Woodmaxx Snowblower Shear Bolts?

[KanakaRick]

Talked to Woodmaxx this morning.... We came to the conclusion that I am the bozo who put the drive line on backwards. They told me what to do about that. I am waiting for the temps to get above freezing today to swap that around, and they want me to take some measurements.

 

[leonz]

THEY TOLD YOU THE DRIVELINE WAS ON BACKWARDS???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Are the yokes on both ends of the PTO shaft halves lined up in a straight line??

 

[leonz]

With the angle that you have shown in the side view picture you should think about a adding quick hitch to reduce the angle of the PTO shaft from the PTO stub on the mule to the PTO Stub of the snow caster gearbox.

The sleeve created by both halves of the PTO shaft allow the implement to work within that 10-15 degree angle of elevation.


The thing that is most important to keep in mind is that you have a "propeller shaft" and it can only provide smooth power delivery with a minimum of angle. delivered to the opposing universal joint. The same operating principles apply to a PTO powered implement like a corn chopper or snow blower where the PTO shaft is always within a 10-15 degree negative slope of the opposing universal joint at the gearbox of the a snow blower.

This is why you see an extended propeller shaft on a silage chopper is carried on the tongue of the hitch by a support bearing to the point where
it can be mounted within 10-15 degree positive angle of launch to the PTO stub on the mule.

The only way to go forward with this is to use a quick hitch for less money invested as it will reduce the angle of the propeller shaft from the PTO stub to the gearbox of the snow caster.

 

[atsah]

Looks backwards to me and the angle is no good either. I am surprised the blower doesn't have four pin holes to hook the draft arms up to, my Blizzard has two sets, two above the other two for different height tractors. If it were mine, I would weld a piece of stock higher and put two pins there to fix the angle. Probably have to add another support from the new stock back to the blower for support.

That angle is no good, the joints won't last long.

There are two holes now that I zoom in, the problem is the two top ones aren't high enough for your tractor.

 

[KanakaRick]

Looks backwards to me and the angle is no good either. I am surprised the blower doesn't have four pin holes to hook the draft arms up to, my Blizzard has two sets, two above the other two for different height tractors. If it were mine, I would weld a piece of stock higher and put two pins there to fix the angle. Probably have to add another support from the new stock back to the blower for support.

That angle is no good, the joints won't last long.

There are two holes now that I zoom in, the problem is the two top ones aren't high enough for your tractor.

I'm not sure I understand how adjusting the pin holes will make a difference. The blower sits at a certain height and so does the output of the PTO on the tractor. Those elevations never change. I am trying to visualize this.... so by adding some higher pin holes - in my eyes just adjusts the elevation that the draft arms are located- how does that change anything? When I raise the box, it may not go as high..... and if anything would make the box push down further when the draft arms are down.

I did notice when I put the snowblower together, that I had to set it on a 6x8 block of wood in order to have it high enough for the draft arms to get low enough to hook it on the tractor. But I didn't think anything about it. I guess I can consider the possibility that my tractor is too tall for the blower?

 

[KanakaRick]

With the angle that you have shown in the side view picture you should think about a adding quick hitch to reduce the angle of the PTO shaft from the PTO stub on the mule to the PTO Stub of the snow caster gearbox.

The sleeve created by both halves of the PTO shaft allow the implement to work within that 10-15 degree angle of elevation.


The thing that is most important to keep in mind is that you have a "propeller shaft" and it can only provide smooth power delivery with a minimum of angle. delivered to the opposing universal joint. The same operating principles apply to a PTO powered implement like a corn chopper or snow blower where the PTO shaft is always within a 10-15 degree negative slope of the opposing universal joint at the gearbox of the a snow blower.

The only way to go forward with this is to use a quick hitch for less money invested as it will reduce the angle of the propeller shaft from the PTO stub to the gearbox of the snow caster.

How does a quick hitch make a difference, other than pushing the blower further away from the tractor? I guess it would lessen the angle, but do you think by enough? Would I then have to get an "extended" PTO shaft? This is getting complicated.

 

[atsah]

Now you got me thinking. The bigger tractors I have seen using a blower have blower feet adjusted and the top link adjusted so the that the blower is on more of an angle than yours is.

 

[TractorNH]

It's possible to be snapping shear bolts if the shaft is on backwards but I'm impressed you are breaking grade 8 bolts. Mine was shipped from WoodMaxx with grade 5 in it but I'm also using the import shaft. I still haven't broken a shear bolt on mine and I have a gravel driveway. I thought they had a note about not being able to use the USA shaft on Kubota tractors but can't find the note on the website now, wonder if that also applies to Kioti and if that is part of the problem.

I agree with others suggesting the angle is also too steep. You can get a Harbor Freight quick hitch for $100. That's what I'm using.

Here's a pic of my SB-84 on my Mahindra.

 

[leonz]

The addition of a quick hitch reduces the angle the propeller shaft must take to reach the gearbox stub as the propeller shaft has become longer and the angle needed to reach the gearbox stub is lessened.


The quick hitch will help you use this snow caster but you may need a longer propeller shaft to do it IF and only if you had to cut the propeller shaft you bought for it.


Are you able to extend the lower links on this mule or are they a one piece lower link???

If they are not extendable you will need a quick hitch of some brand type to reduce the angle of attack needed for the propeller shaft to work and transmit power to the gearbox.

I really hate it when these people(meaning a reseller of some implements) tell a buyer that the problems are ones "you created" when they have no idea what they are talking about or doing when selling implements to a consumer/end user.


A quick hitch will be much less expensive than four smaller tires and wheels so the mules centerline will be lower to the ground to use this snow caster on your specific mule.

 

[atsah]

Like this.