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First time plowing with my x758

16K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  nastorino 
#1 ·
Just... Wow. To say I'm impressed with the plowing capabilities of this machine is an understatement. We got 6-8" of heavy, wet snow thanksgiving week and I finally got to plow my driveway. I dropped the plow right out my garage door and had snow curling up higher than the hood and spilling out the sides by the time I got the 75 feet down to the road in one pass, and this tractor never even hesitated! I was weary of a few things, like not having tire chains or weights, and that the plow wouldn't have enough down pressure in float to get down to the blacktop, but those worries were soon dissolved. And the fact that I didn't have the wind blowing snow back in my face the whole time like the blower on my gt235 did was just an added bonus. Than tonight, I got a load of old blacktop to help fill in my barn floor, about 8 tons of it. I used the neighbors 770 JD to bring the material in and dump, but it's too big to maneuver around and spread the material level, so I got on the x758 and went to town. Even material with a ton of medium to large blacktop chunks everywhere, this thing pushed it around with much less effort than I had expected it would. I can't say enough about the capabilities of this x758 and the 54" plow setup. I would definitely recommend it to someone on the fence about a snowblower vs. a plow. Very very happy I went with an $800 plow and not a $3500 snowblower lol
 
#2 ·
Having some good time with that $800 snow plow, eh? Send some of that white stuff over here so I can christen my 1026's brand new $3000 plow.:laugh: No, better wait, my chains haven't come in yet.

Plowing's all great until there's no more room for the snow. Even here in non-lake effect snow area I've had times when I had to change out the GX335's blade for the blower and I'd wouldn't mind if I had to switch down to it again in "The Big One"!:laugh:
 
#3 ·
Having some good time with that $800 snow plow, eh? Send some of that white stuff over here so I can christen my 1026's brand new $3000 plow.:laugh: No, better wait, my chains haven't come in yet.

Plowing's all great until there's no more room for the snow. Even here in non-lake effect snow area I've had times when I had to change out the GX335's blade for the blower and I'd wouldn't mind if I had to switch down to it again in "The Big One"!:laugh:
It's all about speed and how much runway you have!:lol:
 
#5 ·
6shooter,

Sounds like you love your X758. I'm considering getting one too... just for mowing and plowing snow. My driveway is much larger than yours. About 250' plus a lot of extra turn around area and a large area in front of the carport. So, I'm still debating.

Just curious, but when you plow, do you plow with full throttle like mowing?
 
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#6 ·
Hey Dave. When I plow snow, I'm on low idle unless I'm "roading" and want to just get there faster. But as far as effort for pushing snow, this tractor doesn't even blink at it under 1/3 throttle. Even when I just spread 2" crusher run and then 1" crusher run for top in my barn, I never went over 1/3-1/2 throttle. Just push a reasonable amount at a time and hit the diff lock if you start to spin and it'll push just about anything with amazing ease. I don't regret one single thing about buying an x758 or getting a plow for it.
 
#7 ·
I'm glad to see the good report on the x758. One of the buildings I take care of needs a new tractor for mowing, I am leaning toward a x758 so they can plow as well. I would likely set it up with a broom also.
 
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#8 ·
Me too. The more I'm reading about the X758, the more I like. Still, I'm going to wait a little bit and do my homework. Plus, I need to sell my ATV first.

With that said, I'm going to start getting my "ducks in a row" and start figuring out exactly how I would want my 758 setup.
 
#12 ·
Thanks 485DEERE,

I will only be getting the regular turf tires, as those barred tread tires will probably chew up the lawn pretty bad when mowing. That's one of my reasons for chains. The other is.... we get a lot of those freezing rain/ice storms that turn my driveway into a nightmare. With the chains, I can tear up some of that ice and maybe lossen it up to the point where I can move the ice with the plow.
 
#20 ·
Got some more plow time in this week with my 758, probably the heaviest job I've asked of my machine yet, and I was majorly impressed all over again! Ran 100 amp service out to my barn, had a buddy with a mini excavator dig me a 24" wide by 3' deep trench about 85 feet long, and I backfilled it with my blade. Couldn't believe how much material this tractor pushes! And bonus, the blade in float works great at not digging into the sod, but scrapes the trench dirt right up and piles it nicely. Weights are next, I just scored a Femco rops off craigslist for $100, so I'll be getting a weight bracket for the click and go mounts next.
 
#22 · (Edited)
For some reason it wouldn't let me load pics of the trench I backfilled. Anyway, I'm looking for used suitcase weights. As much as I want them before winter, I'm not overly excited about dropping $180 on the mount and another $300 on weights at the dealership. I've got tire chains leftover from my gt235, I'm gonna see if they're even close to fitting on my 758.
 
#24 ·
Anyway, I'm looking for used suitcase weights. As much as I want them before winter, I'm not overly excited about dropping $180 on the mount and another $300 on weights at the dealership.
Good luck with that! From what I've seen over the years any used ones you may find (rare) they are priced almost the same as new. I had gathered some here and there over the years but needed 2 more when I got my Heavy Hitch and just went with Home Depot - at the time (last year) they were $45 shipped. When I looked again recently I saw the price went up to $64 which is close to what the dealer charges I think.

John Deere Rear Weight-BG20029 - The Home Depot

GFP (one of our great supporting vendors) has a specail this weekend with free shipping on everything no matter the weight. I see they are the about the same price - if I were in the market I would of course buy from GFP.

Green Farm Parts: John Deere Parts Online at Discount Prices
 
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#25 ·
I've found some weights used locally on Craigslist. Gonna have to chase down some, maybe make my own bracket to see how I like the weights for a season. At this point I'd be happy throwing some 25 lb barbell weights on a rod just to see how the tractor does. Gonna paint the rops I got and install it in the next few days, then I can figure out if it's easier just to make a mount or if I'll have to buy one.
 
#26 ·
Weights from Deere are not cheap, but neither is an X758. I can tell you from experience nothing beats Deere's suitcase weights and bracket system for adding rear weight. I tried a cheaper, non-Deere bracket for suitcases on my X720 and I ended up being sorry that I did. Deere's is better! So easy to take on and off and store in the off season. The suitcases are expensive but they are worth it and are literally bullet-proof. It's not like they are going to wear our or go bad somehow. Finding used ones is tough but worth a try.

The chains from the GT235 will likely not fit because they are for a smaller tire. Add a full rack of suitcases + 4WD and I doubt you'll need the chains anyhow.
 
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