PTO snowblower running 1000 rpm?

[tractchores]

For what its worth I felt my gearbox after blowing about 1/4 of a mile at 900 RPM and it was cool to the touch. Before doing it a lot I would want to read up more on the gearbox and the bearings. There must be a reson they sell converters to lower the speed and design them for the lower RPM.

 

[woodchipper]

It will be very difficult to balance your fan... The first obstacle you will hit (like a rock, or other solid object)will throw out of balance your fan...
If not designed to run at such high speeds, you will shorten the life of it, and may well have vibration problems. Think about the vibrations going from the blower to the tractor! Not a joy for your internal gears and bearings/sleeves. With 50 PTO HP, you should be ok with a 86" blower under normal circumstances (ie: not a hard packed or wet snow, and under 16" thick), at a good moving speed of course. Remember that the lower RPMs will give you the best amount of torque available. But when dealing with snow, what prevails is how efficiently that snow gets pick up, and then blown out of the shute. Higher RPMs are way better at acheiving this.

 

[Rustyiron]

I've been thinking of building a blower, and one of my questions was fan speed and how to get more than 540 out of a 540 pto? Today a thought came around to me that a bigger diameter fan (at 540) would have a faster (tip of fan) speed than your usual 18-20" fan would. I have a pretty good sized tractor and even at 30" I'd still have a level driveshaft angle. Any thoughts from tractor 3pt. blower users? I realize that as the fan assy. get's bigger, balance becomes much more important.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Take a look at a Schultie snow blower. My neighbour has one. It's got about a 36" diameter fan that is geared down from 1000 rpm pto. That's on an eight foot wide model. It will easily clear the power line with the plume of snow. I don't know how far it blows the snow but it's impressive.

 

[Rustyiron]

Thanks, I thought that they were from Germany. Looks like the units around 8' have a 30" fan. I like that front mount set up.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I just goggled them and they are from Saskatchewan. Request Rejected

From what I understand most of the major tractor manufacturers are now offering front three point hitches and front pto's so any rear push implement can be turned around and used on the front.

 

[oldnslo]

I've been thinking of building a blower, and one of my questions was fan speed and how to get more than 540 out of a 540 pto? Today a thought came around to me that a bigger diameter fan (at 540) would have a faster (tip of fan) speed than your usual 18-20" fan would. I have a pretty good sized tractor and even at 30" I'd still have a level driveshaft angle. Any thoughts from tractor 3pt. blower users? I realize that as the fan assy. get's bigger, balance becomes much more important.

I believe silage blowers use around a 54" diameter fan but these typically are not dealing with rocks, ice, etc. Examples Gehl Hi thro. They are also supported by bearings on both sides and very well balanced. Not the same application but provides an idea of potential tip speed using 540 RPM.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Bear in mind that snow blowers are used in winter and are often covered with snow, so heat should really not be a concern. Usually, things don't work out this well! Interesting thing about balancing the blower. Problem is that I am guessing the blower is rarely free of ice and snow, so much for the balancing!

As far as 50 HP for 86", I would consider that underpowered especially for a non hydro. Our tractor makes 70 at the Dyno and find the 84" single Auger Geo White Blower can suck the life out of the tractor. Mind you, the blower is build like a brick sheit house but not very efficient (not near as much as a lucknow 6.5 foot, I once owned and ran with 42 HP), so that's the other thing, some blowers just work much better then others and then of course there are varying snow conditions to consider as well.

 

[Rustyiron]

Problem is that I am guessing the blower is rarely free of ice and snow, so much for the balancing!

Excelent point!

 

[pmsmechanic]

Just the fact that the snow is getting blown out of the chute unbalances the fan. You've got a fan blade full of snow that is suddenly empty, meanwhile the one behind it is full of snow.