Snow Attachments Help..snowblower frozen solid in the morning. Cannot turn by hand. Seems frozen.

[Green Acres Homestead]

I have a 6 foot snow blower hooked to a Kubota L4740. After not using it for several days and it is left in the cold it freezes solid. I cannot move the blower by hand. I turned on the the tractors PTO and that actual got it moving but not without tremendous strain. Once moving it works perfect until i leave it 3 or 4 days in the cold then it freezes up again. The blower is free from any snow, ice or debris so that is not the problem.
What can freeze solid on a snowblower? Would it be water in the gear box?

I do not believe it is my PTO on the tractor end because when I turn on the PTO i see the snowblower twitch under the strain then with great strain it frees itself and works perfect thereafter. Just to make sure it is the blower, the next time it is frozen I will disconnect the pto shaft then see if I can turn the blower by hand. If I can turn the blower by hand then it is the PTO on the tractor freezing. If I cannot turn the blower by hand then it is something that freezes up on the blower. At this point I am inclined to think it is the blower.

Does anyone have any experience with this or can give me some insight as to what may be the problem? Please help!

 

[Looking4new]

I think there is water in the gearbox oil. If the oil is a milky colour then likely there is water in it.
I make sure everything on my blower is well greased and oiled after EVERY use.

 

[Working on Rust]

Sounds a bit like ice in the gearbox. I would check very carefully for a ice in the bottom or back of the drum and if the auger drive chain has frozen. I have seen some blowers with a enclosed chain shield around the auger sprocket that have had wet slush get in there and freeze.
If it is water in the gearbox get it all melted and out and look for how it got in in the first place.

 

[Sprinklerman]

When something freezes up like that we have thawed it by putting a hose on the truck exhaust and aiming it at the frozen area

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

When something freezes up like that we have thawed it by putting a hose on the truck exhaust and aiming it at the frozen area

I was thinking of using a propane torch.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Thanks for the advice guys. I greased it well and there seemed to be watery grease that came out out the bearings for the auger. It did not freeze last night but maybe it wasn't cold enough. I will check the gear oil etc.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[leonz]

I have a 6 foot snow blower hooked to a Kubota L4740. After not using it for several days and it is left in the cold it freezes solid. I cannot move the blower by hand. I turned on the the tractors PTO and that actual got it moving but not without tremendous strain. Once moving it works perfect until i leave it 3 or 4 days in the cold then it freezes up again. The blower is free from any snow, ice or debris so that is not the problem.
What can freeze solid on a snowblower? Would it be water in the gear box?

I do not believe it is my PTO on the tractor end because when I turn on the PTO i see the snowblower twitch under the strain then with great strain it frees itself and works perfect thereafter. Just to make sure it is the blower, the next time it is frozen I will disconnect the pto shaft then see if I can turn the blower by hand. If I can turn the blower by hand then it is the PTO on the tractor freezing. If I cannot turn the blower by hand then it is something that freezes up on the blower. At this point I am inclined to think it is the blower.

Does anyone have any experience with this or can give me some insight as to what may be the problem? Please help!

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If you have water in the gearbox it will make the oil much heavier and it will be harder to move.



If you have a torpedo heater/salamander/kerosene fired space heater or can borrow one
please use it on your snow caster and tractor. It will melt everything, heat up the transmission
and the engine and free it of ice so you can drain the old gear oil and add fresh gear oil that has
no water in it.

if you can borrow a space heater or rent one today be sure to point it at the side of the tractor
about 4 feet away from the engine cradle at about a 45 degree angle.

by doing it this way you will heat up the snow caster and melt the ice in it, the engine and the transmission will be heated all at once in about 2 hours.

 

[Looking4new]

After blowing snow, I always splash windshield washer fluid on the fan and down the chute. You don't need to use the good -40, just the cheap stuff -30.
Chain spray grease is your best friend for the chain and grease those bearings.

 

[devildog1]

You have frozen water somewhere, either in second stage bottom of fan or in your gearbox. Drain gearbox and put new synthetic oil back in.
DevilDog

 

[jack707]

A weed burner hooked to a propane tank will work good.

 

[Rustyiron]

so will springtime :laughing:

 

[2458n]

Ran heavy equipment and if you did not get the crane up on something the tracks would freeze to the ground and you would need to be there a hour early with the propane weed burner. Starting the blower like you are doing is hard on the tractor and blower. Gear case could be full of ice, but how did water get in the case? Heater and a tarp will be cheap in the long run.

 

[bellweather]

I might try an electric space heater, hair dryer or even a heat gun before anything with a flame on it.

 

[aczlan]

I might try an electric space heater, hair dryer or even a heat gun before anything with a flame on it.

What could possibly go wrong with a propane weedburner that will throw a flame out 3' past the end of the wand?

Aaron Z

 

[crazyal]

Is this a front mount or 3pt blower (I didn't see it listed). If it's a front mount then you have more places that could be an issue. On my front mount Kubota snowblower there's a gear box that reduces the PTO speed and a second that has two output shafts (one for the fan and the other for the auger). Then you have the sub frame with the pto shaft that has a couple universal joints (I doubt they are your problem). I think I might remove both sheer bolts so only the gear box(s) are turning. That would eliminate the auger chain, the bearings on the auger, and ice on the auger/ fan. It would be an easy test. If I remember correctly the fill plug on my gearbox is also a breather. I would also check it for damage and look for some other way for water to get in. I would think that if you had a bad seal it would leak oil out of the gear box when in operation.

As for what others have said about warming up before using it, I would only do that as a very short term solution. If you do have enough water in your gearbox to cause it to freeze solid then you are at serious risk of doing damage. Freezing water could break the gearbox casing. Water will cause the metal to rust which will mix in with the water. Water alone is bad for bearings and gear surfaces, adding in rust will accelerate their wearing.