PTO advice

[RoyJackson]

"it's recommended to not exceed a 15 degree offset."

If your PTO equipment is mounted correctly you should be able to raise your blower without disengaging the PTO as well as meeting the 15 degree offset that Roy mentions.

I agree with this and should have put it in my first post.
Two caveats:
1) The OP must ensure there is absolutely no way his clothing (scarf, coat etc) can get caught in the PTO drive shaft. This is why I suggest he extend the cranking shaft.
2) Raising the blower for 15-30 seconds shouldn't hurt anything...quite a few folks do raise their blowers when backing out of a drifted area to make another approach.

As I'd written, extending the length of the crank would be the better way to go. At least one TBNer did this...I think he rigged a support (for the lengthened crank) on his ROPS.
Ultimately, an electric or hydraulic chute rotation would be a worthwhile addition.

 

[rimshot]

I agree with this and should have put it in my first post.
Two caveats:
1) The OP must ensure there is absolutely no way his clothing (scarf, coat etc) can get caught in the PTO drive shaft. This is why I suggest he extend the cranking shaft.
2) Raising the blower for 15-30 seconds shouldn't hurt anything...quite a few folks do raise their blowers when backing out of a drifted area to make another approach.

As I'd written, extending the length of the crank would be the better way to go. At least one TBNer did this...I think he rigged a support (for the lengthened crank) on his ROPS.
Ultimately, an electric or hydraulic chute rotation would be a worthwhile addition.

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I guess I'm bucking the trend here also. I have always been aware of the fact that the PTO powered implement runs best with the least angle for the drive shaft. That would mean down and dirty and blowing snow. But I still raise my snowblower with augers powered by PTO. Of course the pto powered snowblower is running but not under load and I try not to go up all the way.

If I was going to have to power down and flip the PTO out of gear everytime I pullled forward (rear snowblower) it would double my tractor time.

I have been operating this way for four years and the machine has 850 hours and moved lots of snow during that time. I certainly would not operate the blower this way If I felt I was abusing the equipment. I don't find anything in my manuals which advises this is definitely wrong. It does indicate pto powered devices run best with less angle but that does not prohibit an occasional controllled raising of the three point like to pull forward and not drag a bunch of snow ahead when you don't want to.

Also make sure if you extend your handle you have the proper clearance to avoid damage when you do raise the blower. My handle just touches the Slow moving placard three point is raised too high.

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While that clatter one hears when depressing the clutch with pto running at full rpm is unnerving it is not harmful as it just goes to show overrun is operating as it should be.

 

[whiskywizard]

If your PTO equipment is mounted correctly you should be able to raise your blower without disengaging the PTO as well as meeting the 15 degree offset that Roy mentions.

I'd like to hear more. My 3-pt hitch will lift my blower far enough that I can grossly exceed 15 degrees at the u-joints. There's no way I would run it in the fully-lifted position.

I do leave the PTO engaged when pulling forward; I lift just an inch or 2.

I doubt I can simply extend the chute crank - it would be too long without additional support and a bearing. I will look at electric or hydraulic operators for the chute.

 

[Coyote machine]

Unless I missed something the OP said his tractor is HST, NOT geared, therefore all discussion related to clutch disengagement is irrelevant to his particular question(s).
It may be impractical to let the PTO spin down every time one wants to raise the blower or other implement; however, when considering the potential risks of the PTO shaft, or spline, or something else coming apart as a result of excessive angle over many uses, or single use and bad gone wrong set of circumstances, then one might reconsider the risks taken vs. the rewards of saving a few seconds per use of the PTO/ blower.
The steeper the angle beyond the 15 degree limit makes each use at a higher angle more likely to cause a catastrophic failure of drive-line components, and injury to the OP or bystanders.
At an absolute minimum I would suggest running the PTO at an idle, if one is not going to do a complete spin-down of the PTO drive-train. I'm NOT endorsing this way of doing things- just suggesting an alternative to running at some speed over an idle, or complete spin-down.

OP- nice pics! ? What program are you using that gives the option of clicking on the pics to enlarge? Thanks.

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd like to hear more. My 3-pt hitch will lift my blower far enough that I can grossly exceed 15 degrees at the u-joints. There's no way I would run it in the fully-lifted position.

I do leave the PTO engaged when pulling forward; I lift just an inch or 2.

I doubt I can simply extend the chute crank - it would be too long without additional support and a bearing. I will look at electric or hydraulic operators for the chute.

For the few seconds you'd be raising the blower, I doubt you'd see any major wear.
As I'd written, there was one TBNer who did extend his chute crank. I'm pretty sure the support was mounted to the ROPS. No idea if he used another bearing at the mount though.

 

[rimshot]

Unless I missed something the OP said his tractor is HST, NOT geared, therefore all discussion related to clutch disengagement is irrelevant to his particular question(s).(says Coyote machine)
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Not necessarilly so Coyote. The OP has a CK20 (s) and it has a clutch. So do I.

rim

 

[Dmace]

Unless I missed something the OP said his tractor is HST, NOT geared, therefore all discussion related to clutch disengagement is irrelevant to his particular question(s).

How do you figure?
My tractor is an HST and has a clutch and it still needs to be pushed in when engaging the rear or mid PTO.

 

[Coyote machine]

Opps, Sorry - forgot there are some that have both?! Duh For some reason I can't seem to get it into my head that there ARE tractors with both HST AND a clutch... Guess I just want everyone to have an HST only tractor:confused2::laughing:

Thanks for pointing out my error.:confused2:

 

[Dmace]

Now I'm the confused one, I've never heard of or seen an HST tractor without a clutch...

 

[rimshot]

Now I'm the confused one, I've never heard of or seen an HST tractor without a clutch...

Kubota's have no clutch when equipped with HST.

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