I wouldn't have him blow my driveway, Its called a yard for a reason but no Ill cover the cars and canvas cover so it can collapse. Start from the right and blow everything into the yard Daaaaaaaa.
Thanks for watching. Since you are such a professional at blowing snow I'm sure that you have considered the following in your analysis of my video: 1) The lay of the land. Although it is hard to see in the video the driveway is actually a bit lower than the lawn on the left side. During freeze/thaw cycles the snow melts and runs across the middle of driveway and when it freezes again it becomes a slippery area. 2) The owners walkway to his front door is on the left side and he doesn't want to shovel packed down snow from the blower. 3) If the snow was piled on the lawn on the left side of driveway (which is in front of the house), it would be the last to melt in the spring and the owner doesn't want that as it would be wetter there longer. 4) The right side of the driveway has a more natural drainage area which moves the melting water away from his house a lot quicker. 5) The OWNER doesn't want the snow blown on his front lawn. Finally, as it may look that I do but I do NOT blow snow on the car or the car port. You will notice in the video that I stop forward motion before I rotate the chute of the blower so that the blown snow does not fall on the car or the car port. But I'm just an amateur, what do I know.
I used to clear off my neighbors driveway and sidewalk for 19 years. Then she complained about my trees and called me a horrible neighbor. $3000 later the trees are gone and so is her snow clearing neighbor doing her driveway/sidewalk. Don’t even talk to her since I’m such a horrible neighbor. That setup you have looks nice!
The only reason people would give this video Thumbs down is they don't have a tractor like this, Very nice tractor and good job removing the snow. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching and your comment. It seems it doesn't matter how great a video is, there are some people that thrive on giving thumbs down or negative comments or try to to tell how to do things even though they never owned a tractor. If you post videos on RU-vid you have to have thick skin too is seems!
Used to plow driveways back when. I never could figure out why someone with a two car garage would fill one side of it with odds and ends of junk worth less than $1000, usually much less, and park their $20,000 plus vehicle out in the elements.
Thanks for watching. He's been trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff but his wife likes to hang onto things. I am sort of guilty too. I have a 2 door garage and our vehicle are parked outside. A few years ago I insulated my garage and made it into a workshop. We've talked about building another garage but that is as far as we got.
uhh . . . . one look at the way he comes out to move his car might explain it, lol. Basketball-jams and sneakers with no socks. See it here in Maine all winter long, then they bitch about the snow and cold weather. No common sense but at least they are stylin'.
@@wxman46 - agreed. what in the hell are these people dressing like that for? it's WINTER. sometimes i see people in stores with flip-flops and shorts on - with the temp below 20 degrees.
1, really nice machine i am old now and my IH 123 and 127 are a real struggle 2, dont mind the nut heads i am greatfull if any one shows up to help. i helped the old folks a lot when i was younger God bless it was a nice present
Thanks for watching and your comment! This setup with the diesel tractor, heated cab, hydraulics and front mounted snowblower certainly has made my life easier. It's a lot better than previous tractor that I had for a couple of decades that had a rear 3PH blower and no cab. I get cold just thinking of the way it use to be!
Always nice to up-grade. You get to appreciate the improvements that much better. I only have an 87 214, 38" blower, W/O cab. It beats shoveling, but not as comfortable as yours.
Thanks for watching and your comment! These X700 series definitely make quick work of clearing snow no matter what front implement it has attached. I have a 60" blade too that I use now and again.
Thanks for watching! We did have a white Christmas this year but in the last couple of days, it's been raining just like it is in England. I'd rather have the snow any day at this time of the year.
You did a nice job helping out your neighbor, customizing it to their needs and using common sense in operating your equipment. About the negative comments, consider the source by how it was worded and move on. I live in the city on a corner lot and usually do 1 or 2 additional yards for those that aren't so capable with a 24" 2 stage Ariens. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS ONCE.
i have a 28 inches snow blower. my neighbours driveway is beside mine together they are about 3 widths of your machine same length roughly . we share the gasoline expense and every year he buys a bottle of rum and we share that to. good arrangement
X748SE I could def see you starting this as a business man. Get yourself a full size JD and an industrial screw, start making major money just by doing 40-50 a driceway and lengrh of house=street.
That would be really nice to do, but I do live out in the country on a country road and most people have there own method of clearing snow unfortunately. I guess that I'll have to move to a little more populated "subdivision".
