Best Snowblower?

[RjCorazza]

Several years ago I added the deflector and hydraulics to mine.

 

[fishhead]

Thanks

Click on the little film strip and paste video url

 

[fishhead]

Makes sense to me too, I have noticed that if I am blowing slush and near plugging that the corners of the chute tend to hold snow while the center stays clear

I would expand that to say that there is no "best" anything, or at least not best for all situations...



Makes perfect sense to me. But I'm not going to re-engineer and re-build mine! :laughing:

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

FYI The Puma is the homeowner (lighter duty) Pronovost and it doesn't hold a candle to the Normand.

I have both and the inverted Normand is a rugged beast. The Puma has had a few visits to the welding shop.

 

[TimP]

FYI The Puma is the homeowner (lighter duty) Pronovost and it doesn't hold a candle to the Normand.

I have both and the inverted Normand is a rugged beast. The Puma has had a few visits to the welding shop.

That's interesting... I didn't know that.

Thanks for the info.

 

[TractorTYMe]

I made a quick snowblower video with my MK Martin Inverted SB68 P/T. Snow conditions was far from optimal.......but it seems to be the indicator of the kind of winter Montana will have. Wet snow and slushy.

 

[airbiscuit]

Nice. I'll bet you will be happy when that base freezes down. How does using the inverted snowblower compare to how you used to remove snow?

I am envious of your hydraulic chute rotator.

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

That's interesting... I didn't know that.

Thanks for the info.

If I have time today I'll post up some Puma pics. The detailed Normand pics will have to wait till after Christmas day when we head north. I'm seeing a lot more Pronovost units in public works applications lately. I have not compared these and as noted I only have direct experience with Puma that has removed its fair share of snow and ice.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Nice. I'll bet you will be happy when that base freezes down. How does using the inverted snowblower compare to how you used to remove snow?

I am envious of your hydraulic chute rotator.

HI! Airbiscuit, I can truly say that depending on the snow amount vs pushing snow I am down to a 1/3 of the time if it is about less than 6'', if it is over I am still half the time spent. Yes, it is that much faster.

 

[PILOON]

Some observations:
Many chutes are tapered and I'd suspect it is to increase the velocity therefore distance.
I guess that allowed for smaller lighter frames.
Problem there is that 'choke' creates jamming especially in wet heavy snow events.

Then comes the fan, smaller = cheaper to build as is the number of blades.
3 blade fans will cover a wider range of HP requirements but push less snow.
4 blades and wider fans is the all around better blower.
Then comes the metal gauge, thicker = HD.

Most manufacturers have 2 brands, one = HD commercial while the 2nd is consumer grade.

Another 'grade' is the many front mounted for smaller 'rider' or mower type machines.
Close examination will show that lots of components are borrowed from the Toro/Arians family of blowers.
Not very HD but do a reasonable job for the homeowner.

 

[ruffdog]

Cool, but. Pretty sure that's more about HP than the blower. I bet that nearly any new snowblower could blow dirt like that with enough HP.

It is sawdust that they are blowing. It is what the blower manufacturer's recommend for snowless testing.

 

[droptop]

Over the years, I've had three snowblowers that were up to the task, but some had weaknesses. The first was a John Deere that was made by Mckee that came with a used tractor that I bought, but it was too big for the tractor. I replaced it with an AgroTrend (now owned by Art's Way) by driving up to Canada and saved $ a lot. After purchasing a new tractor, now that was too narrow to cover the tires on the new tractor and I was back to looking for a larger blower, fortunately I found a nice Lucknow at an auction for a reasonable price.

Looking back, the John Deere was the worst of the bunch, it only had a 3 blade fan with a large gap between the fan tip and the blower housing, and the auger was a full blade instead of just a skeleton like most newer units The full blade auger was more prone to plugging in wet snow which was a pain. The AgroTrend was an all around good blower with a 4 blade fan and tight clearance between the fan tip and housings with a skeleton auger. I would buy one again in an instant. The Lucknow is a heavy duty well built unit that also has a four blade fan with tight clearances and a skeleton auger and is on par or better than the AgroTrend.

In summary when looking for a snowblower, 4 blades is better than 3, blade clearance should be 1/16 to 1/8", more than that starts to suck HP and reduce the distance that the snow is thrown, and it seems that you want a blower made somewhere that gets a lot of snow(Canada).

 

[TractorTYMe]

My MK Martin Meteor 68 has a 21'' 5 blade fan and 7'' deep.

 

[airbiscuit]

Here are some manufacturers of rear pull snowblowers

• M K Martin (Meteor)
  
• Erskine
• Farm King
• QuickAttach
• Bush Hog
• LuckNow
• Normand
  
• Pronovost
• Smyth Welding
• Reist Industries

The Meteor now has a 5 blade fan, and I think is a lot of bang for the buck
Normand, Pronovost and Smyth Welding seem to be heavier built
Reist Industries has its groupies (singe stage)

 

[droptop]

My MK Martin Meteor 68 has a 21'' 5 blade fan and 7'' deep.

More blades is better....

 

[BoylermanCT]

The Meteor now has a 5 blade fan, and I think is a lot of bang for the buck

The Meteor is a lot of buck. was quoted $4700 for their 68" inverted blower. Would love a pull behind blower, but that's too rich for my blood.

 

[airbiscuit]

I bought mine from Iowa Farm Equipment, and they gave me a great price, even with shipping! It's worth a call to Andrew.

Iowa Farm Equipment -- Contact Us

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

The Meteor now has a 5 blade fan, and I think is a lot of bang for the buck

The Meteor is a lot of buck. was quoted $4700 for their 68" inverted blower. Would love a pull behind blower, but that's too rich for my blood.

That's actually an attractive price. I paid 8900.00 for my 2 storm old 84" Normand. The guy bought a bunch of Kabota tractors with these blowers for a condo contract and it didn't snow much that year so he turned in all the keys and walked away.

 

[leonz]

Riest Industries sadly no longer makes snow blowers, they sold everything to mk martin and mk martin eliminated
the 13 inch snow blower rotors/augers on the single stage snow blowers and that was a huge mistake.

 

[5030]

I would say that unless someone has had one of EVERY blower on the list, then they really don't know what they're talking about and should put their opinion in their pocket and walk away.

If someone has only had one blower, it will be "the best" blower they've ever had.

If money were no object, I would prefer a FEL mounted blower myself.

But money is ALWAYS an object.

I agree. I've had 3 blowers, A LandPride, A Woods and now a Lucknow and I will say the Lucknow is the best built of the 3. Always a rear mount for me which is no issue as I have rear facing (3) cameras so I can watch the video screen and not look backwards and I run a 10 foot angle blade on the front. The blower is just for when the snow pile gets too much for the bade to handle anyway. I will also say there is no substitute for horsepower with a blower, I have 92 (observed horsepower) at my pto and I can use every bit and need more at times, blowers are power eaters, especially in deep wet snow.

I do the road to the farm all the way to the pavement which is a good mile on flat farm ground with no windbreaks and it can get really deep with snow. Thank goodness we only get maybe one or 2 big snows a year here but even a light snow can cause drifting issues so the blower stays mounted on the back all winter while the plow goes on and comes off as needed. It's on a 2 pin SSQA mount.

I've never looked at snow removal as anything but a necessity to getting out in the car. It's fuel intensive and works the equipment hard but I do have a nice, comfortable climate controlled cab to work from, big plus.

Really dislike winter snow. Don't mind the cold as it gives the land time to rest for planting the following spring but the snow can vanish for all I care.