59 Snowblower on a 3720 w/ gravel driveway

[gbowling]

After years of owing a JD 345 with a bercomac snowblower I upgraded to a 3720 cab with a 59 inch snowblower.

Obviously a huge upgrade. However, I'm now trying to get used to operating this beast. There are some things about my old setup that were actually better.

My gravel driveway is about 1000 ft long, up a steep hill, with a sharp curve as you go up the hill. The house is on the crest of a hill with prevailing winds off lake MI having a straight shot to my hilltop. Not only do we get a lot of snow, we also have a lot of drifting issues. So keeping the driveway clean is a full time winter job.

My old 345 with the berco snowblower worked great on the gravel after we got a packed base. You could lower the blower to float and it was light enough it floated across the packed base and made a very nice blown driveway.

The heated cab, 4x4, much higher ground clearance, incredible power, and overall setup of my new rig is much more comfortable.

However the blower is heavy enough that it will dig a trench, throw all the gravel off the driveway, and generally make a mess of things, all in great comfort.

I've adjusted the shoes multiple times, adjusted the top link on the front 3pt hitch, adjusted the speed of the hydraulics so I can carefully lift it off the ground a few inches, etc. And I still have a hard time getting a good surface.

If you let it all the way down to float, it's heavy enough the shoes just dig in and I snowblow gravel.

Granted this season we went from dry/warm to very cold and snow overnight so I don't really have a great ice base. I just have a packed snow base. But there has to be a better way.

I've read on here people who have mod'd their snowblower with wheels on the back. I've read about extra shoes in the middle or other places. I've read about people who welded pipe to the front edge/bottom.

So, what's the best way to get these large/heavy snowblowers to work well on gravel?

Maybe there are some simple things I'm missing to make this work better for my situation.

By the way, if anyone out there has a smaller lawn tractor of just about any brand, there isn't a product I would recommend more than the berco snowblower. That's about as good a piece of equipment as I've ever owned.

 

[AKfish]

Good hard packed base, good base, good base... I don't use the snowblower until probably the 3rd or 4th snowfall of the winter. Just drive/pack everything down.

And, I hold the blower probably 3-4 inches off the ground. I figure I can drive through that much snow and it just adds to the base.

If I start getting too thick of a base layer, I'll hit it with the FEL bucket and shave things down a bit.

Once in awhile (like this winter) we'll have freezing rain before we have a good snowfall. That's even a better scenario as the gravel road sets up really hard after freezing and the loose gravel is pretty well locked down.

AKfish

 

[ecbaatz]

You could thicker wider shoes on the blower. Or try cutting a pipe in half the width of the blower and attaching it to the bottom. Allows the blower to slide over the gravel.

 

[doxford jim]

You could tilt the snow blower back a little using the top link - shorten length will lift the front up. You need to be careful just how much you adjust the top link as it could cause too much of an angle for the PTO drive shaft. I read somewhere that the angle should be around 15 degrees.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have different linkage than you do (JD 4410) and I'm wondering if the hitch that you have might push down more on the snow blower since it's pushing from higher up on the tractor.

I finally got fed up with the amount of gravel I was throwing and made (3X) wider and (2X) longer skids.

Before I got my blower someone must have run it a lot with the front wheels off the ground because the sides are wore off to the middle of the front hole, The hole on the side for skids. I got a half descent snow base now but for next year I will build another set of skids to bolt onto the sides.

I know that if you could find a hydraulic accumulator and T it into the lift side of your lift cylinder you would be able to adjust the pressure so that most of the weight of the snow blower would be supported by the tractor and the blower would still float very nicely.

 

[beenthere]

Add rollers like the anti-scalp rollers under mower decks. Or wheels.
Or fit a 1-1/2" water pipe on to the lip of the 59 snowblower for it to ride on. Maybe make it welded to some flat stock so it can be bolted on to the edge. Won't be able to scrape clean on concrete slab but sounds like that isn't where you blow snow.
Adding anything will also just add weight, so consider counter balancing the snow blower around its pivot point.
Pictures of your setup on the 3720 would help. I assume the snowblower is floating, but just heavy.

 

[gbowling]

akfish, agree with having a good base, but at this point I have a pretty good base. I also use the box blade the first 3-4 snows which I can adjust to pack down the snow. Unfortunately we didn't have any freezing rain or ice this year so it's all just packed snow.

doxford jim, shortening the top link is something I've done. At one point I even had the top link in the bottom hole but it was too much of an angle. It helps but it's still not great.

I'm leaning towards a mod for next year for either roller wheels on the back or a pipe on the lip like various people have suggested. I only have a small slab in front of the garage, which isn't a big deal to scrape down.

I'll post some pics of my rig. I have some pics from before the snow flew when I installed it, but none after multiple adjustments.

Seems ridiculous to spend all this money on a rig and then immediately have to go into a major project to make it work right. I would think that most people who need a rig this large would have gravel driveways, seems like the manufacturers would make something that worked for that situation.

 

[kennyd]

A member on the GTT forum (jgayman) recommends replacement shoes from this company: SnowBlowerSkids | Replacement parts for your snowblower

I cant link a thread here, but here is a quote:

These are 16" long and have plenty of height adjustment to clear the gravel. Last season was the first use for these new shoes and they worked MUCH better than the stock shoes.

 

[gbowling]

Thanks kennyd but a search on their site and it doesn't look like they make them for the 59" blower. The largest deere blower I see on there is the 47" blower.

Interesting idea though, making larger skids would be easier than a pipe or wheels and might be a first attempt at making things better.

 

[kennyd]

They may have something that would work...or maybe with your help on the dimensions make something specifically for the 59". A few of my products where just designed that way-with the help of customers who had specific need. Call or contact them, most small business's like to hear from people for new ideas.