Snowthrowers and horsepower

[jeffgreef]

thanks for the good thread on what brand of snowthrower to buy, lot of good experience in there.

I'd like you snowthrowing guys (and gals) to talk a bit about horsepower limitations and width of thrower.

Are hydraulic throwers less powerful than PTO because of power loss in the hydraulics?

Will a 20 hp diesel power a 48" thrower well? 60"?

My neighbor scabbed a 60" thrower onto the front blade of his 55hp trencher and hooked it up with hydraulics, says it doesn't work well. Can't be a horsepower issue. Thoughts?

Thanks

JG

 

[Tig]

If you have a hydrostatic tranny, HP is somewhat less critical. I get by with a 50" blower on my 13 PTO HP tractor. Deep hard drifts and I do have to slow down quite a bit. 6" of snow and I zip along. I chose my width of blower so that I could clear my lane in two passes. Even if I had more HP there is little benefit from a wider blower. I still have to drive up and back.
If you search the forums you will find a discussion on a front mount hydraulic blower. Pumps and HP were discussed. There is some loss. Seem that it is less efficient but may be more practical.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

[QUOTE

My neighbor scabbed a 60" thrower onto the front blade of his 55hp trencher and hooked it up with hydraulics, says it doesn't work well. Can't be a horsepower issue. Thoughts?

Thanks

JG[/QUOTE]

We can set a 60" blower up with as little as 13 gpm, of course the higher the pressure the better. 3000 psi s going to give your 50% more hp at13 gpm then 2000 psi.

In his case I'd say his flow and or pressure is too low or the combination of pump and hydraulic motor does not run the blower at the rpm it was designed for. Erskine uses 5 different volume of hydrailc motors on their standard flow blowers (models designed to work with 13 to 25 gpm) They want to see the fan rpm stay withn a desired range. After that if you have more flow they increase the cubic inch of the motor which gives the fan more torque at the desired rpm.
Does the trencer use all 55 hp to run the pumps? or is the trencher chain shaft drive and it just has small pumps to move slowly and to steer.
To build something like this you need to know how much flow and at what pressure your prime mover can produce, then design the attachment around those figures. If he just hooked up a hydraulic blower to his trencher pump without doing the math, slim chance it will work.
Ken

 

[Opti-Mist]

I picked up an old 84" blower (White) that I run with a 28 PTO HP tractor. It works OK but I have to run in the lowest reverse gear to get better results. Light fluffy snow is easier to blow. Otherwise I take a narrower cut.

 

[hoogy]

i just purchased a 51" Meteor. My tire widh is 48". My tractor is 18.5 Hp at the pto. The dealer said i could run a 60". The 51" will let me get into more places easier. And as was stated before i have to come back up the driveway.

 

[billsh96]

I have an 18 HP Diesel with a 50 inch front mount blower. The hydro transmission is the key. I have no problems blowing heavy snow. Keep the power up to the blower and control speed with the hydro.
Bill

 

[jeffgreef]

Thanks to all for your thoughts/experience
JG

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have an 18 HP Diesel with a 50 inch front mount blower. The hydro transmission is the key. I have no problems blowing heavy snow. Keep the power up to the blower and control speed with the hydro.
Bill

A hydro is certainly a benefit but its much nicer to have sufficient HP to crowd the thrower. I find they throw best if you feed them heavily -- just so you dont bog down the engine. It seems to take about 4HP per foot width X foot depth to be able to throw well [40'] in all snow conditions I have encountered. With regular snow the speed is equivalent to a fast walk. If you have to slow to spare the engine you get less throw distance.
larry

 

[vayidaho]

If this is the wrong forum, please direct me to the right one. I have a CK20H (small hydrostatic Kioti) and need a rear mounted (cant turn head to look backward) snow blower. I am willing to use a separate gas engine driven blower but would prefer the PTO. It would be nice to handle a 50-60inch wide scoop so the entry is wider than the 48 inch tractor wheel width. Finally, I am retired living on bread crusts and watermelon rinds (not really, but just wait!) so I need to keep the cost as low as possible. Can I have some suggestions? THANKS! Tom: vayidaho@gmail.com

 

[hoogy]

they do make a rearmounted pull snowblower. You have to drive thru the snow to blow it. Doesn't seem like a good idea as you are packing the snow down then trying to blow it