DeereBob - Why, what have you been hearing about ND winters?? Vicious rumors I assure you.
The snow deflector setup is a stock JD item. It would usually mount on a bracket off the tractor frame, but with the cab in the way, I just drilled a hole and mounted it directly on the cab. I added the angle brace that you maybe can see to give that long shaft some support. Cost $85 for the "kit", although it then listed other parts that you would have needed had I wanted to mount it the regular way. It does work well, sofar.
After I'd done it, I was talking to the JD salesman that had sold me the tractor. He mentioned there's a business in town (Fargo) that has electric cylinders that work very well for that application. Cost around $125. It's called "Motion Industries Inc", and they have a web page, several locations. I haven't gotten in there yet but you might check it out. I couldn't find the cylinders on the web page, might have to call them.