[Gr8WhiteNorth]

We are weighing a decision to purchase some new Ag tractors and looking for feedback from someone with an Ag tractor similar to a Kubota L6060.

We currently use 100hp tractors with 92" inverted blowers. They can be a little cumbersome for some tighter driveways and even worse on tight streets.

Is there anyone out there who uses 40-60hp tractors with 74-80" inverted blowers on HOA's? If so, what is your review? Do you know how long it takes you to clear a 25ft long double car driveway?

Anyone else have any other ideas?

We also use skid steers with buckets and plots for this customer type, but It seems like something we could improve on.

 

[White_Gold11]

 

[Mark Oomkes]

We're currently running a Deere 4720 with an 82" Normand. It's our backup tractor blower that is doing about half a route (yeah, we overbooked). He's doing about 30 driveways in 1 neighborhood and another 10 close by.

I really haven't run it much so I don't have much of an opinion on it. And the operator last year was less than stellar so I don't really want to base anything on that.

Basically, if you have somewhat shorter drives or very tight drives with little travel time, they work great. Or ours does.

@Herm Witte and @NickSnow&Mow are the only other ones who frequent the forum that I know of using them. I know Image (Steve at Fargo Snow) was switching to them due to easier training.

 

[CUCV]

I believe this is my 10th year doing HOA's with my 74" PXPL. I started with it on a L4240 and now run it on a L5740. The current HOA I do has 76 homes and a few miles of road that we also do. The smallest driveways can easily fit 4 cars (2 wide x 2 deep) and are generously wide 26'-28', one driveway has to be 40' wide and another 80' long. I average 2-3 min per driveway including snowblowing the snowbank down the road in front of mailboxes (1+ miles). I can do 3" of snow and under faster with a 9' Kage plow (no box) on a skid steer. Road riding isn't an issue for me, I never take the machine out of medium range. I'm a smaller guy so I'm comfortable in the cab but I be bigger guys could feel cramped. I always wish I could sit higher for better visibility but make due. Another company did the HOA in the past with a 100+hp machine with 98" inverted in the past. My lap time are definitely faster. I do the account next door so it was easy for me to watch their system. I picked up an older bidirectional and a 92" PXPL and got to try it for the first time at the shop last night. It will be interesting to see if it improves or hurts my lap time. Visibility and comfort seem great, just wondering how cumbersome it will be getting in and out of driveways. worried about knocking over mailboxes across the street from the driveway I'm doing.

 

[boutch]

Here my 0.02 cent and hopefully I dont get roasted. Lol

All my driveway are 100 to 400 feet long on 1-2 acre lots. With half of then close together and the other half 1-2 minutes drive time in between. Average storm here are s 15 cm wet snow.

I'm in my 3rd tractor. My first was m9540 12speed, bought it in May and took it for a dry run in the summer to practice. An hr later I was back home and posted the tractor for sell. Could see myself doing that much shifting for 6-8hr straight. Would have been fine on a tight route.

Second was a M100x powershift. Used it for 3 seasons with a 92 inv. Road speed was 30-31 km/h on Nokian tires. Could blow most storm in high range. Shifting to travel between driving got old pretty fast even with a power shift. Lots of push button shifting for my route.

This year I'm in a L6060 with a 74inv. Does 27 km/h. Travel time is about the same beteewn driveway because it get to speed much faster, haven't played in more then 15 cm wet snow yet. In 10cm or less it is definatly faster due to infinite speed control and faster fwd/rev operation. In 15 cm about the same time to do the same amount of pass. but some need a extra pass due to the smaller blower.

I'm sure when it come to a foot of snow I'm gonna hate my life. Lol

After 6 storms I'm really happy with the L6060. Fuel consumption is 5-6 l an hr. The M100x was 8-10l per hr.

Unless you can employ the large Ag or rent it to a farmer in the summer, I recommend a 60 hp HST if you dont need a machine that does 40km/h. The machine is half the price and does more then half the work compared to 100hp ag. To me it is a win win.

My big tractor sat all summer and I can play around the cabin with the l6060. An other bonus for me.

Good luck!

 

[Gr8WhiteNorth]

We're currently running a Deere 4720 with an 82" Normand. It's our backup tractor blower that is doing about half a route (yeah, we overbooked). He's doing about 30 driveways in 1 neighborhood and another 10 close by.

I really haven't run it much so I don't have much of an opinion on it. And the operator last year was less than stellar so I don't really want to base anything on that.

