Beaver VS snowblower - a few questions

CanadianBeaverS370 · Sep 24, 2014

With winter coming fast, I am shopping for a snow blower for my Beaver, 48-52" seems to be the way to go for this little guy but finding a used one seems next to impossible, new ones run in the 1800-2k range ( more than what I paid for the tractor ) however, 72" blowers seem to a dime a dozen around here. I know power will be an issue at that size but would the beaver even be able to lift it off the ground ? I guess my question to you beaver and MT372 owners out there is how big of a blower do you have for your tractor ? Has anyone attempted to adapt a ride on mower front blower to one of these tractors ? I have the front PTO w/electric clutch for my woods mower at my disposal

An other question for you TBN guys, have any of you attempted to chop a 10-20" off the width of a snow blower before ? Success or failure ? at $350 for a 7 foot, seems like a no-brainer to try in hack it up or am I just out of my mind ?

oosik · Sep 24, 2014

I had a 60" rear mounted pto blower on my 28hp Ford 1700. It worked great - except, no matter which direction the wind was blowing or which direction I directed the chute - the "snow cloud" always came back on me. If your tractor can lift a 6' blower I would not be too worried about the power. When you use it - just don't cut a full swath. I would back into 48" high drifts with my blower and never notice a drop in power.

Likewise, I scanned everywhere for used blowers and could find nothing in my area. I used the snow blower for 26 years and traded it in when I got the new Kubota. I got back every penny invested on the trade in. A rear mounted blower can be a real PITA. It took me the better part of three hours to blow the driveway & mailbox area. Looking over your shoulder for that length of time - out in the cold - would always put a crick in my neck. Now that I have the bigger Kubota - I can do the same job with my rear blade.

I have no experience on "size reduction" of a snow blower but it seems like it would be a lot of work - - -

PILOON · Sep 24, 2014

If it helps, I run a 60 inch on my Mitsu 180D (about 20 hp less at PTO) without and major issues. Naturally results differ with amount and density of the snow.
You soon develop techniques to compensate.

As to cutting, if you are handy and weld I personally see it as a 'can do' project.
I'd be tempted to give the 72" a good try and suspect you'd soon develop techniques to compensate.
Wet snow will be the biggest challenge no matter what size.
Be careful that rotation is compatible with your Beaver as some turn 'wrong way' .

Hey moi aussi Quebecois! (Ste Adele)

Ilikeurtractor · Sep 25, 2014

oosik said:
I have no experience on "size reduction" of a snow blower but it seems like it would be a lot of work - - -

I've never changed the size either, but did adapt different brands and that WAS a lot of work - mostly in terms of time, not to mention a lot of money when you add up everything and it still isn't completely done yet. A lot of used blowers will need seals (and oil) for their gearbox(es), a replacement bottom cut blade, skid shoes, and paint in addition to the base purchase cost. Seems like it should be cheap enough but that stuff does add up depending on what kind of condition you'd like it to be in when you're done. My adaptation was a Kubota B2650 front-mount blower to an Iseki TX series tractor. I posted about it over in the Iseki forum if you're interested.

CanadianBeaverS370 · Sep 26, 2014

Hi Ilikeurtractor,

Cool conversion, you have inspired me to think about adapting a cheap ride on front blower to my beaver, I already have a front pto unit, and making a front frame to hook up the blower seems much easier than chopping an existing 3pt 7" unit. I think the biggest advantage for me is the fact that the front PTO is live and not gear drive like the rear one, that makes a world of a difference when using a snowblower. + the range of speeds to chose from going forward helps to. My other train of though is to adapt a kit that fits the B6100 Kubota as the beaver is a pretty close knock off and I think the mods would be very minor

Ilikeurtractor · Sep 26, 2014

Does the Satoh front PTO turn the same direction as the engine? You'll appreciate a front mount blower vs. a rear one if you've ever used one. However, a rear mounted unit may do better traction-wise on a 2wd tractor.