Inverted Plows, Is this just a Canadian thing ?

[PILOON]

Like that chain idea, good thinking!
It is sort of like the hinged back drag blades we attach to front plows to 'get close', like I used on my K3500 4 x 4 when I plowed.
Plow trucks, while fast on long drives , are almost a thing of the past now except in rural areas with long drives and distance between each drive.

Guess the blade on the inverted blower would be pivoting with short side arms?

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Yup, side arms are 18" or so long. Whatever is needed to get from the back side of the main auger box and past the impeller, side shaft and whatever else is there so the back blade is the furthest thing back while keeping the blow as short as possible. I'll stop at the yard next time I'm by in the daylight for a pic.

'Round here, the pretty much the only place plows are used any more are for parking lots or private use. With 40 or 50 km/h trans even the rural contractors are running inverted blowers...too much drifting from the plow ridge

 

[Dave M7040]

With my inverted blower with a rear blade I fabricated on the blower, I do family and friends driveways only. I insist on a remote control for their garage door so when I back up the door is open so I don't worry about hitting the door by getting close and there is absolutely no shoveling needed since the blade is just inside the door. Not so practical for commercial snow clearing.
Dave M7040

 

[MHD1815HST2007]

Hi, any photo on the inverted blowers?? Thx, Tony

 

[Dave M7040]

90" Blower is now behind a 4x4 Kubota M7040.
It was behind a 2wd Nuffield 465 and worked great.
In the last picture I have not yet fabricated the rear blade
Dave M7040

 

[boggen]

i am still having a hard time with this thread. a lot of driving over snow and compacting it, and chance of getting stuck in snow drifts.

the snow weapons looks awesome!
--i liked the extendable rear blade. (rear blade gets longer or short via side wings)
--i can see how having a rear blade or box blade on the front of tractor might be nice, were you can drive right up to shed or door and facing forward to possibly measure distance better before hitting something
--i can understanding wanting a snow blower and a rear blade/box blade on tractor. due to some area's more so tight areas were you really can not blow snow without it covering a window/door on a house or shed or cover a car/truck parked beside you.

but it just seems all backwards to me, or am i missing something? *looks confused* spell it out for this old fart here please.

 

[Dave M7040]

Tractor tires are designed to have low ground pressure because farmers do not want their cultivated land compacted.
The packing down of snow by the tractor driving over it before it gets blown is not a problem. Truck tires on 18 wheelers where tire pressures are over 120 pounds per square inch are the tires that can compact snow so it is like concrete.
Home owners with big SUV's who drive through the snow before it is cleared also pack down the snow, not the tractor.
Older tractors, such as my 1965 Nuffield 465, have limited choices for gear selection in reverse. For the Nuffield, I managed to buy and install a special low reverse gear. Without it the tractor, when it had a conventional rear mounted back up style snow blower, would back up faster than the blower would get rid of the snow. I would drag one rear brake to try and slow it down.
With the inverted snow blower on the Nuffield I now had a wide range of gears and could easily match the speed to the power to blow the depth of snow I faced. Being old with a bad neck it was great to not have to be turning around as I blew the snow from long lanes.
The rear blade lifted and lowered by hydraulic cylinders is a big improvement from the blades that hang on chains. I can put a large percentage of the blower's weight on the cutting edge of the rear blade using the cylinders. This down pressure helps a lot in scraping off tire tracks from SUV's.
With the inverted blower, if you are close to a home where there is a roof overhang and you dont want to blast off the soffit, I can either disengage the pto or just slow down the revs and use the blower like a big box blade until I am clear of the soffit and then resume high revs and blowing.
I made the rear blade out of 1/2" plate with a 1/2" angle stiffener so it can take a lot of pulling and pushing. My tractor shed is one I drive into and big drifts form behind the tractor. I use the rear blade on the blower like a snow plow to make a path for me to get out of the shed.

Plse ask more questions if I have not provided all the requested info.
Dave M7040

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

As Dave said, packing the snow isn't a problem, blower scrapes it clean. Occasionally the plow ridge can be a problem for packing bit only if conditions are right (wrong?) And that is easily delt with by pulling the ridge and then backing in the rest of the way.

Remember, these are usually being run on big AG tractors not CUTs. Round here, Case 105U & 120 Maximum or Deere 6xxx are the norm with the odd Kubota for good measure. More than enough power and chances of getting stuck are pretty much zilch. I've been thru more than 24" of snow not including drifting without issue. Gear down, throttle up and keep chugging.

Although I have not had the opportunity to try a hyd back blade, I can agree that it would likely be superior for scraping but the idiot-free operation and lower cost of one on chains is hard to beat...especially with dozens of machines and even more operators.

As far as having a remote to open the garage door, its possible I guess if you are only doing a handful of neighbours. It's not possible from a commercial standpoint. First, I'd have to have 150 of them in the tractor. Second, I'd spend more time waiting for the door to open and close than it takes to do the drive never mind trying to find the right remote. Third, noise - who wants to hear their garage door open and close at 2 or 3 am? Last is security- why would the snow contractor want the additional liability of having keys to all the houses? Let them shovel....it's only a couple feet and all the have to do is to push it straight out so you can get it with the blower

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Even better than taking our word for it, if you have a big enough tractor, go to your dealer and tell them you want to try one out. I'm sure they'd be happy to demo one for you.

There are only 2 places I can think of that an inverted blower isn't far superior to a conventional blower. If your tractor isn't big enough to drive thru the amount of snow you regularly get or if you have to move snow a long ways between obstacles (like an alley between buildings where you want to blow all the snow out the end)

 

[skyhook]

Like CDN Farm boy said.....these rear pull blowers are NOT for the little machines.
If your machine can drive over 2 feet of snow without issue's,,
then, this is the blower for you.