First off, Happy Holidays to all!!! I have a BX 2200 and I'm getting ready to purchase a new rear snow blower. I am wondering if anyone knows the limit for this machine. I was set on a 50 " but thought about a 60" because of wanting a new tractor this year for the business. Does anyone know if the BX 2200 will run a 60" without a problem? I know I would have to go slow either way so that is not an issue. Feedback from users will be very helpful. I'm looking at the RAD Industries model they seem to be very well built from what I've read.
Scaper
FIRST and foremost you must realise that snow loads will wiegh 21 pounds per cubic foot and will wiegh much more when snow is drifted heavily and undergoes compression from snow layering and freeze thaw cycles during the day to night to day periods of accumulation
Second the ability of obtaining parts for the snow blower is paramount for a commercial enterprise.
All bearings are metric and this is how they are sized.
All V belts are metric and this is how they are sized.
A snow blower that is assembled using a flat rear panel using the Pronovost Puma as an example will be less troublesome from plugging and jamming of ice and snow as the open auger is exposed from the top and essentially sucks down any accumulation into the impeller housing.
(This feed rate could be improved signifigantly if a solid auger drum was employed with narrow hieght auger flighting)
The purchase of a more expensive blower is justified simply because the contruction is heavier and will not be affected by forces generated by the impellers rotation and vibration created by the act of snow removal.
You have to keep in mind snow removal is done in tonnage not snow depth.
The slower you progress with a two stage snow blower during the initial pass
the further and faster the snow will be cast out of the way.
In deeper accumulations you can take half bites and move a bit faster and not have to go back and clean up as much.
A rear mounted snow blower should have a fully enclosed auger housing to avoid the possiblity of the edges of the blower flexing up and down creating side stresses on the end bearings and allowing the cross auger halves from becoming separated/walking from the end bearings over time.
You want a box totally surrounding the auger to maintain the integrity of the welds and steel sheet framing the augers hopper.
The open auger design of the typical 2 stage snow blower
(Which I absolutely hate) floods the the impeller no matter the snow type wet, heavy or powdery drifted compacted snow.
Most manufactures have reduced this issue by partially enclosing the impeller drum with a small piece of sheet steel to reduce the amount of snow being spilled out of the impeller as the snow is being cast out of the impeller.
It all depends on your wallet as far as branding goes;
The Canadian RAD brand is used by Kubota, John Deere, Frontier, New Holland and others as they are a major subcontractor for these and other brands of mowers.
Allied, Buhler, Farm King, Meteor, Lucknow, Econor and others are also in the business of snow blowers.
I personally like the Pronovost line of 2 stage snow blowers and the quality is excellent from my first hand examination of them and the quality is the same from the smallest snow blower to thier largest three pount mounted industrial model for municipal and high snow fall areas and the farm equipment they build and sell.
The Pronovost PUMA will be of a greater first cost in purchasing to you but the machines design has heavy sheet steel skin and full welds in its construction and fully enclosed auger/hopper and the cross auger bearings are greasable ball bearings and easy to reach.
If you have dual remotes you can order the Pronovost Puma with hydraulic rotation and chute elevation cylinders or you can simply order it with manual crank rotation for the chute control and a manually positioned spout angle locking pin.
The Pronovost Puma unit will allow you to upgrade to the hydraulic functions at a later date if desired if you purchase a tractor with dual remotes later on which is something that should be standard equipment in my opinion anyway with any sub compact or compact tractor and limits the end users ability to use it without incurring additional expense by adding these features later.
I will freely say that you should purchase one of clarences impeller kits for thirty dollars with which it will increase the snow blowers ability to cast snow further and faster and nearly eliminate plugging of the impeller as the rubber paddles clear the impeller of snow at each rotation and nearly eliminates the build up of ice in the impeller housing.
The snow blower impeller creates a huge amount heat as it is spinning and
creating friction by lifting and casting the snow to be removed and the impeller kit will reduce any build up to a minimum for the end user.
No matter which brand of snow blower you choose it will be aided by the installation of a pair of pnuematic casters to aid in turning the snow blower while operating to avoid the digging in of the corners of the snow blower in dirt, stone or soft (junk) asphault.
Lastly the another option is the motorised Bercomac snow blower for ATV's and UTV's as it is self contained and is a two stage snow blower which has a high horse power air cooled engine used to provide power to the snow blower.
As the snow blower has its own power unit it does not rob the tractor of any useable power from the BX2200 P.T.O.
A hitch adapter and or winch mount would have to fabricated for the Bercomac unit to use the three point hitch but the Kubota UTV Winch is used currently on the Kubota RTV's.
The only tractor energy used for the Bercomac is the power used to move it by the BX2200 allowing you to have a steady reverse or forward speed at lower throttle settings.
The Bercomac has lower ground clearance than a typical three point hitch mounted blower.
A front mounted Kubota snowblower will have the same clearance issues and is worse as the front mounted blower if you can find one has to have its own frame kit under the tractor which is attached to the rear mounts for the mower deck or a second mounting point on the rear drawbar.
You should have your rear tires loaded and purchase a good set of tire chains specifically sized for your BX 2200 tires as well as a four wheel drive tractor WILL GET STUCK.
The use of "Rim Guard" or straight windshield washer fluid will prevent the rear tire rims from being damaged by rust and corrosion as the case with calcium loaded tires that have tubes or are loaded as tubeless rear tires.
You should invest in a supply of fluid film to coat the interior of the snow blower to aid in its ability to shed snow and act as a rust prventative as well;
and spraying the impeller housing keeps the snow really flying whether you have a single stage or two stage snow blower.
The thing is your snow blower if properly cared for will outlast every tractor you put it on as it is a seasonal use implement and the 540 RPM drive system is an industry standard.
The more you spend up front on an implement gets you a stronger implement and you will have fewer and fewer problems as long as you take care of it.
When one looks at a purchase of an implement like this several things must be examined at once.
The power delivered is the same no matter the width of the snow blower.
The loading of snow against the cross auger and impeller is what affects the operation of the snow blower.
The two stage snow blower costs the builder less to make than a single stage snow blower as it uses less steel to build it.
A single stage snow blower requires more steel to create a hollow tube with narrow width auger flighting to carry the snow quickly to the center and throw it out of the chute quickly to dispose of it.
The typical front mount single stage snow blower uses or used a one to one bevel gear drive driven by a pair of V belt pulleys off the engine crankshaft and this creates a huge speed of rotation which is very effective for heavy snows which are not melting.
No one makes a small single stage auger or propeller type snow blower in the United States for a three point hitch mounting system currently to my knowledge.
The impeller operates at 540 R.P.M. and the cross auger is operated by the worm gear driven bevel gear by the chain drive onn a rear or front mount snow blower with the front mounted PTO driven blowers taking power from the Mid Drive PTO and using V belt drive reduction and a reversing gear box.
, BUT do you really want to go slow all the time??
