I run the tractor at 2500 rpm, if I'm lucky it will shoot dry snow 25 feet, wet snow, 5 ' till the shoot plugs up. After reading some other posts on here, I'm going to check the distance between the end of the impeller and the housing. With my old tractor in high speed PTO I could go through 8" of snow throwing it 40 50 feet. More than 8" I had to use low speed PTO.
Miss 2 speed pto
- Thread starter Robok
- Start date
CH4Ohio
Platinum Member
So I'm curious, what brand, model, size snowblower do you have? I'm sure it's a 2-stage design at least, right? With an auger on the back that brings the snow to a large fan/impeller blade below the discharge chute? Does it face forward or do you have to back into the snow? (Mine is rear facing so have to blow snow in reverse. In the winter, I put a meyer plow on the front.) Thanks.
Before this particular unit, I had a Frontier SB1164 (64" wide). At or close to 540 RPM, it would easily throw snow 30 feet too. That was on a 30 HP Kubota. Neither unit plugged up like smaller walk-behind units do.
I thought a snowblower designed for 1000 RPM was geared down at the gearbox so the final RPM of the snowblower itself would be essentially the same as a 540 RPM model.
Final question for the group -- I'm not familiar with the 2-Speed PTO setup. Are there 2 separate PTO shafts at the rear of the tractor with different number of splines (6 and 21), or can you simply hook up a 540 RPM snowblower and then overspeed it by selecting 1000 RPM via a lever? (If this is the case, seems like it would be a recipe for tearing equipment apart due to overspeed.)
Thanks to anyone who's willing to explain!
Before this particular unit, I had a Frontier SB1164 (64" wide). At or close to 540 RPM, it would easily throw snow 30 feet too. That was on a 30 HP Kubota. Neither unit plugged up like smaller walk-behind units do.
I thought a snowblower designed for 1000 RPM was geared down at the gearbox so the final RPM of the snowblower itself would be essentially the same as a 540 RPM model.
Final question for the group -- I'm not familiar with the 2-Speed PTO setup. Are there 2 separate PTO shafts at the rear of the tractor with different number of splines (6 and 21), or can you simply hook up a 540 RPM snowblower and then overspeed it by selecting 1000 RPM via a lever? (If this is the case, seems like it would be a recipe for tearing equipment apart due to overspeed.)
Thanks to anyone who's willing to explain!
What is the snowblower supposed to run at PTO RPM wise? I don't use a snowblower but I'd be surprised if it's supposed to run any faster than 540.
CH4Ohio
Platinum Member
Right. So unless it was being run at over-speed on the old tractor, I don't understand why there's a difference in performance. That's what has me curious about this situation.
rbargeron
Elite Member
The 2-speed rear pto's (6-spline) I'm familiar with have a L-N-H pto shift lever. The rpm choices are usually 540 or 780.
On big tractors and implements the pto shafts for 540 rpm can get huge and heavy. Operating torque at higher rpm is lower for the same power - so the industry's next step up is to 1000 rpm,. where the pto shaft can be light enough for a person to handle. Shafts for 540 and 1000 have different ends and are generally not interchangeable.
Snowblowers for 3-pt rear hitch are designed to operate around 540 rpm - and the impeller runs at pto speed (no gear-up or down). They will run ok at higher speeds, but running your 540 snowblower more than 700-800 isn't recommended. I use a "540" blower on a higher pto speed - but set engine rpm lower so it's more like 540+/-. The link in Post#2 has more on this subject.
Hope this addresses your question. Dick B
Last edited:
Richard
Elite Member
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- Apr 6, 2000
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- Knoxville, TN
- Tractor
- International 1066 Full sized JCB Loader/Backhoe and a John Deere 430 to mow with
Picture of mine on an International 1066. In my case, I don't know about others) they are both either on or off. As I recall, the 1,000 unit (upper) is taken off some shafts that probably go to the rear of the engine. The lower PTO is then geared off the 1,000 unit.
I've rebuilt this one about three times as I had a hydraulic speed multiplier bolted to it and that pesky little rocker arm underneith it which is attached to the (never used) lift arms would rock back/forth as the arms swayed a bit.... and it would put some lateral pressure on the speed multiplier which in turn snapped my 540 shaft clean off.
Took me a while to hone in on the cause of that issue. I've since pinned the arms vertical (removed some linkages and wired them vertical) as well as unbolted this unit that connects them and have not broken a shaft since.
I've rebuilt this one about three times as I had a hydraulic speed multiplier bolted to it and that pesky little rocker arm underneith it which is attached to the (never used) lift arms would rock back/forth as the arms swayed a bit.... and it would put some lateral pressure on the speed multiplier which in turn snapped my 540 shaft clean off.
Took me a while to hone in on the cause of that issue. I've since pinned the arms vertical (removed some linkages and wired them vertical) as well as unbolted this unit that connects them and have not broken a shaft since.
CH4Ohio
Platinum Member
That does address my question exactly! Thanks very much.
Smokeydog
Elite Member
Some early Kubota models did have multiple pto speed built-in gear boxes. Multiple speeds for a single 6 spline pto shaft. Think they were for rice farming and stationary attachments. As their (Japan) exports grew particularly to the USA market the option was dropped. Agree it would be a handy option. Early tractors were all small hp.
Looking at the manual for my 1990 b8200 after reading this thread...I also have a higher speed PTO available. 748rpm apparently. If I didnt read the manual I wouldnt even know. I just got a rear snowblower so I may have to try this out.