Snow Snow blower operation questions

[tractorwookie]

I recently bought a used tractor, and it came with a front mounted snow blower that is hydraulicly powered from a pump that runs off the pto and connects to a resivoir tank connected to the three point hitch. It didnt come with a manual unfortunetly, and I'm new to this, and im hoping someone could help me with what pto speed I should set it at, and the corresponding engine rpm as well. my tachometer shows a section for 540 1st at 2200-2700 engine rpm, and i was wondering if it would be the same for 1080. thanks in advance

 

[RoyJackson]

Your best bet is to determine the manufacturer and model number of the snow blower, then goggle them. It's possible they will have an online manual you can download. If not, contact the manufacturer for the manual.
Also, post the same info here on this thread. It's quite possible another TBNer has the same equipment.

 

[RoyJackson]

Your best bet is to determine the manufacturer and model number of the snow blower, then goggle them. It's possible they will have an online manual you can download. If not, contact the manufacturer for the manual.
Also, post the same info here on this thread. It's quite possible another TBNer has the same equipment.

 

[grsthegreat]

I recently bought a used tractor, and it came with a front mounted snow blower that is hydraulicly powered from a pump that runs off the pto and connects to a resivoir tank connected to the three point hitch. It didnt come with a manual unfortunetly, and I'm new to this, and im hoping someone could help me with what pto speed I should set it at, and the corresponding engine rpm as well. my tachometer shows a section for 540 1st at 2200-2700 engine rpm, and i was wondering if it would be the same for 1080. thanks in advance

not sure what equipment you have, but i have similar setup (hyd blower with 25 gallon hyd 3 point hitch tank and pto pump. I run mine ate 540 rpm (bring it up slowly by idling throttle before engaging pto) My tractor has an indicator on tach that points to 540 pto rpm.

Not sure about yours.

 

[tractorwookie]

My tractor is 65hp with an independant pto system if that helps, yup i have that indicator on my tach too, for running 540 pto prm. I did run it on 540 but it seemed would just back up with snow and clog, which seemed odd because the snow was by no means deep, and it wasnt heavy either. Im also going to try to get my hands on a manual liek royjackson suggested

 

[chipsndust]

tw:

Be careful working on the snowblower.

Did you check to see if the shear bolts have sheared? With the tractor engine turned off, you should not be able to spin the auger or the impeller. If they move easily, you need to replace the shear bolts.

 

[Fergy]

tw:

Be careful working on the snowblower.

Did you check to see if the shear bolts have sheared? With the tractor turned off, you should not be able to spin the auger or the impeller. If they move easily, you need to replace the shear bolts.

I believe this might not be true if you have an independent PTO.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Balerguy2]

Tractorwookie,

Your tractor tach shows the rpm range for proportionally a ? to 540 rpm. That enabling engine rpm is the 2200 to 2700 rpm that you provided. Most tractors do not have a dual speed rear pto. Some scuts do (rear and mid) but it would be probably rare to find a small farm tractor to have both speeds. Usually the rear is 540 and the mid pto might be 1000 (mostly for running belly mowers. Your tach doesn't show any range for a dual speed pto.

I recently mounted my rear snow blower up front on the loader. (Drop off the bucket). My rear 540 pto provides the hyd. power pack facility to turn the hydraulic motor installed on the blower up front. My installation includes a #60 (heavy) chain sprocket on each (blower motor & blower ) shafts so to enable rotating the snow blower at or close to 540 rpm. ie I may turn the Hyd. Motor 470 and by changing a sprocket turn the blower 540. Direct drive from the Hyd motor to the blower shaft allows you only rear pto rpm to change and that may be out of your range. If you are turning the blower less or even close to 500 rpm you will be blowing snow............ is your set up a home made job or an OEM. Is it a mismatch of pump/ motor etc.?

It would help to know more about your tractor.

 

[wedge40]

When asking questions there is never to much info you can provide. The basics. Make and model of tractor, year the tractor was manufactured. Heck sometimes the color helps.

Wedge

 

[cabover4us]

Hello and happy new year, recently saw a woods sc64 snowblower 3pt hitch on wantaddigest for $1975 this thing looked brand new, painted green all over, with no signs of wear, of course I called and it was long, long gone, he who hesitates loses..
Not sure why I wanted it, but it sure would beat using my two walk behind snowblowers

 

[Balerguy2]

Tractorwookie,

I did some Googling and found a link for you to look at. You may have a Branson tractor that DOES have a double or triple speed rear pto. Gotta be kinda rare here but maybe that might be the reason your not getting the snow lofted like it should.

TractorData.com Branson 5530R tractor information

Since no Branson guru has jumped in here and snow is flying ya need a manual for your tractor and the blower. Or figure how to safely shift that pto into the higher rpm range.

Good luck!

 

[tractorwookie]

Is there any other way to increase the power out of this thing. Because we have it running at 1080 pto rpm and at 2500 engine rpm it still bogs up and clogs. Where as our 42hp doesn't bog and clog. It shoots the snow further and everything. We tensioned up the chain to the auger and that helped a bit. Is it a general rule that pot driven snow blowers have more power than hydraulically powered snow blowers?

