Snow Equipment Owning/Operating What size blower can my tractor handle

[Morning Wood]

I've got a Ford 1720. 28 hp, 23.5 pto hp. What size blower could this tractor handle? It is 60" wide. I was looking at the 66"-74" wide blowers. Thanks, Nick.

 

[devildog1]

A few more questions , is your tractor a hydro or gear? If gear then the 66" would be the best . Second question you didn't list your location so we don't know snow fall.
DevilDog

 

[devildog1]

With the hydro you can slowly move into real heavy wet or large snowfalls slowly and still be able to clear your area. With the gear tractors you'll be feathering your clutch to adjust for your speed and the amount of snow your trying to remove. I live in an area where we get lots of snow with blowing and drifting, I use 84" HLA front blade and either a 84" LA3584 Land Pride back blade or a LA2674 3 point snow blower. It all depends on the snow fall for that storm.

DevilDog

 

[Morning Wood]

It's a gear tractor. I'm on cape Ann in MA. We got over 100" of snow last year

 

[devildog1]

63" Snow blower:

Type: front-mount Ford 715A

Clearing width: 63 inches [160 cm]
This is the size that Ford says goes with your tractor from, TractorData.com Ford 1720 tractor attachments information. That being said depending on how many speeds you have in reverse you will be riding the clutch in high or wet heavy snows. If you had a hydro you could Keep up your rpms and at the same time creep into heavy snow, but with gear tractor it's either slow or fast in snow. You can do it with practice. Good luck to you. Oh measure the width of the distance of your rear tires, snow blower should be as wide or a bit wider.
DevilDog

 

[Morning Wood]

Front mount? I don't think I have a front pto. I was thinking rear mount and keep the loader on. I have 12 gears forward and reverse

 

[JerryK]

I think you should look into something in the 60-72 inch range. Even if you had to put wings on a 60 to make it a little wider, it would still be OK. Anything over 72-74" is a little on the big side. When you look for a blower... take a note of each ones fan [ impeller ] diameter [ and depth ]. Four blade fan is better than three.. Impeller diameter, bigger is better, it's what does the work/gives you your throw distance at a given rpm....

 

[PILOON]

Read somewhere that the norm is 5 hp per foot.
However my tractor is 20 hp, geared,(less at PTO) and I run a 60 inch rear blower.
Techniques have a lot to do with results as will the type and quantity of snow.
You want a big 4 bladed fan for best results.

 

[90cummins]

I have a Rad Blizzard B64 snow blower on my Ford 1720 SSS and wouldn't suggest anything larger, the goal is to clear the width of the tractor.
I live in North Western Mass. and we get 20+ inches at a time.
Even in low gear the first pass would overload the engine which required me to constantly use the clutch to avoid stalling the engine.
I have since resolved that problem by installing a turbo and increasing the power on my 1720.
As previously mentioned you want a 4 blade fan that is 22 to 24 inches in dia.
I have used snow blowers with a three bladed fan and also one with an impeller that was too small and it had a limited throw.
3 blade fans are less efficient and appear to require more hp and are not smooth. The fan diameter is critical to have the velocity to throw the snow out of the way.
I would not suggest a snow blower that uses a gearbox between the front augers (like Ariens) they are prone to expensive breakage, rather I would buy a unit that uses chain drive only, very strong and easily replaced.
My Blizzard which was made by Rad Industries in Canada has been trouble free.
90cummins

 

[GPintheMitten]

Can you adjust the wheels to have a narrow width for the winter? If so I think it be worth making the change and get a snowblower to match. Then in the spring return to a wider stance.