Loader mounted snow blower

[3238dpw]

Yeah. Not even considering a rear mount. Too much twists and funds to back down(and too steep). Also a pull style would just leave me packing everything thing 1st

Not trying to be a smart ***** but how are you going to do it with a front mounted blower. You'll have to back up with that to. Pull type can be used going the same direction as the front mount. Also snow packing down is really a non issue. There is always a lot of talk of it but these blowers get it quite well. When you run over the snow it is being scraped up within seconds, so it doesn't get a chance to freeze to the road surface, it will then come up quite well. One sunny day will easily melt that skim layer of snow that is left. When I use a 721 case wheel loader with the bucket even with down pressure it leaves a small amount too. with that I have to be careful not to peal up the asphalt (you won't even feel it).
Anyway, Enough of that, to each his own. I just think it would be a lot cheaper, no neck kinks and easier to deal with as far as hooking and unhooking etc.

 

[JJZ 109]

Only had 4 snow removal days. Totally sucked

I would have traded with you. To me it's just another chore to be done. Makes the morning earlier than normal on work days, adds hours to the machine and burns money in the form of diesel. The older I get, the more time I want to spend down south this time of year.

 

[PILOON]

OK, I'll add my observations.
I have many hours on a rear conventional blower and once I offered to help a friend snow contractor.
He generously assigned me his front mount.
Driving on a bumpy road was like riding a bronco with all that front weight overhanging. At one point my head contacted the cab roof.

In tight turns the front would make a wide swing actually plowing snow sideways and because of the long reach the viewing for precision was difficult.
There was actually about a 3-4 ft blind spot up front very much like with a FEL, only worse and since we are doing drives here folks generally have curbs, gardens, walkways etc etc.
Then with limited visibility we had to leave small piles in front of owners garage doors. Most concerning (for me) was precision clearing around any parked cars that might be overnighted during a snow event.

To crown that, later the front installation got loose and the front PTO shaft trashed his radiator and other components resulting in $4K of damage, that on a 6oo hr 2 year old tractor.
Dealer said he was a cowboy and no go. 10 hours later it broke again with another $4K bill.
Whole thing went to court and the manufacturer of the front PTO adapter covered the claim as it was their device that had been improperly installed by their dealer. Dealer got of scott free, lawyers won buddy got enough to pay lawyers bill but still ate the repairs and lost the usage of his tractor for 2 years as the dealer held it hostage.

NO, I don't like FRT mounts!

 

[robstaples]

OK, I'll add my observations.
I have many hours on a rear conventional blower and once I offered to help a friend snow contractor.
He generously assigned me his front mount.
Driving on a bumpy road was like riding a bronco with all that front weight overhanging. At one point my head contacted the cab roof.

In tight turns the front would make a wide swing actually plowing snow sideways and because of the long reach the viewing for precision was difficult.
There was actually about a 3-4 ft blind spot up front very much like with a FEL, only worse and since we are doing drives here folks generally have curbs, gardens, walkways etc etc.
Then with limited visibility we had to leave small piles in front of owners garage doors. Most concerning (for me) was precision clearing around any parked cars that might be overnighted during a snow event.

To crown that, later the front installation got loose and the front PTO shaft trashed his radiator and other components resulting in $4K of damage, that on a 6oo hr 2 year old tractor.
Dealer said he was a cowboy and no go. 10 hours later it broke again with another $4K bill.
Whole thing went to court and the manufacturer of the front PTO adapter covered the claim as it was their device that had been improperly installed by their dealer. Dealer got of scott free, lawyers won buddy got enough to pay lawyers bill but still ate the repairs and lost the usage of his tractor for 2 years as the dealer held it hostage.

NO, I don't like FRT mounts!

Way different with hydraulic powered front. Still the turning radius issue leaving gaps. To others above. Op asked about a ford and everyone tries to sell him a chevy. Curious ?