Basically, if you have somewhat shorter drives or very tight drives with little travel time, they work great. Or ours does.

@Herm Witte and @NickSnow&Mow are the only other ones who frequent the forum that I know of using them. I know Image (Steve at Fargo Snow) was switching to them due to easier training.

Thanks for the reply. I'm still on the fence about it. Our drives are fairly spread out so travel time is a pretty big part of the equation.

 

[Gr8WhiteNorth]

Here my 0.02 cent and hopefully I dont get roasted. Lol

All my driveway are 100 to 400 feet long on 1-2 acre lots. With half of then close together and the other half 1-2 minutes drive time in between. Average storm here are s 15 cm wet snow.

I'm in my 3rd tractor. My first was m9540 12speed, bought it in May and took it for a dry run in the summer to practice. An hr later I was back home and posted the tractor for sell. Could see myself doing that much shifting for 6-8hr straight. Would have been fine on a tight route.

Second was a M100x powershift. Used it for 3 seasons with a 92 inv. Road speed was 30-31 km/h on Nokian tires. Could blow most storm in high range. Shifting to travel between driving got old pretty fast even with a power shift. Lots of push button shifting for my route.

This year I'm in a L6060 with a 74inv. Does 27 km/h. Travel time is about the same beteewn driveway because it get to speed much faster, haven't played in more then 15 cm wet snow yet. In 10cm or less it is definatly faster due to infinite speed control and faster fwd/rev operation. In 15 cm about the same time to do the same amount of pass. but some need a extra pass due to the smaller blower.

I'm sure when it come to a foot of snow I'm gonna hate my life. Lol

After 6 storms I'm really happy with the L6060. Fuel consumption is 5-6 l an hr. The M100x was 8-10l per hr.

Unless you can employ the large Ag or rent it to a farmer in the summer, I recommend a 60 hp HST if you dont need a machine that does 40km/h. The machine is half the price and does more then half the work compared to 100hp ag. To me it is a win win.

My big tractor sat all summer and I can play around the cabin with the l6060. An other bonus for me.

Good luck!

You get real snow compared to us and those driveways are monsters compared to the cookie cutters we have around here.

Do you think that L6060 could handle an 80"? I agree shifting gets pretty old. What's your opinion on burning out clutches in a power shift unit? Can that happen with the constant changes in direction?

 

[Unraveller]

You get real snow compared to us and those driveways are monsters compared to the cookie cutters we have around here.

Do you think that L6060 could handle an 80"? I agree shifting gets pretty old. What's your opinion on burning out clutches in a power shift unit? Can that happen with the constant changes in direction?

I have 6. They all have 82" Normands, one of which is a hybrid. I have nitrogen accumulaters and counter weight, which are a must, but they handle the blower and weight pretty easily.

I do wish they had the road speed of the 3 or 4 series JD though, I'd love an extra 6-7 kmh....

 

[boutch]

You get real snow compared to us and those driveways are monsters compared to the cookie cutters we have around here.

Do you think that L6060 could handle an 80"? I agree shifting gets pretty old. What's your opinion on burning out clutches in a power shift unit? Can that happen with the constant changes in direction?

I wanted a Hybrid blower (Cyclone/Bilodeau/Artix/Normand) but I when with a used INV for now until all the manufacturer are done copying each other, and get a proven blower. lol

the L6060 can handle 80-82 blower, I went with a 74 because the price was right.

For the Power shift transmission the wet clutches last for ever, some big guys in Montreal/Ottawa (with 20-50 tractor) run each tractor for 5 to 10 years at 200-400 hrs per season before selling it machine. each machine does around 200-250 drive and probable close to 30 snow even a years and are pretty trouble free. the only complain I had with my power shift was it can be a bit jerky if you up shift at the wrong rpm and quite a bit jerky down shifting. also if the tractor is park outside it need to warm up for a good 20 mins before you can shift gear or you get fault, the shift solenoids dont like cold hyd fluid.

 

[boutch]

I have 6. They all have 82" Normands, one of which is a hybrid. I have nitrogen accumulaters and counter weight, which are a must, but they handle the blower and weight pretty easily.

I do wish they had the road speed of the 3 or 4 series JD though, I'd love an extra 6-7 kmh....

My L6060 Does 27-28 Km/h on GPS. my speedo is way off shows 21 km/h. it can be calibrated for the tire you got on. im on Nokian and it must be calibrated for turf tires. the 4066 does 29 km/h Nick said.

