What size snowblower?

[aczlan]

540 and 2000 are two different ball games..

Nope, they transmit the same amount of horsepower, just the 2000RPM PTO can use a smaller shaft.
Also, many (most?) front blowers use a reducer to drop the PTO speed at the fan to 540RPM.

Aaron Z

 

[atsah]

Nope, they transmit the same amount of horsepower, just the 2000RPM PTO can use a smaller shaft.
Also, many (most?) front blowers use a reducer to drop the PTO speed at the fan to 540RPM.

Aaron Z

They may but they seem to be not the same.

 

[atsah]

Shows 15-25 PTO HP for up to 64 inch. It depends on were you live, depth of snow you normally will be blowing and the weight of it. I could use a 5 ft but it would be slow going.

 

[JWR]

Nowhere left to dump the snow with FEL. Looking at 3 point options for a GC1715. Would a 60" be too much to handle? Other option is 54" as I would want a little wider path than tractor width & has to throw a good distance. Most of snowfall is dry, windblown & drifting with average 15-20 cm snowfalls. I did a lot of searching but I want to hear actual MF owners' experiences.

Because you indicated that most of your snowfall is dry, I doubt that horsepower will be your problem at all. When the snow is hardpacked or been laying there for a long time before you get to blow it -- that's when you will notice the engine loading down and you just have to go slower. To me that's not much of a penalty for being able to do the 60" wide path instead of something narrower. Again I'd be a little more concerned about weight than I would having the HP to drive it. Depending on where you buy, maybe you can get a chance to attach the blower to a 1715 and see how it feels before making the purchase.

Where are you located and how long is your snow removal season ?

 

[atsah]

Also blowers vary in weight, when I bought mine, the MK Martin in 54 was
360lbs, my blizzard in 54 is 502lbs.

 

[tjcooke]

I have the woodmaxx 60" blower on my gc1710, it's heavy, but manageable. I removed the bucket on the FEL and replaced it with a 72" plow, which is about 150lbs heavier than the bucket, so it is a better counterweight for the blower. I have only had a chance to use the blower once since I got it, and that was for about 4" of heavy, wet snow, which it handled no problem at all. every storm seems to be freezing rain now in CT.... still waiting for that 12"+ snow storm to really test it out.

 

[BLSXJ]

Okay that would make the blower 6 ft wide since his tractor is four feet wide. A 24 HP tractor is NOT going to run a 6 ft blower.

OP, look at PTO HP specs on the blowers website, it will tell you the range of PTO HP you need to run there blower.

48"+12" = 60":scratchchin:

all I was suggesting is a bit of overhang on each side is helpful. sizing a blower width based on hp is difficult because snow doesn't have a constant density.

 

[Oldoak]

As Fiziksgeek says watch the weight of the blower. And as Atsah says pay attention to the hp rating of the blower

Very sound advice to base your final decision on. :thumbsup:

Various opinions and advice can be helpful but also can still leave a person confused. There are always variables to the norm.

 

[atsah]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

When you say the above it can mean 12 inches beyond the tires on either side. I guess you meant 6 on either side.

 

[apps]

Where are you located and how long is your snow removal season ?[/QUOTE]

Just outside of Sudbury, northern Ontario. Season is usually mid-December to end of March. Snowfall this year has been ridiculous, many records broken.