Update: Crushed stone driveways are not ‘impossible’ to service. It is simply vital that your customer is on the same page as you are. It also may be more simple to service driveways of these sorts in regions with the proper snow as it will freeze and create a nice base layer. This is simply the case for my servicing and the experience I have 😉
Matthew, that is a normal seasonal wear. We do both paved and stone driveways. The paint on them does come off. All of our units have paint flaking off after one season. I could take some pictures of our units and show you how they look, the same way or worse.
I’d agree, the only reason I said what I said is because my two normands and my Frontiers are nowhere near as rusty and these were designated for Mostly stone driveways.
@@Dr.SnowRemoval The paint job on our Normands is wearing off fast as well. We have a unit that is 5 years old and we repainted it last year. It still works great, but was looking rough paint wise. As far as wet snow problems we find that going slower and not lugging the blower down helps keep the unit from plugging up. We recommend when we have heavy wet snow that you run constant RPM to keep blower from slowing down and plugging up. When we don't have wet snow we can basically use foot throttle and not plug.
About 60 0/0 of the driveways I do are stone. Yes, Ontario. And my blower is two seasons old and doesn't have near that amount of rust. However, first several snow falls I will go and pack down the driveways, not blow or clear them. In addition I drop the shoes 2" for the next couple of events. I explain all this to customers as we do a walk thru pre season. I have had one customer that I did blow excessive stone in one section, cleaned it up in the spring, and had 3 referrals that signed up. Hence it is possible. It takes training and fore thought
@@thisthatandtheother100yes I agree, it is very possible and I am personally able to do it. My staff however as it is a new business model struggle with operating under these conditions
I own a crushed stone blower and a tractor mounted snowblower. Once it starts snowing I dont see the driveway until spring. I leave a 3in layer of snow on it all winter. I pickup no stone and rake no stone in the spring.
Doesn’t look to bad to me. That’s just normal stuff after an entire season. The paint wears, it’s not automotive grade. Those things are useless unless you get a foot or more snow anyway. Best to just use a plow or snow pusher with 2” shoes on the edges to be extra safe. How often did you wash and dry them after use?
Doesn’t look horrible now as these are probably around 75% grinded down now. These were washed and dried after each snow event. The blowers would for sure last multiple more seasons, however in comparison to all of my other snowblowers these Kubota blowers are in the absolute worst condition hands down. And they were the most expensive 🤔
Update: Crushed stone driveways are not ‘impossible’ to service. It is simply vital that your customer is on the same page as you are. It also may be more simple to service driveways of these sorts in regions with the proper snow as it will freeze and create a nice base layer. This is simply the case for my servicing and the experience I have 😉
So true that inverted blowers suck with wet snow
Matthew, that is a normal seasonal wear. We do both paved and stone driveways.
The paint on them does come off. All of our units have paint flaking off after one season.
I could take some pictures of our units and show you how they look, the same way or worse.
I’d agree, the only reason I said what I said is because my two normands and my Frontiers are nowhere near as rusty and these were designated for Mostly stone driveways.
@@Dr.SnowRemoval The paint job on our Normands is wearing off fast as well. We have a unit that is 5 years old and we repainted it last year.
It still works great, but was looking rough paint wise.
As far as wet snow problems we find that going slower and not lugging the blower down helps keep the unit from plugging up.
We recommend when we have heavy wet snow that you run constant RPM to keep blower from slowing down and plugging up.
When we don't have wet snow we can basically use foot throttle and not plug.
@@chrisbrandt3642I will share this information with my crew prior to our season beginning! Thanks!!
About 60 0/0 of the driveways I do are stone. Yes, Ontario. And my blower is two seasons old and doesn't have near that amount of rust. However, first several snow falls I will go and pack down the driveways, not blow or clear them. In addition I drop the shoes 2" for the next couple of events. I explain all this to customers as we do a walk thru pre season. I have had one customer that I did blow excessive stone in one section, cleaned it up in the spring, and had 3 referrals that signed up.
Hence it is possible. It takes training and fore thought
@@thisthatandtheother100yes I agree, it is very possible and I am personally able to do it. My staff however as it is a new business model struggle with operating under these conditions
I own a crushed stone blower and a tractor mounted snowblower. Once it starts snowing I dont see the driveway until spring. I leave a 3in layer of snow on it all winter. I pickup no stone and rake no stone in the spring.
That is bad I wouldn't be happy
Doesn’t look to bad to me. That’s just normal stuff after an entire season. The paint wears, it’s not automotive grade. Those things are useless unless you get a foot or more snow anyway. Best to just use a plow or snow pusher with 2” shoes on the edges to be extra safe. How often did you wash and dry them after use?
Doesn’t look horrible now as these are probably around 75% grinded down now. These were washed and dried after each snow event. The blowers would for sure last multiple more seasons, however in comparison to all of my other snowblowers these Kubota blowers are in the absolute worst condition hands down. And they were the most expensive 🤔
How many accounts do you have, and how long are those driveways?
You should sell them and get a Pronovost cyclone blower
Oh believe me I would if I could. I will run these for 1 more season and then I’ll switch entirely to cyclones.
Stone or not, those look like cheap blowers. Especially the paper thin cutting edge.