Snowblower Which snowblower?!?!?

[rico304]

I did my research and decided on a Pronovost Puma 3 point hitch snowblower. Now that I have decided on Brand, I can't find one! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Dealers in my area carry the following brands:
Meteor 60" $1688
Bervac 64" $2038
Schulte 62" $2645 (said he would sell for 2500 if I buy it by tomorrow)
JRW 60" $2053

My goodness. Too many snowblowers!!! Any one of them stand out as top notch? (Or bottom line?)
Thanks! Pronovost dealer is still trying to get one(Puma) for me. If not, I have to look for anther one. Thanks!!
Smith

 

[George2615]

I have the Puma 64" I use on my Mahindra 2615HST. I like the blower. Seems to be well made and at 540 PTO RPM it throws pretty good snow. Good luck on finding one.
George

 

[sweettractors]

Dont forget to add to your list, the Farmking/Buhler 60 inch at $1595 + shipping--Ken Sweet

sweet@scrtc.com

 

[BigDogues]

How far are you willing to travel? I know Keats Equipment in Keene, NH usually has a good stock available.

 

[CamshaftLF]

Have the 3pt ber-vac model very pleased, bullet proof in my book,eats snow like its candy,had it for 5yrs, my model doesn't have any chians driving it, straight off the pto shaft to the fan and auger less maintenance. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[MadDog]

Did you get a list of New England dealers from Pronovost? When I bought mine about 2 months ago, I emailed them and they gave me the names of several dealers, including at least one in New Hampshire. They all had 'em in stock as of that time and I bought from Orchard Hill in Belchertown, MA.

..very nice folks and good to deal with.

FWIW, I would suggest that you consider getting the hydraulic chute rotation and deflection options. I am glad I did. Also, get a bunch of spare shear pins and nuts for each of shearpins on the blower and drivetrain. My Puma has 3 shearpins, on driveshaft, auger and chute rotation gear housing. The shearpins are NOT the same sizes that fit walk-behind snowblowers so get 'em from the dealer.

Hope this helps.

 

[rico304]

Thank you all for the help! I hope to narrow it down and get it by the end of next week.
I did E Mail Pronovost (6 days ago) no reply yet. I'll e mail again for list of dealers. They had a number to call as well, but it wouldn't go through.
I only have one dealer that I can find, and I am planning on calling the NH dealer suggested as well.
Thanks again!

 

[MadReferee]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The shearpins are NOT the same sizes that fit walk-behind snowblowers so get 'em from the dealer. )</font>

MadDog,

You can also get them cheaper from the local hardware store. According to the parts diagram, the shear pin on the Puma auger is 1/4"-20 grade 2 (I think this is a misprint since the manual specifically calls for grade 5 for all shear pins), the one on the chute is the same only grade 5, and the one on the pto shaft is a metric M6 (I use 1/4"-20 here).

 

[MadDog]

MadRef: You must have REAL hardward stores in NH; not just the Big Boxes" that only sell what moves in volume. I've only got one hardware store that carries a decent inventory and even it only had pins for walk behinds and those didn't say what grade they were.

I called my dealer and he sent 1/2 dozen of each right out.

Happy Holidays, MadRef. Best to you and yours.

 

[ttowne66]

Rico

Those prices seem to be on the high range. I found a Meteor dealer that was willing to sell me an un-assembled 66in model for $1550. Took about an hour to assemble and could do the second time in 30min. Perhaps you could do the same? Dealers are making a high profit margin right now. Why? because they can!

 

[rico304]

ttowne66,
I totally agree. Prices on everyting seem to be so high, and nobody seems to be stopping anyone. I guess it is because demand from fools like me buy it anyway. Our AG's office just checked into price gouging on gas and said there were no cases in Maine that they could find. Of course, there were two gas stations about 3 miles apart with an 18 cent difference on gas. Both self serve. Hmmm. How can that be. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
I'll check back and see what I can get done.

Thanks!

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

The best time of year to buy snowblowers, plows or any snow removal equipment is in the spring and summer. In May of 02 I picked up a new 54" Puma from Orchard Hill in Belchertown, MA. for $1K sold it 2 years latter for $1K. This is a great time of year to buy a roto tiller. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rico304]

I hear you Tom. Maybe I'll go look at a Backhoe next week /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[PILOON]

Pronovost ,I agree is highly regarded but I am operating my second Bervac and am well satisfied.

The first was 48" and my CUT is 48"wide. (came that way).
Big mistake!
The blower NEEDS to be min 6-12" wider than the wheels!

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I swallowed a large chain with the 48" blower and scrapped it beyond repair. (The gearbox was just too costly to justify replacement).

As luck would have it I found a 60" Bervac in fine shape that was front mounted at an affordable price.
I converted it back to 3-pt using the 48" components as I wished to retain my FEL capabilities.

(still have the front "Kit' , offers?)

The differance is day and night as the tractor 'drives' on a cleaned path.

I would not hesitate on a Bervac.

(But then both Bervac and Pronovost are Quebec made!)

PS; Reason the 48" scrapped out was that the shafts were frosen by rust and the shear bolts did not release.
On the 60" bervac zerts take care of that problem.

Our reccord snows here north of Montreal have sure been acid tests for my setup this year and other than a couple of shear pins I have had no complaints whatsoever.

 

[PILOON]

A note on shear bolts:

Grade 5 being somewhat a hardened bold will shear 'clean' versus ungraded bolts that tend to bend and distort before breaking thus making then tough to extract the leftover pieces.

Also the soft bolts tend to widen or elongate the holes causing poorer and poorer protection as time goes on.
You want them to 'snap' right now and not eventually when they get tired.
Just think of it as every lump of ice acting like a hammer on that shear. Too soft and it will hammer itself out of shape, but grade 5 stands up under normal pounding but shears under big shocks (like a rock).

Just my observations.

 

[755inNY]

And I'll add:

To make sure the shear bolt will shear and the auger will spin free make sure you lubricate the fittings. Don't just squirt grease in. Remove the shear bolts and rotate the auger on the shaft. The auger can become rusted to the shaft if all you do is grease the fittings.

Jeff

 

[PILOON]

755inNY

Oh, so true.
Good point, thanks for adding that info for the readers.

As the expression goes, 'Been there, done that' (and it was costly at times) also known as the 'school of hard knocks'

In fact my 'annual tune up' consists of remouving the shears and a few good spins of bothe the augers as well as the blower.

My blower has NO ZERK so I always squirt engine oil all over and work it in just to be sure that it stays free.
Mind you one generally replaces the blower shear often enough (at least I do) to not give it a chance to rust up.

 

[HEC]

Where is the best place to find and buy these grade 5 bolts,and I would like to thank all of you for the good tips for the snow blower.
Thanks,
Herb

 

[MadReferee]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Where is the best place to find and buy these grade 5 bolts )</font>

Almost every local hardware store carries grade 5 bolts. The big box stores may carry them also. If you want to buy them in quantity then go to McMaster-Carr .

 

[KiotiDave]

Hi,
You should check our the Normand Econor it is almost identical to Pronovost and built in the same area of Canada.
If you look on the post about long and short shutes, CAG has a Normand Blower. I have been selling them for 3 years and no breakdowns yet.
KiotiDave