Snow Blade vs Snow Blower vs Front End Loader - Best Snow Removal Choice 

You forgot to rank "Fun". Blower wins the fun category, especially in deep snow. Just don't let the wife know any of this is fun. It's all "hard work and sacrifice".

That looked like a fun race for your bro and dad. I have been plowing my driveway, sidewalks and parking areas (lots of variation there) in central Minnesota for 26 years now. First with a 3/4T pickup - extremely easy and obviously warm and comfortable - then 8 years ago I bought a compact Kubota L3901 tractor/loader/bucket combo. That worked well but took 2-3 times longer and I got quite cold when the temp dropped to -10 or colder. This past fall I bought an old snow plow with no hydraulics (manual angling) that I use with my forks. This is almost as fast as my 3/4T pickup used to be and I don't get as cold as when using the bucket because I'm only plowing for 2/3 the time. P.S. I plow 2/3 gravel an 1/3 concrete. I drive over the 1st couple of smaller snowfalls to pack the snow and it turns into an extremely smooth, concrete-like driveway for the rest of the year... until late March/April, e.g. At that point I add a few washers to my plow shoes and away I go. A snowblower is just too expensive, a pain to install and has lots of moving parts to go wrong just when you need it the most. BTW - I plow (on average) 10 times per year with amounts ranging from 3" to 12". Once every 2-3 years mother nature has to prove her superiority and dump 20"+ on me. ha

I like how you listen to your fans and try different methods. That make you more trustworthy of testing equipments.

I went back and fourth before eventually settling on the blade! Your commentary is spot on, each method has it's advantages and disadvantages. It is a sizeable investment and if you do not get a lot of snow the loader is just fine. I have a 1025R with a Frontier 60 inch plow and about 600 lbs. of ballast. It has no traction problems whatsoever, in fact I've never taken the chains out of the box. My 1025R would run rings around the plow you used. That said, the disadvantages are; the blade is not tall; anything over 12 to 15 inches of snow could be a problem. The blade does not lift very high off the ground, so stacking can be an issue. It is not John Deere Quick Attach, it takes a few minutes to get the bucket back on; which is important if you want to stack or re-locate snow. The good side is; it is quick and nimble. Love your analysis, it is very helpful to someone considering this type of investment. Keep up the great work and best of luck to you!! Thank you!

Great explanation and great scores. And accurate as well I would say. I think the biggest consideration to have in this comparison is the size and type of the tractor. At my friends farm we use a JD 4320 with stock loader on the front and a Rear Mounted PTO to clear the farm and neighboring drives (friend and family). Combo works awesome. And snowblower hook up doesn’t take long, usually out it on before the first “big” snow fall and leave it on unless we need to swap it out. Heavy wet snow can cause a lot of clogs and shear pin failures. All in all it does a great job though, what we can’t do with the blower we use the bucket for. And most of the stuff we need in winter swaps out with the bucket (forks being number 1). I look forward to next years race with the back hoe vs the compact tractor ha ha ha!

For what we get here, I run the loader down the mile lane one time on each tire path. What stays in the middle or rolls off the edge stays there. I spent my money on AWD. I fully expect a PTO blower on the back and a blower on the front to maximize production for next year's race. (Because that makes financial sense) Awesome sequel to the first comparison, can't wait for next year's!

Gerat video. I started moving snow with a bucket, then used a blade for yrs and finally went to a front end blower and I totally agree with everything you said. Along with the front end snow blower I put a "box" type blade on the back so I could back drag. I do a number of the neighbours driveways and a couple of them have some pretty tight areas or large planting circles and other obstructions in the middle of their driveways where there is no where to push the snow and all of them have garages which require back dragging. The other thing that your "test" didn't include was with a blade or bucket, you have to push that snow across the road or pick it up with a bucket and dump it on your lawn. Anyway, good job.

