Convert belt drive snowblower to 3pt off PTO?

[jim_wilson]

Wondering if anybody has ever taken a belt drive snowblower such as from a garden or lawn type tractor and converted it to use on 3pt hitch mount with PTO drive? The reason why I ask this is I see these belt drive snowblower attachments around for pretty reasonable $$ in the for sale ads and either a front mount or 3pt mount snowblower for my BX23 is going to cost real $. I figured if I could find a way to convert the drive then adapting the mounting to 3pt should be reasonably easy - I do have a welder so I can do custom mounts if I have to.

 

[ducksjunk]

If you are moving any amount of snow, the a rear mounted blower can be a pain in the neck. Very literally.
I would suggest a front pto off the crank shaft with an electric clutch and keep the belt drive. I made mine with parts from a chev front wheel drive hub and axle (for the flange and splined shaft) then welded on the shaft and clutc from a plymouth a/c compressor. Had to machine a spot in the front housing for a support bearing. It works like a charm. this will allow you to blow snow going forward. No whiplash, Live pto, and basically simple. Remember to gear your pulleys for the correct blower speed.

 

[smiley]

Ducksjunk,
Interesting idea, I've been considering front mounting two of these blowers on a small farm tractor to get more width and am wondering if you ran your shaft to a frame, then a pto shaft to the clutch. How did the clutch hold up? I have been thinking about running a shaft from the rear pto, to a frame on the front, then a pto shaft to drive the blowers. Had originaly considered hydraulic drive but found it to be pretty expensive.

Jim,
If you tried this, I'd like to hear how you made out.

Smiley