Snowblower for FEL, price, comments?

TJ303 · Feb 17, 2022

I am looking at a used Land Pride front snowblower, SBL 2566. It comes with the hydraulic power pack, HRS 30, does not have the cooling fan option. One owner, lightly used.
Is this a good snow blowing setup? What is a good price to buy it at?

I have a NH Boomer 55 hydrostatic with cab and fel. Located in central New York. Have a 300 foot gravel driveway and a mile of farm roads through woods/fields. Currently have a bucket, snow pusher box, box blade, and back blade for clear snow. The snow gets to deep in the woods to keep the farm roads open with this equipment so the only way to get around 160 acres is on snow shoes. The property is hilly, nothing to steep but nothing flat.

Would appreciate opinions from people with experience with this setup and keeping farm/logging roads passable in the winter.

Thanks
TJ

bdhsfz6 · Feb 17, 2022

I can't help you with the Land Pride front blower but I used a Woods rear mount for years to keep my field access roads open. The problem with any blower is, they're too slow and can get clogged with loose debris that you often find on a farm road.

I found it was much faster to use a FEL plow. I can easily pile snow 12' high if necessary. I plow normally until the banks get too high and the road narrows. I then go in with the FEL plow and push the banks back.

It can be a problem doing this on roads with a lot of trees close to the road. I have one 300' stretch like this where I occasionally need to use the blower.

Dave M7040 · Feb 17, 2022

I do not think you have the pto power to operate such a unit.
Landpride recommends 52 pto HP. Consider that a minimum.
Your NH has 44 to 46 pto HP depending upon the model of the main transmission. The manual transmission sending a bit more power to the pto.
If every HP your engine can produce is going to the power pack, you wont have any left for normal tractor operation.

These hydraulic setups have a lot of inefficiencies.
If you need/want a front mounted blower a number of companies offer ones. Erskine, Smyth Welding to mention two. These are driven from the rar or mid pto.

Dave M7040

Jchonline · Feb 17, 2022

I would not buy a hydraulic front blower for anything but a high flow skid steer.
Avoid it. Just get a rear PTO version.

Beaver Cove Deere · Feb 22, 2022

I had the 72" Provonost version on a NH 4835 (56hp at the shaft) and I was blowing well over a 1/2 mile of pavement as well as a gravel parking area and another gravel drive about 1/4 mile. It worked OK.

The Normand inverted on my JD4720 would easily spit out the pieces of the 72".

The hydro units are just "OK" IMO. Way too much loss of power thru all the fluid movement. Unless you have a smoking hot deal I wouldn't do it. That smoking hot deal had better be really cheap too.

If you get any wet snow at all don't even turn the key on the machine. Trust me on this.

hayden · Feb 22, 2022

See this thread Skid steer snow blower on tractor loader?

I think a 66" blower will work OK on your tractor. That said, you definitely lose power to the hydraulics. It's the price of a face-forward snow blower vs a face-backwards blower. The units that have a reversing drive shaft from the PTO forward are certainly an option. Don't know the comparative costs, but they look a lot harder to install and remove, adn it looks like they prevent switching to a loader bucket without removing drive shaft assembly. I wanted to be able to switch back and forth more easily.

lungdoc · Feb 23, 2022

Have a MK Martin SBLM86 with a 30 GPM hydraulic power pack on a Kubota L6060 cab. 40 hp PTO requirement on that unit. It works well, but isn't as powerful as prior similar size rear blower. Not cheap. Does slow down in deeper snow. Was CDN circa 9K 6 years ago but prices have really climbed.

For your scenario I would personally consider a) forward facing rear blower to use in combination with snow pusher or bucket. b) snowmobile for access to the mile of back roads unless really need to keep plowed.

grsthegreat · Feb 23, 2022

I have a hydraulic front blower on a 45 hp machine. Been working awesome for 10 years now. For those that say they dont work……..your wrong.

robstaples · Feb 24, 2022

Your Land Pride system looks like a good solution. I have 2 systems- hydraulic front loader mount. On two tractors. Only caution is it could be slow with deep snow. Physics: you are lifting all that weight. Hydraulics is less efficient that direct drive. Plows don’t lift, so faster. I’ve never worked my systems as hard as you will so I’ve never needed oil cooling. Exposed tank and hoses are enough for mine. With heavy snow , it piles up in front of blower and waits it’s turn to go thru the blower. So you slow down. You will love it. Cost ? Higher than other methods. Mine was home built.

TJ303 · Feb 24, 2022

I appreciate all the comments. I can buy the whole system for $7K. It is a lot of money to blow snow but the hydraulic pack could also be used for other fel mounted attachments, i.e. brush cutter.

TJ

bdhsfz6 · Feb 24, 2022

For about half the price, another option is a front blower powered by it's own gas engine like this one from Tractor Supply:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/massimo-60-in-420cc-utv-snow-blower-attachment-zlst13150?cid=Search-Google-TSC_DYN-Dynamic%20All%20Site-Dynamic%20ATVs%20UTVs&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Search&utm_campaign=TSC_DYN&utm_content=Dynamic%20All%20Site&utm_term=Dynamic%20ATVs%20UTVs&gclid=CjwKCAiA9tyQBhAIEiwA6tdCrCF44l-9WR-JzAZBZH3eHTcQm8oLwh1F3xAQvh-am9n0Sb1quEUpcRoCk1YQAvD_BwE

With a little rigging, it could be mounted to a FEL bucket or an SSQA plate.

RoyJackson · Feb 24, 2022

TJ303 said:
I am looking at a used Land Pride front snowblower, SBL 2566. It comes with the hydraulic power pack, HRS 30, does not have the cooling fan option. One owner, lightly used.
Is this a good snow blowing setup? What is a good price to buy it at?

As long as you have the PTO HP for the hydraulic power pack and the blower will mount on the loader (unless you want to rig it directly on your tractor...not a good idea IMHO), I think you'd be fine. The power pack will provide adequate flow for the blower.
As far as pricing...that's somewhat regional. A Quick-Attach brand unit, similar to the Land Pride you describe, goes $11K-12K. Land Pride gear tends to be more expensive...
That said, I'd offer $9K and be prepared to go higher, if you really want the unit

grsthegreat · Feb 24, 2022

roy, he said he can get it fir 7k.
thats a great price. I have about 14k into mine.

JohnDeereJoey · Feb 24, 2022

I have a PTO pump/3ph reservoir and a loader mounted hydraulic blower. Works well. Not crazy GREAT, but really rather well.

It is very important that the available PTO power, PTO pump size, and hydraulic motor sizes are correctly matched to the application. For example, too much pump flow and/or too small hydraulic motors will yield a fast spinning snowblower when not blowing snow, throw a good distance moving small amounts of snow, and bog/pack with snow when loaded heavily. My system was like that before I got everything better matched. It made for a miserably performing setup.

My GUESS is the HRS30 flow is a bit too large for your PTO power and the "spin fast, bog fast" I described above may be the result. To know for sure will require trying it out or consulting with someone very familiar with very similar setups.

The HRS30 without a cooler should be fine for winter use, especially with snow dust in the air!

Too big of a pump and/or too small of hydraulic motors will not be your friend however.

BTW, I think that blower is 66" wide which I THINK is several inches narrower that your NH. If so, it will work, but not ideal. Especially inside turns.

P>S> I live about half-way between Syracuse and Watertown. We might not be far apart. Snow planned for tomorrow!