I agree the snowblower is not convenient and sometimes I use it to push no as long as it's not too heavy. The main thing with a snowblower is to have a plan so that you know where the snows going to go. Not all your neighbours wants to have snow on their yard.

i agree 100% with what you scored.i have a 84 inch front mount snow blower .it costs a lot hard to put on ,but i cant live without it.last year 37 in snow storm with drifts over 5 ft the only thing that worked was my snow blower.no pickup truck could do any of the drive ways in my area.i made a killing.meaning i did all my neighbors for free.i also have a front blade on my rtv900 which i use on small amount of snow.this year we had a snow fall the was very wet and my blower did great.i have over a 600 foot drive way on top of a mountain with very strong winds.i just picked ups rear blade for the tractor for next year to see if that will be better then the rtv.the best thing about the snowblower is i can put snow where i want and the grandkids make great igloos .

Blower is nice if you can afford it, no question. The blade is very dependant on the mass of the vehicle pushing it. Unfortunately that little tractor wasn't heavy enough to do the job. One way to compensate for the lack of mass of that tractor would have been to cut one straight push down the middle and then work the snow out to both sides as opposed to trying to roll the whole mass of snow to one side or the other. Then again, a larger tractor wouldn't have been able to fit through your tight spaces. On our farm, we use a 12 foot blade salvaged from the highways department mounted to a full sized front end loader and that clears the entire roadway at the top speed of the loader while the speed throws all that snow well clear of the roadway. We've run massive snowblowers in the past, but there's too much downtime as debris, or even just ice chunks, from back roads inevitably jams the blower, taking out shier pins all over the place. And at a certain size, blowers just can't touch the speed of a blade.

In Northern Ontario my preferred setup is front loader and 3 point rear blower. We get a lot of snow and my driveway is long, the blower is by far the best option, but having the loader on the front is nice for knocking down banks when they get up to 6’ or higher.

Yeh Buddy! Each attachment has it's own place, I have a three lane driveway I personally use my loader /bucket

Without being able to try all of the options it is impossible to determine what will work best for someone’s specific situation. I have had the chance to try quite a few options and I find that driveway shape plays a major role in selecting the correct tool. With frequent light snowfalls the front blade is hands down my favorite.

I've got all three, and all three have their place. The 7' blower is on a field tractor that doesn't like to start below 30°. The bucket and blade are on my skid steer. The driveway is 2000' and mostly straight. I have a couple loops to clear and a short stretch of concrete. The blower is great if you like driving slowly in reverse (stiff neck), but it really is the best option for getting rid of the snow. The blade is great to quickly clear light snow, but drifts become problematic, and eventually you run out of room on the side. The bucket takes about 8 passes to adequately clear a straight section, which really bites without a cab in the wind. But in tight spaces, or when the snow piles up and I just need to muscle my way through, the bucket can't be beat. Options are great, but if I had to do without, I'd probably stick with the blower and my stiff neck. Or upgrade to a frontend blower on a newer tractor. A guy can dream. 😏

I've done it all over the 40+ years I've been removing snow and the blower in deep snow will win every time y next go to is the plow and lastly is my bucket too much time involved with the bucket but these are just my experiences and my preference thanks for a great vid.

Love this video! It was neat seeing side by side how the methods of snow removal did. We have used a slow blade and blower at our place and definitely prefer the blower. Thanks for taking time to put this together!

Having a tractor with a snowblower like that is my dream. I am currently using a Can am 570 outlander with a 60" plow w/drift cutters. Its nice enough but I'm the guy that likes it neat and would also like to be in a warm cab instead.

The category that would be nice to include would be back to back to back snows. Snowblower the clear winner.

Depends on the snow, depends on what you're trying to clear, and where you can deposit the excess snow. So.... depends. But my overall favorite for small scale/driveway; definitely a snowblower.

Fun video! I've found that my much smaller tractor mounted blower has no trouble with heavy wet stuff though. A few years ago I had 18" of snow compact down to 6" of wet mess with half an inch of ice on top, and the John Deere blower ate right through it - just took me an extra 5 minutes going a bit slower. I do have a bit more horsepower available to the blower, it's newer with fresh paint to release the snow faster, and a smaller 44" model, giving it a lot of advantages in truly deep or wet stuff - so as with anything your mileage will vary.

