Bercomac SSQA snowblower experiences

[oakhilltop]

I recently discovered the existence of the Bercomac SSQA snowblower .

I am not sure about the durability of it. Let me know if you have seen these. I'd like to hear what others have experienced. At the moment, it appears to me as an expensive gamble. It may be one of those you either love it or hate it thing. It would be a major bummer to buy one and during the first storm realize that it doesn't work well for me.

As I see it,
Pros:
Independent of tractor model/brand
Quickly attach and remove. It would be easy to put the bucket back on when needed.

Cons:
Appears to add 1 to 2 feet of length to the tractor. Less maneuverable
Have to make sure there is a supply of gas
Have to start another engine when going to clear snow..

 

[hayden]

Tough to say, but here are a few observations.

- I see two 5 gal gas jugs, one on each side, with what look like suction tubes in them If that's the fuel supply, that strikes me a very boot-leg.

- The "screw" snow collectors look like think stamped metal like on low end snow blowers. On better machines they are steel bar shaped in the the spiral

- It appears to be a 3PH, combined with a SSQA to 3PH adapter plate. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I would want to talk to a few reference customers, and especially understand how it works in deep snow and heavy wet snow. Any snow blower works great in light fluffy stuff.

 

[Rustyiron]

My guess is you'd be $8k+ ahead just using the tractor & bucket for any snows that this wannabe might handle.
Now if you were in VA instead of NH.....

 

[oakhilltop]

I wish I could just use the bucket, but it doesn't work on my driveway. There have been a couple of April storms that came after I removed the snowblower and put the bucket on, and the bucket was a PIA to use. I ended up getting the backup EGO walk behind snowblower out. That works, but is not fun on 400 feet of a very steep driveway. It's very difficult to angle the tractor towards the side to dump the bucket, and I don't want to go completely sideways on that incline.

I'm considering upgrading the tractor, and front mount snowblowers cause the most complications due to the proprietary nature of attaching them. Plus they are not near the top of the list of most users attachments. Kubota has an attachment system that appears to go on and off quickly. A few days ago, I tried out a Kubota B2301 and I just couldn't get comfortable with that forward/reverse pedal.

JD has a nice attachment system, but the JD price's are out of my range.

Other brands have more klunky systems. Often, the videos show the use of floor jacks under the tractor. But the price of the tractor is more in my range.

 

[oldnslo]

22 HP for 54” blower sounds a little under powered for heavy snow. I also didn’t see the weight nor any dimensions so curious how much loader lift capacity you require along with rear ballast.

 

[Carl_NH]

I agree $8K for a snowblower only is not viable, when you can buy a tractor with a snowblower and loader for 15K or less, and there's several Kubota's listed on FB Marketplace for that in NH - here's the link. Log into Facebook

 

[LouNY]

For $8000 I'd look at front pto and lift conversion kits. I'm not aware of any US manufactures selling small tractors with front pto and lifts.
They are common on European tractors I don't know why they have not migrated to this county for the small tractors as they have for the larger ones.

Front Linkage Systems | Elevate Your Experience
How to choose a front hitch and a front PTO? - Laforge

 

[oldnslo]

If this is for occasional use and 400 ft of driveway I would look real hard at simple 3 point mounted blower provided your tractor has 3 point and PTO. Simple, inexpensive and proven design that works along with can leave loader on tractor.

 

[Rustyiron]

I wish I could just use the bucket, but it doesn't work on my driveway. There have been a couple of April storms that came after I removed the snowblower and put the bucket on, and the bucket was a PIA to use. I ended up getting the backup EGO walk behind snowblower out. That works, but is not fun on 400 feet of a very steep driveway. It's very difficult to angle the tractor towards the side to dump the bucket, and I don't want to go completely sideways on that incline.

What surface is your drive?
It sounds like traction is your problem.
I use chains on my SS and screw in studs in my tractor tires. The studs are in permanently and are miles better than nothing but don't equal chains.
With just a little portion of $8k you could have a set of "winter tires" permanently chained up with the best "ice chains" if you're not running on pavement.

Windy Ridge Corporation Since 1985

I get my "stuff" from these guys in Tamworth NH if that's convenient to you.

 

[oakhilltop]

Our JD is 16 years old and as I said, in the winter, we need it to work. Other times of the year, it's ok if it takes some time to do a repair. I'm thinking that time can take its toll on o-rings, seals, etc an even though the 2305 has been very reliable so far, I might start seeing more issues. I'm trying to figure out if I'm being foolish about that but just don't have the experience with tractors. Plus, I would like to have a little more lift capacity etc.

I was not aware of the front pto systems. Thanks for the links. I wonder how long it takes to attach and remove the pto part of it.

 

[oakhilltop]

I've found that chains on this slope is a mixed bag. Sometimes they are great, other times they just spin. My driveway is paved. The first "tractor" we got was an Ariens garden tractor, with mower, snowblower, wheel weights, weight box and chains. That was a big purchase for us at that time. It was delivered set up for snow but are driveway was clear of snow that day. I just had to go try it out, and drove down the driveway. On the way up, the chains just started spinning and I had a helluva time getting it back up the hill. I think most can imagine the "what have I done!!!" moment that I had. We had that over 20 years and there were times when I had to stop half way up, walk up to the house and get my wife. She'd climb onto the weight box and jump up and down to get some traction. Must've looked pretty funny and we were much younger then.

