Horsepower needed to run 8 ft 3 point snowblower?

[KWentling]

the OP mentioned in his first sentence on the first post it’s a single auger … (it only happen to the best of us)

i agree you never have enough hp.

Yep. Missed that.

 

[Smokeydog]

Snow like the ground is highly a variable condition that requires different tools and horsepower to get the best results.

 

[hayden]

I just switched from a 6' to a 7' snow blower using a 50hp PTO tractor. Of all the things I do with my tractor, snow blowing requires the most HP. Using about a foot of snow as a baseline, I'd say the 6' is about the right size for 50hp. You need to go slow (walking speed) when cutting a full swath, and the engine will be bogging down, but it's fine.

I just switched to a 7' front blower, and my 50 hp PTO is under powered for it. So of the difference is due to losses in the hydraulic drive on the 7' blower vs a direct PTO drive on the 6', but 50hp struggles with 7', and I was only able to move about 1-2 mph cutting a full swath. An HST transmission is handy for regulating speed, but I'm sure a geared tractor with low enough gears would work fine too. It all works fine, but can be slow going in 12" snow.

In smaller downfalls, the wider swath is really nice because it makes faster work of everything, and you can still move at a reasonable speed.

Bottom line, snow blowing takes a lot of HP.

 

[George2615]

What do you need for HP to run an 8 ft single auger snowblower? I've been on the lookout for a 5 footer or so but might have stumbled onto this 8 footer. It's bigger than I want but it might be an offer I can't refuse and I do have the HP to run it. A search is iffy with conflicting advice so I thought to ask here. Anyone have an 8 ft snowblower and what does it take to run it? Thanks in advance.

I know this is an old thread but did you ever get a blower for your tractor?
I run a 7' double auger on my 36HP LS. Usually I just plow snow as it is faster but now into Feb. the snow is starting to pile up. I'll probably be using the blower by the end of the month to get rid of the big piles.

 

[sixdogs]

I know this is an old thread but did you ever get a blower for your tractor?
I run a 7' double auger on my 36HP LS. Usually I just plow snow as it is faster but now into Feb. the snow is starting to pile up. I'll probably be using the blower by the end of the month to get rid of the big piles.

Yes, I bought it. Then, for the next five or six years never got enough of a snow where I could use it. It just sat in the barn and got in the way. I would faithfully hook it up in the fall and then faithfully unhook it in the spring. I would trip over it all summer.

Then one day a guy was at my place and offered a nice enough price to buy it from me so I sold it. I never got to use it but only dreamed of snow blowing from the chute while I envisioned a clean driveway. We just don't get the snow here but rather a little here or a little there and never enough to use the snowblower.

It all worked out for the best. Creeping arthritis made looking over my shoulder more difficult each year and I realized if I ever needed it I may not be physically able to do it. The implement has a good local home and the buyer still hasn't used it either.

 

[George2615]

I hear you and know old arthritis very well. I've been thinking of selling my blower as well. Only use it a couple times a year (around Feb) when the piles get high and deep. Its just as easy to leave the piles and let them melt on their own. They should be gone by July. Also thinking of selling my Woods backhoe attachment I bought several years ago and used once. Plowed snow for about 4 hours this morning. fortunately we only got about 12-14" instead of the 20" they were talking about.

 

[Saucymynx]

I run a 87 inch meteor single auger two stage blower With a 27 inch five blade fan on my LSMT7101. The blower weighs a tick over 1000 pounds. I have 87 hp at the PTO And the tractor fully loaded weighs 12,000 pounds. With an average snowfall up to 10 inches I can run 540 E in mid range second or third gear. However, last week we had High winds for a couple days and I had 500 feet of 2 foot deep heavily packed drifts. For the first time ever I had to go in creeper gear to get through the heaviest stuff. So it all depends. I get much better economy running 540 E and much less noise. So All things being equal, a tractor that is well within the comfort range of your snowblower capacity is a good thing. Since I have to make two passes on my driveway anyways, one down and one back, having a wider blower would do me no good. In fact, another foot of width would make it hard for me to get into tight spaces around my barnyard. I bought this blower for a smaller tractor but I am quite happy with it for the bigger one.

 

[metalbender]

My Massey 1742 struggles in drifts with an 84 inch blower. Low range and stopping to let it digest what the auger is feeding. If I can break up the drifts with the blade then blow, it works better. A pull type isn't in the cards for my situation. Last year I had a 66 inch blower on the front and did my blowing in steps. Two steps forward and one to the side for clearance. Worked ok, at least I was looking frontwards.

 

[oosik]

For 27 years I used my six foot blower on my gear drive Ford 1700. Never a bit of problem. Low range, first or second gear - reverse. The way to go is low and slow.

If you think you can drive a blower as fast as a blade - hope you have many shear bolts. Hope you don't encounter something unexpected.