Snow Attachments Winter's Last Gasp - Just Picked Up New To Me Pronovost Puma 64 Snowblower

[BoylermanCT]

We are expecting the 4th snowstorm in 2 weeks, and I've been hunting for weeks on Craigslist, Ebay, Equipment Trader and TractorHouse for a good used snowblower. I took the week off of work, and drove 3 hours each way to upstate NY to look at a Pronovost Puma 64 blower. Was bought new in 2005, and had not been used for 5 years due to the guy buying a larger tractor. Had been stored inside, and looks to be in good shape. Had an enjoyable trip. My dad came with me, and we had a good chance to catch-up on things. Got it home, hooked it up to my tractor and everything works perfectly. Now I am now waiting for the 8" of snow to arrive tomorrow. I know I may get a sore neck from driving backwards, but my wife is a massage therapist, so she can get my neck back in shape!

This is probably the last storm of the season. My plan is to change the gearbox oil this spring and sand down the rusty edges and get some touch up spray paint and get it looking new again. Anyone have a recommendation on a paint match? Is there a trick to draining the gearbox short of turning it on its side? I did not see a drain plug on the bottom.

 

[Wolfy]

Nice looking rig! If you go to Walmart, in the marine section, they have small hand pumps, These pumps have a suction hose and screw onto a quart bottle. You could slide the hose into your gearbox to remove the oil. I use the pumps for all sorts of things, and they are only like $7.00 or so.

 

[jonsstihl]

I have the same blower. you can tilt the whole thing onto its side if you want but that can dangerous real quick.

I just slack off the chain tension bolt and remove the four bolts that hold the gear box in. you also have to remove one bolt holding the impeller on and then you can slide the whole gear box out. you can't remove the impeller without sliding the gearbox out.

I use ATF in mine. I started out with gear oil but was getting metal in the oil so I started filling with dexron mecron and no more metal.

 

[RichM752]

Nice. I have the same blower,74". Cost a fortune to ship out west from Quebec, but I'm happy with the performance. Too bad we didn't have much of a winter here. I barely got a chance to use it. Enjoy the storm.

 

[PILOON]

Good buy!
The Pronovost Puma is well respected up here with all snow contractors.
Quebec sait faire!
It is bullet proof and all wear parts are off the shelf.
The least TLC and it will out live you.

 

[The Deerslayer]

I have the exact same blower and it is a true workhorse. You were lucky to find a good one used. I looked for a long time and eventually bought new, but got it direct from the regional rep which worked out well. Coincidentally, I too took a road trip with my dad to pick it up. Great time and a memory for sure.

Too bad we didn't get the snow they reported we would....but don't worry, there is always next year to try it out :thumbsup:
Couple pics when I had it on my old tractor:

 

[BoylermanCT]

As luck would have it, our storm of 8 inches turned into 1/2 inch instead! The blower may have to wait until next year to get its first workout!

 

[The Deerslayer]

As luck would have it, our storm of 8 inches turned into 1/2 inch instead! The blower may have to wait until next year to get its first workout!

You mentioned that you were planning on touching up the paint. Not sure where you may be looking, but I had no luck obtaining factory paint from Pronovost. I was able to obtain a piece of painted metal that Pronovost was good enough to provide. I then had the paint matched locally; touch ups came out great.

Let me know if you're interested, and I'll look up the info for you.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Deerslayer, I would love the formula to match the paint, and where you had the paint made up. Not sure how much mine has faded from original, but I can some of the paint and see how it compares. I could always haul the blower to the paint store to have them match it!

 

[The Deerslayer]

Deerslayer, I would love the formula to match the paint, and where you had the paint made up. Not sure how much mine has faded from original, but I can some of the paint and see how it compares. I could always haul the blower to the paint store to have them match it!

Ask and ye shall receive:


I imagine the formula will match very close to what you have, however you could always bring one of the bolts in to match. Another option you have is to bring in the blower chute (was not an option for me as mine came in black). But then again, bringing the whole unit as you mentioned might be fun and would no doubt turn some heads in the paint department of your local HD!! :laughing:

I have also sent you a pm.