Winter Warriors: Using Plows and Snow Pushers with Your Loader

For many garden tractor owners, the day the first snow falls is the day their expensive machine goes into hibernation. It is drained, covered, and parked in the back of the shed until spring. But for those who have invested in a front end loader, winter is just another season of work. A loader transforms your tractor into a formidable snow clearing machine, and by swapping the bucket for specialized front end loader attachments, you can create a tool that is far more powerful and versatile than a traditional snow blower. Companies like LGM USA are engineering their loaders to be true, four season workhorses.

The most common snow tool is a snow plow blade. This is a wide blade, often 60 inches or more, that connects to your loader’s quick attach plate. This setup is vastly superior to a simple plow blade that mounts to the front of the tractor’s frame. A frame mounted plow can only do one thing: push. When the snow bank at the edge of your driveway gets too high, you are out of options. A loader mounted plow, however, gives you the power of lift. You can push the snow, and then lift the blade to stack that snow in high piles, far out of the way. This is a critical advantage in heavy snowfall regions, allowing you to keep your driveway wide and clear all winter.

An even more powerful option is a snow pusher. A plow blade is angled, designed to roll the snow to the side. A snow pusher is a large, box like attachment with high sides. It is designed to contain and push a massive volume of snow straight ahead. This is the most efficient way to clear large, open areas like a long driveway or a parking lot. You can move a huge amount of snow in a single pass, pushing it all to a designated area before using your bucket to stack it if needed.

Of course, your standard bucket is also a powerful snow tool. It is the perfect weapon against the single most dreaded winter chore: the icy, compacted berm that the city plow leaves at the end of your driveway. A consumer grade snow blower will choke, shear a pin, or be completely stopped by this wall of ice and road salt. A loader bucket, with its steel cutting edge, can cut right through it. You can scoop, lift, and dump this heavy, wet material, clearing the end of your driveway in minutes with zero manual labor.

To be an effective snow machine, your loader needs to be reliable in the cold. This is another area where old technology fails. Hydraulic systems are notorious for being sluggish and slow in freezing temperatures. The fluid thickens like molasses, and the loader can feel unresponsive until the tractor has been running for a long time. This is where a modern, all electric loader is the clear winner. It is completely unaffected by the cold. It runs off the battery, and its actuators deliver instant torque and full power the moment you turn the key. This reliability is exactly what you need on a cold morning when you just need to get to work.

A garden tractor is a major investment. Do not let it sit idle for four months of the year. By investing in a loader and the right snow attachments, you transform it from a seasonal mower into an essential, year round tool that can handle the worst that winter throws at you.

To see a modern loader system with the all-weather reliability of electric power, explore the product details at LGMUSA.