Gator Snow Removel

[GeoffDiamond]

If you have miles of walks to clear, their may be a great solution other than snowblowing and shovelng.

Curtis snowplows and tractor cabs, have cabs, plows, spreader, all built for the John Deere Gator. I haven't used these products, however i think they may work very well. I am also going to seriously look at them, if not buy one.

Geoff

[diggerman]

I have looked at these as well over the years for sidewalks and think they would work fine along with the Kawasaki mule which many of the same items are available for.The one thing that I have found is that for the cost a used suzuki samuri is a better deal.The overall width is not much diff and you can buy two used suzuki's for the price of one new of the other.Also heat and cab and seating are all better,parts are much more available from more parts houses.The drive train is no 1ton but is better and more durable,and cheaper to repair and transport is legal and does not take another truck.But all this is just my take after thinking about big sidwalk jobs a couple of times.

[Alan]

There's a guy around here who runs a Sno-Way on a Geo Tracker, which I think is the same cat as a Samuri with different tags. He leaves the plow on all winter, what with being a big time plow operator and never knowing just when he might get an emergency plow job.

[Lazer]

That's of your sidewalks are that wide.

For 48" & narrower a Holder (German) tractor or a Bobadier are the way to go.

[GeoffDiamond]

Well the curtis blade is 72" wide, i think when you angle it your probably clearing 66". If i bought one,i think it would work well it most places. I will admit many jobs i would be clearing 6" of grass too, but thats ok, as the snow builds up, things will get narrow. I think the Geo tracker, would be too big, plus the turing radius is a lot larger.

Geoff

[Chuck Smith]

The Steiner articulating tractors are getting more and more popular around here for walks. They have lots of attachments for them too. Those machines have a front PTO on them. They have a front mount blower for leaves, and a snow blower too.
Oh, and I think Lazer was referring to a Bombardier.

~Chuck

[John Allin]

Lazer,

Arn't Bombardier's abit expensive?? The only places I have seen that kind of equipment is on universities, college campus's and the like.

Is any contractor (on this forum) for hire using something that expensive on a regular basis ??

If so, I'd be interested in knowing how you/they are transporting it. I'd like to get one, but cannot seem to justify the cost as compared to what kind of return I could expect.

[diggerman]

There is a big diffrence between a Geo tracker and a samuri, the samuri is narrower and is actually very close to the same width as a Kawasaki mule,and not much longer.The problem with most machines like the steiner the gator and the mule as well as atv for doing large sidewalk areas is the lack of good quality heat,which means foggy windows and warm up breaks.Sure if you want to be dressed up in snowmobile suits for 10 to 20 hour thats fine but I have found that the production goes up drasticly when the driver is warm.Not only while they are plowing but also the period of time they can plow for and their willingness to come back time after time.The other thing that I have found with our tractors is that they are not very mobile, which usually means if they are going very far they have to be trailered.Never had a samuri with a plow but I priced a holder and you can buy 10 suzukis for the same price,if I get an account like that I may try one.I have also thought about one with a back drag blade for doing a complex I do were the drives are across a one lane alley(I think every architect should spend one season in a plow).

[DYNA PLOW]

diggerman,i have two of those sammy's,one is severlymodified
for extreme rock crawling and the other is stock. i have also thought about a plow on it as i have one account with alot of side walks that are over 60" wide.
if i do iwill let ya know
dan

[Lazer]

John,

There is 6-7 or so contractors that use Bombardiers in my area. Maybe a total of 20 machines or so.

They cost around $70,000 new.

The rest use Holders (Another 10 units or so, around $45,000 new) These are just the guys I'm buddy's with, I'm sure there's many more.

Granted, some of these guys do have municipal contracts, but most work for residential only. These guys all just drive their machines down the road, the go 25mph.

Guys that do commercial (office parks and such) use Toro GroungsMasters/Stieners on trailers.

[JCurtis]

Lazer, man would the cops have fun with those guys in my town. They are always pulling over snowmobilers who are on the road during a storm.

Heck, during one real bad storm they were ticketing the private loaders and backhoes that were contracted out by the City Public Works Dept. for no tags, broken lights, etc.

Of course they had a contract beef with the mayor at the time, but they still don't like non registerd vehicles on the road..

Are those bombardiers and holders registered?

[SLC1]

Thats exactly why I have a 1994 Toyota Pickup, We use it on all our large walks and in a pinch we can use it in place of truck, I have a 6 1/2' plow on it and it works great for clearing walks, granted you can not use it on small walks, but for schools, medical complexes, ect. with larger and wider walks it works excellent and you dont need another truck to haul it around with.

[Lazer]

The only requirement is they have a slow-moving vehicle emblem on the back of each vehicle.

They're all equipped with DOT lights, etc. anyway.

