Could you review again what you are trying to accomplish? I looked at the first post in this thread and your goals did not pop out at me. I do remember somewhere you saying you did not like the way your original setup handled and maneuvered. Does it throw the snow far enough? Or it bogs down and you are going to keep the blower setup you have, just drive it with a larger engine?
I think you want to change out your primer mover also to a truck?
Your original design must have been fairly successful to be used for 8 years.
The existing 'frankenstein' was designed to make small and fast work of a few inches of snow at @ 10-15 km/h. This is what it was designed for, what it was geared for. It has done this but a few unforseens have messed up the glory (not that I'm not happy with its otherwise enviable success):
1 - The loader's 7000 hour Perkins engine is not a cold-starter. I have to preheat it. This can take 15-25 minutes.
2 - Even a -25 the blower's Deutz engine starts like a hand grenade but my mixed 12/24vdc electrical system needs to be preheated. People had warned me not go go electrical at the time but I was a smartass. Somewhere in the cited pile is the wiring diagram, just to put that into perspective.
3- On a bad day after a storm the heater itself may not start because it's full of snow and the ignition wires are soaked. I may have to light it off with an oil soaked rag on a stick (not easy in a blizzard). And since it too is electrical even beyond the ignition I had to rip its complex automation guts out reducing it to basics like one wire for the motor and one for the ignition. This also means that I gotta watch which one I plug in first because the wrong sequence usually results in a light-off with the whole 300,000 btu unit is three feet in the air.
4 - As soon as I encounter heavy snow or even just a few inches of really wet snow I have to slow down to a crawl, like most blowers do all of the time. Global warming is upon us, the crisp and clear winters are morphing into more and more mixed blessings and messy storms. I would have to increase the reduction but that would also mean that I'd have to slow down generally but I'm not the least bit interested in spending more than the already large amount of time on operation.
5 - The throw distance is OK but I could use more, I mean even with dry snow, so before I even look at a wrench the HP goes waaaay up.
6 - The handling issues are what they are, if I increase the weight they will worsen but they are not limiting. I can still pull studded tires and tire-chains out of my sleeve as I haven't done so yet. The municipal rig where i live was a standard self-powered one using the same 426 loader model, THAT was limiting, they kept splitting the front rims. Someone I know built one and his 426 could never lift it, 15 grand out the window. Mine flies in comparison, there IS a huge hole in the market for self powered blowers that don't need the largest loaders nor require the bucket to be removed.
I'll be 73 in a few weeks and I took the decision to make my work MUCH easier while also improving the operational performance so that I end up with a turnkey system. Under ideal circumstances it takes and hour and a half between walking up to the monster and finally shutting it down, on bad days I've seen 3 hours just to get going. This is what I'm going to do away with.
The exact configuration will depend on what I find along the wonderful scrounging pathway
A
As a minimum it'll mean a new engine on the existing rig, with few other changes that may still lead to further redesign the year after if it works out. This is what I would call the project floor. The engine is close to being bagged (for the second time now), I'll be looking at a Cummins bt6 in a few days. The current engine will sell for more than I'm paying for this, leaving some margin for a rebuild if necessary, power upgrades remaining possible ad infinitum.
B
A new more hassle-free platform is also a possibility, this could be a ford f350 that I have eyes on right now, a older theft recovery with no miles and only mechanicals in front of the firewall, almost made to order, a steal this time around as well
C
If I do go the truck way i'll first strip down to a rolling frame and see what and how I can cannibalize to complete an otherwise elegant mechanical solution. On paper this will revolve around a drive-shaft through the cabin on the passenger side to a blower fan completely on the right side i.e. a short auger only on the left. A 48" inch fan is likely as this is the only one that would jive with a shaft exiting the front roughly just over the front right frame rail. One looming obstacle being that I might not be able to get this there at a height of about 27 inches.
D
If unable to execute a clean mechanical solution (not really interested in convulsive horror shows) or if I should premptively happen into a cheap pump/motor set, then the hydraulic scenario steps to the fore. I don't expect to know this or make the final decision until I have tried the ideas on the rolling frame.
That's where it's at this morning, the plan of course changes continuously always juggling to keep all options open.
