Snowblower Snowblower attachments?

[bobnewjersey]

Does anyone have any experience with any front or rear mounted pto driven snowblowers? I've seen the Farm King and Walco Meteor on the web. Any satisfied owners out there?

 

[boustany]

Well, I guess lots of use have experence with them. Mine is a rear mount locally made in the snowy north, and I suspect there are numerous regional manufacturers. They all seem pretty good, but I figure a good rule of thumb is the heavier the better, because a heavier blower is made with heavier steel. Make sure the blower is wider than your wheels. And either get a slip PTO shaft, or lots of spare shear pins...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a front mount blower that is PTO driven on my BX. I use a quickhitch for mounting. It takes a matter of about 30 seconds at most to hook or unhook from the blower. I can throw dry snow about 40 ft. with it. Wet around 15ft.

 

[dourobob]

I have a 6 foot Meteor blower on a 3ph. It is just great. Simple, dependable, functional. I am just learning to weld and hope to make a set of skid shoes for it this fall.
Don't think you could go wrong with the Meteor. Check out this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=implement&Number=99829&fpart=1>link</A>

bob

Bob

 

[hwp]

As you see below, I have a front mounted pto-driven snowblower and it works great. Actually it is the major reason I swithced from a conventional garden tractor to a front mount. As others have said, the heavier the construction of the snowblower the better. A heated cab makes the job a lot more fun. The salt spreader on the back makes clearing the driveway a one machine process.

When looking at different snowblowers, makes sure that the impeller of the snowblower is big enough to give you a discharge velocity of at least 5000 feet/min at your desired PTO operating speed. Also make sure you have enough horsepower to operate the snowblower. My rule of thumb is at least 5 hp per foot of width, i.e. a 5 foot snowblower needs at least 25 hp.

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>My rule of thumb is at least 5 hp per foot of width, i.e. a 5 foot snowblower needs at least 25 hp</font color=blue>

I'd say that's pretty conservative or you get lots of snow! Plenty of 2' wide walk behinds run very well on 5HP. Of course when we got 2' of snow, it required taking a couple bites.

 

[hwp]

Yes hazmat, we can get a lot of snow, but not last year, and hopefully not this year. Walk behind snowblowers may require less horsepower but even the private brand ones sold in the big box stores around here tend to have a horsepower to width ratio of about 5:1. I had a Honda track drive that was 18" wide and had a 8 hp engine - just enough. If we get a snowfall of more than 6 inches, I can stall the 24 hp diesel engine in my tractor pushing a 50" wide snowblower at anything over about 5 mph. Getting the right speed for the snow conditions is critical as snowblowers work best when fully loaded but not overloaded.

 

[cchoate]

Kubota makes a 60" blower for my b7500 which has a 16hp pto.

 

[JJT]

I think your minimum of 5hp/ft is a little on the high side. I run an 78" AgroTrend, (very heavily built Canadian blower), on my L3710, (30 pto hp). I've had no problems with 36" drifts, 20"+ snow storms or 12" of wet slop. 4 seasons and I've never sheared a pin or a drive link.

 

[daffyduk]

I see that you have a TC 40D also...we have that in common. I have no experience but I just bought the 74" Farm King. We had very little snow last year so I guess I'm hoping for the opposite this year. Farm King (by buhler) seems to be a really solid piece of machinery and I think I got a good price. I can hardly wait to get that "experience" that you mentioned. Good luck in your search.

Gene

 

[bobnewjersey]

Gene.......what did you pay for your Farm King?

 

[daffyduk]

Paid $1275. A dealer near Indy was going out of business and I just happened to be driving by. I saw his g.o.b. sign at about the same time I saw a couple of snowblowers sitting in the yard....At least I thought it was a good deal..

Gene

 

[bobnewjersey]

That was a real good deal. I bought the Meteor today for 1600.

 

[dourobob]

I believe you will be well satisfied with the Meteor. Did you get skid plates and a hydraulic rotator for that price and is it US or CDN $$$

Bob

 

[bobnewjersey]

Only bought the skid plates, and that was US dollars.

 

[dourobob]

Jeez bobnewjersey, I hate to do this but that does sound kinda pricey. The Currency Converter site indicates this is almost $2500 Cdn.

I know my Meteor blower is 78 inches wide, manual chute and no skids and I paid under $1,000 Cdn. My neighbour also bought one exactly the same at a different dealer for under $1,000 Cdn.

Hope yours in bigger than 6 1/2 feet wide. Not sure where you are but you would likely have higher shipping costs as we are only about 2 hours from the manufacturer.

Regardless of price you have a great piece of equipment there.

Bob