Snow Attachments Snow PUMP

[fitterski]

Thanks for that summary. Things that come to my mind;

Diesel engines are heavy, and hard to start in cold weather. The older non-electronic diesels seem to be harder to start than the newer electronic diesels. So it looks like you are backing yourself in a corner and not helping your cold weather starting problems very much. .

By migrating off the loader/backhoe I solve the by far worst half of the starting problems. As for the digital/electronic threats to mission-critical reliability I have no doubts ..nor choices. I broke down once in the middle of the road half cleared and it cost me. I had to call a pro but he couldn't get past me so that part had to be done with a little honda, then I had to get towed out to the public road so the rest could be cleared, then I had to get towed back to the house where I had started. $2000, NEVER AGAIN. Once I start engines they must not stop, not even if the Lord cometh to clean things up.

You could put a more powerful gas engine on the unit you have now. It would start easier and be lighter or close to the same weight as the diesel engine you are using now. You said something about you can't change the gearing for a higher rpm gas engine, but could you change just the auger rpm and let the fan turn at the higher speed?.

NocanDo, the fan would turn too fast ui.e. I could only use what I get below 2500 rpm which is why diesels are so great if you wanna do improvised and simple gearing. The gas engines need to run much faster so in any gearing situation they're out in my case. An exception would be for example if I hook up a Triton v10 with a transmission the outshaft of which would be at the same speed as with any other engine gas or diesel. For any hydraulic pump they're not a problem either BUT I will have eyeballed the mechanical setup with engine in place before I get to make that decision. Also I've had a real hard time finding a good Cummins bt6 so that if I can then I will bag it before the weekend. It's raining 24-valve digital engines around here, engines that nobody wants, while real-rod jobs are in VERY high demand (the industry would do well to listen to such rumblings).

I see a lot of problems with the driveshaft running through the cab idea. I see a lot of important stuff in the way, I don't think there is that much room through there. Usually the heater core is on the pass side along with the blower fan, wiring, and you will have to sneak by the inner fender and the radiator. It will be tricky. What if you ran it down the outside of the cab by the pass side door? A piece of channel laying across the frame in the back and another across the front frame rails(ditch the front bumper) with pillow block bearings on the ends for support. That offset would give you plenty of opportunity to gear up or down also.

I'm going to strip the cabin until there's nothing but echo in there. Any drive-shaft passing through beside my own sweet butt would also have to be candystriped but more importantly contained in a 6" pipe 1/4" thick. I can put the rad in lieu of the heater core anywhere else and solve two problems at once while the inner fender can go decorate the neighbour's piano for all I care. But your idea of a side-shaft on the outside is a good one, I certainly would not dismiss it until I get there. It's just all those kinks that I'd have to feel good about. I've also kicked the underneath approach around but then I'd end up coming out the front too low for anything but a 24" fan and I don't really want to get into more lincoln lockers than I have to )) I don't have he thing right here and there's nothing to size-up in the junkyard either, everything is under 5 feet of snow, but I'm pretty confident that I'll get it done, it won't be my first hacking experience. Depending on the engine, right over the frame might be where I get one shot at it.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Well I like the idea of a Cummins sitting on the back of a Ford! It would be nice if you could run both the Ford and the snowblower with the cummins but that's a bit of a rig-a-marole. If you do settle for a 24 valve they can be changed to a P-pump by changing the front cover. The aftermarket makes injectors and fuel lines that work. http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-24v-p-pump-conversion/ lots of information in this forum. If you bump up the horse power make sure you torque the head bolts to 125 (?) ft lbs. I think that's the number. Or use ARP or equivalent head studs.

If you double the rpm of a shaft you can put 4 times the hp through it so keep that in mind as you're designing. Have a look at a Schulte snow blower. The neighbour has one and they can easily blow the snow in a long arc well over the power lines. It's awesome to watch. I wish I would have taken some pictures.

 

[bigdeano]

You should be able to put the driveshaft just under the cab and the radiator and above the front axle tube. You may have to raise the truck a few inches with a spring lift. A 2" solid driveshaft doesn't take a lot of room.

