Normand Inverted Snowblower

[Blaneypark]

I'm thinking about getting a Normand snow Blower. Has anyone out there used one or have one. Looking at their site it looks to be a super piece of equipment.

 

[oosik]

I know there are a couple threads here on TBN where they discuss "pull behind" blowers. Should be worth a search.

 

[Avondale]

I have a regular 3pth ECONOR snow blower, made by Normand. Supposed to be the entry level but it is bullet proof. Very strong, heavy, solid construction. I use it for not only driveways but in my sugar bush trail system and firewood roads. Have had it since 2008 and only thing I ever break are shear pins, (I use 1/4 x 20 bolts that I buy by the pound from TSC).

 

[Blaneypark]

I have read all I could find here. It seems to be a good blower. I do 25 drives all in town and use a JD 3520 with front blower and back blade that works well I'm just thinking one of these would work better.

 

[msb1766]

Take a look at this thread from Plowsite: http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=110685
It is all about inverted and regular 3 point snowblower with a lot of information about Normand blowers. I think the guy that posts by the name of "Neige" is a dealer
for Normand. If you contact him he can probably help you out with any questions.

 

[Winmac]

I was looking at their inverted blowers today too, the web site was last updated in 2010 so I'm considering contacting them to see if there is more information to be had.

I'm a little curious why the inverted series are different withs, the econor inverted comes in 80in where I would need 7ft.

I cannot justify the extra cost of the commercial units, I've used a conventional econor for 10-12 years now and only ever replaced shear bolts.

 

[fishhead]

well i don't have a normand , but i did get a pronovost 74" inverted (seems to be very similar to the normand) this year and like it a lot- i wanted an open station for the woods and this blower works well with that configuration. i would think that even with a cab the visibility would be markedly increased due to the powder cloud being in back of you. My driveway is 1 km so a rear push blower was a no go. Small snows - say up to 4 inches i can go full bore in med (circa 7 mph) haven't done more than a ft yet - seems like that drops me to around 4 mph (jd 3720). I have even used it to clear the roof dumps from my garage- a little awkward but it works. definitely seems like if you can drive thru it it will blow it.

 

[Dave M7040]

I live not far from Avondale and have had an inverted blower for many years made by Smyth Welding in Canada
I added a rear blade so I can pull snow away from garage doors so no shoveling is required.
My home made rear blade has hydraulic down pressure which helps when you are trying to scrape snow that has been driven on before you get there.
The manufacturers have rear blades as an option that just hang on a chain.

I have Smyth Welding's 90" inverted. Big fan was one of the spec's I wanted also price is much lower than the commercial brands.
66", 78" & 90" Pull Types (Residential & Agricultural) | Smyth Welding
This thread has more ideas and comments: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/350924-snow-blower-snow-box-combo.html
Dave M7040

 

[Piston]

well i don't have a normand , but i did get a pronovost 74" inverted (seems to be very similar to the normand) this year and like it a lot- i wanted an open station for the woods and this blower works well with that configuration. i would think that even with a cab the visibility would be markedly increased due to the powder cloud being in back of you. My driveway is 1 km so a rear push blower was a no go. Small snows - say up to 4 inches i can go full bore in med (circa 7 mph) haven't done more than a ft yet - seems like that drops me to around 4 mph (jd 3720). I have even used it to clear the roof dumps from my garage- a little awkward but it works. definitely seems like if you can drive thru it it will blow it.

So you don't have too much issue with the open station and inverted blower? I've held off buying one over the years (although almost bit the bullet and wish I had) because I wanted to wait until I had a cab tractor. A lot of guys with the standard rear blower complain about the open station.
I have seen many good deals on standard blowers but I'm not interested in one, not too many used inverted blowers.

How many PTO Hp do you have? I have 39 and wondering how that 74" would do behind my tractor.

 

[Avondale]

" A lot of guys with the standard rear blower complain about the open station."


I too complain but I use my rig in the sugar bush and on firewood trails so open station is the better option for me. Going backwards is an art form, especially when the wind is not your friend. To help, I have a 7 foot HLA 2000 plow on the front but it is not without it's own set of issues.

 

[Fallon]

So you don't have too much issue with the open station and inverted blower? I've held off buying one over the years (although almost bit the bullet and wish I had) because I wanted to wait until I had a cab tractor. A lot of guys with the standard rear blower complain about the open station.
I have seen many good deals on standard blowers but I'm not interested in one, not too many used inverted blowers.

How many PTO Hp do you have? I have 39 and wondering how that 74" would do behind my tractor.

I have 32hp (maybe 25-27 PTO) on my L3200 HST. I have yet to bog my 61" standard blower in the snows we've gotten this year. Although we haven't gotten another nasty snow like the one that made 4' drifts & prompted me to get the blower in the first place. It handles 2' piles I windrow with the plow well though.

As my tractor is 60" wide & I'd need wheel spacers to put on rear chains I've been thinking about going wider if I can find a good deal. I doubt you'd have HP problems a foot wider than mine with 10 more PTO HP. Especially if its inverted, you'd have problems driving through that much snow.

 

[fishhead]

So you don't have too much issue with the open station and inverted blower? I've held off buying one over the years (although almost bit the bullet and wish I had) because I wanted to wait until I had a cab tractor. A lot of guys with the standard rear blower complain about the open station.
I have seen many good deals on standard blowers but I'm not interested in one, not too many used inverted blowers.

How many PTO Hp do you have? I have 39 and wondering how that 74" would do behind my tractor.

sorry just saw this now,
When moving forward , i never get any snow on me from the blower, even with the spout angled somewhat forward, i suppose you could get some with really strong winds but they are unusual here. if i stop and back up quickly without letting the fan clear a bit i can get a tiny bit of snow drifting straight up from the fan if the snow is dry, but its nothing like i had to deal with using a front blower on my previous B3030- that was at times excruciating. Basically human popsicle time.

