Skid steer snow blower on tractor loader?

[shooterdon]

Whatever you decide on...think long term. I will be 71 next month. What is a PITA today may be very difficult in 10-15 years.

That was a prime consideration for me. Even if wanted to invest in a front blower, none were that easy IMO. I have a friend who would have helped me out, but hate being dependent on others.

 

[mikester]

I made a 3PH to SSQA adapter and ran my 3PH snowblower on the front driving the PTO shaft with a hydraulic motor powered by the aux front hydraulics. It worked but it wasn't ideal for all situations.

1. Turning radius - the blower ends up way out front. If you have to clear round cars or curves you can't get as close.
2. Cutting down 6 foot high plus snow banks - works good because you get height and reach
3. Deep wet snow means you go real slow. 16GPM 2500psi wasn't enough flow IMHO.

I think more PTO HP and a nice heated cab is the way to go. If I was going to do it commercially I would consider a versatile type tractor or tractor with front PTO or wheel loader.

Messicks had a slick video demoing a quick attach front mount system called K-connect on the L60, check it out.

 

[hayden]

Oh one other thing. When I first got the unit it didn't have an oil cooler on the tank. Erskine said it wasn't necessary with just a snowblower because of the colder temps. I ended up adding the cooler after using it a few times and laser temp checked my fluid @ 160 to 180 degrees.

Thanks you for both posts! It's super helpful to get first hand experience.

I have read elsewhere about the weight of the PTO pump and have also been wondering about making it shaft driven. There is a chance I will put together the power pack myself and will look hard at a shaft drive, or perhaps try to come up with some way to aid in the installation of the pump.

And I have wondered along the same lines about cooling, hoping that the cold operating temps will provide sufficient cooling, but also knowing the system will generate a lot of heat.

I see you have the 20 GPM pump pack. I was thinking about the 25 GPM pack, but it would have to be properly matched to the blower motor.

What is your snow blower width? The rear PTO unit I've been using is 74" and is the minimum I'd want.

 

[hayden]

Whatever you decide on...think long term. I will be 71 next month. What is a PITA today may be very difficult in 10-15 years.

That was a prime consideration for me. Even if wanted to invest in a front blower, none were that easy IMO. I have a friend who would have helped me out, but hate being dependent on others.

This is a big part of what's motivating me to make this change.

 

[shooterdon]

I made a 3PH to SSQA adapter and ran my 3PH snowblower on the front driving the PTO shaft with a hydraulic motor powered by the aux front hydraulics. It worked but it wasn't ideal for all situations.

1. Turning radius - the blower ends up way out front. If you have to clear round cars or curves you can't get as close.
2. Cutting down 6 foot high plus snow banks - works good because you get height and reach
3. Deep wet snow means you go real slow. 16GPM 2500psi wasn't enough flow IMHO.

I think more PTO HP and a nice heated cab is the way to go. If I was going to do it commercially I would consider a versatile type tractor or tractor with front PTO or wheel loader.

Messicks had a slick video demoing a quick attach front mount system called K-connect on the L60, check it out.

That video was impressive...and I bet the price is too!!

IMO manufactures are missing the boat. Frankly, I do not see the need for the massive sub frames they use. So much easier and practical to have something that attaches to the SSQA. That eliminates having to remove the FEL, Most users have only one tractor and having the loader attached is handy if you need to move pallets, or use the bucket to scoop snow when needed. My FEL will handle 2700 lbs...why do I need a sub-frame for a 1250 lb blower and engine?

The SnowVac concept is ideal. SnowVac Front Mounted Snowblowers for Trucks, PTO Snow Blowers for Tractors, and Loaders

There is no reason for it to cost as much as it does. I see they have a "lite" version for pick up trucks that costs under $10k. I am sure something like that would be fine for non-commercial use on a tractor. The "lite" was not available when I was shopping or I would have contacted the company to see if it can be adapted to a SSQA. I would gladly change the oil once a year and have a supply of gas on hand to run the second engine....in exchange for the versatility and ease of use.

Found this....

Bercomac

us.bercomac.com

More like it in terms of price.

 

[hayden]

I really question the power of these units with their own engines. In my opinion and experience, 33hp as seen on the Bercomac is way under powered for a 72" blower. I base this off the 74" blower I have been using for years that will eat every HP available from my 50hp PTO. Less power isn't a problem in light snow, but if you are trying to clear 12" or so, you would have to move really slow with only 33 hp.

 

[oldpilot]

I'm 89, and while I looked at snow blowers I figured that driving backwards would destroy my neck before the winter was over, so I spent about $3500 for a plow rig for my front-end loader. I'm not completely happy with it because it sticks out quite a bit and the FEL on Mahindra Baba does "float" awfully well, at least not until it's well warmed up. I should think a snow blower would be even less adaptable to hills and vales.

