Mckee 720 snowblower experiences

[CJONE]

I have found a nice looking Mckee and will use it mainly to open roads and blow banks back. Is it a good unit? durable? CJ

[CJONE]

??? wow no one has any experience with these units ???

[art]

I would hope it would be a gear box with oil? If it is a bevel gear drive to the augers they are not available or have been as the company is out of business.

[Karl2]

??? wow no one has any experience with these units ???

It's an industrial unit, don't bother unless you plan on using an independent engine to power it otherwise it requires at least 75 hp PTO power to work properly.

[CJONE]

I would hope it would be a gear box with oil? If it is a bevel gear drive to the augers they are not available or have been as the company is out of business.

It is a right angle gear box, something that I believe is readily availible. Chain drive for the augers. I work with P/T stuff so it looks familiar. CJ

[CJONE]

It's an industrial unit, don't bother unless you plan on using an independent engine to power it otherwise it requires at least 75 hp PTO power to work properly.

I expected it to require a little more HP because of the double auger but 75 for a 7' blower? I only have about 35 PTO HP. My neighbor has one on a 35 hp gas tractor and it did not have enough HP to effectivly run it. It ran it but not for blowing back banks and such but it is also a gear tractor so he did not have much control over speed. I was hoping a 50 hp tractor with a hydrostat would do it. Any experiences would be nice. CJ

[GMC65]

I run a 7 foot 720 Mckee with 50 pto hp, i can run out of power as well, put then im running a gear tractor that is limited to just over 2 mph in Reverse, only a problem on the first pass. I find that the blower shoots the snow fairly effectively. It is a oil filled gear box which i hope will run for years.

[CJONE]

I run a 7 foot 720 Mckee with 50 pto hp, i can run out of power as well, put then im running a gear tractor that is limited to just over 2 mph in Reverse, only a problem on the first pass. I find that the blower shoots the snow fairly effectively. It is a oil filled gear box which i hope will run for years.

Thank you, that is what I was looking for. I'll give it a shot. CJ

[Karl2]

I expected it to require a little more HP because of the double auger but 75 for a 7' blower?

It's a twin-screw 7' high-capacity unit (notice the huge impeller). Power requirements are due to the high volume and weight of the snow the blower can ingest within a given time frame, and is designed to be most efficient at high RPM. That said, tt can work with less HP but you have to be very cautious not to overwhelm your engine in wet or icy snow. In powdery snow this can work magic for you even on a CUT's 540 rpm PTO. One important precaution is to use proper grade PTO shear bolts because the shear bolts used on the blower are far more resistant than those used on smaller units and won't necessarily snap under a load that could damage a CUT engine if the PTO pin doesn't give. Using weaker pins on the blower is a PITA as they will often snap for no other apparent reason because the load of the moving parts alone is near their breaking point. With the PTO pin being your only concern you'll get fast at replacing it pretty quickly. Won't break that often anyway.

[doxford jim]

I can bog down - overload the 55 hp engine on my tractor with just the single auger modified 73" Allied Farm King blower I have and use. Double auger etc. will add to the engine load and as others have said, caution should be used to get the most out of your unit.
Thx