PTO Power - b7800 vs l3130

[NoTrespassing]

Ray,

Get a good set of tire chains for the rear tires if your driveway is hilly. If you check my homepage you will see what I mean by hilly.

http://www.geocities.com/kevin_usa_us/home.html

I wouldn't dare plow my drive when it gets slick without my chains on. (L3710 hst fwa) I've got "2-link" chains that I got from http://tirechain.com/

Kevin

 

[RayMunising]

Kevin -
Beautiful piece of land!!! The pic with your tractor coming down the hill looks to be a similar slope as my driveway but the pic you have of your driveway with your shadow in the picture is downright scary! I don't think I'd go down that with anything except a snowmobile! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've added chains to my list of "must haves". Thanks for the chains website.

Rick -
Sounds like I'd be cutting it close with an 8 foot door + R1s + chains! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[RayMunising]

Oh man ... just when I convinced myself the 3130 was the machine for me the post "HP and FEL" by HunterRidgeFarm (I don't know how to do a link) makes it very clear that extra weight can seriously hurt power. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Apparently adding an 800lb FEL made a noticable reduction in power. So once again I'm back to thinking the b7800 may actually have more available HP to the PTO than the 3130 and for MY purposes (snowblowing). Since I'm not interested in ground engaging implements I'm thinking the B7800 might be the way to go. Also, I've heard from several B7800/B2910/B3030 owners that say their tractors are snow eating machines but I've not heard a peep from a 3130 owner with a snowblower. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif So back to my original question ... does anyone else have any thoughts on which machine has more PTO power available when in use (like when going up an incline) the B7800 with 22HP PTO + 1700lbs weight or the 3130 with 24HP PTO + 3200lbs weight? Just how much HP does it take to move that extra 1000lbs???

 

[fjblair]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Ray,

Get a good set of tire chains for the rear tires if your driveway is hilly. If you check my homepage you will see what I mean by hilly.

http://www.geocities.com/kevin_usa_us/home.html

I wouldn't dare plow my drive when it gets slick without my chains on. (L3710 hst fwa) I've got "2-link" chains that I got from http://tirechain.com/

Kevin )</font>

So now I need chains? I have yet to use my 3130 in the snow, but my road is a good bit steeper than your's looks to be.

I figured 4WD and loaded tires would be enough as I don't see many tractors using chains around here in the winter.

Nice property!

FB

 

[ronjhall]

That depends how fast you want to move the weight. The B7800 can probably move at full speed easier in high range and full throttle. But you are not likely to be blowing snow in high range.
I do not have a snowblower on my B2910. But other attachments that use PTO power do not bog down easily. The one that will suck power is my 5' rotary cutter. It will pull down engine RPM's when cutting heavy grass in low range and engine running at PTO speed. To get RPM's back up I just let up on the HST pedal.
I have never stalled my 72" MMM.
From your list of projects I would get the B7800. Make sure you get something for counter weight on 3PH. Since you will be moving snow get a heavy duty back blade like the Land pride RB35-72. It weighs over 500 lbs and will give you plenty of traction. Since this is a heavy weight tool. Upgrade the top link bracket to the heavy duty model used when a 3PH backhoe is put on tractor.

 

[BeauGeste]

I bought a B7800 with Kubota's 63" (I think that's the size) front snow blower last November. I have about a half mile of gravel/dirt driveway which winds around and goes down over a earthen dam, back up, etc. I'm in MA. We had a snowy winter. I had no issues. Probably put on 25 hours just snow blowing. That wasn't because it was slow -- it was the number of times I had to do it. Gravel/dirt drives are tricky if they are not smooth and ours sure is not. The snow blower will throw anything up to about an inch in diameter. I did shear the shear pins twice -- once was a 5" rock, the other a 3" ice block. Our 16 acres is wooded and hilly. The B7800 is a good match for weaving in and out of the trees, even pulling the wagon (used for hauling out the wood we cut). See http://www.frutti-di-bosco.com/Tractor.htm if you want.

 

[RayMunising]

Thanks Ron & BeauGeste. That's 2 more votes for a B7800.

Hey BeauGeste I found your pictures about a month ago through Google. Small world eh? Nice tractor & land!

