PTO shaft slip clutch??

[lakeside]

I have a B26 with a Pronovost Puma snow blower. I also have a gravel driveway and everytime I blew snow last year a piece of gravel or a piece of ice would break the shear bolt. OK, shear bolts are cheap but changing a small shear bolt in the dark, at -30c isn't fun.

Can anybody give me some direction on a slip clutch for my Comer PTO shaft. Are slip clutches good, bad, really ugly or a waste of money?

 

[ccsial]

They work OK but you have to keep them maintained. They tend to rust and then they are not as effective. You will also need to adjust it to protect the shear pin.

I don't have one on my snow blower but I have broken a shear pin several times getting into gravel out in our road shoulders. I do have one on the roto tiller and I think is has saved me a few times.

 

[BeezFun]

I have a slip clutch on my bush hog, saved me from more damage when the boarder who mows our pasture hit something. Had to replace the disks awhile after that because it kept slipping and I didn't know it. So I'd say they work great. Mine has large belleville washers that get compressed to set the pressure. If you just compress them, that's it, there's nothing else to adjust. I've seen other styles that have springs under the bolt heads to set the pressure. I guess you could look at it periodically to see if the washers/springs are still compressed, but the only thing that could cause the adjustment to change is if you're burning up the disks, causing them to get thinner. I know the faces of the steel plates rust, but I'm not sure that makes it slip more or less. I don't see how you could test it on a snowthrower other than shoving a 2x4 in the auger to make it slip, then you'd probably have to take it apart and replace the disks, so then you'd have to adjust it again- lather rinse repeat. Maybe there's some non-destructive way to test them that I don't know about.

 

[lhansman]

I have a B26 and live an hour north of Toronto and have been considering the Provonost snow blowers. I sounds like from your post Lakeside that you have a rear mount blower on the 3PT hitch - is that correct?

I was hoping to find a hydraulically driven blower to run of the front of my B26. Are you aware of anyone who had tried this setup?

 

[lakeside]

I checked with this forum before I bought the blower. Everybody suggested against a front blower as the B26 hydraulics don`d have enough capacity for a blower so I went with a rear mounted, PTO three point hitch model.

Although there were a number of suggestions about brands, Pronovost came up the winner. Ive had it now for a year (one winter)`and I have no gripes. The blower is well made and well thought out. The only small thing which I just discovered today when I went to put the blower on is one grease nipple simply can`t be accessed. It`s the one on the left hand side (as looking at the mounted blower from the rear of the tractor) Although there`s a sticker identifying the grease point , you can`t get at it. So says I, let`s drill an access hole in the in the (welded) plate. After much measuring (I come from the measure twice, cut once school) I drilled a 1 inch hole with my hole saw. The hole lines up perfectly but the nipple but the nipple is so close to the gear the grease gun tip won`t fit over the nipple. I`m going to either have find a slimmer tip or turn one down,. There`s not a lot of interference, just enough.

I also had the hydraulics installed on the tractor and blower for a swivel chute which is great. I didn`t get the hyd adjustable chute but after a year the swivel function is what I needed. I also save the money on the other set of hydraulics.

I`d recommend a Puma but to each his own.

If you want to PM me I`ll send you some pics. BTW: If you`re on hilly terrain like me good rear wheel chains are a must. They are around (bought in the States delivered to Canada with duty etc) about $400 Canadian but that`s a lot less than the aggravation than getting stuck. I`m on gravel, but if you are on asphalt chains can do a real number on the pavement so beware.

 

[leonz]

I have a B26 with a Pronovost Puma snow blower. I also have a gravel driveway and everytime I blew snow last year a piece of gravel or a piece of ice would break the shear bolt. OK, shear bolts are cheap but changing a small shear bolt in the dark, at -30c isn't fun.

Can anybody give me some direction on a slip clutch for my Comer PTO shaft. Are slip clutches good, bad, really ugly or a waste of money?

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Nope, its no fun crawling around on the snow and ice in the dark( been there, done that, I have a nice salamander that sounds like a 747 which helps keep everything warm and dry quickly when needed to work on the ground on a cheap tarp.