Love the tractor videos! I tend to disagree with the wet snow evaluation. I have the 47" blower mounted on a 1989 420 with the Onan 20HP 2 Cyl Gas engine. I am up in W. MI, about 30 miles from Lake Michigan. Plenty of wet snow. My set-up seems to just chew right through the wet snow. I used to have plugging issues with I lived in Kalamazoo and was using a 1983 MTD 24" walk-behind unit. There, because of the space between houses and the proximity of the driveways, I had to blow the snow either to the front or the rear of the house. This blowing and reblowing really compacts the snow and would make it extremely difficult to move. When clearing snow in a single pass, it doesn't get compacted, so it will throw fine. Also, I have found that the 2-stage blowers throw better when they get decently loaded up with snow.

I have a brand new John Deere 2025R with both a blower and a loader. We service a small mobile home community with it and I can definitely say they both have thier merits. The loader is great for digging out piles and shaving ice but the blower is great for directly filling the trailer from the street maximizing our productivity. Anyways I love your videos and I hope all is well. From: Angus Mackay Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada

I have all three for my tractor. Living in Michigan, we tend to get more snow than Indiana. So I prefer a snowblower over the others. I made a pusher box attachment for my loader last fall, but haven't tried it out yet.

Thanks for helping me decide. I live at 8700ft in mountains of Colorado. We usually get 6-7 ft in winter. Think I'll get a blower for my 3 point! Thanks for your video!

I used a 7 foot snow blade mounted on the loader, i clear my driveway in a few minutes, the loader mount make me able to stack big pile instead of front mounted blade small pile. I had a 3 point snow blower before and i would not comeback to that. The loader mounted blade take me 5 min to install, remove bucket and install blade. The blade work real good in wet snow and heavy snow. I used an old 855 to run it !

3 point rear blower is the way to go imo. Keep the loader and bucket on the front and blower on the back. Plus a 3 point blower only takes minutes to hook up. A blade would be nice to push smaller snow falls into piles then blow the pile away.

I use a 54 inch plow on my Kawasaki Brute Force 650. I used to use it on my parents 1/4 mile dirt driveway and it took a little finagling. It was a single lane downhill driveway with a left turn and a right turn to the garage. It widened at the garage to about 3 lanes. We usually had about 5 good snowfalls a year (6 inches plus). You basically had to start in the middle and sling left, then sling right and keep widening the path (30 to 40 minute ordeal). The biggest issue was any plow truck that came in, tore up the stone driveway. The ATV plow was light enough to keep the driveway surface intact and move snow. I think a blower probably would have been more appropriate for that application. I have the plow and 4 wheeler at my house now. My driveway is a small grade postage stamp driveway. We get about 3 snowfalls a year (6 inches max). I can move snow in about 4 passes (5 to 10 minute process). The plow is much more appropriate. I think if you have a lot of technical space where you are constantly maneuvering around buildings and angles such as your driveway, a snowblower is the way to go. If you have a 1 and half lane driveway that isn't very long, go with the plow.

Bucket and rear blade up here in Michigan. I pull rear blade in normal configuration on all my concrete. I pull the blade turned around (curved part pointing backwards) on all my gravel. Works great! Occasionally the snow gets thick as I work it in one direction. I then use the bucket doze the heavy so now out of the way and then I go back to rear blade again.

Neil, What I liked most on that comparison was the nice straight lines and neat printing on the score sheet! Your videos are always fun to watch. I love my X748 with a snowblower and a cab. If I add a heater I’ll never leave it. MLK snowstorm left me 16’’ ! Thé 318 w/ 54 ‘’ couldn’t make from shed to driveway, the X748 had the loader attached and that was too much snow for it. Changed out to blower and I was in business. Then I pulled out the 318 w/it…good times.