 

[Unraveller]

My L6060 Does 27-28 Km/h on GPS. my speedo is way off shows 21 km/h. it can be calibrated for the tire you got on. im on Nokian and it must be calibrated for turf tires. the 4066 does 29 km/h Nick said.

I'll have to test it tonight. I hadn't thought of that.

Speaking of the Normand Hybrid: I ****ing love it.

Pros:
- HUGE box, i can drag twice as much snow as a regular 82" before i get spill over.
- Nothing left on the ground from the blower, nothing.
- Great sight lines
- Chute facing is removable, so unclogging it is way way easier
- Cheaper than 82" with scrapper

Cons:
- Appears to be less efficient power transfer, when I am blowing a half-full box, I can hear the RPM's drop, even with a light snowfall. So i usually back off the pile a bit first.
- Throw distance appears to be a little shorter.

 

[NickSnow&Mow]

I've had the same question for a couple of years now. So this year I decided to try both. We rented two JD 5115Rs and put 92" cyclones with wings on them. I also setup one 4066R with a 92" cyclone featuring modded mounts to pull it closer to the tractor (Wouldn't recommend as tractor is maxed for weight). We also setup my other 4066r and 82" with wings, the 4052r and 82" with no wings, and the 3046r with the old style Pronovost PINV 80".

Here's my current highly controversial opinion: It completely depends on the routes lol. From what I've seen this year I think we're always going to have a mix of both. Matching the machine with operator skill and route characteristics is key in this conversation I think.

The 4066r with snow tires and the 82" cyclone with wings is our most versatile unit so far. However it's far from the highest production. The little tractors are all doing 100 driveways each in a very comfortable tight 4 hour route consisting of a mix of nice open drives as well as tight downtown areas. The big tractors are in new and open subdivisons with mostly double drives. The one is doing approx 130 places in 4 hours. I firmly believe that tractor and operator will be doing 200 in 5 hours next season.

Here are some questions to consider:

Who are my drivers?

Farm and heavy equipment guys simply don't want to run a little rig. If they have the skill they will perform at a much higher level in a big unit.

How tight is my route?

Drive time is a key consideration. The difference between 30k and 40km/h is astronomical when driveways are spread out. Not so much when they're all in one neighbourhood.

What's my budget?

You can almost run two little units for the price of a big one with a half decent transmission. That's no small detail.


Small Tractor Advantages:

1. About 60% of the cost upfront for the setup as well as fuel

2. Maneuverable. Certain properties simply will not allow for larger than a 4 series

3. So easy to operate and train (an 8 year old could drive these whips)

4. Hydrostatic is unmatched compared to traditional big tractor transmissions (IVT could be debated)

5. Can be stored inside easily

Big tractor advantages

1. Road Speed

2. certain double driveways in two passes and singles in one when matched with 92" cyclone and wings

3. Comfort (quiter, faster, turnable seat, sits higher, more fun, etc)

4. Will not slow down in deep snow. Blowing driveways is childs play for a 115hp. You could practically do driveways at full speed if you had the balls to do it.

5. Major flex on the competition using small units lol

Hope that helps!

 

[grnleafgrnscape]

What did you get for transmission in the 5115r's? Command quad or command 8?
Been looking at a 5125r to add to the 7290r and 2 6430 IVT

 

[NickSnow&Mow]

What did you get for transmission in the 5115r's? Command quad or command 8?
Been looking at a 5125r to add to the 7290r and 2 6430 IVT

They have the command 8 but avoid it if at all possible. The quad would be much better for doing driveways.

 

[grnleafgrnscape]

It's not for driveways, but it will be plowing.
Would put a 10ft boss with extensions on it for our smaller parking lots

 

[NickSnow&Mow]

It's not for driveways, but it will be plowing.
Would put a 10ft boss with extensions on it for our smaller parking lots

In that case you should be fine with either.

 

[grnleafgrnscape]

Am going back and forth between a 6125r so a can have the IVT, and more weight, or give up a lil weight and gain manueverability.
In the summer they are used for right of way ditch mowing
The IVT is a pretty expensive tranny, but sure are nice

 

[grnleafgrnscape]

With the command 8, are you able to mostly keep it in bcd?

 

[NickSnow&Mow]

With the command 8, are you able to mostly keep it in bcd?

Yes you can but it's annoying on the road. I set it so that bcd actually starts in gear c1. Perfect for driveways and quick enough to start on the road.

 

[grnleafgrnscape]

You get left hand reverse with those too?
So it must be similar to the commandquad in the 7290.
You can program your starting gear forward and reverse, correct?