Snow blower runners bent

[grsthegreat]

well i dont have a manul for that specific blower, and you may be correct as to their placement on the ground. But then my question would be...what good are they?

if there just for protection then there should be a set of drag shoes also. Something on that blower has to be in contact with the ground.

 

[greg_g]

But then my question would be...what good are they?

As I stated, most TPH implement skids are for the protection of the sheet metal. They're intended to ride just above the surface, and to take the brunt when the tractor encounters bumps/dips/rises.

if there just for protection then there should be a set of drag shoes also. Something on that blower has to be in contact with the ground.

Yup, the rear housing. Well, almost anyway. The B74 mounts on the tractor three point hitch, and faces rearward. You back into the snow. The housing scoops up the snow, and the auger blows it out the discharge chute. As part of the setup, you adjust the tractor lower lift arms so that the runners/skids are say 1" above bare ground - then adjust the tractor toplink so that the housing collection edge is just a bit lower. Not necessarily touching the ground, that would grind it down too (there's no replaceable scraping edge on the B74). But as close as possible to gather as much snow as possible. If you're more daring (or rich) lower it even further. Personal choice. Anyway. From that point, as the tractor negotiates uneven ground, the skids - being slightly lower than the housing edge - hit first, thereby preventing the aforementioned sheet metal damage

I admit this is not an all-inclusive explanation, there will be situations when something or everything may hit. Actual operation involves a lot of operator common sense. So if ya'all will accept this as a generic explanation, we can hopefully minimize the "what ifs".

//greg//

 

[grsthegreat]

Then i vote for CRAPPY design if the previous idea of how to use this snow blower were correct. My old Farmking unit ran in full contact with the ground for 5 seasons before i added the snow shoes.

I personally wouldnt want to have to keep adjusting a snowblower up and down as the terain changes. you should be able to set it to leave 1" of snow on ground and keep backing up. Thats all i ever did for many years.

My gravel driveways played havoc on ,my old blower, but heres a pic of the cutting edge after 6 heavy winter seasons of use.

 

[greg_g]

I personally wouldnt want to have to keep adjusting a snowblower up and down as the terain changes. you should be able to set it to leave 1" of snow on ground and keep backing up.

Hmmm. My communications skills must be slipping. Yes, I think it would be a better machine with a replaceable scraping edge. But I'm pretty sure I didn't say a word about adjusting anything during operation. My intent was to describe the basic operating concept and initial three point setup. After that, it's find reverse - and go. Whether you decide to leave 1" of snow - or less - I guess that simply depends on how bold you feel during the three point setup. I actually don't have a clue where the B74 ranks in the snowblower hierarchy. I simply follow the precept that one gets what one pays for.

//greg//

 

[Deere Dude]

Then i vote for CRAPPY design if the previous idea of how to use this snow blower were correct. My old Farmking unit ran in full contact with the ground for 5 seasons before i added the snow shoes.

I personally wouldnt want to have to keep adjusting a snowblower up and down as the terain changes. you should be able to set it to leave 1" of snow on ground and keep backing up. Thats all i ever did for many years.

My gravel driveways played havoc on ,my old blower, but heres a pic of the cutting edge after 6 heavy winter seasons of use.

X2 They should be able to ride on the ground. Maybe I'm not comparing apples to apples here. I am talking about front mount snowblowers and I'm not an engineer. Just from my experience. But, blacktop or concrete will wear them faster that gravel. If you blow on concrete and want to scrape it clear set it so the scraper drags. If you want it up an inch, set the shoes down an inch and run on them. If they wear out after 16 hours they aren't heat treated correctly or some other design flaw.
If they are bent like the pictures shows, they are either designed wrong or rammed into something. I don't believe they were rammed into anything much because the side steel on the blower looks really good yet.

I have been riding on some little shoes for many years and they are still great except for where I hit a chunk of concrete and bent it a very little bit compared to yours. But I have four of then.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

When you are doing many driveways it really is not practical to adjust for every terrain change and do a good job. I lift up over the curb when entering the driveway and take some weight off when blowing down the driveway but to me it has to touch. I ran the same shoes on other blowers for 3 years. I will heat treat the new shoes. I included a pic of my three year old shoes off my other blower beside my new blower shoes. Please note the difference in material thickness and ruggedness. I may mount the old three year old shoes on my new blower and I am sure I will get another three years out of them. As I mentioned this blizzard blower is great so far other than the shoes but if I had seen this blower before I bought it I would of been scared of by these poor quality shoes. I would not fabricate shoes for a blower like that.

Shoes on the right are my three year old shoes. Shoes on the left are off my new blower. Both blowers were the same price. I like my blizzard so far but In my opinion the shoes fall short of anything I would call reasonable quality.

 

[massy1635]

I checked the shoes on my B74 today and they are not bent, yet. I will agree that they are not very rugged compaired to the ones on my old Deere. They looked like your old ones. My shoes do ride on the ground, my gravel driveway, about 1" below the cutting edge.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

If you run on the packed snow and there is nothing to cause stress to them you may be ok for a while. I have about 6 hours of work every storm on pavement. As you can see at a glance they are not heavy duty for sure.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Received my new shoes. They seem to be a heavier set of shoes and shaped with more lift in the front. Seams like the incorrect shoes came on the blower. I am still out $70.00 which I should not of had to pay. Maybe they will refund my money. The dealer is asking what they can do for me.