Snowblower plans?

[jimgerken]

I am considering building my own snowblower. Anyone been through this, have any plans, internet sites, photos, advice , etc?

 

[Hydraman]

I have talked to a couple of guys around here lately that have bought some old used up hydrostatic drive combines and are in the process of converting them to snowblowers. Haven't seen anything running but sounds like a feasible project. With hydro drive you could maintain full engine power and RPM while having infinite speed control- sounds good to me! If I hear any more, or see something; will post it.

 

[jimgerken]

Thanks for the reply! That would be interesting since there are many old combines setting around for scrap price, keep us posted , with photos if you get the chance.

In my original post I should have been more clear and said I wish to make my own snowblower ATTACHMENT for a compact tractor. Sorry about that. Anybody tried such a thing? I have a smaller one (single stage 36") to basically copy and scale up to 50", but am still looking to expand my ideas and understanding before starting. Thanks again guys. And yes, there will be lots of pics posted once I get rolling.

 

[Earnsfan]

I would think this is a major project. How long do you think it will take you to get it done?

 

[Jim_W]

Don't know what you have that you are thinking of copying but we had a home made blower when I was a kid that worked really well, and we got a lot of snow there. It was a so-called V-type, where the tractor drives through the snow frontwards and pulls the blower. Are you familiar with these? In some areas they were made commercially. Rather than an auger the pto spins kind of a fan or paddle type blade.
I have one of these now and it works not too badly, but in wet stuff it can clog up a bit. The one we had before didn't have any fancy curved sides and it didn't clog up so much. The curved sides work well in powder though.
Jim

 

[jimgerken]

"time to get it done?" Well, Ive given it a little thought and I believe I can get it to the test phase in about 16 working days. After test, if everything works well, I would dissmantle it and have it sand blasted in prep for paint. I have a plan to use some preformed sheet steel parts to save alittle hassle. For instance, I am searching for a 30 pound LP cylinder, which is 15" diameter and about four feet tall. From this I can torch out 2 pcs of housing so I won't have to have anything rolled. I did find a nice helical gear right-angle box at Surplus Center, good for high speed use, for about $90. It will run 2000 RPM, and transfer my tractor's 17PTO HP, to the cross-shaft. The Cross shaft is going to use a Lovejoy coupling on the gearbox end, and then it will be 2 feet long to reach the one side of the blower housing, where the chain reduction (2:1 reduction) will carry the power to the rotor. This last part is just like most single-stage blowers you see, but of course they are belt driven typically, so they don't have a right-angle drive box. The rotor will turn on 1.25" shaft, welded into a 3 or 4" tube center for the flighting, depending on whats available. I have not purchased anything yet, as I thought as I got closer to starting, I'd total it all up and make sure I was saving a thousand over purchasing JD new. If no big savings, there will be no project. Later this week I will try to get over to the metal recycling center to see what jewels I can find for this and a couple other projects I have in mind.
Will keep you all posted....

 

[jimgerken]

Jim w: Thanks for the input. Yup, I'd seen this type before, my neighbor has one. Looks like a good system, simple and cheap to produce. I have decided on a front-mounted unit however. It comes down to: 1) want to have it out front for visibility and control, if possible 2) already own the JD quick-tach system for front-end 2000RPM power and lift for implements and am using the 51" brush, the blower will be made to fit the quick-tach, so changing from blower to brush will take under a minute 3) putting blower on front leaves back free for box blade for weight and additional removal capability, like ice ridges. I guess it would be a rear mount project if it were not for the quick-tach deal. It is nicest to have your implement in front of you when possible, so this should be the best setup. And the plan is to build a single-stage machine, the kind that use an auger-rotor spinning at about 1000RPM, which carries the snow to the center and also blows it up the chute. In my experience, these do not ever plug, are the most tolerant of gravel (my driveway is and always will be gravel), and wear out very slowly. So those are my plans so far. Thanks again for the input.

