Snowblower Snowblowers, opinions, good ones and bad ones.

[ttowne66]

Hey Guys

I would really appreciate any facts on different brands of 3 pt mounted snowblowers. I know everone thinks the one they own is the best out there but honesty would be appreciated as well. Thanks.


Tom

 

[MadReferee]

Do a search here for snowblowers. You will get zillions of hits. This subject has been discussed every year here and sometimes gets as heated as which color of tractor to buy.

You can also do a search for some of the more prominent manufacturer brands, like Puma, Blizzard, Buehler and Lucknow. Your search should also turn up some things to look out for, like chutes that clog (one brand has been reported to have this problem and there is a post concerning it).

Happy searchng.

BTW, the snowblower my son is using in the picture is a Puma with hydraulic chute and deflector.

 

[hwp]

What is best for you depends on what you want the snowblower to do. If all you want is to move snow a few feet off a driveway, then almost any machine will do as long as it is well enough built, but if you want to blow snow for some distance, then the design of the machine can be very important. A snow blower is essentially a pump, and a well maintained snowblower will throw water. The two critical design issues are the tip speed of the impeller and the clearance between the tips of the impeller and the drum. The manufacturer of my snowblower recommends a gap between the impeller and drum of 0.020". The tips of the impeller wear over time and have to be rebuilt. A quick test is to put a dime in the bottom of the drum. Each impeller blade should pick up the dime and move it to the point of discharge. The drums on some machines are not perfectly round which can reduce the capability of the snowblower. A tip speed of 5000 fpm will throw snow about 100 feet if the gap between the impeller and the drum is appropriate. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ttowne66]

Guys

Thanks for the info so far! Being east of Lake Ontario we receive between 150-200 inches of snow a year. After ability to move conciderable ammounts of snow I am more concerned with Long lasting quality of components & paint than anything else. For example I have seen some blowers at TSC that have heavy coat of paint which is flaking & rusting already without any use at all. I really need something that if it used heavily will not break or bend easily. I dont mind re-painting every few years but I don't want to get into a rusting POS that requires sandblasting and re-painting every season. Thanks.

 

[DIYGuy]

The paint on my JRW from Canada is mediocre, but it hasn't met a snow storm that it can't keep up with.

A very simple machine with manual chute controls.

My article on it here: Snowblower Article

 

[jimgerken]

I can't tell you which blower is better overall. However, I will add one thing for you to think about. When I researched 3-pt mounted blowers, I noticed that some allowed the auger drive chain to run right out in the snow. I looked at my neighbor's blower with this design and after a single winter the chain looked like ****. If there is ever a choice between a blower that runs a chain in the snow, and one that doesn't, I would choose to keep the chain dry. That's my 2 cents' worth.

 

[jwease]

I am also researching snowblowers and also was not impressed with the TSC blowers. For about the same money I could get a Puma, Buhler/Allied, AgroTrend or Woods. The Woods is actually a bit more $ than I think its worth.
I wanted to look at a Blizzard but was not able to find a dealer locally.

I tend to research things to death to get the best for my money. I've also found $100-$300 differences in price among dealers on the same brands so it pays to shop around. I have a gravel driveway and want something that can hold up to that as well.

Any praise or complaints about the above brands or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SailTrac]

Jwease, I was also looking at Blizzard snowblowers. McQueens in Wolclott, NY is a dealer. They sell Kubota and New Holland. I am buying a front mount snowblower for my BX2200. My father-in-law who I let use the tractor has a neck/back problem so a rear blower is not an option. I don't know if McQueen even stocks them, but the distributor in Syr said they are one of the closer dealers to Oswego/Fulton. For those of you in who don't live in Lake Effect areas, you can go to bed with a clear driveway, and wake up to 48" of snow by 6am. 2' of snow and they don't even close the schools.

 

[jwease]

Thanks. I forgot about McQueens. That Syracuse distributor sent me a letter listing 2 dealers who carried the Blizzard but when I called them they had never heard of Blizzard. It didn't make sense but what are you gonna do? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[ttowne66]

Guys

I have been doing quite a bit of research! Looking at the specs and viewing several brands , I believe pronovost is looking to be a top dog. Even thier "value" PUMA line looks to be quite good. Anyone agree/dissagree?