Not sure how many will read this... But i have been cleaning long stretches of roads, for many years. With a 3,7ton 4x4 tractor (without attatchments). This tractor can lift 1.2 tons. And has a 2.2meter wide snow bucket. And i would never, run bucket first down long streches of roads unless i have to... First of all a snow bucket, is not designed to push snow, in the way a blade is... A blade rols the snow over. While a bucket just clogs up and pushes everything forward. Thus using a bucket, after a while of pushing, snow goes everywhere, and lots goes off to the sides. And the tractor might even get stalled down or start spinning... And you have to start picking up snow, and dump it on the side of the road... With a blade... You contiously dump snow to the side of the road... And ofc depending on how deep the snow is... And the hight of the blade... It can work very well... It's allso the fastest, and most fuel economic way of removing snow... And the blower... It's great in many ways... I personally like the blower more than other alternatives because you don't have to deal with high edges, and the edges falling in. And with a hyrdaulic adjusted spout... You can put the snow pretty much where you want it... And ofc... It works if there is 50cm+ of snow. It does tho consume quite a bit more fuel... But yeh... Buckets are not a prime snow removal tool... I would guess, you could remove snow from an area in 1/3 the ammount of time with a propper blade. Compared to a bucket... And that is in a small area like you showed. Not trying to be a critic... Just trying to be real, and give information. I love that you did these tests. They were amusing, and informative. :)

Where I live in Mich, we can get too much snow to plow. You run out of room to push it, esp with my driveway set up. The bucket takes -forever- unless it is really thin cover. Blower all the way. I do, finally, have a cab on my JD. Makes it way better!

One category I think you "missed" would be curves, (or maybe include within the aesthetics portion), because you need a fairly wide blade to be able to push back snow on a curve and not drive through the bank. That's another reason why a blower works better on your father-in-law's driveway. And as a person that uses a blade exclusively, albeit on a truck - not a tractor, Nate needs some more experience on how to use a blade. You want the snow to fall off the blade as quickly as possible! In your scenario, Nate should have started on the left side and kept pushing it to the left (I'm assuming the blade is manual angle and not hydraulic). He still wasn't going to beat the blower, but I think he could have moved faster than he did. And with a blade you would have to make a lot of passes back and forth compared to the blower. Great video and even though I have never used a blower, I agree with your assessment that the blower is best overall! 😁👨‍🚒

Best snow removal choice, living somewhere it doesn't snow enough to warrant any of these options haha

Good testing. I personally use a back blade and a loader on my tractor. We can get some crazy snow here in northern NY

Great video. Honestly not that much snow either. If you had 12" or more to deal with, it's not even a choice, you have to do the blower

I normally have the blade on my tractor here in north central Pa. The blower only gets used on occasion. With that said, with the blade on, it is an animal with chains, but near pointless without.

The real winner is you! Convincing your family to clear the drive for you!!! Genius!

I think the backhoe would have out done both the blower and the blade combined - but that would be another video 😉 One thing you should consider though is a pusher on a loader vs the blower. The pusher can contain more snow creating less wind row’s to clean up and you can stack the snow like with a bucket. Now obviously you need more weight/traction with a pusher but it would be fun to see how it stacks up. Personally I do residential snow clearing professionally and on my 66hp Deere 4720 I use a 8 foot HLA pusher with back drag on the loader and run a 6 foot wide blower on the back off the pto. I like to have both because some properties I can get away with just the pusher and on long driveways I like to do one pass up the laneway and one pass back down the laneway with the blower. It should also be said that its a rear facing blower and not a drag style, if I had a drag style I might use it more often because I don’t have to blow in reverse

slow and steady always wins the race....fun video!!

Blower could be really fast to put on. My blower on my Volvo wheel loader is put on the front loader with quick attachments from the comfort of a warm cab and only takes a matter of seconds :)

I have an x748, hydraulic 4wd, with a blade and a snow-blower. I should add that I clear about 1/8 mile of gravel shoulder on a county highway and the two driveways that I clear are gravel. I use the blade at the beginning of the season, the idea being that whatever loose gravel will be pushed to the edge of the grass, because the early snow-falls are generally pretty light. That worked out fine last winter (2021-2022) however, THIS winter 2022-2023, the heavy snows came late in the season, after the ground started to thaw. I have a MESS of gravel in my grass... :( In my experience, on MY property, a blade is MUCH faster! BUT, as the season wears on, you run out of places to push the snow. That's where the blower is KING! With the mods that I've done to my blower, I can put the snow where I want it and still keep the maximum amount of driveway space open.

You can raise a blade up so it won't dig in, if you use the runners/feet just like a snow blower. I agree with a snow blower being the way to go, but the plow or pusher is quicker and easier (more practical), but if you live in Buffalo, or somewhere with a lot of snow, the blower doesn't leave massive piles of snow, and your driveway doesn't get narrower every snow fall. Your tractor that was having trouble with the plow would have more problems with a pusher blade, because it's bigger and harder to push, they're great for parking lots.

