snow blower conversion

[garydc]

has anyone ever converted their 3 pt hitch snowblower to a front mount on their compact tractor?

[escavader]

CERTAINLY WOULD BE NICE,but would probably cost more than its worth.Consider youd have to make a frame to mount it to,hydraulics to be able to pick it up.adapt the drive lines etc.This is why the front ones are more money.Im pondering between a 54 rear one for 1600 or a similar sized front for 2600.leaning towards the front.Alot of folks here[with front ptos] buy the rears only to sell them and get a front one.Then again alot of us want to keep our loaders on,so the rear ones are popular.my2cents
ALAN

[amkfken]

I am trying something--I have mounted a Toro 11-32 snowblower in/on the FEL on my M-F 2300. Drilled 2 holes in the snoblower handles, 4 holes in the bottom of the bucket--now need snow to try out. If it works will post pics.

Sure makes for a LOONG unit, I know the blower will handle anything I can throw at it, just too much for a 70+ yr old to use on my 3 gravelled drives at 9800ft!

If it doesn' work, did not cost anything, nothing done to either unit to prevent restoring back to 2 seperate units!

[Ductape]

garydc, it certainly has been done, and posted here in the past. Though its been a couple years since i recall seeing threads on this matter. That escavader guy is right though...... with the cost of steel today, if a front mount is available for your tractor.... it would probably be cheaper. Even if you already posess a rear blower. By the time you build a chain drive off your rear PTO (both left, and right turning shafts have been done, depending on which way you need your particular blower to turn), additional shafts, pillow blocks,universal joints, subframe to run the driveline on, and lift mechanism... a front mount made for you tractor would surely be cheaper to buy. And.... if you had planned on running it off a mid, or even a front mount PTO, you will need to slow down the blower by a third or so...... since both run at engine speed, and the rear blower is designed to run @ 540. Look at most of the older (and maybe the newer) front blowers on John Deeres, and you will see the driveling going through a gearbox to accomplish this. Good luck should you decide to tackle this project...... and take lots of pics for us !!

P.S. Doing a few searches here may yield a couple of the old threads on this.

[mjncad]

If anyone knows snow, it will be amkfken up there in Jefferson! Let us know how it works for you.

[SkunkWerX]

Originally Posted by amkfken

I am trying something--I have mounted a Toro 11-32 snowblower in/on the FEL on my M-F 2300. Drilled 2 holes in the snoblower handles, 4 holes in the bottom of the bucket--now need snow to try out. If it works will post pics.

Sure makes for a LOONG unit, I know the blower will handle anything I can throw at it, just too much for a 70+ yr old to use on my 3 gravelled drives at 9800ft!

If it doesn' work, did not cost anything, nothing done to either unit to prevent restoring back to 2 seperate units!

amkfen,

Great concept with the loader mounted blower.
Is it hydraulic drive? What turns it?

Oh, or is it a regular gas walk-behind mounted on your FEL?

[amkfken]

Am using the 11hp Briggs engine, have never stalled it yet, as I said no modifications to the snoblower, just have 2 engines to start!!--Still no snow!

[skidsteer.ca]

Post us some pictures when you get a chance. 11 hp sounds a little small but I guess it all depends on your snow.
How wide is the blower?
I have been thing about the same thing for my 553 Bobcat. I think the pump is to small to drive it hydraulically and I have a 4' jd garden tractor blower and a 15 hp engine laying around.

Of course if your ever interested in a front mount pto drive, I'd like to help with that too.

Ken

[amkfken]

The Blower is 32" wide, I put some wings (bolted on to the blower) to widen it out to 48" to match the bucket width. Never been able to stall the blower with the stock 11hp engine regardless of the depth of the snow even exceeding the depth capacity of the blower, just tunnel thru!

This is normal Rocky Mountain powder including drifts of super hard pack--will give it a try--if it ever snows!

[excelagator]

Originally Posted by garydc

has anyone ever converted their 3 pt hitch snowblower to a front mount on their compact tractor?

Would be cool, but like everyone said the cost of fabing it. I looked high and low for a good used 3pt blower for my JD2310. They tend to run them in the ground here. The front blower was 3K. I found a used case 446 with a 48" snowblower and called it quits!