 

[jimgerken]

Went to the industrial junkyard two days ago. Found some great stuff. I found some stock that had been rolled to make cement truck chute extensions. It's 0.100" thick, formed into a 16" diameter half-cylinder, and unfortunately it is only 47" long so I bought two and will have to splice. Also, found a splined PTO shaft with u-joint bearings, all new unused and rusty, for $15. All it needs is the ends, 1" shaft on the gearbox end, and 1" 15 splines on the tractor end. Also bought some 4" tube. This week I will be ordering flighting and gearbox. Once most of the raw materials are in, I will post a photo. I am trying to figure out how to post a diagram, sort of a plan, of what I'm going to build. So far, the plan only exists on paper, hand-drawn.

 

[jimgerken]

I have now received the flighting, the gearbox, the grader blade, a Lovejoy coupling, and a few other pcs. Last weekend I started dismantling another old project that had outlived its usefullness and from that I have salvaged some #50 roller chain sprockets, some 1" shaft and 1" cast pillow block ball bearings. I am missing some 8" tube like silo-filling blower pipe, which will be used for the outlet/spout. I am still undecided about how to turn the chute. I would like to use a hydraulic motor, but it would have to be a slow-speed one, and I think the cost is too extravegant. I may use an automotive electric window motor/gearbox, as these are almost free. No construction has started yet, as other things are "in the way". Hopefully I will begin two weekends from now. Pictures will follow...

 

[jimgerken]

Made a little headway, but still battling to get the snowblower to the top of the list. Here's a shot of a couple pcs of metal, one for the main housing and a smaller pc for the chute, nothing is welded yet.

 

[MossRoad]

Looks like a polar bear in a snowstorm to me /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Even hid the attachment button too.....

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>I am still undecided about how to turn the chute. I would like to use a hydraulic motor, but it would have to be a slow-speed one, and I think the cost is too extravegant. I may use an automotive electric window motor/gearbox, as these are almost free</font color=blue>

Window motor is a good choice.

Another option is to rig a double acting hydraulic cylinder & cable.

The cable is in an oval shape. The chute is centered on one axis of the oval. Pully on the other. The cylinder is on one of the straight sections. The cable is rigidly attached to the chute. operate the cylinder one way, chute rotates left, operate it the other way & it rotates right. You'll have to do some math to figure out how much throw you need in the cylinder. Depends on chute diameter & how much rotation you want.

If after your calculcations, the cylinder is too long to fit on one side, you can use two pulleys & make a triangular setup with the chute in the middle & the cylinder behind it.

 

[jimgerken]

Hazmat, thanks for the input, I have to draw out what you described and think it over a little. Maybe I will get the file attachment right this time.

 

[jimgerken]

Here'e another shot showing left and right flighting and the 1/2 x 3" grader blade.

 

[MossRoad]

That's better.

Where did you get that stuff? Looks great.

 

[jimgerken]

The main curved housing is from a scrapyard not too far from my home, the metal started life headed for a cement truck chute extension, but never made it for some reason. It is almost wide enough, I will be adding six inches for a 54 inch total width. The small cylinders I cut out of 14 gauge flat and had rolled by a small metal shop. Would like to have rolled them myself but my small chinese metal worker could not do the job. The flighting came from an Ag supply place in Kansas (forgot the name right now). The grader blade is new material rom the steel supplier. But the coolest parts are shown here in this attachment, the spiral-bevel right-angle gearbox and Lovejoy coupling. These came from Surplus Center.

 

[jimgerken]

FINALLY got back at this snowblower project! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Yes, it has been two years. Here's a photo of a welding fixture I cut on my NC plasma table, to help align the blower paddles onto the center tube.

 

[jimgerken]

,,,And here's a shot of the end of the tube, with hub welded in. Hub is shown with 1.25" diameter shaft inside, keyway still needs to be added (another thing to learn!).

 

[jimgerken]

Here's the entire tube assembly with both hubs supported by a shaft, setting on my balance checking setup. As parts are added, I keep checking that it doesnt go to far out of static balance. The small pcs of metal taped on are what it takes to counter the weight of the tube weld. So far, so good.