Snow Removal Advice for 1650

awesome

Even in wet snow? I am talking all weather in one night:
Rain….then freezing rain, then sleet, and then snow…a wet snow. All in one night. We get that here in the Ozarks. I would love to see my 149 Cub with a thrower. If it can handle the weather.

jbratton said:

Even in wet snow? I am talking all weather in one night:
Rain….then freezing rain, then sleet, and then snow…a wet snow. All in one night. We get that here in the Ozarks. I would love to see my 149 Cub with a thrower. If it can handle the weather.

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I think you may want to consider a D9 Bulldozer. if you get that in more than 8 inches, the plow on these little tractors will struggle. You just cant push heavy heavy stuff with a not-so-heavy tractor. It'll try, it eventually stand still and the tires will spin. When it is travelling forward, the front tires will be getting pushed sideways. But, i cannot speak for a Cub Blower under the conditions you mentioned.
We generally get very cold dryer snows. In the begining of the season you plow it out wider than the driveway. As the snows continue, you keep the driveway as wide as you can. It works for me. For me, when the morning temps are in the negative numbers and the nights snowfall was in the double digits, I hop in my Cabbed tractor and take care of business only to do cleanup with the Cub when the sun comes up.

dgeary said:

Just my two cents worth. I have a 129 and two versions of the QA42. One is an earlier model that I modified to a QA42A. I also added screw style adjustable skids to it. It served me well for several years but I've upgraded to a late model 4 paddle QA42A which in my opinion works better than the 2 paddle version. Folks have said that these single stage blowers do not do well in heavy or slushy snow as it supposedly will constantly plug the chute. I have not had that problem even with the early model and it was beat up & rusty. I've blown wet snow & snow that was several inches deep where it was pushing over the top of the blower. And I do not have a speed up pulley. Suffice it to say, I've had good luck using these blowers. I've seen some good ones go for $100-$200 in my area. These are lighter than a 2 stage blower and will not unload the rear tires as much.

The 1650 has 23x10.50-12 tires on it. I would recommend going to the smaller tire like my 129 has, 23x8.50-12. (I also have a 1650.) The narrower tire cuts through the snow better. You will need chains and wheel weights. I also added a weight box on the back. I have not had much problems getting around in the snow. I've attached a pic of my set up. Note the adjustable skids that I've added. Makes quick work when I need to raise or lower. Also, this is the older beat up blower. I've used it for several years but just upgraded to the new 4 paddle version last year.

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More two cents. I've written on these pages about snow removal taking issue with wheel weights and flooded tires, calling them a nuisance.... some may think I'm playing the fool. To be clear I never moved snow with my Cub 102 but I did plow snow with a GE Elec-trak, a six lead-acid battery beast. With four batteries under the seat and everything else, incl me, there was 675 lbs on backporch, way more than enough to plow snow from two driveways of 175 ft. And a loud YES to the Carlisle 8.50 Tru Powers, on any tractor.
Cheers, Jack

jbratton said:

Even in wet snow? I am talking all weather in one night:
Rain….then freezing rain, then sleet, and then snow…a wet snow. All in one night. We get that here in the Ozarks. I would love to see my 149 Cub with a thrower. If it can handle the weather.

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Justin, yes, IF you have the snowthrower properly set up. As I mentioned, no rust on the inside of the auger housing and no rust on the inside of the discharge chute. AND the inside of the auger housing and discharge chute must be coated with graphite paint. Even with the graphite paint it will occasionally plug up the discharge chute but a simple lift and quick drop of the snowthrower will typically clear it. No need to get off of the seat, unless you really plug it up. The photos I posted were all of fairly wet snowfalls.

Here's a link to the CubFAQ regarding graphite paint:

How to keep a snowthrower from plugging up.

Here are some from an April snowstorm back in 2018.

Thanks for posting!

