68" Meteor Hydraulic or Electric Chute, pros & cons

[leonz]

Yes. He will assemble it, but I will be responsible for wiring it to the tractor.

He made it sound fairly easy, but I'll take any advice or tips anyone has to offer.

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Hello Ding Beep,



The best thing to do is use a 3 position momentary toggle for the snow blower in a small housing.
Do you have a plug receptacle on the tractor that you can use for it?

You can see how its done watching the gadget addict or Cary Mart on youtube and buy all your parts-switch,
waterproof housing, water proof wire box connectors, wire etc. from W.W. Grainger.

 

[airbiscuit]

I am hoping that it comes with a wiring harness (especially including 2 direction switch) and some pretty good installation instructions.

On the tractor side, if you are lucky, you have a power outlet on your tractor. If you are less lucky, be sure whatever power you send o the back has a fuse link close to the battery, and use a heavy gauge wire.

 

[RickB]

Not just a power outlet but a power outlet with sufficient current carrying capacity to power that specific linear actuator. The average 5-8 amp power port will not cut it.

 

[Captain Dirty]

. . . I opted for a backhoe rather than a cab. Couldn't afford both! Someone said: a large sheet of Plexiglas bolted to the ROPS, and a snowmobile suit will help...
So, I ordered the RED 68" Meteor with Manual deflector and Electric chute rotation.. . .

The referenced link to the Meteor brochures did not show it well, but it appears that the the toothed flange for chute rotation allows a full 360ｰ of rotation. With an open station, and even with a cab (with expensive windows), you will want to limit the rotation so you won't blow snow or debris back at you. With hydraulic rotation on my blower I put bolts in appropriate notches and a crossover relief valve to stop rotation. I do not know if the electric rotator has mechanical provisions to limit the rotation or if you would have to wire limit switches.

 

[PILOON]

One simple chute rotator is to use a $50/$75 ATV winch and wrap the cable around the chute with but 8-10 turns on the winch.*
I've been rotating my chute like that for some 7-8 years now.
Powerful enough to even break loose a frozen chute. (most ATV winches are rated at 2000 lbs)
Naturally U need a bit of welding skills and some electrical know how.
I also lined my chute with HDPVC to limit wet snow sticking plus I do squirt oil from time to time on the chute guide ring.

*I drilled a hole mid center to accommodate the 1/8 stranded cable and wound about 5 turns in both directions with one complete turn around the chute well anchored. An extra chute wrap could also be considered but a single wrap worked for me.
I'm lucky in that I had stainless stranded cable on hand but U could also simply use the cable that came with your manual chute system.
Advantage of my SS is that it is much less rigid than the factory manual cable.
I fabricated the winch mounting so that the winch drum is vertical and aligned with the chute base.

LOL, the cost savings of this rig even justifies the purchase of a welder should U not own one.

When it came to chute deflector I leave it fixed in 'wide open' as I wont that snow as far away as possible.

 

[fishhead]

I have found deflector control to be useful, moreso in tight areas than open but 2 places i definitely appreciate it are near buildings where i will set it up to recycle for a bit then open it up to clear the accumulated snow. By recycle i mean that many of the commercial blowers will allow you to discharge into the space right in front of the blower so it acts like a pull box.
Also we have some places with quite a drop beside the road and i have found i can actually use the blower aimed down and close to make berms over the course of multiple blowings

If its rotation or deflection I'd choose rotation first by a good bit.On my first set-up I had a front blower with manual rotation, it worked but i would not go back to manual

 

[ding beep]

fishhead: Interesting tip about building berms next to the ditches. I have plenty of ditches around the properties, but the only ones near driveways are where they meet the road.

PILOON: Although a big fan of u-build solutions (I have plenty of my own LOL) the KISS method seems safest for me in this instance. Sounds like it works well for you. :thumbsup:

Captain Dirty: Great tip on using bolts to limit rotation. I will definitely be looking into your suggestion. Safety first!

leonz, airbiscuit & RickB: I like the 3 position momentary (push one way for left rotation, release to center [second] position for 'hold' and push the third way for right rotation)

Is this the same as 2 direction switch? I will wait to see what comes with the equipment as far as wiring harness, in-line fuses, etc.

But your ideas sound WAY better than the Dealer-recommendation: wire it straight to the battery.:mur:

According to other posts in the Mahindra Owners forum, there should be a fused 2-wire power source already running to somewhere near the bottom of the ROPS I would like to use.

I may need to cut off the plug-end and connect it with butt connectors. Right now, i'm not sure of the wire gauge. I will definitely keep this in mind when the time comes.

I have plenty of time to sort it out before snow flies. Actually, I should get off the computer and go hook up the brush hog. There's still plenty of mowing to do!

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. Please continue posting ideas and tips, recommendations and warnings. It's all good. :tractor: ding beep

 

[Farmer495]

Bought a 78" MK Martin a few winters ago. Yes the toothed hyd motor allows 360 rotation. I have that on a detent valve so have to watch it does not spin and cover me with snow. You only do it once

Deflector: I had manual for years and never moved it. MK Martin, at least on the 78" the manual set up is a rod with pins. The mounts on the blower fit an 8x2 hyd cylinder perfect. I now have hyd tip, $130 for the cyl and all the hoses and fittings at princess auto versus $450 factory set up. I use it all the time blowing, would not be without it.

 

[ding beep]

 

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