Converting snowblower from 3pt to front attach

EdMTU · Dec 8, 2003

I am a student at Mich. Tech. Univ. and for my Sr. design project I am trying to modify a rear-mounted International Harvester Model 70 snowblower so that it will run off of the front PTO. Gearing down will be accomplish by a chain drive but I am having trouble visualizing how I am gonna run the PTO shaft down the belly of the tractor. The frame of the blower will be modified to fit on the bucket attachments of the loader arms. If anyone has seen anything like this or better yet has some pictures of this it would help me out greatly.

Taylortractornut · Dec 8, 2003

EdMTU, We dont get much snow here in MS but I have mounted a few sweepers to loader arms. I usually put a pump on the crankshavef via a LoveJoy coupler and a short shaft and run the sweeper off the higher volume pump. Option number 2 is to make a sub frame in front or behind the front axle then mount 2 pillar block bearings on each end to hold the shaft and sprocket and have 1 3/8 six spline adapter then then use a long pto shaft like one out of an old AC round baler. The only problem with this is to use a set of limit chains to keep from modifying the pto shaft with a bend lol.

Deerlope · Dec 8, 2003

I have seen just such a snowblower that you are designing. It was on a farm equipment site that was selling used equip. I think that someone onTBY refered me to it but I do not remember for sure. Try doing a search here on that subject. When I was on the farm site I did is a picture of it and the PTO had a V belt sheave on it as did the driven shaft, proper sheave size will give you the speed that you need for good blower operation with out over reving the tractor. Good luck.

beenthere · Dec 8, 2003

Can you tell us which tractor this will be mounted on?
Also, what will you be graded on? - must work? under a certain $$ figure? for your use, or the instructors?
Are you only designing it, and not having to actually build it?
Why mounted on the loader, and not a quick tach to the front of the tractor? rpm of the front PTO?
This doesn't seem (IMO) to be a very good senior project. Could you tell us more about it? I am interested.

EdMTU · Dec 9, 2003

I guess I should clarify what we are trying to do. We did at first design hydraulics to power the blower, that proved to be costly. Our customer wants something that he can hook up to his bucket attachment so he can raise and lower the blower up to 2ft. The tractor in question is a John Deere 3010 with 1100rpm off the front PTO and 540 off the rear. The main goal front mounting is quick hook-up and go. The frame is to be modified and reinforced and the chute is to be turned hydraulically. We are to weld and make everything ourselves. I hope this helps out some, as I've said before, any advice/ideas are welcome. I hope to get a picture soon.

RobS · Dec 9, 2003

Hi Ed, and welcome from the other end of the state! One of the first steps in good design research is to study what others are already doing. To get the PTO shaft down the belly of the tractor take a look at other front mount blowers. Most are run from a mid-mount PTO below, and ahead of the rear axle. Another option, if you don't have a mid-PTO is a rear PTO hook up for a mid-mount mower. Woods makes a lot of these for older tractors. Maybe someone can post some photos.

As far as raising the blower up 2 feet or so... you might want to do some paper/CAD layout work to check for driveline angles and length differences. I suspect it will be hard to get that much motion out of a PTO driveline, especially one tucked under a tractor.

Good luck with your project and keep us updated. Sounds fun /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

rambler · Dec 9, 2003

A loader hookup like that is going to be a real problem. It looks like a fun good idea to the end user - we see such requests here all the time.

But it is just a disaster for the pto driveline. You will need to use the tilt of the buket to keep the blower level. So you need to limit the height of the loader, and limit the tilt of the bucket mounts. Making that foolproof, so the fool in the seat doesn't leave the limit chains off "just this once because I know I won't over-angle it" is going to be about impossible. And if you design it, it's your fault when he destroys it. Welcome to Law 101 in the USA.

Keeping the knuckles happy with all those moving angles & such a far-back pivot point will be difficult as well.

So, I like it as a school project. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You will sure learn something. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Could you ask over at the http://talk.newagtalk.com web site too? There are some good farmer-tinkerers there and we have come to a lull in farming, have some time on their hands to think upon this. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

--->Paul

ealasimi · Dec 10, 2003

ED,
I live down the road in Marquette. I have a 24hp Kubota with a front blower that is driven by a electric cluch/ drive shaft assembly driven off front crank of engine. I will get some photos to show unit.

keeney · Dec 15, 2003

Some alternative ideas you could consider:

1. Use an accounting gimmick to move the cost out of our project: Trade-in the tractor for one with enough hydraulics such that you only have to add the hyd. motor and hoses to the blower.

2. Consider using the bucket arms only to lift the blower using a lift chain. Mount the blower on its own tilting sub-frame like a snow plow would be mounted without the loader. The mount would have the blower at a fixed pitch angle when lowered into operating position. The drive train becomes much simpler. The sub-frame tilt mechanism can limit the maximum lift angle as well.

3. Mount a seperate horizontal-shaft small gas engine of the appropriate horsepower (15 to 20hp recommended) directly on the blower (with appropriate speed reduction).

4. Simplify the hydraulic solution. Use just a rear-PTO pump, filter, hoses, and hyd. motor. The hoses should be long enough to do most of the cooling (plus its a winter implement, so the lower ambient air temp helps a bit). Leave off all the expensive control valves. Use the PTO engage/disengage to start and stop the pump and thus the blower. Maybe even use a shear-pin instead of a pressure-control valve. Don't bother with any expensive quick-connects on the hoses. Disconnect by removing the PTO pump, coiling up the hoses, and tossing it on top of the snowblower. A couple of bungie-cords will help with routing the hoses from the front to back over the top of the tractor. Do the chute aiming with a crank rod, an electric motor, or by using the bucket dump circuit (first locking the bucket dump arms in place somehow).

5. Fix the bucket dump arms in place with a lynch-pin setup after they are used to assist mounting the blower. Connect the blower hyd motor to the bucket dump circuit instead of the dump cylinders. Use a bungie cord or add a detent to the dump circuit control valve to provide continuos flow. This assumes the loader bucket-dump circuit can provide enough flow to run the blower. You will likely want 15 to 20 gpm at 1800 PSI for a decent-sized snowblower.

6. Convince the customer that they really want to leave the snowblower on the back and put a snowplow blade on the loader arms instead.

Just my $0.02 worth.

MikeIA · Dec 16, 2003

One thing I've always wondered about that mid-mount PTO on those John Deeres....you can switch the rear PTO from 540 to 1000 rpm by pulling the 6-spline coupler (and its attached gearing) and swapping in the 21 spline. Does the mid-mount hole have the same internal gearing, so it can be made into a 540?