Drag blade for rear-mount snowblower

[rbargeron]

My 7 foot snowblower does a good job in most situations except backing up to a garage door or a parked car - it always leaves a little pile of snow in the middle area. Here's a solution I'm experimenting with. It's a SnoWay lexan blade with steel frame, mounted on aluminum arms and with a fast-crank winch for dropping and raising. No snow to test it yet. The idea got brewing last winter (see This thread) After putting it together last week, I found someone else has something very similar over in the Tool Cat forum. (Link here) His is fancier - has hydraulic operation. I would think many tractor-mounted snowblowers would benefit from having a drag blade for cleanup. Of course there's always a shovel, but what fun is that?

 

[goaliedad]

I have the same problem with my front mount blower- when I stop in front of the garage door, I have a pile of snow. Since I have a back blade I just grab it and pull it out. Your idea looks like it would work very well- let us know.

 

[kennyd]

Check out this post in the ToolCat forum:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/toolcat/87240-snowblowing.html#post974129

 

[jimmy1]

Neat idea. Will it impede intake blowing deep snow banks?

 

[rbargeron]

Good question - I've been asking it myself. There is about 18" opening height now, and based on our normal snowfall amounts here that's been more than enough. There are two backup plans if the opening isn't high enough - one is the drag blade can be removed quickly (2 pins and a snap hook) - the other is an alternate design that uses two arms on each end and lifts the drag blade up above the blower housing. The 4-arm version takes full advantage of the see-thru blade - but the 2-arm version is simpler and more compact. Figured I'd try using the 2-arm version for a few storms and see how it works.

 

[Opti-Mist]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why not just turn around and pull it back with the loader bucket cutting lip?

 

[rbargeron]

This thing is about efficiency. I do snow removal in my neighborhood and there are 6 places with garage doors, 4 are double-width. Dropping the blade and pulling the leftover snow forward to blow in the next pass is much quicker than turning around and going back in. There is a dandy video that shows this at Pronovost's Website

 

[Jerome]

the only problem I see is on a gravel Drive . I like the powder cover I was thinking of using an old inertube to do the same thing.

 

[rbargeron]

yes - skid shoes would be a good idea, and a piece of sheet metal held on by a bungee makes a good powder cover. The Pronovost PXP is a nice piece of work, but the list price is over $11k(U.S.) It's way over the top for the annual snowfall in MA. Maybe it's justified up north where it snows a lot more. Pronovost has a lighter duty line - Puma - but there are no drag blade models offered.

 

[JJT]

When I do my neighbors drive they deal with that little pile of snow, (I don't charge them for the snow removal). At my house I'll back drag it using the FEL before I blow out the drive, or I'll open the garage doors and rotate the chute and drive in with the blower going.