Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Manual trans for snowblowing?

[Scaper]

I'm in the process of making a new purchase (tractor) for my business. I'm considering the Mahindra 2516 gear drive or a B2320 maybe a B2620 ( I got a very good price on the 2620) and I'm wondering if anyone uses a gear drive with a blower? If I use the 2516 for grass ( rear mount mower) or bush hog work it will not bother me to have a gear. I grew up using a gear and the shuttle shift on the 2516 is sweet. I have driven the Mahindra and found the gear to have very low speed in low range and power out the wazoo. I am concerned about using a blower with the trans driven PTO. The hydro is nice in this aspect but I love the gear for everything else I will do and loader work with the shuttle should be fine. What's the skinny on this topic? So all you gear drive fans and hyro users speak up please. My wife is in my butt about me being on the fence about the purchase. Plus if I get the gear she won't drive it!!
Scaper

 

[beenthere]

You decide if you want the wife driving.
I'd say the hydro for both the snowblower and the loader work as well. Much prefer the hydro for loader work over using the shuttle (which works but not as well as a hydro).

But it is your call.

 

[oldnslo]

For snow blowing it depends on a few factors.

Size of the blower Vs HP available. can you go slow enough in low gear to not have to feather the clutch? If this does not have live PTO touching the clutch would cause the blower to stop.

Non live PTO to me would be a reason not to buy a tractor especially for bush hogging, snow blowing, etc. I like to be able to push in the clutch and allow the equipment to clear a clog etc.

my two cents

ROy

 

[DrainPondDesign]

Here are some numbers for you.

During a recent 12 inch fall of wind packed snow my 32hp JD 3320 with 59 inch front blower and throttle wide open could only manage 1/2 mile per hour uphill and one mph on the flats without dropping below the 2500 rpm pto speed.

12 inches of light snow this rig will blow snow at 1 1/2 mph up hill and over 2 mph on the flats. I seldom blow snow over 2 mph because I need to make constant correctons to stay on the driveway.

It's the weight of the snow that consumes the hp so heavy slush can be even slower.

This rig has hydro drive with "load match" that automaticly slows the foward speed to keep the pto rpms up so I would say that the tractor is maxed out at these speeds and conditions.

I would say that if low gear on your manual transmission is 1/2 mph or less it should do fine.

 

[MMagis]

Gear is just fine. No need to over think it.

 

[PILOON]

My tractor is manual with only 2 choices to blow--HI or LOW R.
Low can handle most conditions up to, say 8" otherwise I do 1/2 widths.
HI can handle not much more than 3" if it is light fluffy snow.
As a result I added a front plow to gather snow for one pass of the blower and that works fine for me.
If you plan to blow commercially, do yourself a favor and go hydro and you'll 1/2 your snow removal times, and time is money.
For speed a truck/plow is still the best fastest solution combined with a tractor/blower to widen the lanes when the piles choke down the drive and at that time since you'll only need to do so a couple of times a winter any tractor/blower will do the job.
A hydro offers all benefits, slow controlled speeds and (in hi range) good travel speeds between locations. Geared is always slow travel.
With hydro you adjust the speed to the blower's capacity without blower RPM speed drop.
AND your wife can blow snow when you prefer to enjoy an adult refreshment front of the stove.
Resale is also much better on hydro and will better protect your investment.

 

[mtgrease]

I have a jd790 with a lorenz three point blower and live in northen montana, lots of snow. I do not have hydro and have never had a problem. I can put it in low range, run the tractor at 2500rpm and just go. If there is less than 3 inches I leave it in high range. I like having the clutch because if the blower starts loading I can push the clutch partially in and it clears it, without that ability I would shear pins constantly. By the way my wife uses the tractor and has never complained about the clutch. I would say I wish I had hydro while doing loader work but cannot complain.

 

[oldnslo]

I like having the clutch because if the blower starts loading I can push the clutch partially in and it clears it, without that ability I would shear pins constantly.

This only works with live PTO. If I understood the OP he was looking at a tranny driven PTO which is NOT live.

Roy

 

[herringchoker]

Been there, done that.......I would never again attempt to blow snow with a transmission - driven PTO. It was better than shovelling, but if you ever have to hit the clutch to reduce ground speed - clogged chute.
I can't comment on gear drive and live PTO because I jumped directly to HST. However, many people do it with no problem.
I do recommend HST because you can vary your ground speed to match weight and depth of snow, and also instantly reverse (handy in tight quarters).

 

[Marveltone]

This only works with live PTO. If I understood the OP he was looking at a tranny driven PTO which is NOT live.

Roy

According to tractordata.com, the Mahindra 2516 gear drive does indeed have live PTO. However, the Mahindra website seems to indicate that the gear driven model has a transmission driven PTO, while the hydrostatic model has the live PTO. :mur: The good news is the gear model has 8 reverse speeds! That leaves plenty of room to match speed to the snow depth/weight. :thumbsup:

What's my point? I'm running a 60" PTO mounted blower on a 22 hp gear tractor (4 reverse speeds) with no problems. (My lowest reverse speed is about 0.7 mph @PTO speed) The Mahindra makes a little more power and has more reverse gears. If the gear model has a two stage clutch (hence, live PTO) I'd say go for it! If, OTOH, the PTO only operates with the transmission, I have no clue.

You may want to clear up that little detail with the dealer. :confused3:

Joe