# ground clearance of your tractor snowthrower



## guest

hi, just checking, i got my snowthrower for my prestige last week. The one issue I see is there is not much clearance between the ground and the bottom of the thrower. When the thrower is in the upright position, there is only about 4" of clearance between the thrower and the ground. Does that sound about right? Ive noticed (just riding around with no snow) that if there is a steep incline or decline, that the thrower bottom scrapes into the ground... 

I can mark problem spots to avoid so i dont dig up my lawn, but do others have a similar short clearance between the ground and the bottom of the thrower?


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## leolav

Mine is the same way. I thankfully don't run into these areas much. I do have a sidehill that is a bit of an issue though.


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## Argee

> _Originally posted by simple_john _
> *I can mark problem spots to avoid so i dont dig up my lawn, but do others have a similar short clearance between the ground and the bottom of the thrower? *


Are you planning on clearing snow from your lawn?


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## guest

i clear paths on the lawn to the bird feeders and for a run for the dog... last year i pushed an old toro snowblower but im guessing i did 500-700 ft of paths... 2 passes wide... it was a pain with the snow blower, im hoping my tractor will have the traction and will be able to do the paths i manually pushed last year.


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## Argee

Just keep the skid plates adjusted to about an inch and pack down the first few snows with your tractor. That way you will minimize the destruction of your lawn. Any damage you do to your lawn will recover quickly in the spring.


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## leolav

Good Idea. My dogs "pee run" gets pretty beat up by the chains and my plow. I will probably switch to the blower for that area of my lawn.

It will be pretty funny the first light snowfall you get and you see dog turds flying through the air!!!


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## Argee

> _Originally posted by leolav _
> *Good Idea. My dogs "pee run" gets pretty beat up by the chains and my plow. I will probably switch to the blower for that area of my lawn.
> 
> It will be pretty funny the first light snowfall you get and you see dog turds flying through the air!!! *


Then you can apply for a farm implement credit on your "Snow Harvester/ Manure Spreader at tax time.
:lmao:


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## leolav

Thats funny!! Unfortunately, it is one of those fertilizers that burns for than fertilizes.


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## guest

presently i have the skid plates as high as they can go.. just becasue when i lowered them, they were digging into the lawn and catchnig when going into the shed.... Ill lower them when i get some snow... or if they can get me into the shed without killing my ramp.. after i spread more fill...



thanks guys


sj


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## Argee

> _Originally posted by leolav _
> *Thats funny!! Unfortunately, it is one of those fertilizers that burns for than fertilizes. *


The poop isn't what's burning the grass. It's the urine and its high nitrogen content.


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## slipshod

*Dog*

Get a more manly dog and let him fend for himself.Has it come to this,Snowblowing pee trails for dogs?


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## guest

yup slip it "has come to this" either i shovel a path or my dogh will pee on the stairs... 

by the end of the winter, we sometimes have 2-3 Ft of snow on the ground.... 

plus i need to be able to access the bird feeders... 2 years ago i said the hell with shoveling a path, id walk through waist high snow to get to the feeders... i guess snowshoes would work... but then i would not have had the excuse to get the new snowthrower.


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## leolav

The dog urine is a seperate issue. She does that on woodchips, not the lawn (used to be a problem, not since she goes on the woodchips). The dog crap for some reason just leaves little yellow circles around it. 

As for the has it come to this, yes. My dog had a broken leg when she was a pup. Ever since, cold agrevates it to the point where she lifts it off the ground. By plowing a poop area, she only gets her paws wet. When she had to go through the 6" of snow, she would have trouble going #2 and would hold it and eventually let it go on our back porch!!

Needless to say, outside in the yard is better than inside. I will continue to blow her a poop path no matter how wimpy she is!!


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## Adamr88

I have also noticed this problem with my front blade. If I want to go plow a friend or relatives drive way I would not be able to just lay out the ramps and drive up them because the plow pushes the ramps out of the way. Do anyone have any suggestion for this problem besides buying a ulitiy trailer which I am condsidereing doing? Also what is a tandom trailer? Also how deep show I expect to clear with a JD LX277 with a snow plow before I need to break out the walkbehind snow thrower?

Thanks,

Adam


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## guest

Adam88... longer Ramps and set them on a raised surface so it wont scrape? 