 

[leonz]

The hydraulic mount is no different than a snow caster
mounted on a skid steer loader with a high volume
circuit except the longer pipe loop for oil travel which is
totally dependent on the snow clearers hydraulic motor
and it efficiency.

Saying that:

Toque is a function of delivered horsepower and the the horsepower
available to a front mount snow caster is split away with the impeller drive
and the cross auger drive.

It would be different if a flywheel was used but the issues are the same.

the open cross auger snow casters are self defeating because the amount of snow
entering the impeller reduces its efficiency it has high torque available at all times.

A high speed single stage snow caster like the Zaugg single stage units have both high
torque and rotation speed and use twin chutes and spouts.

 

[grsthegreat]

Personally. Looked into the rear mount, reverse facing blower. I woul have gone with that unit except for one issue. When all 3 of my buildings shed, i can have 5-8 foot high piles of snow that block access of animals and me to enter buildings.

There is no way i could drive my tractor over 5 ft pile of snow with foreward facing rear unit.

My loader mount unit does quick action at removing snow.

 

[Lowrider2120]

It's kinda old but info is good. I'm planning on converting my 66" 3 PT snow blower to a hydraulic run SSQA fel rig. Plan is to build attach points on my fork frame for a HF 3pt QA to mount the blower and build a 20 gal tank for the rear 3 pt and a PTO pump with hoses to the front. Last winter I ran the blower off a BX1500 PTO which has about 9 PTO HP. It was very slow but worked just fine with up to 20" or so snows. I'm figuring a 12 to 15 hp hyd motor and a 20 GPM PTO pump should work.

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[robstaples]

I have two systems . Rear pto: added over pressure valve, guage to note how hard the system is working, return filter. Have a pto pump but added short shaft to get hoses in better position. Suction line is very stiff.
On blowers, I added heavy duty casters in the rear of blower, closest to SSQA , so as to set the angle of the SSQA. The blower rides on the skid shoes and the casters for best angle.
For the pto system, I'm considering hard pipe and a bunch of quick connects. The hoses are very troublesome to mount with a cab . To do again , I'd connect both mechanical ends and cut up a garden hose to the right length before ordering the hydraulic hoses. I have 3/4" and extra is only slightly better than too short.��

 

[Lowrider2120]

I'm not exactly sure of the hose routing but I was planning to run the hose on the right side of the cab then on the inside of the loader arms. This very much an adapt and change project at this point which is why I'd like to learn from the lessons of others before I get too far along.

I was thinking 1/2" hose. I suppose I could run pipe along the loader arms but wouldn't that require a rigid mount to reduce vibration? I might change my mind but I'd rather not run the lines under the tractor.

 

[leonz]

Hello Lowrider,

It takes a lot of hydraulic power to run a hydraulic drive two stage snow caster. For the money spent you would be much better off purchasing a 22 horsepower V twin Briggs & Stratton engine and a double roller chain and sprocket drive system
for the rear mount snow caster.

Using a quick attach frame mounted on the snow caster with the engine mounted on a steel plate attached to the quick attach system would solve a lot of issues for you where you could use the quick hitch permanently on the snow caster for your BX three point hitch and it would let you have the room to mount the engine on the snow caster with an extended exhaust pipe to get the fumes above and away from the operator station.


It takes a lot of work to build a hydraulic tank with the proper volume and a baffle plate to make sure the oil does not over heat and also using a hydraulic oil cooler is a must with smaller tank systems.

With a B&S V twin you know how much power and torque you will have at 3300 RPM and the decision for the drive system comes next where you would or could use a chain drive system with larger sprocket on the engine and a smaller one on the PTO shaft stub or a belt driven drive pulley with a a female connection to provide 540 RPM at the impeller shaft.

With the V twin engine you have a 6 to 1 ratio in rpm at high idle that can be translated into usable power for the snow caster with high torque to power the impeller and the chain drive for the cross auger(s)

Have you looked at the Reist rear mount single stage snow casters? Their Series 1000 unit is sized for your mules power.

I have a thread discussing them on the snow removal page.