A limited slip friction clutch is not a waste of money, it is your last line of defense in protecting a power train, the shear bolts are the first set of defenses in the snow blowers outer castle wall and the second wall is the roller chain and the shaft keys are the last wall to the courtyard so to speak.

If you have snow banks that pile up it is a good investment as the pin may not shear and the chain may or may not break and then the gearbox may not shear a key and then its the PTO shaft that must protect the Beast of Orange.

The key to obtaining the proper tension to hold the clutch springs closed while operating and permit them to open quickly when and obstacle is encountered.

They are not adjusted when you buy them when purchasing a complete shaft, shaft guard sleeve, yokes, and yoke guards, with a limited slip clutch like the a Euro Cardan shaft and clutch is proper loading to create the slippage condition.

The limited slip clutches have instructions on how to properly adjust them.

The issue becomes one of to much slippage where the entire drive train is stopped by the resistance of the material and not shearing pins which is good in respect to the issue of component protection but bad from a productivity point of view.


One sure Kick Mule way of adjusting the Limited Slip P.T.O. clutch would be a friendly pile of compost, wood chips, bad potato's or a load of sand dumped in long high pile to preload the Limited Slip P.T.O Clutch for an overiding safety factor to protect your B26 where the shear pins would be the last word using new shear pins which have a higher breaking strength "IF" desired.


I would find out from the Pronovost folks if a stronger shear pin would violate your warranty if it is still in force first though as the stronger sher pins will not be that expensive to purchase from a farm supply store with hardware and bolt bins.


You can use isopropyl alcohol to clean the Limited slip clutches and the pads will dry properly with no issues.

NO portion of the limited Slip Spring Activated Clutch Pack is to be lubricated as they will not work other wise.


The shear pins are the relief valve in the snow blower piping so to speak.

 

[leonz]

I checked with this forum before I bought the blower. Everybody suggested against a front blower as the B26 hydraulics don`d have enough capacity for a blower so I went with a rear mounted, PTO three point hitch model.

Although there were a number of suggestions about brands, Pronovost came up the winner. Ive had it now for a year (one winter)`and I have no gripes. The blower is well made and well thought out. The only small thing which I just discovered today when I went to put the blower on is one grease nipple simply can`t be accessed. It`s the one on the left hand side (as looking at the mounted blower from the rear of the tractor) Although there`s a sticker identifying the grease point , you can`t get at it. So says I, let`s drill an access hole in the in the (welded) plate. After much measuring (I come from the measure twice, cut once school) I drilled a 1 inch hole with my hole saw. The hole lines up perfectly but the nipple but the nipple is so close to the gear the grease gun tip won`t fit over the nipple. I`m going to either have find a slimmer tip or turn one down,. There`s not a lot of interference, just enough.

I also had the hydraulics installed on the tractor and blower for a swivel chute which is great. I didn`t get the hyd adjustable chute but after a year the swivel function is what I needed. I also save the money on the other set of hydraulics.

I`d recommend a Puma but to each his own.

If you want to PM me I`ll send you some pics. BTW: If you`re on hilly terrain like me good rear wheel chains are a must. They are around (bought in the States delivered to Canada with duty etc) about $400 Canadian but that`s a lot less than the aggravation than getting stuck. I`m on gravel, but if you are on asphalt chains can do a real number on the pavement so beware.

Is this where the propeller shaft meets the first sprocket that powers the open auger?

It may be simpler to cut away a little bit the sheet metal and run a grease hose from the open bearing and secure the hose with a pair or three of loom clamps and self tapping screws on the guard over the cross shaft from the gear box.


You can purchase long length grease fittings to spank the Puma for being obstinant and solve that issue too if that any help.

 

[lakeside]

Leonz,

Yup, that's the little beggar!! You have to wonder why a well designed blower would have a grease nipple engineered in such a way as it can be lublicated. I just though of something though. If I replace the existing nipple with a one that's longer I just might be able to get the tip of the nipple out far enough so I can get the grease gun fitting over the tip. Got to try that on the weekend.