Banging noise on my new B2789 snow blower

[check]

Much to my surprise, I cannot lift my new rear-mount blower very high while engaged, or something starts to hit and there is a horribly loud banging noise. Can't figure out what it is - any ideas out there? (I'm talking about maybe 8" of the ground before the banging starts, so when I lift it up to drive to a new snowdrift or something, I can only just barely lift it off the ground.

One possibility, I suppose, is that the PTO shaft is too long (it is at an angle when the blower is on the ground), but that doesn't seem likely, or I would have had trouble even getting it on in the first place, and I do not remember that being the case.

I'd appreciate any suggestion, thanks.

 

[chucko]

If you unhook the shaft can you lift it?

 

[fish6942]

Look at the angle of the u-joints on the PTO shaft between when it makes the noise versus not. On mine if I raise it to near full height then it starts making bad noises but the bottom of the blower is literally 2' off the ground by then.

 

[leonz]

Your shaft is too long and needs to be shortened-the dealer should have done this for you!

You need to remove the shaft and raise the blower to the maximum hieght of lift for the three point hitch and measure the distance from the end of the stub shaft of the tractors P.T.O., to the end of the stub shaft of the snow blower to obtain the safe retracted length of the P.T.O. shaft.

There is detailed explanation of how it is done here on the forum, I dont remember the title of the posting but its here and easy to do.

One question worries me a bit- do you have a crank out adjuster ball end on the right lower link on your tractor?-it should be cranked in all the way if you do have this option.

If not, are the turnbuckles tight? they have to be tight to keep the attachment in line and prevent swaying.

 

[BeezFun]

I would disengage PTO, raise to max height, then slowly engage pto at low speed to see if you can identify where the banging is coming from without all the background noise of running at higher speed. If it turns out to be your pto is too long, I'd check it to make sure you haven't bent it by trying to raise too high. Turn it slowly by hand as a rough check to see if you notice anything.

 

[Craig Clayton]

If you are going to shorten the PTO shaft measure with care. I had my snowblower on a Ford 9N and I had to shorten the PTO shaft. When I bought the Kubota the shaft was barely long enough. So then I had to buy a 1 3/8 6pt to 1 3/8 6 pt MF adapter to fix the problem.
Craig Clayton

 

[Chilly807]

Generally speaking, the shortest the shaft length needs to be is with "0" angle on the universals, since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Most PTO equipment will have the least misalignment with the implement on the ground.

It IS possible that you can't run the blower in the full raise position , particularly with a short drive shaft. The angle becomes acute enough to cause problems with the U-joints. They normally are designed to absorb up to about 15 degrees of misalignment. My PHD has a longer shaft, yet it begins to bind when it gets close to the "fully raised" position. And it's no-where close to being fully collapsed, just at the angular limits of smooth operation.

Check your blower owner's manual for shaft length recommendations, they should tell you in detail how to measure and cut the shaft if necessary. In general, it has to be short enough to allow free internal space with the blower in all positions, and still have at least 30-50 % of the total overall length engaged when at it's longest position.

In your case, I'll say the shaft's probably extended more with the blower raised, so you may have angle issues.

Sean

 

[crazyal]

Take a good look at your blower for any signs something it hitting. You should see the paint missing and either bare steel or fresh rust. If your PTO shaft is too long you could be pushing the second stage impeller away from the tractor. Be careful because you can do damage to your tractor and blower if the shaft is too long.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Sounds to me that the shaft is too long.??....I can't say for sure.

I sure would say this....STOP and fix the problem.

Report back with the solve, if you would, please and thank you.

 

[check]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. The PTO shaft does angle down to the blower, so it does shorten up as the blower is raised. Will check for free play over Christmas, but keep in mind that I can raise the blower as high as I want, just not when the PTO is engaged. Also, the angles here are really minimal, I would say less than 15 degrees.

Will post photos later.