Thanks for watching. I too know a guy besides the one in the video and if he could, he would wear shorts all the time any time of the year and in any weather.
Just heads up . I run a 2520 John deere snowblowers. Pretty much same as your running. When ever you raise the snowblower turn off the pto. You can ruin the barings or blow them out. But great vid.
Thanks for watching and your advice! So far I haven't seen any wear on the u-joints of the pto shaft or any wear on the blower bearings but you have sound reasoning that it would be better to turn the pto off when raising the blower.
Thanks for watching and your query. Yes I find that they are quite helpfully when blowing deeper snow. I usually blow snow with the blower in float mode thus the the weight of the blower is not on the front axle. Those extra weights put weight on the front axle so that I have more steering authority in deeper snow. See this video of mine for more info :--> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6crT8dAljcw.html
It certainly was nice of the neighbour to move their vehicle for you once you had the left side of the driveway done. LOL That blower of yours really seems to scrape pretty close to the pavement. Nothing like hydraulic down pressure.
Thanks for watching. We are still lucky to have fairly even pavement in our driveways which makes it easier to set the cutting edge of the blower fairly low.
Clearly in the northern midwest. Not by the accent, but by the fact that the owner comes out in shorts and a windbreaker. Don't wanna get too hot outside in the winter.
Must not be that cold, the guy is out in his shorts, Ha! Also, seeing comments on throwing the snow towards the lawn, yeah I would not either, if your someone that puts salt or stuff like that down on the driveway, I would not want it ending up on my lawn as it melts. Each to their own.
Thanks for watching. That guy wears short all year round and it doesn't matter how cold it is! I'm just doing what the owner wishes in clearing his driveway.
Just one thing out of curiosity.. why not start besides the parked cars and shoot the snow to the left out in the garden instead of blowing it on to/over the cars? Or start to the left and shoot it in front of you while passing the cars..then slightly turn right in front of them up to the garage clearing the doorway then go from the garage out to the road..
Thanks for watching and your comment. There are a few reasons why I always place the snow to the right side of my neighbors driveway. 1) The lay of the land is the big one. Although it is hard to see in the video the driveway is actually a bit lower than the lawn on the left side. During freeze/thaw cycles the snow melts and runs across the middle of driveway and when it freezes again it becomes a slippery area. 2) The owners walkway to his front door is on the left side and he doesn't want to shovel packed down snow from the blower. 3) If the snow was piled on the lawn on the left side of driveway (which is in front of the house), it would be the last to melt in the spring and the owner doesn't want that as it would be wetter there longer. 4) The right side of the driveway has a more natural drainage area which moves the melting water away from his house a lot quicker. Hope this helps explain the reason for placing snow where I do in my videos.
absolutely it does :) but tipping again about just shoot it straight forward as passing the parked cars and then out to the right when passed instead of risking shooting debris on to them :) although it seems the driveway is paved,there is always a risk something might hit cars.. :) And i know what i´m talking about..been working some winters as a city snow removal crew.. :)
I have done what you stated. Shot the snow straight ahead when going by vehicles and then off to the side once past them. In this video I'm waiting for the blower to be clear of snow before swinging the chute past the vehicle but as you said it only takes an errant stone or stick to change the situation real quick. Thanks again for watching and your comment!
Thanks for the excellent vid. Had to quit reading the comments though. Some real jerks lurking out there!. Must be all those fragile egos and feelings of inferiority! (small equipment?)
Thanks for watching and your comment! I guess that when you post videos on RU-vid, you should expect to get some idiot comments that shows the viewers mentality. There definitely are "trolls" out there that post these type of comments in order to get a reaction from you. I don't get upset and I usually just laugh at them!
I love how the neighbor comes out in shirts to move his car to the clean side of the driveway and then clean it off there,and to top it all off the dumba** leaves all the snow on the roof
Thanks for watching BUT I do NOT blow snow onto the cars. The homeowner would be royally pissed if I did. It just looks like I do. If you notice I stop forward motion to clear the snow from the auger/chute before I rotate it to the other side of the vehicle in the video. Then I continue to blow snow.