The JD 2305 with the 47" blower works great. I'm just wondering if I should be counting on a 20 year old tractor in a couple of years. We want to stay in this house as long as we are physically able to do so. My wife often says that the driveway keeps us young.

 

[LouNY]

Our JD is 16 years old and as I said, in the winter, we need it to work. Other times of the year, it's ok if it takes some time to do a repair. I'm thinking that time can take its toll on o-rings, seals, etc an even though the 2305 has been very reliable so far, I might start seeing more issues. I'm trying to figure out if I'm being foolish about that but just don't have the experience with tractors. Plus, I would like to have a little more lift capacity etc.

I was not aware of the front pto systems. Thanks for the links. I wonder how long it takes to attach and remove the pto part of it.

The pto and front 3 point that I'd be thinking about are not "removable" routinely.

 

[LouNY]

I've found that chains on this slope is a mixed bag. Sometimes they are great, other times they just spin. My driveway is paved. The first "tractor" we got was an Ariens garden tractor, with mower, snowblower, wheel weights, weight box and chains. That was a big purchase for us at that time. It was delivered set up for snow but are driveway was clear of snow that day. I just had to go try it out, and drove down the driveway. On the way up, the chains just started spinning and I had a helluva time getting it back up the hill. I think most can imagine the "what have I done!!!" moment that I had. We had that over 20 years and there were times when I had to stop half way up, walk up to the house and get my wife. She'd climb onto the weight box and jump up and down to get some traction. Must've looked pretty funny and we were much younger then.

The JD 2305 with the 47" blower works great. I'm just wondering if I should be counting on a 20 year old tractor in a couple of years. We want to stay in this house as long as we are physically able to do so. My wife often says that the driveway keeps us young.

Standard "ladder" type chains are not a high traction device especially on a clean paved driveway.

 

[leonz]

I've found that chains on this slope is a mixed bag. Sometimes they are great, other times they just spin. My driveway is paved. The first "tractor" we got was an Ariens garden tractor, with mower, snowblower, wheel weights, weight box and chains. That was a big purchase for us at that time. It was delivered set up for snow but are driveway was clear of snow that day. I just had to go try it out, and drove down the driveway. On the way up, the chains just started spinning and I had a helluva time getting it back up the hill. I think most can imagine the "what have I done!!!" moment that I had. We had that over 20 years and there were times when I had to stop half way up, walk up to the house and get my wife. She'd climb onto the weight box and jump up and down to get some traction. Must've looked pretty funny and we were much younger then.

The JD 2305 with the 47" blower works great. I'm just wondering if I should be counting on a 20 year old tractor in a couple of years. We want to stay in this house as long as we are physically able to do so. My wife often says that the driveway keeps us young.

The small motorized 2 stage snow blowers have a lot of shiny metal that is too
thin and the drive components are not simple in design and construction
compared to the RAMMY single stage 155 snow blowers which use a simple
V belt drive and slip clutch with a Briggs and Stratton snow service engine.
There are a lot of them being used to clear snow in Europe using ATV's and
RTV's and there are lots of videos of them being used to clear snow on Youtube.

If your worried about the mule ask how much it would cost to have a
new indirect injection fuel pump, transmission charge pump, gaskets,
PTO seals and rear wheel seals installed before you make a decision as
they have to split it.

If you have the R-4 tires you should have them loaded and also invest in
V-bar chains to replace the current ones and have V bar chains for the
front tires as well.

Are you using the 2305 in 4 wheel drive when clearing snow?

From what I have read the 2305 with its cast aluminum rear axle is a weak
point.

 

[msb1766]

Here is a video of what you are looking at:

 

[LouNY]

I wasn't very impressed, my pull type blower moves more snow faster.

 

[msb1766]

Way too much money for something that defenitly struggled in that video.
He is probably better off with a rear 3 point hitch blower if he wants to use the bucket also.
Probably save $5 grand.

 

[oakhilltop]

I have crossed the Bercomac option off of my list. And my neck says NOOOOOOO to a rear mount.

Front mount snowblowers do make purchasing a tractor more complicated. Especially if you desire an incredibly advanced intricate feature of moving a 1/2 pound piece of metal at the end of the chute a few inches. Yes, we can lift 2 gazillion pounds with the loader, but no, moving a small piece of metal a few inches is way beyond our know how. C'mon, a summer intern could design a push/pull cable and bracket in a day ... maybe 2 days. I think every walk behind blower, and the blower that I had on my Ariens garden tractor could change the deflection. But a 20 or 30 thousand dollar tractor, uh uh. Sometimes there are $900 electric options, which seem problematic with moisture. Then there are some hydraulic options which cost more. A simple push/pull cable is low cost and works great. I have had one on my JD blower for 15 years. Silly me thought that was just a common option for blowers.

I have considered a SSQA plow, but that just doesn't work well for my situation. The Kioti CX2510 is high on my list, but its snowblower subframe is very large. I've found videos of the install for that, but they always start with the subframe on the floor. I wonder how heavy it is and how easily it can be stored in the summer. Perhaps a low profile dolly would work well.

 

[fishhead]

There's always a rear pull blower- mounts on the 3ph but you drive forward- many members have them. I have beeb using one since , i think, 2013-awesome way to clear snow. Btw for use on pavement you want " euro style" chains, definitely better than ladders

 

[RjCorazza]

In a perfect world, I would have a inverted blower. I make due with a regular rear mount blower with hydraulic rotation and deflection for the occasional to rare heavy snows we get here in Maryland.

I would think an inverted blower would be ideal for the OP.