Thoughts on converting lawn tractor snow blower to PT422

[KMA]

I was knocking around the idea of putting a snowblower on my PT428 (PT422 w/ Robin EH72 FI swap). The price of the PT attachment new ($3200) is way too high for me. What do you guys think about about picking up a used 48" lawn/garden tractor snowblower attachment on craig's list and adapting it to my PT? I'm thinking I would have to mount an attachment plate, pull of the belt drive pulley and mounting a love joy connector (or similar), then weld up a mount for a hydraulic motor. There are also some PTO drive versions floating around may be a better choice to start with. (?)

Is this a crazy idea? I've seen used blowers locally for as low as $100. If I could do the whole thing for around $500 I might give it a try. I'm a rookie welder, but this project wouldn't have to look pretty... Having a large blower to clear my 400 ft stone driveway would be very nice.

Looking forward to some input from the forum. Thanks!

 

[MossRoad]

I was thinking about doing the same thing as I mentioned in another thread. I went to a local tractor junk yard and found many single stage units but not too many two stage units. I would only do a two stage unit. I did find one two stage unit, 48" wide, never used but left outside for many years off of a Bolens (I believe). I think they wanted several hundred dollars. I passed. I may go back if I get the funds and offer them 200.

It was a belt drive unit. I could remove the drive pulleys and find a lovejoy to fit the shaft and connect it to the motor from my brush hog. I think that would work. I suppose I should research the RPM of the original blower and see if my brush hog motor is near or if I would need higher speed motor.

Anyhow, I think it would be a very easy to engineer project and a good one for basic welding skills as well. If you have the funds and time, go for it. :thumbsup:

 

[washita]

just some thoughts about a snow blower adapted to a pt. most units have a max. spindle speed of roughly 1000 rpm (typical std.bearing limit), the impeller tip speed seems to make a big difference in efficiency ie; larger diameter impeller appears to work better (my neighbors single stage outperforms my two stage, both have same width,hp,self propelled,etc) a single stage blower on the pt would work for me, but I also do not have to remove a lot of snow per season, after fixing my second stage impeller twice last winter (newspapers are tough on impellers) I will probably use only the plow to clean snow with

 

[KMA]

Thanks guys. I was thinking about the spindle speed, etc... and will have to try and figure out how to match it. I was thinking a PTO blower might be better since it I can imagine being able to couple it up to the hydraulic motor easier, and I would have a good idea of what the RPM speed would need to be.

Thanks for the input. All other ideas/comments are welcome.

 

[KentT]

If I were going to convert one, personally, I'd look for one that is belt driven, and then use a pulley on the hydraulic motor and a V-belt connection rather than direct coupling. IMO, this offers two advantages:

1. The V-belt can slip should you ingest an indigestible object such as frozen newspaper or a tree limb (been there, done that). A Lovejoy can absorb some shock but cannot readily slip without some damage, should movement come to a screeching halt. Lovejoys are intended to absorb initial shock and compensate for imprecise alignment, not to serve as a slip-clutch...

2. Then, you could use variations in pulley sizes (and corresponding belt lengths) to fine-tune the performance once you've put it in operation. Otherwise, you're limited to your one-time choice of hydraulic motor displacement, and then varying the engine speed to vary hydraulic output. By using pulleys and a belt, you could fine-tune it operate optimally at full throttle, providing more torque to the snowblower and more hydraulic flow to the wheelmotors.

My 2 cents...

EDIT: Impeller speed is critical for proper operation of a single-stage snowblower. Impeller speed and keeping the "intake hopper full" are the two primary keys to good performance. With a single-stage on a normal garden tractor, you should always operate at wide-open-throttle, and vary the ground speed and width of cut as needed to keep the "intake hopper" full of snow. Impeller speed is not quite as critical for a two-stage, but still very important, and a key determinant of how far you throw the snow...

