Snowblower snowblower ideas please

[riopoco]

We have a jd790 and are desperate to add a snowblower to get rid of all this white stuff! Budget is limited so am thinking of attaching a snow thrower unit that normally attaches to the front of a garden tractor. Say something like a toro 42". Does anyone have any experience in rigging something like this up?

Thanks

 

[David Devuono]

Garden tractors often have vertical shaft engines and the front snow blowers are driven by a belt off of a pully at the bottom of the engine. I suspect your tractor likely has a mid PTO facing forward. I thought about doing something similar but it would be an expensive experiment to try and remove the pully drive system off the blower and fab a shaft drive back to the tractor PTO. Cheapest would be to buy a used blower for your 3PH. ( not sure how easy they are to find this year is some parts of the USA)

 

[Ductape]

I'm with David. Adapting a garden tractor syle blower will cost more for the average person to adapt than its worth. A used rear PTO blower will by far be your best bet. A few years ago i bought one for seven hundred dollars, but there are plenty of members here who have done much better than that.

 

[kennyd]

Welcome to TBN

I rear 3PH blower will probably be the cheapest way to get blowin'. Used front blowers come up rarely for sale but it sounds like your in a hurry! Does your machine have the mid-PTO?


Fill your profile out and let us know where your at, someone close may be able to help you...

 

[RalphVa]

A friend of mine with a Kubota uses a rear-mounted snow blower in Winchester, Va. It's by far cheaper than a front mounted one. Long as you're comfortable either keeping your head turned to look back or kinda sitting sideways to see, it's a good way to go. I've a rear blade that I use, usually used while driving forward but in deep snow, think it would be better to push the snow in reverse. The rear blade is much faster than using the FEL.

Ralph

 

[rimshot]

We have a jd790 and are desperate to add a snowblower to get rid of all this white stuff! Budget is limited so am thinking of attaching a snow thrower unit that normally attaches to the front of a garden tractor. Say something like a toro 42". Does anyone have any experience in rigging something like this up?

Thanks

============================

Is the wheel base of that JD 790 less than 42"? You need to have a snowblower at least as wide as your tires or you will be packing snow before you can get to it and blow it out of the way. I agree with the others and would say get a rear blower if you can.

rim

 

[mbohuntr]

I'm using a FEL, a rear blade, and a 3PH 60" snowblower. I love the blower, cheap, and POWERFUL! We got 18" the other night and it walked through it like it wasn't there. You should be able to pick up one for under a grand if you watch for craigslist and auction specials.

 

[KubotainNH]

Obviously winter is not the best time to be looking for a snowblower... I have a 42" MTD snowblower that I adapted to fit my Craftsman 21 HP lawn mower. It works ok and is just wide enough for the mower but wouldn't be wide enough for my small Kubota. The quality of the metal is also lacking on it, I think the kubota's torque would be able to bend it up. On my MTD, which is a 2 stage, the shaft comes out horizontal and then a belt takes a 90 degree run to go under the mower. I was thinking about running this shaft to the spindle on the front of my Kubota with a clutch but dropped the idea. Like mentioned previously, you would probably be better off with a rear one, sometimes they are cheaper than a new lawn mower style one (run over 1k). 2 stage is best. Good luck.

 

[escavader]

Another post on here about snow blower performance and some having trouble blowing heavy slush.Although my 3 point PRONOVOST,doesnt seem to be affected by it,i chose the rear blower,so i wouldnt lose my front end loader,its still there to clean up anything the blower couldnt.Rear blowers arent bad on the neck if you can adapt to sitting sidesaddle on the seat,thus your only turning your head a little.In my situation having my loader on is priceless for other tasks in the winter like getting in the fire wood.
ALAN

 

[riopoco]

I'm with David. Adapting a garden tractor syle blower will cost more for the average person to adapt than its worth. A used rear PTO blower will by far be your best bet. A few years ago i bought one for seven hundred dollars, but there are plenty of members here who have done much better than that.

Thanks for everyones feedback. Yup I was in abit of a panic as it has been snowing non-stop it seems for weeks. So I think after all the input I will just have to keep looking for a rear-mount snow blower. Any ideas as to what size a blower is too big for your machine? Afriend offered me his but just the weight of it was only about 100lbs shy of what my 3ph can handle, so thought maybe once the snow was in it that I would be causing myself a problem if it became clogged or something.