminster-simplicity-landlord-garden/6941880979.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/grd/d/skippack-bolens-1054-tractor-snowblower/6927664765.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/grd/d/colmar-wheel-horse-416-garden-tractor-ec/6935070674.html


.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

The one thing I forgot to add to my earlier post was that The BCS 2 wheel tractors can 
utilize a track drive system for clearing snow and working on wet terrain.
We have not heard anymore from this fellow about his predicament/needs as yet nor 
do we know how much he is willing or able to spend.

Buying a used lawn tractor is fine but its best to obtain one with the snow blower if 
at all possible as they are not available a few years after the sale. With a wheel horse 
lawn mower deck its different story as they hold on to the press forms/welding schematics
for their lawn mower decks for 25 years before they are scrapped. I tried to purchase a 
single stage snow thrower for my 244 hydro several years after I bought it and the attachment 
was no longer available.

You can purchase rebuilt lawn tractors from various outlets with rebuilt attachment but you would have 
to travel to pick them up .

If someone is serious about investing in old iron that uses horizontal crank engines the best thing to do is purchase a subscription to farm show magazine and then you can receive their CD and annual magazine that has a wealth of information about suppliers and rebuilders of farm and lawn tractor machinery.
Parts for many lawn tractors are available but purchasing a lawn tractor without a snow blower makes the job harder to do as they may not be available separately unless you cast a nation wide "wanted to buy" advertisement on craigs list, tractor house, iron planet or auction time to find one. 

Myself I would love to purchase an original IHC cub cadet with asingle stage snow blower or a john deere 318 with a single stage snow blower and gear drive transmission or any of the 1970+ simplicity lawn tractors with single stage snow blowers or any wheel horse lawn tractor with a single stage snow blower and have that as a snow removal tool.
These fine machines were easy to maintain and repair and belt driven to the right angle bevel gearbox which powered a cross shaft to the drive sprocket using a roller chain drive to power the larger driven sprocket to power the single stage snow blowers. 

These machines were of a basic simple design that worked very well and replacing a drive belt did not require many tools like the junk RAD/john deere snow blowers offered today.

I will add some images of the tracks available for the BCS 2 wheel tractors in my following post.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Here is an image of a rubber studded track available for the BCS tractors.

The rubber studded tracks illustrated here have studs that are too long for a paved driveway and are ment for working in very wet conditions or deep snow


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

This rubber track set for the BCS 2 wheel tractors has no studs.

The second set of tracks is steel with earth gripping cleats like a rough ground bull dozer would have.

All three sets of tracks have manual adjusters to compensate for track wear.

The rubber track systems have an internal cast cog tooth to grip the large drive gear that is attached to the BCS 2 wheel tractor axles.

The steel tracks use a meshing tooth that protrudes through each track pad as it advances or reverses to provide full contact to the steel track drive.


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## tdipaul (Jul 11, 2015)

Cool track kits

Prices Leonz?

.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Prices as follows from Earth Tools in Kentucky;

Rubber tracks: reduction gear version; $1,450.00 plus tax and freight from The State of Kentucky.

Rubber tracks: high speed version; $1,300.00 plus tax and freight from The State of Kentucky.

Steel tracks: $1,550.00 plus tax and freight from The State of Kentucky.

I have no price for the studded rubber track version but a call to Earth Tools will tell you if they are still available.

The tracks are made by Agrizeta in Italy.

These tracks are serious tools for serious work on hills, mud and snow; all I can say is vrooooooommmm!!!!!!!!

The Agrizeta folks also mount these tracks on lawn mowers and sub compact tractors. 

The mounting system for the tracks is designed to have 7 different width spacings for Grillo and BCS 2 wheel mules.


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