Homemade Single stage Snowblower

[David Devuono]

Up here in Central Ontario it has been snowing every other day for the past few weeks. A couple of weeks ago I had to work hard to drive into my camp as I have about three hills to climb on my 400 yard driveway. YouTube - Deep Snow Drivng
I spent 4 hours with a rear blade and with 15" of snow on the ground the tractor just wanted to go sideways when the blade was angled. I decided to build a simple single stage snowblower. I will post some pictures in the next few days but its basically a reverse V with a 16" diameter blower. The snow will be funnelled into the impeller rather then directed by an auger as in a 2 stage blower. There are some old Rotary blowers out there so if anyone has any experience to share with this style, that would be nice. As the blower is only 48" wide I plan to use it with my subcompact Kubota but in a pinch I can hook it up to my massey 135 though the tires will be outside the path.

Dave

 

[milkman]

You don't need a snowblower, you just need a taller truck. Seriously, I have a friend just north of Woodstock that used to have the old V type blower, it worked fine for him if the snow was powder, but the heavy wet snow didn't work well at all. He has since traded for the auger type blower and it takes care of everything.

 

[Ductape]

I've seen a handfull of old (like 50 yrs old!) single stage blowers around here that are exactly what you are looking to build. The PTO shaft turns the impeller as the snow is forced in via the wedge shaped design. I borrowed a couple pics from elsewhere on the net to show what i'm talking about. Most of these old blowers around here have rusted into lawn art, but there are a few still working. Looks to me like they work pretty well !

 

[radioman]

geez - wouldnt it be easier to put a v plow on your vehicle ? that way when you get home, just lower the plow and go home! then later you can use your kubota to widen, neaten up your driveway.

 

[mwb]

Don't you have a Unimog? That might get through!

 

[Bedlam]

How about this??
LOL

YouTube - Car-plow
or this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kn5IlTryIA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ_YeMCcGzo&feature=related

 

[David Devuono]

I sold my Unimog S404 two months ago after 9 years of ownership. I did drive it in once when there was 24" of snow (or more) but typically I would not drive it in the winter as with a canvass top and tiny heater not to mention Road Salt. My driveway is to a remote cabin with no electricity or running water. If I lived there year round I could justify to the wife a nice snowblower (though we would build closer to the road too) I have built this uint for under $300. There is one modern Rotary 3PH blower on the net that shows it blowing lake water! Anyway I will be pushing my blower and I could add a propeller infront of the impeller in the future. I just had one week to build this thing, you know how it goes when you get "one of those ideas in your head".
Dave

 

[mwb]

I share my laneway with one neighbor; he has an old Farmall with one of those old blowers. Like everything else on that farm it is held together with paler twine, spattered welds and the wood bearing blocks had been worn to double the shaft size. Everytime he would pass near our house I would yell for everyone to get away from the windows. That's a lot of steel flying around.

Then he bought a Zen-noh (kubota) with a 540/1000rpm pto; I am glad he never tried that old blower on it

 

[David Devuono]

I have about a week to build this blower. If it does't blow snow well, maybe I can use it as a wood chipper I made the impeller out of 1/4" plate. With no adjustible shoot in this inital draft, its probably a good thing I have no neighbours for a 1000 feet on both sides. Not to mention, no open fields to blow the snow back in my face. I have a few nights left to weld up the 3 ph attachments and I have to build an adjustable PTO shaft as I have no idea how far the PTO to lower link arm length is on my 12hp subcompact Kubota B-4200. I need to also consider that I may have to put the 4 foot blower on my MF135 if the (1,200lb) 4x4 Kubota with 4 tire chains can't push it. I believe the MF uses 14" PTO to lower link spacing? I am looking at a 24-28" adjustible shaft and bringing a hack saw. If both tractors have similar spacing, I can later weld up the shaft.

Dave

 

[David Devuono]

Snowblower pictures. Approx 24" high by 48" wide.

 

[Koldsnap]

Hi Dave. I think this is a great project that will work through most of the winter for you. However, once it starts to warm up you will find that the snow packs into the scoop and will not slide into the impeller. What is needed is the front auger to push the wet snow into the impellor. You might try bolting a heavy plastic onto the scoop or coating the scoop with downhill ski wax that is used for wet snow. I have a single stage blower and I only use it if my two stage blower is out of service. In any event, good luck and keep us posted. Rocky

 

[David Devuono]

The blower will be used to clear a path into my remote camp. Currently it takes 2-3 hours to haul a weekends worth of food, water, sleeping bags etc wearing horseshoes pulling a tobagan. I am usually beat after that. I am hoping I just have to snowshoe in once and snowblow my way out. I will update the list on Monday with how things worked this weekend. The high temp for Saturday is -14C, 0F, probably closer to -20C when I get there so starting the tractor is usually a chore. I usually put a butane stove under the oil pan for 20 minutes.

