3-Point Hitch How much attachment weight can my 2320 handle

[North Country]

Sorry for the late reply. I've been outta the country for a bit - even farther north than where I am now. Saw plenty of snow even in mid July.

Total distance that my neighbor and I have to clear together is about 3000'. Who does what depends on who's around when it snows - often we split it, but sometimes one or the other of us does the whole thing. The whole thing is closer to 3.5 hrs than 2. Basically, it's a long shared road with two spurs off the end. This year I have more HP per ft so I'm hoping to get it done a little quicker.

I don't plan on siwtching between the FEL & blower often. It takes about 10 minutes if I haven't hidden any of the snowblower parts.

Traction isn't an issue for me. I have a 10% max gravel drive and chugged up & down it even when using my chained RWD JD 318 with no diff lock. It's usually cold enough up here that we avoid icing problems common to some a little farther south. My rear weight is a cone spreader/sander. It's very light when empty, which it usually is. I only have to sand about 2-3x a year.

 

[lost in wisconsin]

Dave,

So sorry for this late reply.

I cannot believe you were clearing 700 ft of drive with a walk behind...wow! Not sure if you have made your decision yet b/n a FM or RM snowblower. If you can swing it $$ wise, I would go with the front mount. That is an awful lot of looking back. I have nothing bad to say about our 47" except the fact that it isnt wide enough for our 2520 (I will have to figure something out b4 the snow flies).

Is your driveway gravel or cement/asphalt? Our's is a combo of cement (by the garage and turn around) and then approx 400 ft of asphalt to the road and we have some pitch (5-9 degrees) on the driveway. I have R4's and really haven't run into any issues except if there was ice...then only chains would have assisted.

If you do go with the FM, I might suggest something "smaller" for rear ballast. I at first used our box scraper as well but went with the HeavyHitch as it narrower and stay closer to the tractor. It worked out well for me on the drive (pic #1). I also blow a path behind my house to get to the barn. This is done on grass and then I add our BB (610 lbs) (pic #3).

Like NC stated, I don't switch out in winter b/n front mounted implements but I would figure 5-10 mins to remove the snowblower/quick hitch and another 5 to mount the FEL.

And finally...I am about 30 mins north of Milwaukee near the Port Washington area.

 

[dgleason]

Appreciate you getting back to me. I've decided to go with the 54" front mount. Have no idea what a BB cost instead of using my box scraper for weight. I know what you mean when there's something hanging off the back, it does restrict maneurability.

My driveway is all gravel/road base except for the garage apron and concrete basketball/parking area. Some 5-10% grades. I have the same tires on 2320 and they have a lot of tread left. May need to look at some chains. In colorado, we get a lot of sun during the day (melting) and it cools off at night (freezing). Driveway can get pretty slick over night. I have a lot of trees which makes it a little worse, blocking the sun part of the day.

The walk behind has been a workout. I've also used an atv with a blade the last couple years and it does a good job if the snow isn't too deep. In fact, I'll probably continue to use it for the 6" or less snows.

Lovin the tractor. Used the post hole digger for the first time the other night. Couldn't believe how fast I dug them holes. And I didn't even work up a sweat.

I know where Port Washington is. I use to work on Broown Deer Road.

Appreciate all the experience from this group.

Dave

 

[lost in wisconsin]

Good call on the 54" FM. I am confident you are going to love it. Just keep you eyes open on Craigslist or auctions for a BB. Mine is a JD model but it works for me. My father saw it on an auction and picked it up for $30. I filled it with crushed limestone and good to go.

One item worth mentioning regarding chains (and I am thinking you will need them if you have ice) is to be sure you have your rear tires in the wide position. Your rims our concave on one side and convex on the other. You can switch the rear tires and gain about an inch on each side. This is important for chain clearance. Generally, valve stems on the outside indicate the tires are in the narrow position.

And I cannot agree with you more, as we now have the PHD also. Love it as well. At first, when trying to decide on what we should get for our 2nd attachment, I wasn't sure the PHD made the most sense. But now that it is here, I am glad we made that choice. It seemed in the past when it came to digging holes for posts, we never had enough to justify the rental of a PHD. Now with our own, its as simple as dropping the iMatch and grabbing the PHD.

 

[dgleason]

A couple updates and a question.

"lost in Wisconsin" - I did use the disc and like it. I was hoping to get at it when it was raining in Colo and the ground was softer, but still worked for me. Took a few more passes. Need to keep them level to get the same penetration from both rows of discs. Now I need to come up with some kind of drag to smooth it out. Overall, I'm pleased with the tarter medium duty/size disc.

Had the FM 54" blower installed a couple weeks ago. Let it snow , let it snow, let...

My question is for those that have this snowblower and a FEL. The snow blower comes off in 3 pieces. How many pieces do I need to remove to put on and use the FEL? This would only be during the winter when I go back and forth between the two units. In the summer I'll remove the complete snow blower.

Thanks.

 

[lost in wisconsin]

Dave,

I believe the 3 pieces you are speaking of are those in the first pic.

Front attaching support kit (part circled in blue)
Drive and upstop kit (part under the front attaching support kit and circled in red)
Hydraulic Lift (part on the left of the picture)

All items except the front attaching support kit (pic #2) need to be removed when you decide to put your FEL on. In fact, I leave my front attaching support kit on year round.

I hope this helps

 

[aczlan]

Can you post a side picture of the hydraulic lift kit? The blower side appears to be identical to the one on out Cub Cadet GT3200 and I am curious to see how they attached the cylinder.

Thanks

Aaron Z

 

[dgleason]

Thanks for the info on swapping the FEL and snow blower. It shouldn't take more tha 10-15 minutes.

Here's a link for some pretty good pictures of the snowblower:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...204-review-2520-54-quickhitch-snowblower.html

Let me know if there's another view you need and I'll take a picture this weekend.

Dave