Thanks for watching and your comment. My defector is electric. If you would like more info on it and other mods to the blower have a look at this video --> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tE819PnpUjE.html
Thanks for watching! I’d be pissed too if someone was dumping snow on my cars but I am not doing that in the video. It just seems that way due to camera angles. If you notice I am blowing snow behind the vehicles, stop forward motion and then allow the chute to be cleared of snow before rotating the chute and then continue forward motion blowing the snow in front of the vehicles. I blow the snow in that direction because the owner doesn’t want it on his front lawn for a multitude of reasons. Hope that this explains a few things.
I thought you did a damn fine job, you stopped the blower whenever you were next to a car.. I know it’s an old video but I see some dumb comments from “expert” snow blowers🙄 Btw, Do you have chains or wheel weights on the back tires? How is the tractions on the hills?
Thanks for watching and your comment!! I love those experts on snow blowing especially when you find out that they are from the "south" and probably never seen snow in their life. I don't use chains as I have a paved driveway and find that the traction from the AWD is really great. I have in the past put weights on the back for extra traction but I find that the weight of the cab is usually enough. I do find that the weight bracket that I made for the front (in other videos) does help out with steering authoring in heavier deeper snow. Traction on my driveway (in other videos of mine) which has an incline has not been and issue unless I have a bit of ice or packed how snow underneath.
Is that driveway flat or are you working up an incline? I have a 22-24 degree incline, about 60' and I need something to blow the snow out of the driveway. Cannot plow it, has to be blown away. Thanks for your anticipated reply.
Thanks for watching. There is a slight incline in this driveway but no where near what you are talking about. The tractor as Hydraulic Four Wheel Drive (HFWD - full time) and with the correct amount of ballast (weight) it should give the the traction the you require to safely blow the snow off your driveway quite easily.
People don’t know how intellectual you are until you open your mouth lol I have a 4100 compact with a 47 inch blower and no cab so wind direction has a lot to do with which way I blow snow lol awesome tractors keep up the greatvideos
Thanks for watching. I must say not many of ya read any previous comments posted by viewers. There is a multitude of reasons of why the snow isn't blown to the side of the driveway that's in front of the house but the long and short of it is that the owner doesn't want it there and I abide by his wishes.
Thanks for watching. As it may look that I do but I do NOT blow snow on the car or the car port. You will notice in the video that I stop forward motion before I rotate the chute of the blower so that the blown snow does not fall on the car or the car port. The owner doesn't want the snow blown on his front yard and that is why the snow is blown where it is in the video.
Love your videos. I have a X748 also. I need to get a snowblower for it. Did you get yours from the JD dealer? Are you happy with it. Can you tell me the model number? Thanks very much.
Thanks for watching and your comment! Yes I bought my blower from a JD dealer when I purchased my tractor and other implements as a package deal. I am VERY happy with it. Mine is a 54" model. The model number at the time of purchase is 02C1M.
@@TotalMishap And holding up the guy with the blower who is doing him a favor. Right. In case you didn't notice there was someone else out there with a shovel. I am sure its not a big deal, but you know, thinking before making comments is hard for some people.
Thanks for watching. The tractor and snowblower works very well in deep snow. See this video of mine in 12" to 14" of packed snow:--> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e0y2vuWz-wQ.html Wet snow is a hard one to comment on. Super wet, water laden snow will clog the blower eventually. It just get packed in and there is nothing you can do about it. Over the years I have learned when to swap out the blower to the front blade to handle those conditions.
Nice work! I've often wondered if it would be a profitable side-gig to get a rig like this and just stroll around a posh neighborhood door-to-door and asking to clear their driveway for $35 or so....
It is! Especially when the plow dudes can't keep up... no homeowner horking shovelfulls of snow will let you pass by...I've made $4-500 of an evening several times...a.m. on weekends is even better...
@@thestcroixkid That's a good plan. I expect if it doesn't take you more than 15 min for a city driveway, you can't go wrong with even $20! Thanks and good luck!
Regarding your PTO switch; Neither of my 2032 R, or 2038 R tractors with a 3 point snow blower will shut down the engine when backing up as you may have realized being a 3 point blower, I'm always backing up when blowing. Possibly, do you have both mid and rear pto's turned on? That might be the issue. I have only the rear one turned on.
Thanks for watching. The JD lawn and garden tractors have RIO switch/lever that must be engaged whenever you reverse in order for the PTO to keep from shutting down. It is a "safety" feature that JD has implemented. I usually have my RIO engaged/enabled/overriden all the time when I'm using a PTO implement so that I don't have to pull the lever/switch each I want to back up. See this video of mine for what I mean :--> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3_MT0GsA3B0.html My fix/trick/tool wasn't in all the way!
