Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing 1 auger or 2 ?

   / 1 auger or 2 ? #1  

rilesdav

Bronze Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
83
Location
MA
Tractor
Branson 6530c and Kubota BX25D
Hello,

I am in the market for a 7 ft 3 point hitch snow blower. Been looking at Rad blizzard and mk Martin meteor. One question I have come across is the meteor has the option of 1 or 2 augers? On the 1 auger model it is 19 inches on the 2 auger model come with 2 x 15 inch augers. Please school me on the difference. Is 2 better than one and why or why not? I live in central Mass not Alaska so I am sure than plays a role.
Many thanks for all feedback
Dave
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #2  
The 2 auger models are used for very deep snow...and you need alot of HP on the tractor to operate them. When i was shopping for one, the 2 head units were in the 75+ HP range of tractors

I
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #3  
I've seen a lot of blowers built that looked like they were made to have the option of two augers but only had one. The thing I don't like about two augers is that in most cases the chain drive doesn't have a whole lot of contact with each auger when it goes straight down off one on to the other. I recently purchased a used one and the bottom sprocket was slipped to the point that when you got into anything half way hard packed it simply slipped on the sprocket due to wearing off the points of the sprocket after slipping awhile. In order to get around that problem I switched them around and have a decent sprocket on the bottom working one, it doesn't solve the problem but it does make it usable. I may take the top one off completly since the only time it's needed is deep drifts and really you can lift the blower and take 4-5 ft and then drop down to clean up a drift. That allows the chain to wrap around 3/4s of the sprocket.
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Ok, good feedback, guess I am down to a single auger machine, any feedback on either brand. Likes dislikes?
Thanks
Dave
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #5  
Hello rilesdav,


You have to decide how much money you can spend-the more you spend up front for a snow caster for hydraulic chute and spout controls the better off you are.

You cannot go wrong with Pronovost or S.Houle for "snow casters"which is the proper term.

One of the members-Paul Vanderzon selld both the Pronovost or S.Houle brands. The Pronovost is built in Quebec and the S.Houle is also Built in Quebec.

You can contact paul via the forum here to ask about them.


The thing is with snow casters is the heavier the better-thicker steel, full length welds, replaceable wear parts.

There is no magic with snow casters, you have to have the hydraulic power to lift them and the PTO horsepower to run them. The parts are generic-roller chains, bearings etc.

The nice thing about a snow caster that is wider than 7 feet is that you can make your first pass slowly and then make half passes much quicker.

The bad thing about open auger snow casters(I own one)is that they do not regulate the amount of snow entering the impeller and heavy snows will plug them if you are not running at a crawl.


You want the largest impeller that you can operate on the snow caster as it will be a huge asset when throwing it out and away.

A snow caster with a hydraulic spout and chute is huge time saver providing you have two sets of hydraulic outlets.
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #6  
Unless you are trying to move heavy packed or high banks, the augers do nothing more than gather the snow towards the center where the real important part, the fan, sits. Some older blowers had no augers at all. The speed of the snow blowing experience is also weighted towards the impeller, and not so much in the gathering of the snow. Look for a four blade fan... with the largest diameter and depth. That's what actually moves the snow... Remember also, you are blowing snow, not pushing snow. You have to keep your ground speed at a point where each revolution of the fan can toss the gathered snow out the chute.. That's where a HST tractor shines.... You will find, in time, that your blower works best when your groundspeed is slow enough that you are just barely loading your motor... and letting the fan RPM blow/toss the snow the farthest.... The larger fan also helps the PTO shaft alignment. The smaller fan sizes usually increase the PTO shaft angles. You want to keep the PTO universal joints as straight as possible under load. Their lifetime really drops off fast over 15 degrees. :)
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #7  
Hello rilesdav,


"snow casters"which is the proper term..

but i do think your the only one ive ever seen call it a snow caster.

even the manufacturers call them snow blowers


not that wikipedia means anything.... but they call them either snow blowers or snow throwers. theres no listing for snow casters.
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #8  
Snow blower, snow thrower, snow caster, depositer of snow far away from the driveway thingy, that which makes the snow fear in it's approach ..... Case actually called their's snowcasters for a time... had models like the ' Hi-Cast '.. Maybe a Canada, or French thing.... Eh..?? Still, all of them sound good to me... :) Time for another Molsens' barley pop ...
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Hey Jerry,

Thanks for the info. I guess I was over thinking the auger importance. In my mind thought 2 augers would prevent clogging better but will know focus my search on larger fan units
Thanks
Dave
 
   / 1 auger or 2 ? #10  
For what it's worth I have a kioti dk55 with an 84" blizzard snowblower I use for commercial snow removal. That is an awesome blower. I blow with the storm and I also use it to blow banks back for other people. Zero issues, haven't even snapped a shear bolt yet. It throws the snow a long way! I had a Lorenz dual auger one before that which didn't work well at all. I think Lorenz makes a nice blower but the one I had was the smaller frame unit with the three blade impeller. It didn't thro the snow far at all. The size of the impeller and the number of blades is the most important features. I would say minimum four blades. Dual augers didn't seem to make much of a difference. Even on tall snow banks the single one works fine. M
 
 
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