FEL and Snowblower Dollies

[qqq]

I have a BX23 with the BX2750B snowblower. Even though its winter, I still like to leave the FEL on most of the time so that I can move around firewood. Since the weather forecasters aren't always right, I prefer to wait until a storm is over before swapping the FEL and the snowblower. That way if their forecast for snow doesn't pan out, I haven't wasted any time swapping things around.

Just in case they're right, I like to keep the cars and the tractor in the garage. As you can see in the attached picture, space is kind of tight when I do this, so I was looking for a system to put the FEL and snowblower each on dollies so that I can still do the swap in tight quarters.

 

[qqq]

I was going to build something, but then I saw some furniture dollies that were only $14 each, which seemed like just the ticket. Attached is a picture of one of them. They're about 30" wide, and have nice carpeting on them so I don't scratch up the bottom of my FEL /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif.

 

[qqq]

Here's a shot of getting ready to dismount the snowblower. I just slide the dolly underneath and lower the snowblower. Even though the snowblower is considerably wider than the dolly, its very stable.

 

[qqq]

Here's a shot of disconnecting stuff. I just put the joystick into float, pull the pin and move the handle on the subframe. Then just roll the unit away from the tractor.

 

[qqq]

After I disconnect the PTO coupler, I just store it on the dolly too. You can see it in the right hand corner of the attached pic.

Attaching the snowblower is just the reverse of these steps, and I find it way easier than when I was doing it without the dolly. Basically, I start by putting the PTO coupler on the tractor. This one is a joy compared to the MMM, because its right up front and easy to see.

Then I just roll the snowblower in up to the point where the PTO coupler on the tractor and the PTO shaft on the snowblower are just touching. With my left hand, I can support the PTO connection, and with my right hand, I can then reach over to the impeller and turn it gently to get things to line up. Its easy to tell when things are lined up, because a gentle tug on the snowblower with my right hand will bring it closer, and the shaft on the snowblower will start sliding into the coupler. Then I can just move to the front of the snowblower, push it all the way onto the subframe, and lock it in. Then its connect up the two hydraulic lines, and have some fun (I mean do all that hard snow removal work...).

 

[qqq]

Now onto the FEL part of the process. After stuff is disconnected, I can roll the snowblower behind the FEL, and then roll the FEL in front of the tractor. In the attached pic, you can see the FEL bucket is sitting on the same kind of dolly, and the stands are in "super dollies". See this thread for more info on the super dollies, and their usefulness with the MMM.

 

[qqq]

Once I have the FEL in front of the tractor, I have a couple of 4x4's and a 2x8 that I stack in front, underneath the lip of the bucket.

 

[qqq]

Here's a side shot as I dump the bucket down to re-attach the FEL. All the weight is on the wood stacked under the lip, and not on the dolly.

 

[qqq]

Here's another side shot from further back. The front wheels are slightly off the ground, and we're ready to put in the pins. After that, I just follow the standard procedure, raising the bucket pinning the stands back up. Then just put the wood and the dollies away.

 

[qqq]

Here's a final shot. I can roll the snowblower back behind my car where I usually store it, move the tractor to where I normally park it, and I've got plenty of space to move around in my garage again.