QA FEL Snowblower

   / QA FEL Snowblower #31  
badapplefab - please, like to see other ideas

CJONE - Thanks for the info.

The space inbetween my impeller and the wall is about 1", seems excessive. Anyone else have that much spacing?

My big blower is between 1/2 to 1". I know it makes a difference but I know it is not as important as speed. Spent some time spacing one to less the 1/4" and it helped but no where near as much as increasing the rpms. CJ
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower #33  
I'm going to see what the RPMs are this weekend if i get a chance, i'm curious as well.
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower #34  
You sure the PTO blower wasn't supposed to run on a 1000 RPM pto? I know a lot of the cut blowers have gearboxes to speed up 540 rpm pto's to 1000 for the impeller, or use a 1000 rpm shaft.
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower #35  
You sure the PTO blower wasn't supposed to run on a 1000 RPM pto? I know a lot of the cut blowers have gearboxes to speed up 540 rpm pto's to 1000 for the impeller, or use a 1000 rpm shaft.

You beat me to it but I was thinking the same thing!

20-30ft throwing distance should be no issue for a 3pt blower designed for 540 or 1000rpm.

What make and model is the blower?

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower #36  
I had a similar setup a few years ago.
Used a 16 hp Wisconsin single cyl #40 chain, tensioner, 4" on the motor and 10" on the blower shaft.
No clutch but it started as long as I beeped the starter to get to the right position.
I opted for chain drive as I figured belts would slip.
Worked just great until I discovered a chunk of scrap iron and blew the blower to scrap.

Presently I run a 60" meteor with 3 blade impeller designed for 550PTO but performance is to be desired at that RPM so I run it at 750RPM (3 speed PTO) and have done so for 4 years without any problems at all.
Just saying to suggest that precise RPM is not all that critical as long as vibration is minimal.
Also only broke 2 sheer pins all last winter at the elevated RPM's.
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower #37  
Interesting note (at least I think so). I have an L2195A, which is a front mount blower for a Kubota L3940.
I'm familiar with rear blowers, and their 540 rpm "requirement". I was looking for the RPM for my blower, since the mid PTO spins different than the rear. ANYWAY, there was no RPM limit. It almost seems like the manual made a reference to WOT (wide open throttle), as well.

Point is, I sure wouldn't be concerned about 10-15% (or more, if its smooth) over-speeding it.
 
   / QA FEL Snowblower
  • Thread Starter
#38  
Finally some updates -

To answer the older questions -The blower is an older Farm King SB60 - I verified the model and PTO speed before I started this project. 540 RPM is what the blower is expecting to get.


The big delay here was having to rebuild the belt tension setup and also added a chain tensioner as I changed the sprocket size to speed up the blower and that changed the chain length. I haven't measured the speed yet, but it should be around 600 or so RPM at the blower while the engine is at full throttle.


So how does it work?

My setup works really well. The downside to my setup is I don't have as much inerita as the factory option and I have to be careful with belts slipping. The plus side is I can lift the entire blower to any height and slowly cut banks back from the top down - only taking 3"-5" per cut. I was able to move about 6"-8" in a single pass yesterday without overloading the belts. The correct drive ratio has made a HUGE difference. I'm really happy with it.


My neighbor let me borrow their setup -exact same tractor with the factory-option snowblower (shaftdriven) and compared it to my own design. Theirs works really well and it's easy to know when you are overloading the blower as the tractor bogs down. The mid-PTO on our tractors run at 1100 RPM (i think) so they have a little more inertia to work with. That being said, I really don't like the lift-limit on the factory option. We get large snowbanks here and it's impossible to cut them back if you can't lift the blower and work top down. The snowblower is also mounted so you lose your loader.

To summarize:

Factory setup -
Pros - Shaft driven - no slippage to worry about. Hydraulic-driven method to change chute direction is really great.
Cons - Initial Cost, limited lift ability, permanently mounted (you take off the loader)

My setup -
Pros - Quick attach, lift height limited to loader height, Initial cost,
Cons - extra fuel cost, possible belt slippage if overloaded,

The factory option costs around $3500 and I have about $1500 into mine.


I'm thinking about converting mine into a hydraulic setup. You'd eliminate belts and still be able to lift the blower..maybe in another thread.
 

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