Snow Snow blower and engine RPM question

[easygo]

Hi all,
After the recent winters with lots of snow I decided to look into a rear mount snow blower. The effectiveness of a snow blower is certainly indisputable but I have a unique situation to consider. My house is about 50ft from the road and a good portion of the area I need to clear is between the house and the road. I read that the blowers throw the snow about 20-40ft depending on the snow. I'm concerned that if I do get a snow blower I will not have enough room to operate it. Meaning I would either be throwing snow on the road (unhealthy on windshields) or throwing snow at my house (also not desirable).

If I were to reduce the RPM would that in fact throw the snow at a lesser distance? So. I though that while between the house and road operate at half or so of the rated PTO RPM. Would that just lead to frustration? I know it would allow for a slower travel speed but it should be faster then a rear blade and FEL when I have a foot of white stuff.

The last several storms were 12-16" of snow and while the little 7510 can clear it the time required is rather significant these days. At this point I would rather spend some hard earned money than give up more time. My other option is to look into a tractor two sizes larger, but I would rather not consider that just yet.
Thanks
Easygo

[Ductape]

Get the blower. Yes, you can reduce the distance it throws by reducing RPMs, but you can also reduce the distance by reducing the angle of the deflector. In fact, if you have a means of controlling the chute rotation AND the deflector from the seat.......... you can place the snow you're blowing while you move. Placing it exacly where you want while you go.If you live in the snow belt, a blower is one of the best attachments you can buy for your tractor.

[rpraymond]

Yes you can vary the speed somewhat and change the throwing distance but you can also aim the top of the chute downward and throw the snow closer to the blower. By doing both you should be able to control where it ends up pretty effectively. And this has been a very good winter for using one!

[easygo]

Thank you for the replies. Do you guys think I would be able to use a 60" blower on my 16 pto-hp tractor? I found a decent used one about an hour from my house. It seems I could save a significant amount over any new ones at the near by dealers.

[dwenham]

That's really going to be pushing it in snow of any depth.

That said, if you have HST, you can increase the capacity of your tractor with careful speed control, but it can be frustrating to have to creep along.

16hp tractor, probably around 42" would be a much better match.

[herringchoker]

60" may be pushing the envelope a bit (3.2HP/ft. of width), but, as dwenham says, with HST it can do it. I run a 72" blower on my B7800 (22HP @ PTO, 3.66HP/ft. of width) with absolutely no issues re power to throw the snow. I don't know how slowing your RPM's would affect its performance, though. I always run the blower at 540 RPM. I have to clear a lot of tight spots and I wouldn't be without the powered deflector.

[ScottyChip]

Hey Easygo I run a 54" Kubota blower behind my B7510. It works perfectly, I have the manual rotation and chute deflection. I do at times find it a bit of a nuisance to stop and make adjustments, but I don't do this very often. I have the HST and do with wet heavy snow have to take it quite slow, but on light and fluffy 8-10" new snow it is as fast as I can go in reverse. You can't go wrong with a blower. Oh! the optional blower from the dealer for my tractor was a Kubota 63", I opted for the smaller, never regretted it.

[easygo]

Thank you again for lots of useful tips.

I was told that if I don't take a "full bite" it would work all right in heavier snow. I figured I could just make the very first pass at a lower speed and if the snow is deep just take smaller chunks at the time. All I read here agrees with what you gusy are saying that a 50" or so would be better for me. But! I could buy this blower for $1200-1300 versus a new one from a dealer for $2100 or more. It is purely a decision based on spending as little as possible (oxymoron when mentioned in connection with tractors) and hopefully shave some major time from snow clearing.

By the way. It is a Meteor blower. and Yes. I did read the recent post about them.

I'm going to look at it in the morning.

[smfcpacfp]

You want a blower a little wider than the outside width of your tractor at its widest point so you are not driving over unblown snow.

I was going to say what you just said. You can pretty much use any width blower with any tractor. If you tractor lugs because of the amount of snow you are trying to blow, turn it into a smaller blower by taking a smaller cut.

[WayneB]

I have a Woods SS-60 with my B-7500 and there are times in deep heavy snow that I have to take it a bit slower, but in normal snow conditions I can just continue blowing at full speed.

Width of the snowblower is important as mentioned above and also weight of the blower.
Although I would think the weight issue shouldn't be a problem with a 5 foot blower

I added a linear actuator to the deflector on my blower chute and it is really easy to control the distance the snow blows.