My only experience with blowers is the PTO driven units that go on a 3 point hitch. The problems with those is most bigger tractors cannot go slow enough in reverse to keep from bogging down. I use a front end loader with a blade on the rear. With chains on the tires there nothing I can't plow through. I can make a quick pass with the front bucket to open things up, then use the blade on the rear to really scrape down to gravel (or right through it if I'm not paying attention).

Neil, we're going to have to talk about that maniacal laugh at 19:19 :-)

My driveway is only 40 yards long concrete. I'm a blade guy because of cost alone. We don't get a lot of snow though. I'm a new subscriber and I really enjoy the channel. Keep up the good work 👍

I have a 54" blade and have used it on a JD 455 and JD X738. No offense to your brother, but it was clear that he'd not done much plowing before. Run the blade straight for the first pass (provided you can push it) then angle outward for the others. Definitely push in both directions. My preference would be a blade with (2) assumptions....1) you have room to put the snow and 2) you are able to push it. If you get more than 12" or so then a blower is definitely better. I watch people with blowers and to me, it looks boring. Slow moving! With blades, you are flying around. It's more aggressive. I'm in Northern VA so we don't get near as much snow as I would like. We did get 37" in one storm a few years ago. No question for that storm, I needed a blower. Also....turf tires on your tractors....you may as well put ice skates on there! Even with 4WD, there was a lot of traction lost there. On my 455, I use bar/ag tread with fluid in the tires. The X738 has a hybrid knobby type tire and 4WD. Haven't had it in anything more than 4"-5" yet. Cool video!

After watching the video it may be worth mentioning the skill and efficiency that the operator of the snow blade showed probably made the race much closer than it ever should have been and may have skewed the results. Again, just my opinion.

Snow blower out front and rear blade, can't beat it.

Another great video Neil, Codos to your dad for trying to point the blower shoot into your brother's lane lol and codos to you for "Tom Sawyering" your dad and brother into clearing your driveway lol As I said last year here in Western NY my choice is snow blower all the way !!

If i had snow like that all the time I would buy a blower. When I need to use the tractor I run a rear blade with a bucket with chains. Its hard to blow snow that was wet and heavy and is now froze. Very nice competition!

Wet snow? I'll take a Blower EVERY time. Maybe it's just my equipment, but the tractor mounted blower I have can not only sling slush over 15 feet, but I had a storm earlier this season where I was throwing mostly water. In the end, getting the water off the driveway meant that we had a lot less ice on the drive when it froze. Even my walk-behind blower will make impressive ice sausages in the slush. If the snow is not watery, the only thing I notice is that I need to go slower to process the more dense material and it does not sling quite as far. If you score the blower high in dryer snow, it should also score high in the wet. As for sticking, just spray the inner of the blower with a cheap cooking spray. I've never had anything stay stuck doing that.

Great comparison video! Cheers to ya bud 🤝

Front end loader for snow is like using a backhoe when you need an excavator.. It will do the job, less efficiently but some times you have to run what you got. I run a 8' snow plow mounted to the loader, but if I get 2' of snow dumped on me (once every 3-5 years) then I quickly loose traction trying to push that much. Guess I need to shop for a big snow blower.

For those of us that are...let's just say...particular...The blower makes nice clean cuts and paths.

I've used all 3 - on the same day. I'd add one more attachment - a sweeper. While the others will get accumulated snow off, a sweeper will take it down to bare pavement.

Great race video!!

