Cubs snow

[Pete in Holland MI]

This past Spring, a '52 Cub followed me home and got itself restored. Later this summer, a snow blade was found for it and
mounted out front. It has pretty good AG tires in the rear with one set of weights. I know this is a small low horse
power tractor, but from your experiences.......

1 -- How much snow will this set-up handle in it's current configuration?

2 -- If I add chains, how much more snow will it handle then ?

Not expecting much from 10 hp, but just wondering what I can expect.

Thanx !

 

[BearGap]

I used that setup, including rear weights and filled tires, for about 10 years here on the farm to plow snow and it did remarkably well. I have a 400 ft paved drive and a 500 ft gravel drive that I would clear. Light snows up to 6" were generally no problem, but it handled up to 20" snows in that time. Admittedly in some heavy accumulations I was hurling the tractor into the snow using momentum to move, and I had to ride the right brake to keep both wheels turning. I always had the blade angled to shed snow off to the side, too. Once I managed to get one blade-width path open the rest went pretty easy.

=Vic=

 

[BhB]

Chains would make a big difference without them you have the area of the lugs in contact with the drive. If you are on a level drive it could work OK. Chains would be better but could mark up the drive. Bill

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Depends on the snow. Without chains, a few inches of wet heavy snow will stop it due to lack of traction. Otherwise it should easily push a foot of light fluffy snow, or more.

 

[muleboss]

You need something like this to move snow. Might be a little front heavy.

Have not had enough snow to use it. Hope I don't.

 

[FBH1939]

I have a 51 cub. Rear weights and 200 pounds of operator in wet, fluffy, or deep snow I have never needed chains. The thing is a little snow monster. Well balanced with plenty of power.

 

[MtMan]

I have a 1948 Cub with a front mounted snow plow on it. With chains on it will amaze you for it's size. I have pushed about a foot out my 300 foot drive way before with not much problem. The second round I only take about 1/2 of the blade and pushing it all to one side after the second or third push it will try to push the front end over away from the snow piled up. We just got 20 inches of snow and the little guy just didn't have it. I felt like it was too hard on it so had to use a tractor with a bucket on it. It's a lot slower than a plow though.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Snow is like dirt it takes power and weight to move. If wet heavy snow even more so. Don't go ramming the bank with it if you don't want a broken tractor either.

 

[Jim Becker]

Yesterday I plowed for the first time this season. I got a quick reminder of the biggest problem I have with the Cub. That is backing up. Our snow had started with a little bit of rain, so there was some slippery surface under the snow. Pushing a bladeful of snow works fine. But if you drop the front wheels over one of the bigger edges of the driveway, backing up isn't always easy. In fact, sometimes it is easier to continue forward and turn back onto the drive. My current configuration is no fluid in the tires, but with one pair of weights mounted and another pair hanging on a bracket on the Fast-Hitch. I also have a set of chains.

After the first pass, I usually do about a one half overlap. That isn't to make the pushing easier but to reduce the spillage off the wrong side of the blade. Sometimes I would like it if the blade could adjust to more angle.

 

[bc]

If you need more weight in back just have your wife stand on the back hitch and hang on.

Was duck hunting back in the day with the nifty fifty Chevy Deluxe. Ran off onto a muddy road and got stuck with no traction. My friend Doug stood on the back bumper and started bouncing up and down. Every bounce down made the wheels bite and we bounced our way out of the mud.