Snowblower 3 pt Snowblowers?

[Stonewall]

I have an 18HP MF compact and think I want to put a snowblower on the 3 pt this winter (hoping we will actually have a winter). The 6X2 trans will only allow working in Low R but I can live with that if it gets the job done. Does anyone have any input on 3 pt snowblowers? I have lit from Loftness and seen Woods on the web but the Woods dealer near me (60 miles) is clueless about the "snowshooters" but can order it for me. I'm thinking that a 4' unit is about all my wallet and tractor can handle right now.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

I have the Puma 54 inch unit(http://www.pronovost.qc.ca/indexa.html)
on my Kubota BX2200, got in May 2002, for $1000.00, have not used it yet. I looked around it was the best deal I could find. This is a good time of year to shop for snow blowers. Got mine in Mass and I am in NJ, 5 hour ride ( was in the area on business), but figured I saved about $250-$300. I looked at the following: JRW- $1100, Farm King $1200, Norman $1400, Meteor $1300, all in the 54 inch range. Check out www.sweettractor.com, Ken has the Farm King model, but more then I listed. I purchased a First Choice tiller from Ken in March, the transaction went very well. I called around to dealers in NY, VT, PA, and MASS, where ever they get a lot of snow. Some were sold out, some did not have the size I was looking for, some were not interested in dealing with me because I was from NJ! All are made in Canada as far as I know.

 

[Justaplain]

That tractor, in that gear will handle 10" with a 5' blower. Don't get one narrower than your widest wheel track. bcs

 

[Stonewall]

The outside track on the R1s is 43" so the 48" will work just fine on that score. Thanks for the operational load info. however, it's not the 10" regular doses that we get that are my concern (the Subaru will push 10" of snow), I need something to dig out of the 20" - 24" dumps that can come along when the weather people say "the storm isn't going to amount to anything". Thanks for your reply!

 

[DVerbarg]

Stonewall,

The Loftness 3pt snowblowers are very nice units. Have a 72" unit on a TC40D. Have read various notes here on TBN about shear bolts consistently breaking on other brands but have only had to replace the shear bolts once when I picked up a pressed concrete paver with the snowblower. Love the Loftness unit.

 

[Rowski]

I've been eye-balling these units for some time. They make them from 3' to 10' widths.

I need something to supplement our snowplowing business that can handle large amounts of snow, heavy wet snow, and hard (iced) snowbanks. These units are expensive, but look to be very well built. I got the free video and it is pretty impressive. They test these units in sand, gravel and water.

link to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.fairmfg.com/3wilddog1.htm>Fair Mfg.</A>

 

[Stonewall]

I am leaning towards the Loftness. You gotta admire a company that tests snowblowers with dirt, gravel and iced in pallets! That's real world experience talking.

 

[EFC]

We are a rep for Fair blowers Price is $2500 from us for the 48" model. These are serious units and are desinged to cut through heavy snowcrete. Havent had a warrenty problem to date. There biggest advantage is that they dont clog up on single stage clutch tractors like a dual stage blower.

www.efcconstruction.com

 

[Rowski]

I must say the video Fair sent me about the blowers is pretty amazing. These blowers have impressed me the most out of any other that I have seen. I looked at your web site, do you just keep the 48" on hand or do you have other sizes? I'm thinking of mounting one on the front using the rear PTO, do you have any experience with this?

I did at one time find a blower similar to the Fair (single stage dual impeller. I think the name was Wild Cat or something. Looked nice to but not as nice as the Fair.

Thanks

 

[EFC]

Fair has discontinued production of any model smaller than 7'. They told me (this will make you laugh) that there is no market for the smaller models because of the limited amount of smaller tractors on the market. I absolutely think that might be true in SD but not out here in the west. Small tractors are the trend and these blowers are awesome. I bought quite a few of them so I will have stock for awhile. Fair promises to keep making parts for the 4' indefinitely. But to my knowledge I don’t know of anybody who has ever needed a part. I sell generic dual stage blowers also but they don’t even compare. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[jimgerken]

I am in the market for a snowblower for a J.D. 4100 20 Hp tractor. I will be putting something together on the front of this tractor. The J.D. product does not look all that impressive for the price. It is not much more blower than the $600 36" blower I have for a Honda tractor, but J.D. thinks its worth about $2K. How much does the Fair 48" weigh? I assume it is designed to work on 540 RPM. Is there a speed reducing/increasing chain drive inside the covers to power the two impellers? The reason I ask is that the 4100 has a mid-mount 2000 RPM PTO.

 

[looch]

Hey Derek. Were you around for the thread? Lcrans has a blower made bay <A target="_blank" HREF=https://www.lorenzmfg.com/snow.htm>Lorenz. I'll admit that the Fair looks great, but these sure do look good too - and they have front mount kits (although one for your particular model tractor is not listed on the site).

 

[EFC]

The blowers are 1:1 so if your PTO is spinning 2000rpm so is your blower. I would take a shot in the dark (short of talking to Fair) and say 2000 RPM is way to fast. We run a PTO pump and Motor combination for front mounts and put a front mount 3pt setup on. Works great but does up the cost. The blower’s weigh around 530lbs. There is a company that makes VERY nice front three points but they are spendy, but it gives you the general idea anyway.

http://www.buctraco.com/FrontHitches.htm

 

[jimgerken]

Thanks for the info. I own the JohnDeere Quick-tach for the front of the 4100, which gives lift, tilt, and power to the front end. I am fairly certain it could lift the 530 pounds. The front PTO speed is 2000 rpm, at full throttle. At your next convenience, ask the Fair guys what would be involved for me to take a stock 48" blower, open the covers to the chain drive enclosure, change the drive sprocket to a smaller one to allow using 2000 rpm input. I would then add the needed bracketry to make the Fair blower adapt directly to the quick-tach system. None of this worries me too much, but it would be great to hear the Fair engineers' or Sales guys' reactions. Perhaps it has been done and they would have a recommendation for proper max speed, sprocket size, etc. Let me know, I am shopping now and actually contemplating building from scratch (a more conventional blower) if I dont find something off-the-shelf that works.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Does the First Choice tiller work good on your BX2200?

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Gejlp.

It works great! I decided after much looking around to go with First Choice Tiller. It is 48 inches and weights in at about 375 lbs. Got it from Sweet Farm Equipment,
http://www.sweettractors.com , for $999 plus $79 for shipping, that was in March 02, I think he now is asking $1050 for it. This is a brand new tiller shipped ready to go. All I had to do was cut the PTO. The tiller does a GREAT job! The soil has no lumps just nice fine soil. Compared to my Troy Built walk behind tiller, and my old Ingersoll tiller, it was a lot easier and the finished product was just great. Did the garden in 30 minutes, 8 rows 4 feet wide by 60 feet long . Ken from Sweet Tractor was great to work with, answered all my questions via e-mail and phone. Walked me through the process of cutting the PTO shaft ( first time for me). Was a very positive experience. The trucker had a lift gate on the truck and was easy to get off. If I had to do it again I would definitely go with what I purchased.

I also looked at the Caroni tiller and was torn between it and the one from Sweettractor. But when I read all the fun some people had with setting the Caroni up and how it looked like it sat around for a while as the paint was faded and rusted, I went with the First Choice model, glad I did!

Tom