I really like Tony's idea of a D9,a bit overkill,but it would be fun...if the block heaters work..

gary noblit said:

I really like Tony's idea of a D9,a bit overkill,but it would be fun...if the block heaters work..

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Block heaters? No, no. You have to get that gas Pony engine to start and warm up so you can engage it to crank the diesel over until the cylinders warm up enough to diesel.
It was an art.

My 2 cents (soon we will have a dollars worth of advice/experience.) I have used my 149 for the last 15 or so years for snow removal and cutting grass. I have the IH blade and a QA42A snow thrower. After doing the rubber paddle mod and keeping the graphite paint touched up every Fall, I don't ever consider using the push blade anymore. As far as throwing rocks on a gravel driveway, If I used the blade it was unavoidable to end up pushing some rocks too. With either attachment rocks still ended up in my yard where I cut grass. I would like to try the pipe on the scraper blade mod but I have a cement driveway in front of our house and a gravel driveway in back. If anyone has come up with a quick detach pipe, please let me know. With the blade you have to push the snow far enough away to have room to push more snow later, when doing that in the Fall before the ground is completely frozen you will scrape rocks and sod along with the snow. With the snow thrower you obviously just throw the snow far enough away and can stay off the grass. I have an all metal cab with a w/s wiper, a cab of some sorts is a must have on windy days. The cab adds enough weight over the rear wheels that I don't need much extra weight in my rear mounted weight box. Once I did the paddle and graphite paint mod, I no longer needed the smaller speed up pulley on the snow thrower, it seemed as though the belt had a tendency to slip a lot easier with that pulley anyway. We sometimes get a substantial amount of freezing rain in early Winter covering everything with a layer of ice, I made my own front tire chains for my turf tires for that reason. Turned out to be very hard wheelbarrow barrow style front bearings (lucky to get a full season out of them) so I decided to get rid of those garbage bearings and converted to Timken style bearings with new spindles too. I haven't had to replace a wheel bearing since and now have lug nuts holding my front wheels on. With a light snow, I will just push the snow until I get enough scraped up to just kick in the blower when it seems there is enough to blow.

kmcconaughey said:

Justin, yes, IF you have the snowthrower properly set up. As I mentioned, no rust on the inside of the auger housing and no rust on the inside of the discharge chute. AND the inside of the auger housing and discharge chute must be coated with graphite paint. Even with the graphite paint it will occasionally plug up the discharge chute but a simple lift and quick drop of the snowthrower will typically clear it. No need to get off of the seat, unless you really plug it up. The photos I posted were all of fairly wet snowfalls.

Here's a link to the CubFAQ regarding graphite paint:

How to keep a snowthrower from plugging up.

Here are some from an April snowstorm back in 2018.


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View attachment 157870

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I used to have problems with the QA 42 blower plugging even with slip paint on the housing and the chute. Until I realized the belt was slipping. After tightening the belt I now make sure the bolts where the gear box and pully slides are tightened down good. Wet March snows are no longer a problem.

I use a 2182, foam filled rears, chains, bolt on center wheel weights, 451 two stage blower front and rear blade with linear actuator to create independent front and rear lift capability, full steel sims cab, reverse pitch radiator fan (I dont wear a coat in 0 degree weather and it is still too hot in the cab). I spray the blower and blade with PB blaster before I start to prevent sticking. always snow blow wide open throttle. I replaced the CC plastic chute with a JD metal chute 15 years ago. it will shoot snow about 300 degrees. I have blown about 1/2 mile of gravel drive (mine and two neighbors) and 1/2 mile of paved drive (my fathers' and his neighbor) for the last 20 years. Our snow is always heavy sometimes wet. depending on lake effect conditions we get up to 36 inches in a storm. I leave three inches of snow on the gravel but I clear down to the pavement on asphalt. I clear the county road between our drives. I have ribbed tires on the rear but feel the traction is better and chains work better on a turf tire. I foam filled for weight and because it was free for me. Liquid ballast works well but I would only use it with a tube