Another reason to be skeptical of a snow blower is the gravel driveway. I figured I'd spend much of time replacing shear pins.

 

[hddoktr5]

Get a larger size wireless backup camera like a motor home has you can thread the needle with these things . Why add more equipment you have to change out and store
Problem solved

 

[fishhead]

One more vote for a rear pull. These things are just a dream to operate. They seem to retain the efficiency of a rear push, Have better visibility when moving forwards and allow you to retain use of a loader or add a plow.
I think with the length of your drive that you want to get as much efficiency as possible and that I would research any power loss in the hydraulic set-up. I clear a similar length plus a number of side drives and i find on smaller snows I can move fast enough that i'm not jonesing for a plow. The bigger events are slower but that's when the advantage of really getting rid of the snow comes in and who doesn't enjoy a blower sending a big stream of snow.

!2" is nothing as far as blowing without packing, a good 74" blower is going to weigh 1000 lbs.

Depending on the distance that you need to clear the 3' you could just back in and pull forward or use your loader or some combination. As was mentioned a couple of times you could just keep it from getting too bad during the winter.

 

[bennatti]

As a 70+ year old I have installed a rear heated camera to reduce neck and back strain. Doesn't eliminate it but it is a huge help...last few year here in Maine (near Bangor) no storms large enough to warrant putting on the snowblower...read grader blade and FEL do more than an adequate job on my 450 ft drive and two parking areas

 

[VoyagernOK]

I have a Kubota L5740 and for years have been clearing a 1/2 mile road plus parking areas with a rear mount PTO snow blower. It works well, but as I get older, being twisted around to see and work backwards is getting old. So I have started thinking about a front mount snow blower.

Kubota of course makes one, but it involves a substantial sub frame that doesn't look easy to install and remove, and as I understand it, the sub frame is incompatible with using the loader. So even if you remove the blower itself, you still can't use the loader unless you remove the whole sub frame. That just won't work for me.

So I've been thinking about using a skid steer snow blower. I have a SS mount on my loader, and I have front hydraulic remotes that could be used for chute rotation. But I don't have enough hydraulic power to drive the blower. I've seen specs in the 16-21 gpm, so I'm figuring on 20 gpm as a round number. I think my choices are a rear PTO pump, or a mid PTO pump. The mid PTO runs at about twice the RPM of the rear PTO, so a smaller pump will work, But somehow I'd have to mount and secure the pump. For a rear PTO there are a variety of commercially available kits, but on first check they seem a bit pricey.

Anyway, I'm interested in thoughts on this approach, and especially interested if anyone has done this before.

Thanks in advance

I added a big grapple to the front of my Mahindra mPower 75M and to avoid having to add a third function hydraulic up front, I used a fish tape and ran a set of hoses under the cab from a spare hydraulic connection at the back of the tractor. I used two hoses for each so that I if I remove the FEL I don't have to take the hoses out from under the cab, just disconnect at the loader mount. This has been very workable for me. I never use both sets of hydraulics on the back at the same time I'm using the grapple.
I also always use color coded zip ties around my hydraulic hose connections so that I always go back the right way without having to disconnect and switch to make controls run right.

 

[VoyagernOK]

As a 70+ year old I have installed a rear heated camera to reduce neck and back strain. Doesn't eliminate it but it is a huge help...last few year here in Maine (near Bangor) no storms large enough to warrant putting on the snowblower...read grader blade and FEL do more than an adequate job on my 450 ft drive and two parking areas

Thank you! I'm just behind you on age and I'd never considered this, but I'm definitely going to do this. Even just being able to watch my bushhog easier will be nice.

 

[Tony H]

I stumbled on a blower company that does have a gas motor mounted on the blower assembly. Ibis too bad AG tractors do not put out high rpm's on their hydraulics.
Why isn't a rear PTO pump good enough?

 

[hayden]

Maybe in the interim I'll give the backup camera a try. I started to put one together for just this purpose many years ago, but it was a pile of very cumbersome technology bits and I never finished it. I expect I can buy a packaged camera and display now for about 50 cents, so will look into it.

One question you guys could help me with on the pull-behinds, is how close can to get to a walled surface when you are backing up to it? I have a few garage doors that I have been backing the rear snow blower up to within a few inches which leaves behind very little snow to hand dig. With a pull-behind it seems the closest I could get is the depth of the blower, right? So probably close to 2'? That would be a disadvantage to me, though I might be able to change my clearing pattern in some places so I'm clearing parallel to the doors rather than perpendicular to them.

But to be honest, the only negatives I've heard regarding a front mount, hydraulically drive snow blower as originally contemplated are 1) it's easy to end up under-powered, so size everything carefully, 2) it's probably more expensive than a pull-behind (but less than a frame mount front blower). 3) the PTO pump is heavy and hence difficult to install/remove.

