Snowblower Adding wheels to a 3pt snowblower

[BARNACLE BILL]

I'VE GOT "PEA ROCK" ON PART OF MY DRIVE AND I'M RESOLVED IN BELIEVING THERE ISN'T A MACHINE MADE OR ANY ADJUSTMENT TO THE MACHINE THAT WILL BLOW THE SNOW AND LEAVE THE ROCK LIKE I WOULD WANT IT TO DO. THE SKIDS WILL HOLD THE BLOWER UP OFF MOST OF THE ROCK AND I'LL DRIVE ON THE SNOW LEFT BEHEIND.
GOOD LUCK --- BAR BILL

 

[slowzuki]

With pea or river rock the only solution I found was to plow the first couple of storms with the skids down, pack by driving on it, then blower will work ok.

 

[Huskerplowboy]

I like the looks of your method also, but was thinking more along the lines of something adjustable and/or quickly removable for when the driveway has a decent base of hardpack and I can go back to the factory shoes at lowest adjustment.
All I know is that right now I've blown a ton of crusher run into my yard and I'm **** sick of raking it back in spring. :thumbdown:

I went with the brackets being bolt-on so I could yank them off if need be once the snow was packed on the driveway. Actually, if I just pull the two bolts closest to the tires and loosen the others, I can pivot it up, put the bolts back in, and let it rest on the nuts. Then they're high enough to let the blower ride on the snowpack.

 

[Halftrack]

I put these wheels on for my gravel drive and initially used it as a 3 pt blower. Although they are adjustable, the cut height could easily be set by adjusting the top link. They do not swivel but on snow and ice, they slide when turning. Tried of looking backwards and converted to a front unit. Set the wheels for about 3/4 inch clearence and it leaves the gravel in the drive. In 10+ years of use, I have had 1 hub go bad. Cheap wheels from Harbor Freight.

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Funny you should mention a hub failure on the cheapo wheels. Ihad to blow out the drive back to my shop tonight and in the process managed to break one of the wheels right where the hub "tube" turns into the flange that's spot welded to the wheel. The rim itself and all stayed true, but the corner cracked out where it turns into the hub portion. The good news: As mentioned, I have a stockpile of these little wheels, so a replacement was on hand. The bad news: The wheel that broke was the RH one that's sandwiched in between the frame and the auger chain, so I had to try out the swinging bracket/arm to get room for the new wheel to go on.

 

[JJZ 109]

I'm thinking of somehow using 1 1/2" square tubing. That way I can slide it into the existing, larger square tube that currently holds my skids. This is on a Farm King Y600 blower.
I can buy square tube with holes already pre drilled at Lowe's or Tractor Supply. The holes may have to be enlarged a little to accomodate the current pin size, but that's easy enough to do.

 

[PILOON]

On my 60" rear blower I modified the skids to be about 2" X 10" and that has solved the problem.
The setting is such as to leave about 1 inch of snow which contributes to a good base once compacted.
It is all about PSI's (pounds per square inches) and the weight of your blower.
They tend to make those skids in the 'one size fits all' category and you will notice that they are the same be it a 24" walk behind or a 72" pto blower.
In fact many of the CUT blowers are made by the same folks that make walk behinds.
I noted that even the gear boxes on many front mounts are the same (and not all that heavy duty).