If you double the rpm of a shaft it transmits twice the horsepower at the same torque, not 4 times.

It would be cool to put a 8V71T in that thing. They only weigh a mere 2600 lbs. Go big or go home!

 

[pmsmechanic]

If you double the rpm of a shaft it transmits twice the horsepower at the same torque, not 4 times.

I know for sure that this statement is wrong but don't get to excited. I could be wrong too. I just remember reading that if you "double your rpm you can transmit 4x the hp" somewhere. If I can't find the answer on the internet I have engineer friends that will know.

The reason I know that you can transmit more hp by doubling the rpm is because that's why 1000 rpm pto's were developed. I'm just not 100% sure on how much. I'm pretty sure the article said 4x because that's what stick in my mind but it probably around 35 years since I read that.

 

[franklin2]

Looks like the next step is finding an engine and a truck to work with cheap. I think you are set on a cummins diesel of some sort, and a decent sized pickup truck that runs.

 

[bigdeano]

I know for sure that this statement is wrong but don't get to excited. I could be wrong too. I just remember reading that if you "double your rpm you can transmit 4x the hp" somewhere. If I can't find the answer on the internet I have engineer friends that will know.

The reason I know that you can transmit more hp by doubling the rpm is because that's why 1000 rpm pto's were developed. I'm just not 100% sure on how much. I'm pretty sure the article said 4x because that's what stick in my mind but it probably around 35 years since I read that.

The formula for HP is Torque X RPM / 5252. So doubling the torque or RPM would double the HP. If you double both then you get 4X HP.

 

[Fallon]

The formula for HP is Torque X RPM / 5252. So doubling the torque or RPM would double the HP. If you double both then you get 4X HP.

Yup. When doubling the RPM though you loose half the torque (Assuming using a gearbox & not increasing engine speed or torque).

That's the whole reason big tractors use 1000rpm PTO instead of 540. Half the torque means you can use a lighter cheaper PTO shaft & other drive train. Generally there is going to be a gearbox on the other end already so it's just a matter of getting the right gear ratio gearbox & the same power & RPM gets to the other end with lighter & cheaper running gear. Most blower fans being direct drive does kind of contradict some of that argument, but in the big picture blowers are a small percentage of big tractor impliment.

 

[pmsmechanic]

So I had a talk last night with my friend that owns the Schulte snow blower. It's about 8' wide with a 3' diameter blower housing. There is a reduction gearbox on it from 1000 rpm pto. He figured they were blowing snow about 100 feet. I know the arch was easily clearing a power line because I saw it. The tractor was 135 pto horse power and his words "we were crawling along". Next time we get enough snow here to use it I will take a movie and post it here.

 

[fitterski]

Looks like the next step is finding an engine and a truck to work with cheap. I think you are set on a cummins diesel of some sort, and a decent sized pickup truck that runs.

I bagged the engine yesterday, it's the 175hp version with 138 kiloclicks on it made for clutch-jobs. Apparently the automatics couldn't take 175 so their engines were detuned to 160. Sounds like a stretch but that's what the vendor told me. I would have thought he opposite, that since automatics are gentle on the piston rods you can turn more horses lose with them. Anyway, this part of the puzzle is solved, I'm very happy that I dumped the duramax idea. This thing will start with a booster cable and will never again know if there's a battery connected to it or not. ALL engines should be made like this

I will check to see if killer dowel pin is modded, then just test it as is.

 

[fitterski]

So I had a talk last night with my friend that owns the Schulte snow blower. It's about 8' wide with a 3' diameter blower housing. There is a reduction gearbox on it from 1000 rpm pto. He figured they were blowing snow about 100 feet. I know the arch was easily clearing a power line because I saw it. The tractor was 135 pto horse power and his words "we were crawling along". Next time we get enough snow here to use it I will take a movie and post it here.

I took a good look a them Schulte types back in '08 when I started the old rig. Very impressed, also with Ber-Vac who manufacture (actually mostly engineer) very solid stuff for many others. If either one would sell me a 48" prototype cheap, or just give me a copy of the drawings I'd be very happy. One of them has already told me to visit far away exotic places without delay, in so many words never written. That part is still far down the road though.