I have already decided I'm willing to pay for something that is front mounted, or that allows me to work facing forward most of the time. So that issue is off the table. And I know I can live with a bit less power - say 10-20% - but probably not less that that. I think that's achievable, and we have at least on L6060 owner who finds it works well in similar conditions. So I think it can be done if I so choose. That leaves the PTO pump weight, and presents an interesting challenge to either come up with an assisted way to hang the pump, or a way to drive it with a shaft.

 

[hayden]

I appreciate the suggestions and experience from people with pull-behinds, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work well in some of the situations I face. It seems you can use it one of two ways. You can drive forward through fresh snow and the blower cleans up behind you. Or you can back into snow with the blower raised, lower it, then drive forward, clearing some number of feet in each cycle. I don't want to do the later in anything other than exceptional circumstance since it largely defeats the goal of not having to work facing backwards.

Earlier I mentioned the path that I need to clear once or twice a winter to one of my propane tank hoods. This path is across the yard, so I expressly don't want to maintain it as a cleared path since it will chew up the lawn more than I already do (I get yelled at every year already). So I only clear it just in advance of a propane delivery. Backing in has already been rejected, and I'm quite certain I couldn't break through it driving forward with the tractor. It's just too deep most of the time, and too steep.

 

[shooterdon]

On my main garage, I have door openers. I activate them when I leave the garage and back the pull blower part way into the garage. The side mirrors are good enough to get me positioned across the door, and a foot or two in or out of the door is not critical. That leaves very little snow to clear. In other areas, I use the front mounted blade to back drag.

I also have an Ariens gas snow blower I use for the walkways next to the house, and use that at times in front of the garage. I do very little hand shoveling.

 

[bitseeker]

Hayden,

I must admit that I just scanned this thread and may have missed another response about the Kubota subframe and loader compatibility.

We have a 5240 with a cab and the subframe and the front PTO blower.
The blower works great.
The subframe stays on and works WITH the loader.
The subframe is heavy (1,500 pounds?) and low, increasing stability.
I made up a short steel link to replace the hydraulic cylinder when the blower is off to avoid the blower-mounting "tongue" from drifting down.

We live in the mountain west and our snowfall is way down and the temperatures are way up.
Snowblowers do not handle wet snow well and are overkill for small snowfalls.
Last winter I did not even mount the blower and got a Landpride blade for clearing our long driveway and related areas.
If next winter is similar, I may sell the blower and subframe and just stick with the blade.
Of course, doing that will probably result in the return of 6-foot fluffy drifts .

Anyway, on the 5240, the subframe and loader ARE compatible.
Your 5740 may be similar.

If anyone is interested, I'll get the tractor out and take a photo to post of the subframe/loader configuration.

 

[hacksaw11111]

I have a Kubota L5740 and for years have been clearing a 1/2 mile road plus parking areas with a rear mount PTO snow blower. It works well, but as I get older, being twisted around to see and work backwards is getting old. So I have started thinking about a front mount snow blower.

Kubota of course makes one, but it involves a substantial sub frame that doesn't look easy to install and remove, and as I understand it, the sub frame is incompatible with using the loader. So even if you remove the blower itself, you still can't use the loader unless you remove the whole sub frame. That just won't work for me.

So I've been thinking about using a skid steer snow blower. I have a SS mount on my loader, and I have front hydraulic remotes that could be used for chute rotation. But I don't have enough hydraulic power to drive the blower. I've seen specs in the 16-21 gpm, so I'm figuring on 20 gpm as a round number. I think my choices are a rear PTO pump, or a mid PTO pump. The mid PTO runs at about twice the RPM of the rear PTO, so a smaller pump will work, But somehow I'd have to mount and secure the pump. For a rear PTO there are a variety of commercially available kits, but on first check they seem a bit pricey.

Anyway, I'm interested in thoughts on this approach, and especially interested if anyone has done this before.

Thanks in advance

Backup camera and tablet mounted on the dash...leave your setup alone...200 bucks

 

[grette]

We bought our front blower, pto power pack as a package. If you size your own make sure your hoses are big enough. Ours uses 1/2 inch hoses with flat face connectors to get proper flow.

 

[JWR]

i have a front mount hydraulic blower on my unit. purchased in 2010. works flawlessly since then. i have a rear 25 gal hydraulic powerplant. i had bids for a quality built rear 3 point blower in the 6-7 grand range, but got this unit for about 2x that price.

doesnt matter, as a rear mount would not work for the projects i needed this for. i had to be able to lift it high to clear roof shedding. and a subframe mount would not lift far enough.

$12K to $14K is just silly for this OP's stated problem ! I realize you did not say "go do that" but I am sayng don't.