Operating 3 point blower in raised position- why not?

[Peter 315]

Reading the instruction manual? Now I am really confused!!!! LOL

Haha you read that AFTER something breaks if I'm correct........

 

[ChesapeakeBoy]

OF COURSE! especially on simple implements

 

[hube2]

I had my blower on yesterday and raised it up all the way to see what the angle on the PTO looked like. Don't know exactly what it was, still waiting on my level, but it looked like it was more than 45 degrees. I'm actually afraid that having it that high without running it might put excess stress on the joints.

 

[RoyJackson]

I had my blower on yesterday and raised it up all the way to see what the angle on the PTO looked like. Don't know exactly what it was, still waiting on my level, but it looked like it was more than 45 degrees. I'm actually afraid that having it that high without running it might put excess stress on the joints.

You don't need to raise it that high...just high enough off the ground...8" or so.
Looking at my 3PH raised all the way, I'll estimate the angle is 25 degrees +/- 5 degrees. Still more then the recommended maximum of 15 degrees (for the U-Joints...nothing to do with shear bolts), but then again, I only raise the blower 8" and never, ever more then 10"

 

[hube2]

You don't need to raise it that high...just high enough off the ground...8" or so.
Looking at my 3PH raised all the way, I'll estimate the angle is 25 degrees +/- 5 degrees. Still more then the recommended maximum of 15 degrees (for the U-Joints...nothing to do with shear bolts), but then again, I only raise the blower 8" and never, ever more then 10"

Oh, I know, I was just curious.

 

[SuperiorLakeEffect]

So I think I have my answer-

Do not operate the blower in the raised position because if you lose a lift pin on the 3 point hitch while throwing snow, it's probably going to make a mess.

Was blowing a couple inches of fluffy snow today and all of a sudden things sounded odd. Shut it down, start looking stuff over. Hey, what's that just up the road? It was the pin from one of the lift arms on the 3 point hitch. The Q pin holding it on must've gone AWOL several days ago, because I looked for it up and down the driveway and didn't see it.

Had I been running it lifted, loaded up with a blower full of snow at full throttle things might've gotten pretty torqued if that hitch pin fell out.

Going to have to add the Q pins to the preflight checklist from now on.

Interestingly enough, when I went to steal a Q pin that was holding one of the skid shoes on my plow rig, I found one of those was also missing.

Gonna have to put out traps to deal with this Q pin thieving gnome problem.

 

[Snowlan]

With 3PH pull type snow blowers it is common to back into a deep drift with blower lifted all the way and then drop it while driving out, don't see any issues provided the PTO is within the spec for angles.

One reason I can see a manual warning against it, they don't know what tractor you are using to operating the snow blower. If someone has a smaller tractor and no FEL mounted, combined with a heavy snow blower on the back could lead to stability problems. If the 3 PH is near maxed out just lifting the snow blower, then the augers fill up with snow, add the force of the snow jetting out the chute at whatever angle you have it set at, I'd say a bad day could occur for someone that hasn't properly matched their equipment.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Hi folks, new member here. Bought a house last year with a 1/3 mile gravel driveway. Managed to keep it open last winter with a big old ariens st1236 and tired old jeep cherokee plow rig, but it was always a hassle.

So this winter I upgraded to a Kubota L3901 with a SB1064 rear 3 point blower.

I've always been super careful about building up a snow mat before when using my old walk behind and have managed to never bust a shear bolt. Have been contemplating my snow removal strategy for this coming winter. Was hoping I could just run the blower with it raised 3-4 inches off the ground and then pack down the remaining snow by driving over it. Unfortunately, the manual states that operating the blower in this manner is bad and to only blow snow with it fully lowered.

OK, got it. Won't do that then.

But I'm curious as to why?- just want to understand the forces at work here so I don't do something else dumb. Can anybody enlighten me?

Thanks!

I think they want you to keep the weight of the blower on the ground. That keeps the vertical reaction from blowing the snow plus the weight of the blower off the three point linkage and probably reduces the vibration of the unit.(just a guess) You can use skid shoes to set a higher clearance if you want.

 

[nfisheremti]

i run my high all the time. i only turn it off when traveling between driveways. running high is great for moving tall snow piles, like roof dumps. hit it high, then drop it and hit it low. i've been doing this for 10 years, no big problems with the driveshaft or the tractor.