Snow Equipment Owning/Operating New information on Hydro vs. Manual trans for snow blower use.

[Scaper]

I found out today what the speed is for each gear on the Mahindra 2516 they are listed as follows.


Low range: Gear MPH

Reverse 1st .7
2nd .9
3rd 1.4
4th 2.2

Forward 1st .8
2nd 1.1
3rd 1.7
4th 2.6

High range:

Reverse 1st 2.7
2nd 3.8
3rd 5.7
4th 8.7

Forward 1st 3.2
2nd 4.5
3rd 6.8
4th 10.4

The stated top speed high range Forward 11.2 MPH Reverse 9.4 MPH

The Kubota B2320 has three range trans Hydro. Forward 0 to 11.7 MPH Reverse 0 to 9.4 MPH
Seems to me that I should be able to use the gear without a hitch. Scaper

 

[RoyJackson]

Assuming that Mahindra has a 2-Stage clutch, even if the snow bogs you down, just depress the clutch pedal halfway to stop the tractor (blower or other PTO implement will still run) to clear itself out. This will likely be necessary if you run a rotary cutter too.
It takes a bit of practice, but you'll pick it up quick enough.

 

[Gary Fowler]

And you will have that extra 3-4 HP to put to use on the snow blower that wont be available on the HST so it should run a bit faster in deeper snow with the extra HP.

 

[Scaper]

The Mahindra has a single stage clutch. I wish it were a two stage but not going to happen. I still like the low gears for tilling but then again the hydro has cruise to set even the slightest speed. I'm sure I could get used to the single stage but to change direction with the shuttle shift I still will have to depress the clutch. Scaper

 

[RoyJackson]

The Mahindra has a single stage clutch. I wish it were a two stage but not going to happen. I still like the low gears for tilling but then again the hydro has cruise to set even the slightest speed. I'm sure I could get used to the single stage but to change direction with the shuttle shift I still will have to depress the clutch. Scaper

That's somewhat surprising about the single stage clutch. It will be a bit more of a hassle, but remember, folks have been running implements on old Fords, Deeres, etc for a lot of years with single stage clutches. Some of them still do...

 

[RFB]

Scaper,

HST is not "new"; its a proven technology and well established in the CUT genre despite some of the neo-Luddism that is ubiquitous within the more broad-based culture .

 

[milkman636]

Scaper,

..................neo-Luddism...............

"Wow, learned something new today" says the HST owning neo-luddist.

 

[crazyal]

Did anyone say you couldn't use a gear tractor with a snow blower? It's just more work. With HST you'll never be pushing a clutch.

Just yesterday we got about 4" of snow and I was in a little bit of a hurry. I would just blow until I noticed I was pushing snow and it was getting just a little higher than the top of the blower. I just left off the HST pedal (even on hills) and let the blower throw the snow piled up in front of it and then I would continue on. With a two stage clutch you would have to push the clutch half way in and step on the brake and then release both when ready to move again, not hard but still more work.

With a single stage clutch I'm guessing you would have to stop and back up if you overloaded the blower or be careful not to do it to begin with. Maybe someone else could answer how best to do it.

I run my engine usually around 2000 rpm but with less HP I would expect you'll want to be running at full PTO speed. On the specs listed the gear tractor that means you will be doing .8mph. If you get big snow falls and/ or heavy wet snow that could be too fast. If so you run into what I was talking about above.

Can you do it, yes a gear tractor will run a snow blower. They have been doing it for decades. It will mean extra work on your part, only you can decide what's right.

 

[RFB]

As I mentioned, if I were performing ground engagement ag duties, then that changes the paradigm and I would defer to a power shuttle geared system.

One of the issues in play here is something that I tried to reference in my first post. I have spent time in PA (Poconos), the middle Atlantic (southern New Jersey) region, and Arkansas (Mountain Home) and the snow conditions there are what I would describe as light to maybe bordering on moderate in the Poconos.

My frame of reference is different. Our average here is around 200 inches (at the lower elevations) starting late November until mid-March- early April. In the higher elevations, there will still be several feet left until late July, early August.

A foot of snow is something of a distraction that occurs during the breakfast hour; 6 inches is something you kick out of the way.

 

[RoyJackson]

Scaper,

HST is not "new"; its a proven technology and well established in the CUT genre despite some of the neo-Luddism that is ubiquitous within the more broad-based culture .

He meant a new post with new information on the tractor he was considering...not that HST was new.

However, it would have been better if he'd just posted the update on the original thread (easier to follow).