The question I have a JD x710 with the same 54inch blower I was wondering if you know a kit or way to have an adjuster for up and down instead of getting off all the time to adjust it? I know I can't do hydraulic or at least not that I know of. Any thoughts?
Most people use a 12V linear actuator with a 4" stroke to control the up/down adjuster. I know on a NEW X710, there is an area on the left side of the steering wheel that has 2 removal-able switch blanks/covers. You can remove one of the blanks and install a Momentary DPDT rocker switch to control the linear actuator. Wiring for this type of switch and linear actuator can be found on the web by searching for it. Install an inline fuse with proper current rating from the battery or alternator to the switch. I picked up a weatherproof 12 volt power adapter and plug off eBay. You may source to it locally. I made a simple bracket and mounted the 12V adapter just in front of the SCV. That way it gets connected at the same time as I connect the hydraulic lines for the snowblower. Have a look at this video for more info on the way I installed my linear actuator:--> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tE819PnpUjE.html
Thanks for watching. The front and rear LED lights are the SR series made by Rigid Industries. The fronts are 10" and the rear is 6" wide. I lucked out and I got them quite cheap at a surplus dealer. They are really expensive now! The hazard lights are from a surplus place too and they are basically used for utility trailers.
Thanks for watching! Well it may appear that I'm blowing snow onto cars/trucks in the video, I'm really not. The angle and the field of view that you are seeing sort of makes it look that way. You will notice that I will stop forward motion and wait a while for the blower to clear before I rotate the chute and start blowing snow to the other side of the vehicle. There are multitude of reasons why I don't blow the snow to the left and onto the yard and they can be viewed under "Thomas Jansson" comment, but the long and short of it is, that the owner of the property doesn't want it there.
Thanks for watching! Well it may appear that I'm blowing snow onto cars/trucks in the video, I'm really not. The angle and the field of view that you are seeing sort of makes it look that way. You will notice that I will stop forward motion and wait a while for the blower to clear before I rotate the chute and start blowing snow to the other side of the vehicle. There are multitude of reasons why I don't blow the snow to the left and onto the yard and they can be viewed under "Thomas Jansson" comment, but the long and short of it is, that the owner of the property doesn't want it there.
Damn, this was timely! A couple of years ago, I parked my 430. It has a Kozy Kab, 60" Tri-Cycler mower deck, and 38" 'sno-thrower' (I had a 2-stage blower too, for a while). I parked it because it's getting old. Parts, while still available, generally aren't in stock. I got to the end of my driveway, that winter day, and blew a hydraulic hose on the lift cylinder. That hose is no longer available, but the dealer could make me one...once he got enough of the appropriate fittings. 3 weeks later, I finally had a chance to go get the new hoses. I need something dependable. Something that, when it breaks, parts are readily available. When I get home at 5am, to 6" of snow, the last thing I need to do is hunt parts and fix on the tractor, when I have to be back to work in 10hrs! When that line failed, I was looking around on machinefinder.com and found a good deal on a one year old x540 - complete with; hard-top weather-enclosure, 54" mower, 48" blade, 47" 2-stage blower, and 7 bushel 'power-flow' bagger. I bought it. It's been a love/hate relationship ever since! It cuts grass faster, and better, than my 430. It blows snow better than either of the blowers I had for that 430. But it just DOES NOT have the power, or the fuel economy, that that old 430 has (there are other issues too)! The 2nd snow storm of the season, a few weeks ago, dumped about as much snow (+ drifting) as I see in this video. My x540 couldn't move that much snow as quickly as you did. That convinced me that I need to start looking around again. I found a used (2012 x748 with almost 1,800hrs) at my favorite dealer. It comes with a 54" deck and a 47" quick-hitch blower (with electronic chute deflection - which I assume is what you have). This video pretty much convinced me that I need to buy that machine! A couple of questions: 1) My 430 had 3 levers, to the left of the steering wheel, that controlled the hydraulics. The x748 has the two levers on the right side of the steering column. Are they easy (instinctive) to operate? 2) My x540 has a 'reverse lock-out' feature. I have to lift a lever, to back up, without disengaging the PTO. This leaves me juggling the chute rotation, chute elevation, and steering when I'm trying to back up. Does the x748 have this? Does it cause problems? 3) I just stumbled on your channel, so forgive me for asking...does the blade (that I saw on the opening video) share a common 'mount' with the blower? My x540 has an 'extension' that mounts to the front of the frame and either, the blower, or the blade, mounts to this extension. 4) Do you just run the suitcase weights? No wheel weights, no chains? I contacted the dealer about that x748 last week - it was just traded in and NOTHING has been done to it. I have an extra day off this week. I think I'm going to bug him some more, and see what kind of deal we can arrange! THANKS for the visual info!