Looks like your 4610 weighs a couple hundred pounds more, has a slightly longer wheelbase and about 4 more hp at the pro than mine so i think it would be fine. I like the added width over the 60 inch kubota i had as most of my drive is a combo of 10 and 12 ft widths and i can do a good quick down and back and get it cleared, saving all the fine work and some scraping for later.

The pronovost blower i got - p-74-INV seems very well made, the only slight issue i noticed was that it can at times float up a tiny bit on dense snow when i am driving fast- i might experiment cutting edge wise to see if i can address that. Also i will probably add some flow restrictors to slow the chute and deflector

One interesting thing i noticed is that when it loads up it totally changes sound, kind of becomes throaty, i think maybe other blowers might do this but they won't sound the same to the operator because on an inverted the fan faces the operator.

 

[GManBart]

The pronovost blower i got - p-74-INV seems very well made, the only slight issue i noticed was that it can at times float up a tiny bit on dense snow when i am driving fast- i might experiment cutting edge wise to see if i can address that. Also i will probably add some flow restrictors to slow the chute and deflector

One interesting thing i noticed is that when it loads up it totally changes sound, kind of becomes throaty, i think maybe other blowers might do this but they won't sound the same to the operator because on an inverted the fan faces the operator.

I've seen a lot of people say they worry that driving over the snow before the blower gets to it will cause it to pack down too much for the blower to break free and throw. Have you seen anything like that happen? I would guess the colder it is, the less likely it would be to have that problem, but you never know.

It always makes me wonder why inverted blowers are so common in places that get serious amounts of snow, and uncommon most other places where a lot of people suggest they wouldn't work as well.

 

[Avondale]

You might wish to consider what type of tires you have and your ground clearance before going with an inverted blower IF, like my industrial tires, you find deep or drifting snow a problem. I have met many a drift I could not drive through, despite having 4x4 and chains on all four wheels.

 

[skyhook]

I have read all I could find here. It seems to be a good blower. I do 25 drives all in town and use a JD 3520 with front blower and back blade that works well I'm just thinking one of these would work better.

Love the rear pull blowers, would never go back to the push kind again, but it seems you have the perfect setup now, the only reason I would have gotten rid of my rear pull, was for a "front" blower. Dave M7040 has a nice setup.

 

[fishhead]

I've seen a lot of people say they worry that driving over the snow before the blower gets to it will cause it to pack down too much for the blower to break free and throw. Have you seen anything like that happen? I would guess the colder it is, the less likely it would be to have that problem, but you never know.

It always makes me wonder why inverted blowers are so common in places that get serious amounts of snow, and uncommon most other places where a lot of people suggest they wouldn't work as well.

I have not noticed that the blower leaves more where the tractor wheels have passed over, The older tracks from previous vehicles passing do sometimes ice and that is harder to remove with any device. I will note that the tire chains probably help prevent the ice formation by and seem to break up or roughen any previously packed surface

Where i live drifting is uncommon due to the lack of high wind, and we get get frequent small snows so even though we average about 100 inches at my house i probably have to clear deep snow much less often than someone living in say the mid atlantic with a similar average but fewer and larger storms

 

[Piston]

sorry just saw this now,
When moving forward , i never get any snow on me from the blower, even with the spout angled somewhat forward, i suppose you could get some with really strong winds but they are unusual here. if i stop and back up quickly without letting the fan clear a bit i can get a tiny bit of snow drifting straight up from the fan if the snow is dry, but its nothing like i had to deal with using a front blower on my previous B3030- that was at times excruciating. Basically human popsicle time.

Looks like your 4610 weighs a couple hundred pounds more, has a slightly longer wheelbase and about 4 more hp at the pro than mine so i think it would be fine. I like the added width over the 60 inch kubota i had as most of my drive is a combo of 10 and 12 ft widths and i can do a good quick down and back and get it cleared, saving all the fine work and some scraping for later.

The pronovost blower i got - p-74-INV seems very well made, the only slight issue i noticed was that it can at times float up a tiny bit on dense snow when i am driving fast- i might experiment cutting edge wise to see if i can address that. Also i will probably add some flow restrictors to slow the chute and deflector

One interesting thing i noticed is that when it loads up it totally changes sound, kind of becomes throaty, i think maybe other blowers might do this but they won't sound the same to the operator because on an inverted the fan faces the operator.

Thank you for that excellent informative post. :thumbsup:
You answered all my questions.

 

[GManBart]

I have not noticed that the blower leaves more where the tractor wheels have passed over, The older tracks from previous vehicles passing do sometimes ice and that is harder to remove with any device. I will note that the tire chains probably help prevent the ice formation by and seem to break up or roughen any previously packed surface

Where i live drifting is uncommon due to the lack of high wind, and we get get frequent small snows so even though we average about 100 inches at my house i probably have to clear deep snow much less often than someone living in say the mid atlantic with a similar average but fewer and larger storms

Thanks...that makes sense!

 

[fishhead]

Piston and Gman, you are both quite welcome, thanks for the props
one thing i did not mention is that i also used to use a rear blade a lot and for whatever reason i needed to look back a lot more with it when moving forward, perhaps this is because you are often moving the snow several times with a blade whereas with the blower it goes bye-bye. generally i drive forward and have a great sense of where the edge of the blower is.

Too the newer pronovosts are closer to the tractor and this helps good bit

 

[Piston]

Does anyone make an inverted blower with a rotating drum? I know Provonost makes a standard style rear blower with a rotating drum, but I don't think anyone makes an inverted with that option, I wonder why, seems like it would be nice to have.