How many ponies to run a big 3pt snowblower?

[knightrider955]

I see you have a loader on the front of your tractor. Do you plan to take it off for blowing?

If operated properly, you're tractor will handle a 7' blower just fine.

Chains will be a necessity.

I wasnt planning on taking the loader off. Will that make a differance? Also my rear tires are loaded. 1700 lbs of calcium chloride.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Im still kicking around putting a snowblower on the back of my tractor. Ive looked at several used ones. I want at least 7 feet wide. Ive been told that I need at least 60 hp to run a 7 foot snowblower. Can anyone confirm this? My tractor is a 55 hp Diesel but I think the pto hp is less than that. So how big can I go? My tractor is 6 ft wide so that would be the minimum I could get. I hate the buy one and then my tractor not have the balls to spin it. Any pointers would be great.

I'm new at operating a snow blower and I have a 7 foot ARPS dual auger blower on our Ford 4610 (46 rated pto hp) and so far I haven't noticed power being the limitation.

I cleared 10 inches of wet snow yesterday at 1800 engine rpm (540 pto rpm)and the problem I had was that snow stuck to the auger flighting and limited the capacity of the machine.With the reuction in capacity goes a reduction in power required. At one point I did manage to get a bunch of snow through it and I could hear the power increase as the governor kicked in. But it wasn't anything that said my blower was too big.

The power requirements are dependent on the type of snow you have and the speed you are traveling. The slower you can go the less volume of snow you are trying to put into the machine per unit time. The ground speed and the blower width control the volume of snow inflow. That, together with the type of snow set (wet =high density, dry = low density) set the weight flow to be blown and hence the power required.

I run in low reverse with the blower at 540 pto.The majority of our snow is dry and fluffy. I'm not expecting a problem with that. With wet snow I have to expect the governor to add more fuel to blow the wet snow under those conditions. The things I can do to reduce the power equirements if they become excessive is to raise the blower to reduce the intake volume or stop the motion and let the blower "catch up". This latter step is easy since the tractor has an independent pto.

 

[slowzuki]

Without a loader is better in 2wd, the loader takes weight off the rear tires.

 

[strum456]

It might be ok with the loader on, but more weight on the front will naturally equal less in the back. If you have trouble with traction, try taking the loader off (or atleast the bucket).

 

[RaydaKub]

When I was a teen, my dad had an 8 foot run off our 63hp 730 Case. It did ok most of the time. When I graduated and went to college, he bought a 930. I think they were rated about 95 hp, but ours kept up on the moldboard plow with the neighbor's Deutz that cranked 120 on a dyno. Sure was nice to have that extra power on the blower, but not a necessity.

 

[Danica]

I have a 84" NH on my TC40DA which has about 35 pto hp (due to the hydrostatic transmission). Anyway i cleared my one-half mile driveway in wisconsin and now my 800' drive in the Catskills jere in NY state with no problems ever. Even snow drifts 4 feet deep! It is a killer, never bogged down ever. I love it.

Danica