540 RPM from Ford 1700?

[darin.brown7]

I recently cleared an 8"-10" deep powdery snow with a 50" wide Ford 715A snowblower off the rear of my '79 Ford 1700 4WD and could only throw the snow 8-10 feet. Any ideas why so short of a distance?

Had to run in low "1" reverse otherwise the chute would clog and I would "push" the snow rather than let the augers do their job. I throttled up to almost 540 RPM but the little diesel sounds like it's spinning pretty high. Previous owner (who is a friend) of the blower said he easily threw snow 30 feet on a 50 HP tractor. Power is not an issue with my 1700, just seems the PTO RPM is awfully slow. I'm used to running a Ford 901 so this compact tractor is taking some getting used to.

Any thoughts or insight is most appreciated!

 

[MagPede]

Though I've never run a snowblower I'm gonna say your engine rpm is prolly not what it needs to be to turn the pto 540. I know for a fact that the engine speed on these lil diesels take some MAJOR gettin used to when you have run older equipment all your life. For instance my tc30 idles at what my my old jd B turns wide open. But ya I've run my tc30 up to the rpm it says on the dash for 540 and that lil sucker sure is humming. Guess it needs the extra rpm's to make up for the lack of torque the older iron had.

Hope this helps.

 

[JC-jetro]

I recently cleared an 8"-10" deep powdery snow with a 50" wide Ford 715A snowblower off the rear of my '79 Ford 1700 4WD and could only throw the snow 8-10 feet. Any ideas why so short of a distance?

Had to run in low "1" reverse otherwise the chute would clog and I would "push" the snow rather than let the augers do their job. I throttled up to almost 540 RPM but the little diesel sounds like it's spinning pretty high. Previous owner (who is a friend) of the blower said he easily threw snow 30 feet on a 50 HP tractor. Power is not an issue with my 1700, just seems the PTO RPM is awfully slow. I'm used to running a Ford 901 so this compact tractor is taking some getting used to.

Any thoughts or insight is most appreciated!

You can measure PTO rpm pretty easily if you have he right tool. Do you have live pto or is it transmission driven. Although live pto was an option for 1700 yet to see one like that. In single clutch variety there can not be any slippage of the pto shaft, as the driven and driving shafts are bot splined together with a sliding coupler. There are two ways to measure PTO rotational speed.

1. having a non contact optical tachometer, where you put a reflective tape on the pto shaft, a wand with light source and right electronics will give you the rpm.
2. having a strobe light Tach, it is also non contact and is perfectly safe. You run your tractor at 2500 engine rpm giving 540 pto rpm. you shine the strobe light on the end of the shaft and manipulate an adjustment knob. when the frequency of strobe light matches the pto rpm causes the pto to appear not rotating. That's where you read the rpm from the device. it is very accurate and quite safe only it is very pricey. I bought one for $900 eight years ago.


JC,


Strobelight Tachometer. 1542-B Strobe Tachometer. RPM Measurement.

http://www.valuetesters.com/Extech-461700-Mini-Photo-Tachometer-PocketTachT.php

 

[Texas Blues]

I dont have a snow blower on mt 1700 (if it ever decided to snow down here I might have to then), but I do run a 5 foot mower. At or near full throttle, the little 2 banger is singing pretty good, but has no problems doing so. Its the only way to keep the pto at or near 540 rpms. JC may be on to something, I wonder if your clutch is slipping under heavy load. Is the snow blower rated for a faster pto speed? Good Luck TB

 

[rayikeo2]

I recently cleared an 8"-10" deep powdery snow with a 50" wide Ford 715A snowblower off the rear of my '79 Ford 1700 4WD and could only throw the snow 8-10 feet. Any ideas why so short of a distance?

Had to run in low "1" reverse otherwise the chute would clog and I would "push" the snow rather than let the augers do their job. I throttled up to almost 540 RPM but the little diesel sounds like it's spinning pretty high. Previous owner (who is a friend) of the blower said he easily threw snow 30 feet on a 50 HP tractor. Power is not an issue with my 1700, just seems the PTO RPM is awfully slow. I'm used to running a Ford 901 so this compact tractor is taking some getting used to.

Any thoughts or insight is most appreciated!

Just my guess, no direct experiance with snow blowers but I do have a 1700 with the 12 speed tran. Throwing 8' instead of 30' I would say the moisture content of the snow would be the #1 factor (heavy snow won't throw as far as light snow) So distance will change with every snowfall. #2 factor the guy with the 50 HP tractor probabaly had a higher chute on his blower giving him a higher start for the snow to go farther. As for noise at 2400 rpm, you are hearing your engine at one end humming and the blower on the other end humming, both turning at the same time makes everything sound like it is running at excessive speeds. IMO

 

[darin.brown7]

MagPede: You're right about the getting used to; I've also got a late '30s JD AR but have never had the opportunity to run anything off it's PTO.

JC: Not live power. Thanks for the tips measuring RPM; I will check it but I'm not expecting any slippage. Tractor has 2000 hours and all features seem to work OK thus far.

Texas: I'm also running a 6 ft finish mower and this little 1700 has no issues with it.

Ray: Light fluffy snow. When I mentioned friend w/ 50 HP tractor he was running the snowblower that's on my 1700 now. Sorry for not being clear.

PTO just seems as tho it's in low range, and all will be fixed just as soon as I find that lever to throw it into high range!! ha ha ha I wish. Sounds like I just need to spool it up and get used to it.

Thanks to All! - Darin

 

[JC-jetro]

Darin,

there is an outside chance that your main clutch might be slipping under load. You would have noticed it running your finish mower though. with strobe light you can check pto rpm under the load as well. I don't think you have a problem, as you said, it's the matter of getting used to it.

JC,

 

[darin.brown7]

Hi Everybody,

Cleared another 8" snow and the blower worked much better this time with throttling up to the 540 RPM. The snow was even wet and easily compacted but the blower threw it a good 15 feet or more. Was also able to blow snow in "2nd gear reverse". Sure wish I had live power though! I also learned which lever kicks in the 4WD and that worked well too. The 1700 had to work a bit in 20-24" deep piles!

Darin

 

[Texas Blues]

Hey darin, how bout a couple of pics? Thanks, TB

 

[Soundguy]

keep in mind that that 901 you eran is more than 2x the tractor that 1700 is.. even though the 901 maxed out at 2400 rpm, and hit pto speed quite a bit under that..

soundguy