small utility vehicles or tractors

[snow]

I've seen Geoff write about these in previous posts. He said he used or uses a toro workman and some small kubota loaders. I think that would be very good for doing small strip malls and other places where you could use them to plow sidewalks, etc. What do you think of using a John deere gator or kawasaki mule for snow removal? I know you can get a plow for the gator and the mule(i hink). Downeaster makes a vbox sander for the gator (long bed). It's probably possible to add a singe stage spreader with a swing away mount to get to snow blowers,etc. The small loaders also, I've seen a few at parking lots. Protech is coming out with a lightduty pusher, that you might be able to put on these loaders. The ones w/ 3 point hitch can also get a sander on them with a special mount. Curtis makes one, and trynex makes one. Well, I think i said enough.Lets hear what the pros have to think???? <p>Bryan<p>p.s- I know the post maybe a little weird cause maybe some of that stuff you couldn't put on vehicles, but sometimes i just get carried away. I guess i just need to have experience with some of the equipment first.<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;<br>

 

[GeoffD]

Ok<p>The workman gets used to salt miles and miles of walkways. The 2wd work man is junk, it will get stuck on a wet lawn. To use the workman in the snow you need 4wd. Right now it just gets bags of salt loaded onto it and the salt run through a tailgate spreader mounted on the back. The plowing gets done with a very small kubota tractor with bucket. I may put a plow on the workman, i am thinking about building one. <p>Utility vehicles are ok for getting around a large office complex or school, which is where the workman may go next year. The office walkways might get plowed and salted with a truck, because the walks are about 10' wide, all with wide turns.<p>I am looking at a F 350 pick-up with v-plow, and insert body with spreader attachment. This truck would be used on those walkways because it would be much faster than a utility vehicle and tractor. This truck would also be used to plow and sand condos. Note the office complex is requesting sand next year for the walkways, they said pure salt wasn't effective, because everytime things freezed at night, they had to be resalted. They want the sand, to avoid constatly reapply salt. The days in maine aren't long enough to evaporate all the water that appears during the day from melting. <p>The kubota loader can do much more than plow sidewalks, infact it is too big for side walks. The kubota can take a 8' to 9' blade no problem, and can out stack a truck hight wise. <p>Geoff

 

[snow]

Geoff- How is the blade connected to the kubota? did you make a mount? is it a loader or just a tractor with a plow?<p>Bryan

 

[GeoffD]

Bryan;<p>My kubota 540 is a real loader, not a tractor, Check it out on their web page. I have the plow mounted in the bucket. I leased a truck in 97, when you lease a ford with a plow, at the end of the lease you own the plow. So i used the plow and the plow frame to mount it to the bucket. <p>Only i do have a john deer and kubota tractor both with blades. The are also mounted in the bucket.<p>Geoff

 

[Vince Panaroni]

Bryan,<p>I have a small 5518 Honda Tractor. It is a dynamite machine that has given me nothing but excellent service. I bought it with a bucket loader and a push grader plow. The bucket is nowhere the size that Geoff has on his kabota. Anyway the grader blade worked for crap and so I moved snow from my driveway with the bucket it worked ok but lacked the real ability to move snow. I built an adaptor for my blade (7 feet) that matched up with my hook-up for the bucket to the frame and for the past 4 years have moved a lot of snow at home and for the town and stores in the area that the larger machines can't get to and used to be shoveled by hand. I must say I also have a urethane edge on the plow also which makes it a lot better on gravel. Dino has seen the set-up and you could get some imput from him also.<p>vince

 

[steveair]

Hello,<p>We have a mule here at work and I wouldn't say I would want to plow with it. No power steering, and it is hard to maneuver as it is. With the weight of the plow on the front end, I would have to say it would be a real bear to be maneuvering around parking lots and what not. <p>Also, don't know if it would handle the weight for to long up front. We put the suspension lift kit on the mule (know has 27&quot; blackwaters on it ---- wicked off-roader now) and because of the weight of the enclosed cab, you have to get a heavier duty spring set up for the front. I don't know if the front end will hold up to anymore weight, especially if you decide to load the back up with a spreader and salt too, which I imagine you would. <p>You could maybe get rid of the springs and just give it a solid ride up front, but would ride like a rock then, and wouldn't be much use as a 4x4. <p>Don't know if they have power steering yet either. If they do, that may be a big help. Also, we have the gas model, which does have plenty of power, but I'm sure the diesel model would really power it through. <p>Weight wise, about 500lbs is pushing it in the back. Use it to carry bags of water softener salt to our buildings we maintain. With 10 bags, she starts sagging pretty low and those big tires start rubbing the bottom of the dump bed.<p><br>steveair<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: steveair

 

[snow]

steveair- I've driven the mules before and you're right, they aren't the best. Have you ever seen a john deere gator? they are nice, and downeaster makes a sander for the longbed version. Some companies make swing-away ones for them also. In the literature for the gator, they show it with a plow on the front plowing like 6&quot; of snow. Do you think the gator could handle it??<p><br>Bryan<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;<br>

 

[steveair]

snow,<p>sorry, but I'm not too familiar with gators. We have the mule already, so we haven't been looking at a replacement for quite some time. <p>Just some thoughts..... I was at my kubota dealer today and they seem to be coming out with a great new line of tractors that I would classify as a cross between a compact (B21) and a garden tractor. They look nice and have up to like 20 hp diesels in them. I'm not sure of model #s, but they had 4wd, hydrostatic trans, and all sorts of other features. <p>I guess if it was me, I would think of something along this line (much like vince's set up I guess) rather than a util. vehicle. For around 10k, the same price as the mule/gator are when you start getting them all loaded out, it seems like a more 'proven' way to go.<p>Now, if you happen to know someone selling a used gator for a good price, I would have to say give it a shot. Like geoff said, make sure its 4wd though. I think it would have a role in the work world, just a case of finding its niche.<p>As for the kubota loaders, I was pricing them out and almost fell over. Don't they start around 30's for the smaller and in the 40's for the 540? I'm just asking because I couldn't see spending money like that just for sidewalks. <p>Also, if anyone has the 540, will it lift a pallet of pavers up? I think its a 540.... at a nursery by me, and as I remember they were trying to lift a pallet of blue stone up but had to remove quite a few pieces before it would go. Just wondering about the lifting capacities if you know them.<p>steveair

 

[GeoffD]

The kubota's weekness is it's lifting capacity. Only i have lifted a pallet of cement blocks with it. It will lift a good amount, not sure of it's specs off the top of my head. Only its posted in the cab somewhere on one of those safety lables, i think. Anyways you can look up all the specs on kubotas page. These loaders will plow with a 8 or 9 foot blade and can do whole lots.<p>Geoff

 

[steveair]

Thanks Geoff,<p>I looked up the specs before and they say somewhere around 3600 I think, but it changes when the machine turns (stability ratings) The 'specs' of machines never do much for me. The machine says and acutually may lift a certain amount of weight, but then you can't move it without flipping over. Just looking for some 'real world' stats. Thanks again.<p>steveair

 

[GeoffD]

Well the 540 will move a transformer, telephone poll, underground utity cement box, water pipe, spools of cable, crushed stone, stone dust, gravle, tar, bolders, a pallet of brick.<p>You need to have the heavier rear counterweight when moving heavier materials. <p>These loaders are small but very productive, when their backhoe attachment is used.<p>Geoff