How much bigger

[CJONE]

Yes its a Hydro.. I really haven't had a chance to run anything on the pto as of yet so I really don't have anything to base it on. When I got the snow blower for the JD I had already had the machine for a few years and knew what it would do based on using other pto equipment. This time around I am going in kind of blind.

My PTO cover was never taken off until I bought the blower so I was in the same place as you! Lets just say it has exceeded my expectations. Some here had me believing that the tractor would stall with a good amount of snow. I can run full speed through a foot of fresh snowfall in medium range taking a full 7 foot cut. CJ

 

[devildog1]

My PTO cover was never taken off until I bought the blower so I was in the same place as you! Lets just say it has exceeded my expectations. Some here had me believing that the tractor would stall with a good amount of snow. I can run full speed through a foot of fresh snowfall in medium range taking a full 7 foot cut. CJ

The Hydro's are made for loader work and items like 3 point snow blowers, you'll have no problem.
DevilDog

 

[HEC]

How about over 2 ft. , as was the case on parts of my driveway the last big storm we had . I had on hip boots and the snow was almost to the top of them in places . We have had one heck of a year , the most snow in 50 years here . Just shy of 12 ft. and we still have 33 inches on the ground . I'll never get my garden in . I know some of you guys get much more than that but 12 ft. is enough for me .

 

[dave1949]

Well, you don't always want to buy something based on what happens very infrequently, like a +2' snow.

I run a 74" blower on my 40 engine hp, 35 pto hp, gear tractor. Deep, wind packed snow takes every bit of power it has in low range 1st gear. It really depends on the density and moisture content of the snow as much as the depth. In really heavy deep stuff, it will bog down enough that I put the clutch in and let it clear itself and build up the rpms again before continuing. You wouldn't have that with HST, so it should work but it will be slow going sometimes.

A wider blower is nice for getting up close to things with the blower and not the tractor wheels. It is more width swinging out behind/beside you though in tight turning areas. The driveway can get pretty small with a FEL on the front and a blower on the back. It would be easy to scrape something with the FEL bucket while looking back steering for the blower. So far, I've avoided that.

 

[skyhook]

Well, you don't always want to buy something based on what happens very infrequently, like a +2' snow.

I run a 74" blower on my 40 engine hp, 35 pto hp, gear tractor. Deep, wind packed snow takes every bit of power it has in low range 1st gear. It really depends on the density and moisture content of the snow as much as the depth. In really heavy deep stuff, it will bog down enough that I put the clutch in and let it clear itself and build up the rpms again before continuing. You wouldn't have that with HST, so it should work but it will be slow going sometimes.

A wider blower is nice for getting up close to things with the blower and not the tractor wheels. It is more width swinging out behind/beside you though in tight turning areas. The driveway can get pretty small with a FEL on the front and a blower on the back. It would be easy to scrape something with the FEL bucket while looking back steering for the blower. So far, I've avoided that.

Really,,I have a similar horse-powered machine and have yet had it bog down, as yours does.
Even in second gear, ( GST tranny ) 72 inch blower and deep heavy packed snow.
It could be your blower needs attention or your rpm's aren't high enough.

 

[dave1949]

Really,,I have a similar horse-powered machine and have yet had it bog down, as yours does.
Even in second gear, ( GST tranny ) 72 inch blower and deep heavy packed snow.
It could be your blower needs attention or your rpm's aren't high enough.

Are you saying bad things about my blue tractor? :laughing:

Don't know. It's the only tractor/blower I have ever owned and there is nothing in the neighborhood to compare it to.

The blower is the Deere Frontier line. It turns very freely by hand, and when engaging the PTO there is no start-up resistance/lag. I run it at the full 540 PTO rpms.

The blower dimensions are:
2' diameter, 4-blade impeller.
16" diameter auger.
74" wide.
25" from the bottom of cutting edge to the inside top of the blower.

When I say deep snow, I mean it is at the top of the blower, maybe some spilling over the top of the blower housing even. From the bottom of the skid shoe to the top of the blower is 27". Skid shoes are set to keep the cutting edge 2" above the surface, so when snow is at the top, it is actually blowing 25" of snow. We don't get snow that deep very often, I do have some short (~50') long driveway sections that often drift that deep.

I blow in low-range 2nd in normal snow depths ~10"-12" with no problems. Of course, I have no way of knowing if my tractor is producing the full 35 PTO rated HP, and snow blowing is the only thing I do that really puts it to work. It wouldn't surprise me if it would benefit from some professional diesel engine attention beyond the normal filter changes.

 

[skyhook]

Are you saying bad things about my blue tractor? :laughing:

No, No,, my blower blades are so close to the tub, you can barely put a sheet of paper
between them. Maybe yours have a bigger space,
maybe I'm talking for nothing again...lol
That does sound like deep snow, though.

 

[dave1949]

No, No,, my blower blades are so close to the tub, you can barely put a sheet of paper
between them. Maybe yours have a bigger space,
maybe I'm talking for nothing again...lol
That does sound like deep snow, though.

My clearance is 1/8" - 3/16". I don't ever see a coating of snow on the inside of the tub, so the blades/compressed snow are clearing it off I guess.

 

[skyhook]

My clearance is 1/8" - 3/16". I don't ever see a coating of snow on the inside of the tub, so the blades/compressed snow are clearing it off I guess.

I'll try and take a picture of the clearance on mine, you'll see what i mean.
You could be ok, but it will give you an idea.

 

[skyhook]

I'll try and take a picture of the clearance on mine, you'll see what i mean.
You could be ok, but it will give you an idea.

Here's a picture of mine.