Snowblower 3pt snowblower

[Huntington]

Looking for advice on purchasing a 3pt hitch snowblower. I would like a 87" model. Any suggestions on manufacturer? New or used?

 

[IXLR8]

I don't have any suggestions except that there is lots of good info if you do some reading in the "snow removal" forum.

 

[yelbike]

I've had really good luck with 50" and 60" farm king blowers. I've used many old and new as I bought and sold them in the past, I don't remember one single failure. I now have a little front mount Deere one. I would assume the larger farm kings blower would be as good as their smaller ones.
With size your searching for don't forget about the second row augers.
Good luck!
BTW what's your budget so we can help you spend your money.

 

[PILOON]

Be sure to buy wider than tire tracks.
Most Canadian blowers are top notch designs especially those made in Quebec.
As to used blowers most if not all service components are 'off the shelf' items. (chain, bearings,shear bolts etc.)
The more blades and the larger the fan housing the better the performance.
Pronovost with 5 bladed 24" blades is an awesome blower as an example and favored by contractors.
Easily adjustable skid shoes is another feature to look for as you generally want them low to build a base on gravel drives but once the base is there you raise them to get all the snow.
Avoid blowers that have the gear box integrated as part of the augers shaft. The better design has the auger chain driven at one end.
Check out the fan housing for signs of extreme wear as some can get worn clear thru from blowing lots of gravel. (a liner is often installed to repair this problem)

 

[PHPaul]

+1 on the Pronovost.

I have a Puma 64 that I bought used. It's a beast and the folks at Pronovost were very helpful when I was looking for an owner's manual and parts list.

I don't use my plow much at all any more, unless we have a real booger of a winter and I need to push the banks back a little.

 

[buickanddeere]

Two stage that is 2" wider than the tractor. Use a tractor with a creeper reverse gear. Find a blower with the hydraulic chute rotator.

 

[yelbike]

Be sure to buy wider than tire tracks.
Most Canadian blowers are top notch designs especially those made in Quebec.
As to used blowers most if not all service components are 'off the shelf' items. (chain, bearings,shear bolts etc.)
The more blades and the larger the fan housing the better the performance.
Pronovost with 5 bladed 24" blades is an awesome blower as an example and favored by contractors.
Easily adjustable skid shoes is another feature to look for as you generally want them low to build a base on gravel drives but once the base is there you raise them to get all the snow.
Avoid blowers that have the gear box integrated as part of the augers shaft. The better design has the auger chain driven at one end.
Check out the fan housing for signs of extreme wear as some can get worn clear thru from blowing lots of gravel. (a liner is often installed to repair this problem)

About the more blades. Funny thing is my jd2305 uses a 3 blade farm king blowers works so great that's why I sold my 60" farm king and down sized to 50" but with 4 blades instead for my JD 2320. For some unknown reason it never worked great, but can't blame the 4 blades either. Got rid of the 50" also and bought a front mount for my jd2320. Works much better now.

 

[droptop]

'Dem Canucks up in the Great White North make some real good snow blowers. Check out the AgroTrend, Lucknow and Meteor. All are great blowers for a reasonable price.

 

[TimP]

I have an older Buhler 60" blower and it has worked great for me.

I have pretty much ignored it as far as maintenance and it has been forgiving.

I was the envy of the neighborhood about 3 years ago when we had 42" in Baltimore.

I did every neighbor in my little panhandle development and it never failed.

 

[yelbike]

I have an older Buhler 60" blower and it has worked great for me.

I have pretty much ignored it as far as maintenance and it has been forgiving.

I was the envy of the neighborhood about 3 years ago when we had 42" in Baltimore.

I did every neighbor in my little panhandle development and it never failed.

You didn't neglect it......there no maintenance to them. Oil chain lube PTO shaft. I've had several with zero issue.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Here is my my old Farm King (Buhler). I think it is somewhere in the range of 20 years old but is a tank and the technology hasn't really changed. I found this one on CL 4 years ago and added the hydraulic chute rotator and deflectors. with the thickness of the metal on these things, I fully expect I could back into a tree and it would spit it out the top. :laughing:

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I use a 60" Farm King (Buhler) on the back of a Kubota B2620 (19 pto hp) and it works flawlessly. Tractor has more than enough hp at 1/2 rpm to blow away all day. Even the 36" windrows left by the plows as many in my area live on a municipal roadway plowed by a grader/wing combo that drops all 16' of snow on our driveway approaches.

Only issue for me is the B2620 is a little small to manhandle the blower around sharp turns (like a 90 degree corner) when snow is deep. Tractor just doesn't have enough weight/traction with R4 tires w/o chains. So simply take a couple of cuts at those sharp angles and all is great.