Tires wider than the blower

[fatjay]

I have rear turfs and it's 54" edge to edge. My blower is 50". My first thought was to put wings on the blower, take it about 4-6" on each side. However, I was thinking, convert to AG tires, about $500 on craigslist. The AG tires are significantly narrower than the massive turfs.

Is it worth it for that 4? Which is the better option, making the blower wider or tractor narrower?

 

[Z-Michigan]

Do you get snows so deep that you can't drive through them? If not, I would leave your setup as-is and not worry about it.

That's only 2" on each side and even with a huge drift I think you would be OK, with snow falling off the cut edge into the path of the tire but not impeding you much.

I would choose tires based on your needs, not this small width issue. If turfs work for your other uses I would keep them. If you need ag tires for traction in mud or while plowing soil, I would switch.

 

[fatjay]

I don't know, I just built the machine. This tractor is only for snowblowing and moving trailers around. I'd keep the turfs if I got the AG's, different rims, and just swap them if I needed.

We do get 2-3' on occasion, but I try to keep out in front of it and make multiple passes. My old blower was 42" single stage and only about 14" tall, this thing is easily 24" tall. I have 4wd so if the rear tires have issues the front may be able to pull them through?

My front tires are R4, and in 4wd I haven't been able to spin the tires, the engine just bogs when on mud/dirt, but snow that could be a very different story.

 

[zzvyb6]

If you can make a snow tractor, you can make the blower shell wider. There is a guy on YouTube who restored a 47" and at the same time made it wider. He added some width to the auger, too. Seems like it ought to be cut and paste with flat sheet steel. He left the auger shaft the same length and use some PVC pipe to extend the bearing attachment points outward with some long carriage bolts. Take a look.

 

[RjCorazza]

You could also possibly offset the blower 2 inches, but personally I would fabricate some wings.

 

[fatjay]

I keep thinking that the auger is going at engine speed, but in reality it's much slower. I should be able to cut the housing and extend the auger shaft, it's just a lot of work and winter is looming. I think this is an excuse to pick up a steel break, I could just bend the outside making the input bigger. I think that might be the simplest solution. Question is would the snow go through, or just jam up.

 

[Looking4new]

I think your cheapest and easiest solution would be to put wings on the blower. Don't forget to thoroughly prep them for paint and put a high gloss enamel on them. You might also want to put corner markers on them too.

 

[Deere Dude]

Tires a couple inches on the side won't make much if any difference.

Once one pass is through then you only have one side to worry about and that little amount of snow that gets run over by the back tire on one side won't amount to much. I don't think you would even notice it in the grand scheme of things. Don't over think it until you try it for a few snows and find you have problems.

 

[Reb954]

I have rear turfs and it's 54" edge to edge. My blower is 50". My first thought was to put wings on the blower, take it about 4-6" on each side. However, I was thinking, convert to AG tires, about $500 on craigslist. The AG tires are significantly narrower than the massive turfs.

Is it worth it for that 4? Which is the better option, making the blower wider or tractor narrower?

It largely depends on how much snow you get in an average snowfall, how much accumulated snow you get and the consistency of the snow. If your average storm is at most 6" and your accumulated is 12" to 18" max I would just try using the snowblower the way it is. If you get more than that then you will need to go wider with the blower or narrower with the tractor. If the snow is dry and fluffy you can get away with more than if it is wet and heavy or freezing in place.

I have never tried wings but a neighbor did. He kept tearing off the wings but our accumulated snow is in the 3' to 6' range. He eventually ended up buying a wider blower. My blower was 6" wider than the tractor on each side which worked fine going around corners and when I was opening up deep snow so I didn't get wedged in. This was with a tractor I sold earlier this year. My new blower is only 3" wider on each side than the new tractor so we will see how that works out.

As far as whether to make the blower wider or the tractor narrower, for me the only option would be to make the tractor narrower. But again, that depends on amount of snow and type of snow.

Something to keep in mind, if you get very much accumulated snow you won't be able to fully open your road way due to the tires riding the snow bank pushing the tractor toward the center of the road. Every pass you make, the road will end up a little narrower so you will end up opening up the width of the road using the FEL which causes a lot more work.

 

[Thomas]

I would try the wings if not happy purchase tires,AG tires should give you better bit....heck of good deal for 4.