Snowblower

[DHS]

I purchased a PT-422 in April 2002. Had a few winter starting problems and a voltage regulator problem. Thanks to this forum and Jack at Robin those problems were resolved. The cool weather today reminds me snow is just a couple months away. Does any one have experience with the PT snowblower. How does it work in light snow and in wet snow. Last fall during an east coast snow storm, I called PT and inquired about their snowblower. Chris said the snow was wet and heavy, implying the snowblowers were not working well. I would appreciate any comments from a PT user with snowblower operating experience.

Thanks

DHS

 

[jfh230]

I have no experience with the PT but I suspect it will be the same as every snowblower I have ever used in the wet snow. They bog down. Wet snow weighs a lot as anyone who has had to shovel it will attest. The machines just can't throw it far so it kind of oozes out of the chute like plaster and then clogs up. I usually resort to pushing it instead of trying to blow it.

As a side note with snowblowers, if you have a stone drive be prepared to replace the shear bolts on a regular basis. Its a real joy when its 10 degrees outside in the dark and snow /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Jack

 

[DHS]

Jack, thanks for the information. I agree. I live in South Dakota and I have a Honda walk behind snowblower with track instead of wheels. It works well but is small and slow.

Since I have not attracted the attention of a PT snowblower user is there someone who has closely inspected the PT snowblower? Is it built as durable as their tiller and mower?

 

[MossRoad]

I also wonder if the PT snowblower is single stage or two stage?

 

[Edward_DiMaria]

I am almost positive it is a two-stage unit and I am sure it is heavy duty like all their stuff

 

[pajoube]

When I was visiting Tazewell I remember seeing the rack that held snowblowers. If I remember correctly, they are two stage and built like a tank.
PJ

 

[EquipJunkie]

I have had a great deal of experience with snowblowers of all kinds (unfortunately not PT's), and they work great in all conditions (wet heavy deep snow to powder) if you fulfill one requirement: ENOUGH HORSEPOWER!

I had a 20 hp steiner with a 48" blower on it and it worked great in all conditions.

I do not like the design of the PT snowblower for several reasonsI'm recalling from memory, I looked closely at it almost 2 years ago) 1) the auger reaches out beyond the box frame 2) the blade is weld on instead of bolt on 3) Tires instead of shoes mounted in the wrong position: the Blade should be able to be set to scrape the surface without the box scraping/wearing/digging in! 4) Square shoot instead of round (sq looks better, but round directs the stream of snow much better) 5) Snow height deflector too small and and it's transition is too angular and severe.

I still think the PT is a great machine! But they could improve some of their implements significantly

Richard

 

[djsch]

Are you saying that they use wheels to carry it rather than skids? Is the wheel height adjustable? If so, how is it adjusted? I suppose you can adjust the height of cut by the up/down tilt angle? That would be a nice feature as you could change the height of cut on the fly as you worked between gravel and pavement.

Perhaps having the auger reach beyond the housing may be a good thing. If the banks are higher than the throat they may fall into the machine instead of behind it as the snow is cut out from under ??? Any thoughts (or experience)?

I agree that snowblowers are the biggest horspower "hogs" of all the attachments. But even with enough horsepower you still have to have a drive mechanisim that doesn't slip when the going gets tough. Belt driven blowers tend to have slippage in heavy wet stuff. Seems like the PT hydro approach should be a good arrangement.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[EquipJunkie]

The wheels are meant for and do adjust the height. But, I like allowing the blade to touch the surface (obviously, on a gravel surface this would not be a good setting) and without adjustable shoes this setting means the blower box is also touching the surface and thus wearing. You can adjust your blade height with tilt but from a practical usage point this does not work well because the box will dig in and also wear when tilted forward. Finally, the auger extending out beyond the box is bad from my point of view because any advantage it may have as you suggest is negated by the serious disadvantages of the auger damaging itself as well as things it contacts (such as a stair step that you want to drive right up to or a garage door) It's also much easier to see the sides of the box than the front of the auger

These are just thoughts from my own experiences
Best

Richard