Never heard of the police pulling over a snow-removal vehicle for driving down the road.

Your town is wacked, guy. I mean, WHY would your public safety officers want to discourage having all sidewalks cleared??

[Edited by Lazer on 10-14-2000 at 07:38 PM]

[SLC1]

JCurtis, sounds like you live in the same town I do. The police are really strict around here that everything is registered. Our town contracts out about 20 miles of sidewalks to contractors, some use small skidsteers and some use Bombi's, anyway last year the police (during a snow storm) actually ticketed and had towed one of the contractors machines because he was operating an unregistered motorvehicle. Even though he was doing town walks he had to cross public roads and that is where you need a plate. In the State of Conn. you can register equipment as Spec. Equipment and it is only around $90.00 per year, so after that I made sure mine was registered. The cops are so bad around here that they were pulling over and having impounded the contractors that were running dealer plates or transport plates, and these are guys that are working for the town ,trying to keep the roads safe for the public and they are out during snow storms busting our balls. I used to run transport plates on my loader but I was warned to get it registered or else they would probably get me next. Any way just make sure whatever you do make sure its legal.

[GeoffDiamond]

I guess i am pretty lucky. Once i was behind a guy, at night, towing a trailer. The trailer had no lights, bad tires, no fenders, no plate, and proably no breaks. I went past a speed trap, and i am like the guy with the trailer is going to get nailed. What did the cop do, shine his light on the trucks bummper to make sure the trailer had saftey chains, and it did. I guess if you are in maine, and you have saftey chains, nothing else matters.

Geoff

[nsmilligan]

If you are looking for a sidewalk plow try the Trackless MT.
It the most popular up here in my area. Check out http://www.worldexport.com/trackless/, they're not as expense to buy and maintain as a Holder, and have zillion attachments,great lawn care equipment too.

Bill

[nsmilligan]

I just found my old bookmark for their homepage:
http://www.tracklessvehicles.com


Bill

[diggerman]

Whoa I don't know were you get your info but I priced both at the beginning of the season and Trackless is as expensive or more than holder,maybe even ten to twenty thousand depending on attachments.The trackless has alot more power but for doing just side walks the Holder multipark would be a great plenty.The trackless has like 100 and some hp and will load dumps with its blower as fast as you can drive it.It is by far over kill for most average side walks unless they have four to six feet of snow on them.If I had the right place for a holder multipark it would be a great machine.

[CCSwanson]

What about the new DINGO made by Toro I believe that they have many attachments including a plow but I do not know the price however

[Chuck Smith]

They look like VERY versatile machines. I don't think I'd want to stand on the back of one to do miles of sidewalk in freezing weather though. If I had to be out in the weather for miles of walkway, I'd want something that goes much faster.

~Chuck

[GeoffDiamond]

Well, the gator appealed to me, because it could be used a lot in the summer time. One aspect of my company, is transmission line repair. You know those big power lines, that run from the power plants to substations, and then to your street. Well our company works on the transmission lines, we replace a lot of poles a year. When you have to go 5 or 10 miles into the woods, sometimes you run into streams, that even an F 350 can't cross, then what do you do? My cat 312 exevator, has no problems, only sometimes ya need something smaller than a truck to carry equipment. The gator could cross the small bridges, that a truck would be too big for.

Geoff

[stslawncare]

very interesting topic here. i personally have never used a gator, but i do have a few thoughts on them. they dont look like the have much power to plow, but do appear to have good power for the bed full of mulch. for a small company i cant picture it being worth the money, for a larger company i definitly can. they are coming out with more models and as they expand the line i am liking them more and more.

[GeoffDiamond]

If i bought gators for snow removel, they would be 4X4, i am not sure if i would get the diesel.

Geoff

[diggerman]

Side note, Geoff how do you like your 312 I have a 313BSR with a side shift boom, I am debating weather to trade it for a 312 or to buy the regular boom for it,the reach just seems a little short.

[GeoffDiamond]

Depends on the Job. My 312 gets the job done. I don't do that much serious digging, as you know digging trenches and setting poles is generally no work for the machine. I bought the 312 used, it is a 312 L with the long tracks, and blade. I needed the longer tracks for greater stability on hill sides, the blade is also a big help. The machine is sometimes a little small for pole work, however a 320 would be too big for much of our other work.

It best feature is it is easy to transport, and never has a problem reaching a job site. However driving an exevator off road for 5 miles, sometimes gets very boaring.

Depending on the underground market. I would like to get a 307 with a blade, to do just under ground work. However i think that is a few years out, for the mean time, our backhoe and kubota loader, work well. Do you have anything the size of a 307?

Geoff

[Edited by GeoffDiamond on 10-19-2000 at 12:46 AM]