My ramp on my trailer is way too steep for the tractor/thrower to climb. The dealer has a set of long ramps, id need to something similar to get it onto my trailer.. come to think of it, even if it could get on the trailer, its only 9 feet so it would not fit.


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## Ingersoll444

> _Originally posted by Adamr88 _
> *I have also noticed this problem with my front blade. If I want to go plow a friend or relatives drive way I would not be able to just lay out the ramps and drive up them because the plow pushes the ramps out of the way. Do anyone have any suggestion for this problem besides buying a ulitiy trailer which I am condsidereing doing? Also what is a tandom trailer? Also how deep show I expect to clear with a JD LX277 with a snow plow before I need to break out the walkbehind snow thrower?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Adam *


Are you driving up them foward?? You should ALWAYS back on to a trailer. The danger of flipping over is a lot greater when driving on foward.


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## Adamr88

Is that still the same if you are going into the back of a pickup? I tried to backup in once and it seems like I lost most of my traction.

Adam


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## Ingersoll444

> _Originally posted by Adamr88 _
> *Is that still the same if you are going into the back of a pickup? I tried to backup in once and it seems like I lost most of my traction.
> 
> Adam *


Yupper. Pickup also. And yes, loss of traction is a problem, but it is better than having a tractor on top of you. It is not as common as in the bigger tractor world. But people do get killed by lawn mowers, and tractors falling on them. Maybe a lightweight mower will only weigh a few hundred lbs, but do you want "only" a 400lbs weight falling on your chest.

Sorry I don't mean to preach, but I would hate to see someone on the list get hurt.


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## slipshod

*Adam*

You can wear your machine when it comes over on top of you driving it forward up on a trailer and if the angle is greater getting up on your truck is even worse.If you are using wooden ramps attach some expanded metal to them for more traction.


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## Ingersoll444

On that same subject. If you have any big hills on your land, you should not mow up them. You should always mow down, and back up. REAL easy for a tractor to wheely going foward, Never seen one wheely backwards.


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## Adamr88

If you guys say it is safer to back up on to a truck I will. It just felt like I had more control over the tractor driving foward.

Adam


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## tjw in kans

thinking back 20 years ago when i used to load mine in the back of the pickup, i removed the tailgate, placed the wood ramps on the step bumper so they ended up level with the bed of the truck, added an L bracket to the bottom of the board to fit between the bumper and the bed to help keep them from slipping. mounted an eyebolt to the floor of the bed at the front, then used a comealong to pull the tractor up. the blade only raised about 4 inches and it all cleared. it took longer to load but was a lot safer than trying to drive up slick 2x10s. the ramp angle was less resting them on the step bumper. just a thought for safety and less damage.


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## slipshod

*tjw*

that is real good advice.I know how fast you can eat even a small garden tractor trying to drive it on a pick-up.I flopped my simplicity on myself about 10 years ago. Sure got lucky,only a couple of bumps.


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## Argee

Adam,

A tandem trailer has two axles. You may want to consider a beaver tail. That's where the back 1/4 of the trailer slopes, putting the leading edge closer to the ground. Sort of like SJ's shed ramp.:smiles:


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## leolav

I am a pretty big guy, but when I want to get the tractor in the bed of a pickup, I use good old elbow grease. I back it up to an elevated area where the truck bed isn't as high and I put 2 x 10's down and puch it right on. Has worked pretty well for me and it sure is safer than being on the thing when it falls off the side of one if the planks.

The other reason I do it this way vs driving it on is that I am pretty sure that the planks wouldn't support the tractor and me on it at the same time!!


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## guest

id rather get a little trailer than try to drive into the back of my pickup.. the 50-150$ for a used crappy little trailer is well worth it, its much better than chancing destroying your tractor or yourself trying to get it into the pickup...


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## Argee

Here's a picture of a tandem axle trailer with a small beaver tail, making it easy to drive up on. The ramps store in the drawers on the side near the back. It's a slick setup.


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## jodyand

> _Originally posted by Argee _
> *Adam,
> 
> A tandem trailer has two axles. You may want to consider a beaver tail. That's where the back 1/4 of the trailer slopes, putting the leading edge closer to the ground. Sort of like SJ's shed ramp.:smiles: *



I always call them bob tails:duh: 
Jody


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## Argee

> _Originally posted by jodyand _
> *I always call them bob tails:duh:
> Jody *


Beaver Tail is Bob's sister.....:smiles:

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


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