My experience is winter cab is a must have blouer or blare keep you out of wind. Blare is faster with a slushy show or light amount 2 or 4 inches. Even heavy wet show or drifted hard packed snow blower wins everytime. For my x534 jd mounting is about the same both are quick attach ten to fifteen minutes each depending how energized i am. I know every tractor is different but thats my opinion

John Deere 310SE wins because you can make a snow hill for the girls!!!! That being said, I never used a cab with my snowblower! Yes I did get cold sometimes!! On my John Deere 420 2wheel drive, it only took a few minutes to put the blower on as I remember but it also had a front pto: no messing around under the tractor. The blower was a two stage and looked just like yours but was not as wide: 47 inch? I had chains and a 3pt hitch weight that was really just a big chunk of concrete. I did a lot of driveways with it and the costumers liked that I did not tare up the lawn. I did have a customer complain about some rocks out in the middle of the yard, but he was an exception. Sometimes the wind would make the houses part of a snow drift. In this situation the plow trucks had no place to push the snow and were worthless! I could push the blower in and send the snow to the middle of the yard and back up allowing the snow to fall and then push the blower in again till all the snow was out in the yard not in front of the garage door! In lower Michigan 16 miles from the lake one does get a lot of wet snow. My John Deere blowers did not clog all that often! Junk blowers are not built right so they do not handle it as well. Also keep the shoot smooth and painted and slippery.

It all depends (ignoring cost) on what kind of snow you get and how much plowing (miles and width). For me, we get wet snow and I have to plow 2-3 miles of road. A blower is generally narrower and wet snow will freeze in the ejection tube. Worse if it’s windy and you’re in the open, then you get ice blasted. I added Artillian wings on my blade so I only had to make 2 passes. With a blower I had to make 4 passes ….. and passes equals time freezing your fingers and toes. And there are things in the road you can hit. Snow pushers? There are folks who love them. In my experience with my snow the snow just flows around the pusher. So there is no absolute answer….. just a situationally dependent answer.

In an area that drifts....leaving a pile from a blade or bucket just creates a bigger drift next time. My yard....2 hours with a blade, 45 min for a blower. I now do not have to do the whole thing every time and make sure to leave areas to push so even less than 45 min. Loader is like moving a beach with a teaspoon. When I created side piles on the lane with the blade.....just created extra deep drifted areas. Blower is way better.

This is the only video I have watched from this creator. I have subscribed. I will at some point watch old videos. Can anyone recommend a video I should look for?

I use the snowblade on a 600 yard hard-packed gravel driveway, bucket would take me many hours. It's fast unless the snow is too deep when I lose all steering and switch to the rear snowblower.

A snow blower is a lot of fun, IF you get enough snow. This year at my dad's farm I'm using a 12' blade on a 225hp cab tractor. That makes snow removal fun and quick.

In areas that get drifting snow you cannot beat a blower. They do not create banks and because of that over time there is less snow to remove. Plows and loaders make banks cause snow to drift in making more frequent clearing necessary.

Good comparison

seems to me a combination of all three would be the best.

Snowblower over everything no piles anywhere.

Ok first your correct about it depends on what your needs are but I’ve plowed for 30+ years and the blade would’ve been 3x faster if he knew what he was doing…had he angled to the outside on his first push then windrow to the middle with the next two swipes he would’ve been done way faster..also using the float feature would’ve helped as well but good vid

I wish we had more snow to even calculate the difference! In Alabama, we just wait one day and its all melted. ;-(

Using a utv with a 60" plow, I can move snow alot faster than a blower. You can only go so fast with a blower or you're just pushing it like a plow. And I'm plowing a 1/4 mile private drive.

I am lucky to have a pusher, backblade and snowblower. The issue with each of them is conditions, mainly ground not froze on gravel driveway. I interchange as conditions allow (again lucky that I can). I do agree with your assessment. This was another well thought out video. Thanks for posting!

Hahahahaha. Living in Pennsylvania I absolutely loved this video comparison

we have all 3, but we use a HLA snow push 1500 with back drag edge and its really good and versatile. but we have a 3045r compact tractor with chains so its bigger then these and pushing snow is way easier. problem with blower is you have to remove the arms , and if we need the forks or bucket its a process to switch.

when in iowa i used a snow blower, but in tennessee with a long driveway i use a home made v plow blade on a zero turn mower. that works great on the driveway, but not so good by the garage doors and turn around pad. i think a strait blade mounted at slight angle would bd better for the larger more square parking pad, turn around area.

10:34 I can't figure out the logic your brother is using to plow the snow into the lane instead of plowing it to the right out of the lane.

