As a lifelong “Minne-snow-tan,” I have to say, I’m feeling left out. This winter, we’ve seen big snowfall totals throughout the Midwest and eastern U.S. Social media has documented Old Man Winter’s handiwork. There has been deep snow everywhere.
Everywhere except here.
Here in the Great White North of Minnesota, snow is part of us. We expect it. It’s our culture, but somehow all we’ve received is sub-zero temps, 30-mph wind and no snow. It simply does not compute.
But “Minnesota Nice” is indeed a real thing, so here are a few helpful Machinery Pete suggestions for moving and dealing with deep snow.
Cool Machines to Move Snow
“The Curtis”
Jon Boylen of Mount Sterling, Ill., built “The Curtis” in 2018 to move snow. Here’s what he told me: “It was my brother Curt’s idea. We stripped it (a John Deere 643 corn head) down for the gear boxes and were left with just the main frame. He decided to use it as a snow pusher. We put it on the front of our John Deere loader bucket, and it works great.”
1944 Allis Chalmers M7 Snow Tractor
This unique “tractor” was designed for the U.S. Army to pull a 1-ton snow trailer and rescue downed WWII pilots.
Case IH Combine Snowblower
If you’re going to move snow, a triple auger snowblower on the front of a Case IH 1660 combine will do the trick nicely. I can’t say Machinery Pete would advise sticking it on front of your Case IH 9250 or John Deere X9 1100, though.
1972 John Deere 500 Snowmobile
One of my all-time favorite tractor collection pictures from the past 35 years isn’t due to the impressive line of tractors. It’s the 1972 John Deere 500 snowmobile parked atop the 1972 John Deere 7020 4WD tractor. I met Tony and Marsha Trombly of West Chazy, N.Y., a few years ago at a cold, rainy Ohio farm auction we were filming for the “Machinery Pete” TV show. This picture of their collection made me smile then and still makes me smile today .
New Idea Uni 709
New Idea farm equipment was made in Coldwater, Ohio. This New Idea Uni 709 came with a factory front-mounted snowblower for the city of Coldwater. How cool is that? It was custom made by the local farm equipment manufacturer.
$2 Million Farm Auction in a Blizzard
Here’s my last piece of Machinery Pete advice. If your farm retirement auction day turns up very snowy, rejoice! One of the hottest auctions I’ve ever covered was Dec. 11, 2010, in Fairmont, Minn. There was 15" of snow, 30-plus-mph winds and red-hot bidding. I got back to my hotel room after the auction, and wind had blown a snowdrift through the window. The blizzard caved in the Metrodome’s roof the next day. Click to see this red-hot farm auction during a snowstorm on “Machinery Pete” TV.
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