 

[Balerguy2]

tractorwookie,

1) Does your hydraulic motor attach directly to the drive shaft of your front snow blower.......................... or, does it attach and drive via sprocket & chain?

2) Do you know if this setup had "issues" before you bought it?

3) Do you positively know what rpm your blower is supposed to be running at? Ya need the manual or post its name and model number on here so somebody can comment the specs.

4) Does your blower have 2 stages.................... ie an auger that brings the snow to the center and then a 3 or 4 blade geared ducted propeller to heist the snow up and out the chute?

Hydraulically driven Snow Blowers can be just as big as mechanical PTO blowers. By the way PTO's themselves are either hydraulically driven or mechanically driven. My case years ago I drove this same blower via a rear PTO from an IH 444 and that was a mechanical independent rear PTO. Maybe 20 years ago I used the same blower on my Skid-Loader front with a 4 cyl. pony engine................. then, rear mount, PTO the last 10 years or so on my L4610 Kubota. I just got tired of rear mount so I relocated that same blower up front and drive it via a hydraulic motor. You cannot tell the difference in all these "drive methods". It'll will blow snow and never clog or bog. I commonly use 3 rd gear (GST) trans and that is 3.0 mph and run just over 500 rpm on the motor (the rear pump is turning about 470 or less).

 

[robstaples]

I have a front mount hydraulic snowblower on a Kubota L39. I started with the front fel hydraulic tap and added rear PTO pump to get more oil volume. Get the motor spec and find the displacement and the same for the pump. My Loftness blower (60") wanted about 15 gal per min. My pump does 20 gpm at 540 rpm so I run a little light throttle. With the spec on the two ends , you can figure how it should run. Dirty filter, weak pump might be issues. I can help more with the motor pump spec if you want. What's the diameter of the second stage? From that I can estimate desired rpm

 

[grsthegreat]

Is there any other way to increase the power out of this thing. Because we have it running at 1080 pto rpm and at 2500 engine rpm it still bogs up and clogs. Where as our 42hp doesn't bog and clog. It shoots the snow further and everything. We tensioned up the chain to the auger and that helped a bit. Is it a general rule that pot driven snow blowers have more power than hydraulically powered snow blowers?

well all i can tell you is my hydraulic blower shoots the snow as far as my old PTO driven unit after i got the pressure regulator adjusted properly. It even blasts wet snow a great distance. Ive only had 2 clogged chute issues and they were my fault for not letting the unit clear itself before i shut off the pump.

I do believe the hydraulic unit will have less efficiency than a direct PTO unit, but it shouldnt be clogging. Could be issues with the PTO pump itself. might need to have that looked at. Mine runs at 540 rpm and puts out 15 GPM at 3,000 psi.

youd probably need some gauges and some more knowledge of hydraulic pumps than i do to figure out the output on your system. If the seals are shot on your pump it could be the reason for poor performance.

i also use ISO22 fluids that have a rating for sever cold, and i preheat my tank for an hour before operating it (on timer). If the fluids your running are too cold, that could be an issue also.

 

[tractorwookie]

Sorry for the late reply, I have been very busy for the last month and havent had much time for repairs or anything. That being said I am now trying to get back on track and solve these issues. The next chance I get I am going to take pictures of my setup and post them here. I will get my brother to gather the manuals so I can post what spes they do have since it is a custom build.

 

[tractorwookie]

Balerguy2,

Sorry for my late reply

I have been trying to gather more information for you, For starters here is the tractor
TractorData.com Branson 6530C tractor information

the hydraulic motor Attaches to the gearbox by a dual sprocket piece (at the front)


the gearbox drives a shaft that runs along to a sprocket with a chain and a tensioner that drives the main auger.
I believe one of the output shafts on the gearbox drives the fan as well.

Unfortunately I do not know if the setup had any previous issues, The previous owner did take great care of his equipment. But I will be talking with him.

The Manual on the snow blower says that the pto rpm should be 540, however the manual is for this snow blower, before its customization and conversion to hydraulics. The previous owner did have it 1080 rpm, and was told to keep it at that.

The snow blower does have 2 stages, the main auger pulls the snow into the fan and is then driven up and out of the shoot.

The snow blower was made by smyth welding and it is a 78-sh which isn't on the site, the closest one is the 78-s but that is a rear mount snow blower and mine has been customized.

if need be I can take more photos the next time I have the tractor out, for now here are some of the reservoir tank (which is approximately half full) and the only gauge on it which is attached to the intank filter.

In the picture with the hydraulic lines, the pipe/line with the yellow handle is the input to the pump. the output comes out of the right side of the pump and goes to the pressure relief valve then continues along to the motor, and the return line comes back between the input to the pump and goes up the side of the reservoir with the pressure relief bypass.

 

[tractorwookie]

Fergy,
Would this still apply to my hydraulic set up, because I can turn them both but i figured it was because its not trying to turn the pto. and could the auger still spin while powered on if the shear pins where broken?

 

[grsthegreat]

Balerguy2,


View attachment 363538View attachment 363539View attachment 363540View attachment 363541
.

i cant get the pics to open

 

[tractorwookie]

I just edited try again