Anyone Using a Puma 80" or 84" Snow Blower?

[RichM752]

Puma 74 and 84" blade works for me.
My service area are all 1-5 acre homesteads driveways 30-250' in length. I'll use the blade for most storms, but when
it builds up the blower takes care of business, and makes room for additional snow.

 

[TractorNH]

Just curious how you like the electric deflector. I am debating on spending the money for running more hydraulics to the back or an electrical hookup. I've heard people questioning the longevity of the electricals on deflector. Thanks

I have the hydraulic rotator and deflector so I can't speak to how the electric option is.

 

[Hilbilly]

I have an 8' Fisher plow up front and a WoodMaxx SB-84 on the back of my Mahindra 2655 HST Cab with 44 PTO HP and have no issues. You need to look at the snowblower and consider how much volume it is capable of moving. A large diameter impeller with throw the snow further but will also require more power to do so. A deeper impeller throws more volume of snow. You need the right balance. The SB-84 has a 24" impeller and it's 7" deep. You don't want one with a 26" or 28" or bigger diameter and 9" deep or you'll definitely need a lot more HP to run it, the HP curve required is not linear. Be reasonable in what you're trying to do and you'll be fine. I don't know why more people aren't buying the WoodMaxx than all of the more expensive brands. It's built better than others I looked at and it's under $3k new delivered with full hydraulic or electric chute and deflector controls.

I do both plow and snowblow any storm more than 6". I make my first pass with the plow pushing snow from one side toward the middle of the driveway then the return pass is with the blower to get rid of all of it. Seems pretty efficient to do and it puts the snowbank 30 feet off the driveway.

A little late to respond. I have looked at the Woodmax blowers too but no dealers around here carry them. I live in Canada, which adds other considerations to the equation. Shipping would not be free to my location, there would likely be duties to pay (since it is made in China) and the exchange rate on the dollar. Just the exchange rate would result in a cost, to me, of about $3,800 CAD. Add in the cost of shipping, possible duties and the time wait, it doesn't make sense. I can buy a Canadian made blower with the same features for about $200 more and it is sitting on the lot of a local dealer. So for my situation the Woodmax is no longer a consideration. If I lived south of the border, I might have already bought one.

 

[Flatlander 306]

Old thread but may help someone in the future. I have a Kioti DK 5310 hydrostatic cab and a Puma 84” with a 28x11” fan. The Puma is rated at 40-75hp and my tractor has 50hp and 40 at the pto.
In my experience the fan tip speed is the main spec that determines throw distance. Nearly all 3ph blowers are direct drive and with 540 pto I wanted the biggest diameter fan to get the furthest throw distance. I’m in the prairies and need to blow with the wind because we always have wind and our dry snow isn’t heavy enough to go into the wind. I don’t like blowing the same snow twice so I want to throw it out of the way in one pass.
My tractor is right on the lower limit for this blower. That rating is determined primarily by the ability to spin the fan. Turning the auger takes no power. To get max throwing distance you need your fan right full with enough power to spin it. I do not have that. If I go fast in deep snow it will lug the tractor down.
My tractor is 60” wide and I like having a wider blower to cover my tracks when turning or getting close to objects and turning so my loader doesn’t hit.
I would prefer a 28x8” fan or so for my hp but I’m not aware of any.
My 3ph will blow like a front mount but with way more volume. Most 3ph blowers have very limited throw distance. And most front mount have very low volume.
I use my forks nearly every time I start the tractor so I deal with the rear blower.
I’m not sure what I’d need to do to break this Puma. It is built very heavy duty.
If you typically get wet heavy snow you will need more hp to spin a fan this size. A narrower blower with the same fan would only increase your ground speed and require more passes.
On lots of JD front mount blowers you see the tractor using it like a snow push because the fan is too small for the tractor hp and the blower won’t bog the tractor down so the operator drives faster and snow piles up in front and spills out the sides. I never have that problem as I’m on the other end of the spectrum. Too big of fan for my hp.

I wish there was a calculation or forum stating pto hp, fan size and type of snow and how they rate their hp performance.

 

[Captain Dirty]

I wish there was a calculation or forum stating pto hp, fan size and type of snow and how they rate their hp performance.

While fan size is easily measurable and PTO power is generally accepted as stated by the manufacturer, type of snow and owner's performance rating are highly subjective. Skiers categorize "boilerplate" (breakable, icy crust) as New England powder. If a scientist or engineer were to melt an exact volume of snow and weigh it, measure PTO HP, fan size, clearance, throw distance, wind speed and direction, etc, etc. the resultant data would overwhelm a typical snowblower buyer. As a practical matter, I think the best course would be to surf this and other forums (Plowsite perhaps) and try to rationalize some consensus from anecdotal accounts.

Your post touches on many factors, but one conspicuous absence is fan blade tip to fan housing clearance. Numerous posts have commented on how reducing the gap with plastic or rubber extensions increases throw distance.

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning Flatlander306,

I wish it was simpler but it is always rated by the rated gearbox horsepower.

I keep hoping Pronovost starts building single stage snow blowers as mkmartin has ruined the Reist single stage snow blower design by using a much larger snow blower rotor which destroys the advantage of single stage snow throwers for larger mules.

If you are at all interested you should ask your Pronovost dealer if they would contact the Pronovost folks and ask if your beautiful Puma snow blower can be equipped with a speed increaser as an add on option and this will increase impeller speed to 756 RPM which is a 1 to 1.6 speed increase ratio if my memory of the ratio is right.

The speed increasers they use also reduce the angle of the PTO shaft which increases the life span of the universal joint bearings on the PTO shaft as well.
If you are at all interested using an impeller kit will aid in discharging the snow more effectively. You could use fine threaded bolts and nylock nuts to secure the baler belt to the paddles with large flat washers.

Other things you can do are coating the chute and spout with automotive wax or using Fluid Film in several coats letting it dry between coats to slick up the chute and spout as well as the impeller.

What Yamaha has done with thier beautiful 2 stage snow blowers is line the impeller housing and chute with UMHW slick sheet plastic and it has double and tripled their snow blowers casting distance.

You can do the same thing using grain elevator bolts and nuts to secure the plastic sheeting to the back wall of the snow blower, the impeller fan housing and the chute and double or triple your casting distance.

 

[Hilbilly]

Flatlander

Great information and thanks for posting.

I ended up getting a Farm King 84" inverted blower and I'm very happy with it's performance, although I think a slightly larger fan would be better, so it would process a larger volume. But as it stands I travel at about 7 kmh using the blower and make one pass down the driveway and one back up (2 passes). With the front mount 96" plow I travel at about 14 kmh and have to make 4 passes to push the snow back as far as possible. So the time requirement is about the same. However, when using the plow the snow banks will eventually build up and close in. Then I would have to mount my rear facing blower and back all the way down the driveway and back up it, in order to widen the driveway. That process would take anywhere from 2 to 4 hrs. Imagine looking over your shoulder for that long.

So, in my situation, using the inverted blower takes less overall time to maintain the driveway.