We live in NW PA and we get some big snow. When we get 4 or 5 foot snow storms the blower is the only way to go. Blades are useless and buckets are really slow and you have to find a big spot to pile the snow.

Great video and good job on the comparisons....I would have graded them exactly the way you did. I don't have one either but I would like a snow blade for my loader with a hydraulic angle...I think that would be ideal! Great video Neil...take care from Franklin County, Va.

Good one Neil! I have a 7ft pusher box on my Kubota B2601. Love it. It's actually an Ebling rear drag blade from a truck that was totaled out. I bought it for $100 and welded on a skid steer QA and off I go. I can change out to my pallet forks or bucket in 2-3 minutes. Cheers. Love the Videos as always.

Definitely a little bias in this one, but it was very well thought out. I personally use a 7' grader blade with a couple custom plow shoe brakets. I mount the blade to my FEL using an adapter plate from Titan. With the right amount of curl, the shoes keep the blade from picking up gravel.

I think the "no piles" from the snow blower is reason enough. Especially in the spring when you can see green grass but still have mountains of snow everywhere destroying my hope for an early spring!

Nice slide.

Excellent video and comparison, Neil! I'm a snow plow guy myself (but own a loader, plow, blower, and broom for my tractor), but as you mentioned, conditions are different for everyone. I like not choosing and just getting them all!

I would not care which one I could get, I want to have a clear dive way without me hurting and sweating

Too many variables. Depends on amounts... obstructions ....weight of the snow etc.

Very good evaluation, and fun too. It’s sort of a shame that JD doesn’t have this type of video to help customers evaluate and see the comparisons that matter to their situations. I remember ages ago using a lawn tractor to “race” a ZTR mower and could see directly that despite the straightline parity and increased width, he kept gaining based on maneuverability every pass. I’m sure this video will get lots of views every fall as new folks make this decision themselves.

I live in New Brunswick Canada and use a walk behind snow blower, so not the same but the bases are there. At times, we can get a storm every week or 2 on average. I have done an impeller mod to zero out the clearance on the throwing impeller (use some rubber / tire side wall). I can throw complete slash let alone wet heavy snow so don't think it can't be done. After the mod, the snow is thrown further as well since you're basically extending the impeller blades and in doing so increase the speed at the furthest tip. Thanks for the great video, I think people will get some value out of it

I think all options are great options and I feel it comes down to ur location and mostly ur preference on which works best for u and in most cases (cost) has a lot do do with it unfortunately. I have a small landscaping business which in winter I plow few commercial lots and residential driveways I finally purchased a plow for my truck but for longest time I got by using just the loader on my tractor but anyway another great video and love the ending

I used to snowblower in wet snow but I also waxed it but then the snow comes out really easy

for your application you are absolutely correct, in my situation I load a lot of hay into livestock using my pallet forks so I made sockets on a snowplow that I can simply drive into and throw a chain on. It is half the width of my laneway so after feeding hay I can drive out and back and have lane done then go and put a pallet of wood into my outdoor woodstove room and I am done. Obviously this only works for me so everybody has their own best way.

I have a home made straight blade on the loader of my old tractor and a rear blade for extra ballast and clean up. It worked great for years and I could even pile snow up well with the front blade. The tractor just sets in the shed most of the time now, because the neighbor I help with field work, comes by with his heated cab skid loader and opens the drive up for me while I look out the window! 😎😁

*1) To be fair...I don't know who doesn't already have a loader with their tractor, and blowers are EXPENSIVE....so the loader should be a zero & the blower should be a 4 on that 1-3 scale.* 2) Instead of buying a snow blade...most people around here just use leftover wood on the front of their loaders to plow the snow, and then because they just slip on...take them off to load piles wherever needs be. But we're frugal in that cheap sort of way. 3) If done properly....I still believe the plow is faster. Because blowers work best slow and steady, but plowing works best when fast and hard.......this race was far too slow for the plow, and he "chewed too much". Plows do best when 60% of the blade is chewing into fresh piles.....40% if high/heavy drifts. I'm not denigrating the snowblowers...they are nifty machines. But being single purpose...I'd have to say: Save your money.

A lot comes down to the operator and the size of the equipment. Nice video though.

