Front mounted V-Plow and Dual Rear Snowblowers

[eltufto]

I currently have a tractor with a front mounted V-Plow for moving snow. I would like to add two snowblowers to the rear of the tractor to blow the resulting snow piles further away. Unfortunately the tractor has no rear-mounts built in, and there aren't any rear hydraulic hook-ups. So I am going to have to modify the rear end to get this to work. I will also have to modify the hook-ups for the snowblowers to get them to attach to the tractor.
As you can imagine, this is going to be quite the intensive project for me, so I was hoping that someone would have tried to do a similar thing before. Or maybe someone can just offer some helpful advice. I have also posted a very crude drawing of what I imagine this will look like. Only the basic mechanical supports though, with no design yet for hydraulic or mechanical hook-ups.

Thanks for any help.

 

[ronjhall]

eltufto
Welcome to TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Thats a big project. What size tractor do you have?
I made a link for your drawing.
Drawing
The first time I clicked on your post the drawing did not show up.
I think the right hand blower is going to cover you with snow in a short time. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[eltufto]

I suppose it's more correct to call it a front end loader, but I couldn't find any front end loader forums, so I came here for help. It is a CASE 821B, they no longer make these, but it is equivelant to the CASE 821C -> specs.

The chutes for the blowers aren't drawn the greatest. Ideally they'd be shown pointing straight up and the snow would be well behind the cab.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="blue"> The chutes for the blowers aren't drawn the greatest. Ideally they'd be shown pointing straight up and the snow would be well behind the cab. </font>

Make sure you can blow the snow from those two blowers in such a way as that you don't blow snow onto yourself.

Due to prevailing winds, the odds are you will have to set both blowers to discharge in the same direction. That may mean that one of the blowers is discharging snow across the tractor your are driving, or worse yet across you.

 

[eltufto]

The blowers will be positioned far enough back so that the snow will be blowing off to the side behind the tractor; the drawing doesn't show this very well. They will be blowing in the same direction as well.

Has anyone come across blowers that can be mounted in this way?

 

[slowzuki]

Any reason you wouldn't just pickup a wing plow and gear? They go cheap up here.

Your loader with no pto and you say no aux hydraulics would need an auxillary motor to power the blowers like the front mount blowers for loaders.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

If you are going to position them THAT far back that you can shoot the snow behind the driver, then my guess is you will need A LOT of counterweight on the front of the tractor, or one monster of a tractor to carry all that weight because I don't see one V shaped front blade being enough counter weight for 2 blowers & all the necessary steel framing you will need to keep them from torquing & twisting while you are pulling them that far behind you. I'd think that the leading edge of those blowers will have to be several feet behind your rear wheels and that is going to require a heck of a frame to support them and lots of counter weight up front.

 

[beenthere]

Can you give us an idea of what kind of 'path' the V-plow makes now? Does it drop the snow outside both front wheels and stay there for the rear wheels to travel by (without driving over the plowed snow 'bank'?

My first take on your drawing was that the two blowers were just ahead of the rear wheels, picking up the windrowed snow from each side of the V-plow. Then, a cross beam just in front of the rear wheels to hang the snowblowers on would seem the way to go. The operator could then see both blowers and monitor their performance as moving through the snow.

Where are you located, and how much snow are you now handling with the V-plow (a pic of the v-plow in action would be great).

 

[Villengineer]

I'm assuming that since you are considering building a fairly $ snow machine and that you have or are going to get a V-plow that you are dealing with a relatively large amount of snow. If that's the case, then you're 2 snowblowers are going to have to be both large physically and well powered as they will be throwing the snow originally in their path plus the snow the v-plow displaces. That's potentially A LOT of snow. I know it would be narrower cut, but why not mount 1 or 2 large blowers on the front and eliminate the V-plow all together? Besides with all that equipment hanging off it that would be one beast of a machine to operate.

 

[eltufto]

The monster machine is going to be for use at an airport. It's going to be used to clear the snow away from the runway lights. The V-Plow used is a special type built by Patria VAMMAS -> plow info. The front section opens up when you come close to a light, and then two brushes engage to clean the light. What is currently done to clear the plow's windrow is follow the tractor with two blowers. The airport is always looking to downsize equipment, and shorten clearing times, so it was suggested to combine the blowers with the plow. This also cuts down on equipment driving on the grass beside the runway, which gets deformed during warmer months.
The two blowers are required because a gap is necessary all the way under the tractor for the light to pass. The front V-Plow weighs about 2700 lbs and the snow blowers I am looking at weigh roughly 1200 lbs each. So when the steel supports for the blowers are taken into account, a counter balance may be necessary. The windrows made are about 3 feet high, and about the same wide. I was told by a blower dealer a fan 30" in diameter would be required.
I am a student here at the airport, so this was given as my pet project to see if it was feasible, and if it was, to make it happen. My expertise in this area is limited; I understand the mechanics and limits of the machinery, but I have limited knowledge of different technologies in this field that I can use to my advantage.
One big change I am thinking about at this point is to scrap the CASE 821B and mount the blowers onto a loader/backhoe combination which would make the mounting and hydraulics a much smaller issue. This would require purchasing the loader/backhoe, so hopefully money is available /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
So that's where I'm at with this, so far pretty interesting, and any ideas are greatly appreciated.