 

[3238dpw]

Well anyone who has read any of my posts knows that I have shown interest in this. I plow snow at my job. When I came home I don't want to mess around. i want it done so I can go to bed. I have been unable to find a 48" blower for a reasonable cost. I have found many 42", 46", and many other sizes but have found that the 48" to be much more rare. Here is a link to much of the previous talk about this.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/95167-snowblower-conversion.html

 

[KentT]

Well anyone who has read any of my posts knows that I have shown interest in this. I plow snow at my job. When I came home I don't want to mess around. i want it done so I can go to bed. I have been unable to find a 48" blower for a reasonable cost. I have found many 42", 46", and many other sizes but have found that the 48" to be much more rare. Here is a link to much of the previous talk about this.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/95167-snowblower-conversion.html

An affordable solution might be to swap out tires/wheels in the winter for a used set of 23x8.50x12s that are common on garden tractors. Then leave the chains mounted on them for winter-time use. This would narrow the PTs track to 46" or less, while giving better traction in snow. In snow, narrower tires will actually give better traction because they'll cut through the snow, rather than riding on top and packing it down...

You could likely pick up pairs of used 23x8.50x12 turfs, mounted on wheels, for $40 - $50 at tractor shows and swap meets... $100 or less, for all four, mounted. Then buy one or more sets of chains...

Just a thought...

 

[KMA]

Well anyone who has read any of my posts knows that I have shown interest in this. I plow snow at my job. When I came home I don't want to mess around. i want it done so I can go to bed. I have been unable to find a 48" blower for a reasonable cost. I have found many 42", 46", and many other sizes but have found that the 48" to be much more rare. Here is a link to much of the previous talk about this.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/95167-snowblower-conversion.html

Wow... The link you provided to duane's thread uses the same snowblower I will likely be picking up in the morning for $100 used. It's a New Holland vs Toro/Wheelhorse, but they are identical except for the paint color and logos. I had the guy measure it from "wing" tip to tip and he said it was about 45" across, although it is listed as a 42" model. There is a lot of good information in that thread along with some ideas. I don't think I will do everything the same, but it's a great example. Thanks for posting the link. :thumbsup:

An affordable solution might be to swap out tires/wheels in the winter for a used set of 23x8.50x12s that are common on garden tractors. Then leave the chains mounted on them for winter-time use. This would narrow the PTs track to 46" or less, while giving better traction in snow. In snow, narrower tires will actually give better traction because they'll cut through the snow, rather than riding on top and packing it down...

You could likely pick up pairs of used 23x8.50x12 turfs, mounted on wheels, for $40 - $50 at tractor shows and swap meets... $100 or less, for all four, mounted. Then buy one or more sets of chains...

Just a thought...

I like the tire/wheel idea. If I don't go too far over budget, I think I will consider this option. I'd like to keep it all under $500 if possible. The snowblower is going leave me with $400 for motor, connections, mounting, etc.

Duane mentioned in his thread that the right hydraulic motor is the same one used on the PT mower. Does anyone know the specifics and the best place to find a good one cheap?

Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

[coolconnection]

Funny, Duane doesn't use that blower anymore that I know of because I have the hydro motor on my leaf blower now. It had enough speed for the snow blower but no power for it when it got heavy.

 

[KMA]

Well that's good to know. I wonder if a different motor would help, one that had more torque even if it spun a bit slower (or maybe even slightly faster...?). In other words more torque may sacrifice max throwing distance for better performance in the heavier snow. Maybe a two stage blower is the only answer?

How does the PT snowblower work on the 422? I think it is chain driven similar to the one duane used, but I think it's two stage (albeit bigger than the one duane used).

I was thinking maybe a motor like this one?

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-1183

It is .58 cu and should spin at just under 3200 RPM @ 8gpm (if I'm doing the calculations right), which is a bit slower than the one duane used but should add a bit more torque (approx 230 in/lbs vs 200 for a .5 cu in motor at 2500 psi). It says it handles 2000 psi cont and 2500 intermittent... not sure if that would be a problem with the 422's 2500 psi PTO circuit.