Dave

 

[jgrieve]

we have had an Erskine snow blower on our farm in ND for 30 years or so. it is the same design exept the hitch is on the other side. you pull it forward with lots more forward gears easier to drive and you drive away from the storm comming out the spout. the 3 point is built heavy and still needed reinforcing. there is a stick breaker/snow beater flat bar propeller type thing on the shaft before the fan. this is an ideal way to blow snow on our farm with a really long driveway and airstrip.

 

[foggy1111]

Erskine (as has been said) made a pull thru for many years...may still make 'em. My dad was in the snow plow manufacturing biz during the 50's and 60's...he made what you are doing (as well as a few other models). Many of them are still going strong.

They work pretty well...but you cant "crowd" the blower with too much snow....and if its really deep it will go over the wings. I think your angle and width ougtta work pretty well tho.....a bit more angle then we had to deliver the snow a bit better. If I remember right....ours were about 5 feet wide with a similar size impeller.

We probably sold 500 of these little guys (more of the larger ones with double 36" blowers). Most people put them on the 3 point ...but many were equiped to go on the front end loaders....and we had an offset rear pto mounted chain/sprocket box to deliver the power to the front. Worked pretty well. We even had some driven with Wisconsin engines which were mostly used on bobcats back then.

I think your on the right track....good luck.

 

[foggy1111]

OH...and a later device was added to break up the big clogs.... It was about 2 or 3 feet long and bolted to the center of the fan hub...had two or three "clod busters" (cant remember the name) protruding about a foot or so from the shaft o break up chunks of frozen snow....which is the biggest problem with this type blower.

This may be the biggest problem you have with your blower design (as I see it) as you may not be able to feed wet chunks of snow into the fan/blower blade. That cross brace may hinder you and the small flat sections next to the fan may restrict the snow from getting to the fan too? For what its worth....ours had a somewhat longer shaft that was supported at the rear of the blower fan (with fafner flange bearings) and again behind that on a sub-frame....to eliminate the front cross piece in your design. That front beater may help you out....if you have feed problems.

If your test run gives you some problems...let me know. I will get you some pics of the blowers we made...may spark a solution. As I see it....feeding the blower may be the biggest issue...but you will overcome I'm sure.

The first (and most economical) chutes we offered had a pivot point about 1/2 way up so your could flip the chute to either side of the machine....worked pretty good for an application like yours. Keep it short and fairly open to prevent clogging.

What do I know?....been a loooong time ago. Good luck!!!

 

[David Devuono]

I am considering a propeller in front of the impeller but that will have to be a summer project as I have to have it ready to go(paint or no paint) friday night. The bearings and shaft were spare pieces and I do wish I had another 6" of 1" shaft. the prototypes I looked at were also the pull type but as I only go to the camp every three or four weeks I will always be driving into a foot or two of snow and my tractor only has 8-9" of ground clearance so I thought a push style might ensure I don't have to use my MF. The massey has no block heater or glow plugs so I always have a better chance of starting the Kubota. (No electricity) Plus the Kubota fits in my shed

 

[foggy1111]

Agreed on the push through....I always thought the erskine "pull-through" were backwards....but they did seem to work good for many....as its easier to pull the snow into the blower...."somethings gotta give".

The bearing setup for the blower you have should prove sound and reliable. Keep us posted on the trial run....and keep the RPM's up....I think it will work fine (but some type of beater in front may help you out).

 

[Scooby074]

Nice project. I dont think Erskine still makes rear pull single stage blowers, but Fransgard still makes one Fransgard Maskinfabrik

 

[David Devuono]

I got to try out the snowblower this weekend. To my surprise there was very little new snow at the camp and I was able to drive right in, save for one tree across the road. Initially I had to cut the PTO shaft down 2 inches shorter to get it to fit. ( I had made it adjustable) Once I tried running the plow I noticed that there is a lot of movement in the slip joint as my road has lots of dips. First time I raised the Snowblower the PTO shaft bottomed out slightly forcing the impeller into the bearing support. So I need to add a spacer between the impeller and the bearing so it will never contact the support. I could use another 1/2 inch out of the shaft length so I will have to make up a square shaft for next year with about 6-8 inches of slip. Before I use the blower again I will also add a propeller infront of the impeller. I found the blower works best in high speed reverse and my tractor is too light for deeper snow without some kind of auger\propeller to help the snow along.
Video's
YouTube - Homemade Single stage snow blower
YouTube - Homemade single stage snowblower 2

 

[foggy1111]

Great Videos of the operation! But....that was my fear on your project.....feeding the snow into the blower. It looks like it just wont break up the mass enough to feed into the blower....even with the steep angle of the "wings". I am going to look for some pics or a brochure with photos of the impeller that we had. I will post 'em or email them to you. I think this will solve much of the feed issue.

I think the reason you need the ground speed is that it's the only way to force the snow into the blower. Hopefully an impeller (or some auger arrangement) will help you.