Is it hard to switch between the FEL and the snowblower? I'd just do the switch once in the spring and fall but was just curious how hard it is.

As far as gravel driveways and snowblowers go I read a suggestion by a member on this board a long time ago that I think would work very well (sorry I don't know the posters name or I'd certainly give him credit).

The problem with gravel driveways is the skid shoes dig into them. Also the driveway is inevitably not flat across (dips where the car tires go). To prevent the snowblower from digging into the gravel this poster says he took a 5' long pipe (for a 5' wide blower) that is 1-1/2" in diameter and had a cut made down its length. He had it done with some kind of laser cutter but I'd just use a metal cutting blade on the circular saw. He then installed the pipe onto the cutting edge of the blower using a couple of bolts. The cutting edge goes into the slit so its covered by the pipe. Is that a GREAT IDEA or WHAT??? The blower won't be able to dig into the high spots on the driveway no matter where they are! I figure if the driveway is really bad you could use a 2" pipe instead of the 1-1/2" pipe.

I don't have any experience using a tractor mounted snowblower but have used a walk behind kind many times and I think this guys suggestion would really work!

 

[BeauGeste]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Is it hard to switch between the FEL and the snowblower? )</font>

My setup on the B7800 uses the Kubota subframe for the Kubota front mount snow blower. This brings the mid PTO up to the front via a shaft with several universal joints and provides a "tongue" up front that can be raised and lowered. The snow blower (and some other attachments) mount on this tongue. You have to uncouple the FEL hydraulics to put on the subframe ones. But, you do not have to remove the FEL itself. So, it would be a matter of removing the snow blower from the "quick connect" tongue and swapping the hydraulic connections to change what you are using up front. That's possible and I've done it. But, the subframe loses 5 or 6 inches of your ground clearance and that tongue is still there. I used the FEL during mud, but still alternating with snow, season. I was doing driveway gravel repair to avoid sinking out of sight. The problem is that you really need to clean up the tongue as it gets covered with dirt and gravel before remounting the snow blower. As I say, it works but is not pretty. Also, the end bearing for the shaft for rotating the snow blower's chute can be in the wrong place and get bent by attaching the FEL, but that's easy to work around as well. I've never tried snow blowing with the FEL on. I suppose you could keep the FEL's up/down hydraulics hooked up as the subframe only uses 2 of the 4 couplers. That could keep the FEL high enough. I do remove the entire subframe (a bunch of heavy bolts/nuts to manipulate) in the spring as I cannot afford to lose the ground clearance or have that tongue in the way for other maintenance. (We raise dogs and move a lot of gravel around.) Also, my Woods BH is a subframe mount and the two subframes cannot be on at the same time.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As far as gravel driveways and snowblowers go I read a suggestion by a member on this board a long time ago that I think would work very well. To prevent the snowblower from digging into the gravel this poster says he took a 5' long pipe... )</font>

I didn't throw too much gravel around into the woods. It was nice once everything froze up solid. I might try that suggestion this coming winter.

 

[RayMunising]

It doesn't sound like exchanging the FEL with the blower is a lot of fun but I guess twice a year shouldn't be too bad. Actually doing the change over every 6 months will probably mean I'll forget how to do it every time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I went to my local dealer the other day and came to the conclusion that'd I'd have a lot more fun with a B7800 than a L3130! I think the 3130 is just plain too big for my situation. If I didn't wander off the driveway then the 3130 would be great but I know if I have a tractor there will be plenty of times I'll want to take it into the woods. I've also come to believe the B7800 will easily take care of the snow, which is its primary and more important duty. I think the lighter weight of the B7800 will mean more juice to the PTO which is where I need it. But the thing that really convinced me was the physical size of the B7800. I think it's the perfect size for me.

So I want to thank all who responded to my babbling you've all be VERY helpful. This is a great site!
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ronjhall]

You have not mentioned what tires you are getting. You may need chains on the rear tires. Turf tires will require spacers to allow chains to fit. I believe R4's are close. It may depend on what type of chains you get. AGs will allow chains. Just trying to save you some last minute running to make chains fit the tires. Ask your dealer for his recommendation.