Thanks for watching Dave! I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. 1) The two column mounted lever will become very instinctive after a while as your brain learns which one does what. It just takes a bit of seat time to get use to them. 2) The X748 does have this same “safety” feature and it’s called the Reverse Implement Option (RIO). I find that it is a “pain in the, you know what” too! A lot of people have bypassed it using jumpers but I like to keep the safety features intact. I DO bypass it though and I have a very simple method of doing it. I use a ordinary clothes peg. I keep a couple on hand. See this video of mine to see what I mean: --> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3_MT0GsA3B0.html It’s simple and works very well. I use it all the time. 3) The front quick hitch (QH) is common for JD X748 implements whether it being a blade, blower or broom. For a blower or broom, a mid to front PTO is also required. 4) I just run suitcase weights on my unit as it is AWD as I find it the easiest way to add weight/ballast for traction in the winter and when I’m using my loader. People have “loaded” their tires, but I don’t want the extra weight on my tractor in the spring so I haven’t. Wheel weights I find are real chore to out on . These X748s are amazing machines and I’m sure you will be very impressed with it. It will be night and day difference from your X540 on how it handles and performs. Mine gets great fuel economy. Hope that you get the X748!
Thanks for the info! One more question, if you don't mind. How tall is it from floor to the highest point on the cab - excluding lights mounted on top? I really miss that Kozy Kab in winter! The weather enclosure does a pretty good job of keeping the snow out, but it's not near as nice as the metal cab. The current Signature 700 series cabs are designed to fit through a 7 foot door, but I only have about 6.5 feet. It seems to me, that the older 700 series weren't quite as tall, so I thought I'd ask. Thanks!
SWEET! I found my notes...I have just under 80" of clearance from the floor to the frame of the garage door opening. Now, I just have to decide whether I want to spend the money AND whether I can find a hard-sided cab for it! Curtis currently doesn't list cabs for anything other than 1-series and up and Cozy Cab only lists cabs for the X700 Signature Series... Anyway, once again, THANK YOU for all of the information!
I have been a blower operator for 5 years and now run my own company, i do 35 driveways in 12 hours. If you are doing shorter driveways do you turn around as well or do you just back up and restart? I only do the turn around on the really long driveways. But i run a 1445 with 60" blower.
Thanks for watching! Ninety-five percent of the time when clearing snow from this driveway with the blower I'll do a swipe then back up and restart. I find it actually faster to do it that way. This time around for this video I decided to turn around at the garage just to give the viewer a different view of the surroundings.
That would drive me nuts, if I just cleared a spot and instead of the guy cleaning off his car before he moves, he cleans it on a spot already cleared.. not to mention hes half dressed for summer, lmao.🤦♂️
One thing I always wonder about with setups like yours (auger, instead of plow): What about newspapers delivered before the snowfall became heavy -- so the paper's halfway (or more) hidden by snow? Do you phone ahead to see if they've walked out to pick it up yet? I'd imagine that could so some expensive damage if you 'find' one the hard way.
Thanks for watching. Yes newspapers have been sucked up by the auger and they broke a few shear pins on my previous tractor and blower setup. Since I've had this tractor and blower I have not broke a shear pin yet. My neighbor and myself are very good at picking up the newspaper fairly quick after it has been dropped off as we know which day it comes. If by some chance that it really has been snowing when the newspaper is delivered, I'll stop and find it before I start to blow snow.
What model tractor do you have? I live on a small farm with 1/2 shared lane with one Mennonite neighbors. I'm using a drag plow on my JD 4310 to clear our driveways, but a blower like that would definitely help.
Thanks for watching. There are a multitude of reasons why I blow the snow to the right but basically the owner doesn't want the snow blown onto his front yard. That's why I blow snow left to right for his driveway.
