Orvil Krueger, Marion, Wis., had a problem with the front-mounted 7-ft. snowblower on his Deere 2955 4-WD tractor with cab.

"Whenever I used the snowblower on slush and ice it would get packed inside the auger, and if I didn't remove it at the end of the day it would freeze up as hard as cement. Removing the frozen slush was a tough job, but I had to do it or the chains that operate the snowblower could break," he says.

His solution was to remove the top part of the snowblower housing and attach a home-built, hydraulic-operated metal 'door' in its place. The hinged door attaches to the top of the snowblower mounting brackets and is raised up or down by pulling a lever in the cab. A steel cutting edge is welded to the bottom of the door.

"When I drop the door all the way down it completely closes off the front of the snowblower, so I can push slush around wherever I want without worrying that it will get into the auger. When I want to use the snowblower again, I just raise the door," says Krueger.

The door is made from 1/4-in. thick steel and is raised and lowered by the same hydraulic cylinder that would normally operate the tractor's front-end loader. Krueger welded a metal bracket on top of the snowblower in order to attach the cylinder. He also welded a pair of I-hooks onto the snowblower mounting brackets, where the door hinges on 1-in. thick steel pins. A metal guard closes off the back side of the door whenever it's raised all the way up.

Krueger always keeps a garden hoe handy behind the door and on top of the snowblower mounting brackets. "Before I put the snowblower back in the shed, I raise the door and use the hoe to pull out any leftover snow or slush," he says.