That snow blower is PAINFULLY slow! I live up here in the mountains of Colorado at 9,000 feet and really there's nothing that beats my Yamaha Grizzly 600 4x4 ATV with a plow. It's super fast, I can plow at 25 mph and it's super fun. I have a long driveway and even plow our dead end road. It's all hard packed dirt so I don't have to worry about gravel. The only place where it's not that good is in front of the house where the driveway opens up, it's much easier on driveways and roads. There's a couple downsides, if you get real heavy thick snow it won't work, I have to watch the storms and get out there in the middle of the storm to plow a little at about 6 inches. If you get two feet without a mid storm plow you are pretty much snowed in. The other thing is that if it's -40F it's freezing cold on that ATV, you need a heated vest and full gear. I'm actually in the market for a Bobcat skid steer, something enclosed with heat and AC. The quick detach allows for an easy swap between a blower, plow and bucket. I'm thinking the bobcat with an 8 foot blade will be my preference, I probably won't get a snow blower for it.

Neil… you left out a category… Least likely to cover your cart full of firewood! Then, the blower is definitely a 3! How about: Builds best sled hill on the prairie. Again, the blower would likely lose… unless you had all day to blow it several passes around a circle. And what about: Looks cooler in action. Well there is no question the blower wins this one!!! You know, if you had an SSQA mount and hydraulic powered blower… the change over time would be cut down to just… a cab install greater than the bucket! I looked at a used Land Pride blower that was built for my baby backhoe. Some guy had moved here from up north and traded it in at the dealer. It looked really cool and because it had sat in the back lot for over a year… the dealer really wanted ti deal. But, I’m standing there in the 100f August sun weighing the options… do I get a blower in the hopes that we will get a snow deep enough to use it? Or, spend the same amount and get a grapple that I can use 12 months a year? Mind you, my new storage barn had room fit one it the other… not both. And Nana thought I needed neither.. You know Neil, I have used that grapple three time more often than I thought I would. And… my neighbors have been so impressed with it… they’ve had me come over to their place and demonstrate how it works… multiple times and for hours on end! Do I regret not getting the blower? I kinda do. Think about this… according to my dealer. He has sold two snow blowers for tractors my size… one new and that used one, (He’s only sold a few others of any size!). So, that would give me a pretty good Unique Factor rating for miles and miles around! I mean, how cool would it be to pull that baby out on the one snowfall of the year (that’s deep enough to use it) and blow the dickens out of my short driveway… while my neighbors are struggling with their bucket loaders to clear theirs? Perhaps they would invite me to demonstrate it on their driveways? Perhaps you should add two more categories to your list of attributes: Neighbor Envy and Community Relations… both might be solid wins for the blower… and… might help me build justification for that storage barn add-on project that I’ve started dropping hints on!!! Neil… everyone’s situation is different… but, you have to admit… these categories could easily fit on the extra lines if your spreadsheet!

Excellent job Presenting the comparison Well done sir

I live about 30 minutes North of KCI Airport for me a Blade on my 1986 318 works perfect it only takes me 5 minutes to put on we have two driveways one is Concreate the other is gravel I leave my blade 1" off the ground when I do our Gravel driveway it only takes me two passes to do it our Concreate drive takes two ta three passes each side then I go and do other people drives. I have a video of my setup on my RU-vid channel

Hafta agree with you Neil. I've used all three implements and made the choice to stick with the loader. It's the best choice for me. I opted to sale my 750 J.D. with the front hydraulic blade. Of course here in W.Virginia we normally have pretty mild winters. So I kept my loader tractor and rear 3 point scraper blade. Suits me fine. You did a great comparison here bud, and I'm sure everyone has their own opinions.

You can put shoes on your blade as well to keep rocks out of the grass.

I mean with the blower if it kicks up gravel it will basically become a weapon and/or put a hole in a window. Had your brother taken bigger scoops with the Plow he could’ve won

Blower wins almost every time and everywhere in terms of free space which is limited after each time you doing a snow removal. Especially if you living at climate where temperatures below freezing are not temporary but constant and snow on the ground and drifts you made with the plower is not going to melt soon before new snow arrived. If you think of that than the blower is the only right choice. But of course some times you have to push snow or blower is to huge to operate it.