Widening Snowblower Front

[doxford jim]

Beenthere
Jim
Glad to be of some help. My original plan called for braces, but decided to try it without - braces not needed. I'd be a little more concerned with your planned 6" extension. Beenthere has a good point about going without braces.
The wings become sacrificial, rather than busting something else. The most expensive part of the wings was the JD primer and paint.
The biggest problem I have is deep hardpack with a crown on the drive and ice underneath - it wants to suck the tractor in to the working side - turn brakes a must. Good luck, let me know if you need assistance.
By the way, sounds like you got a great deal!
Pics attached of Feb snow debacle.

My drive is around 350 yds long from gate to the house, plus about 75 yds from the house to the workshop and then 100 yds from the workshop back to the drive way. A fair bit of snow removal. It also has some bends and a bit of a small hill - I have in the past, slide off into the snow banks at the side (forgot to engage 4x4 ).

Have attached a couple of pictures. The one of the snowblower is a shot of the previous owner using it. The second picture is of the workshop from the driveway - fork in the road up to the house.

So, yes, we can get some good dumpings of snow too. I previously used the old JD450 I have, to clear the snow but all I did was make snow banks and the driveway got noticeably narrower :-( I like being able to throw the snow away from the drive where it is not in the way.

Thanks guys, for your interest and help. I will try it without bracing and see how it goes - though what I will have will be quite a bit bigger as will be the forces involved. I am not sure how big to go with the increase - either 4" or 5" each side. Hopefully, being careful with the ground speed should make all the difference.

Cheers

Jim

 

[beenthere]

Jim
What machine made the path through the snow in the second pic?

A JD450 is a crawler. Was it that machine?

Look forward to your build of the wings and the pics.

 

[flowerfarmer]

My wings have worked out well so far. I added about 5.5 inches overall. A lot of snow is funelled into the auger, overwhelming it in deep and/or heavy snow so I have to go VERY slow at times. Mine are made very stout with bracing. Some have suggested making them bendable so as to allow the wings to fail before a more expensive part. While there may be some merit to this idea, I find that my snow blowing speed is slow enough that nothing is likely to bend or break if a wing contacts an immovable object.

 

[doxford jim]

Beenthere

Yes, the JD450 was used to clear driveways - the bucket removed and an outside frame with a 8.5ft dozer blade fitted on the front. Worked OK but doesn't compare to an appropriately sized blower - the snow banks grow very quickly in a heavy snow winter . And yes, a heated cab would sure be nice too

flowerfarmer

Thanks for your photographs and I note your bracing as well. That is what I had in mind. I don't know how tall your blower is, but mine at 30" would suggest probably three braces as I had in mind. I will try it without the braces and see what happens. The braces can be added as needed as they are fairly simple construction.

Thanks again for all your comments. I feel that this will be a worthwhile improvement.

Cheers

Jim

 

[beenthere]

flowerfarmer
That does look like a good build too.
I'd think a large radius on the lower corners would help ward off catching on something, like goodbyeNJ had on his. But if it works, that is really all that counts.

 

[crazyal]

I've thought about adding a wing to one side of my blower. Going straight I'm fine but on some of the sharper corners the inside tire will pull snow back into the road so I have to go back and clean it up. I like seeing what others have done. I would love to make the wing hydraulically controlled, maybe with an electric diverting valve alternating between the chute rotater.

 

[doxford jim]

Hi Guys,

Here is w hat I ended up with. The extra width is 4" on each side. That amount makes a big difference and I now have around 2" clearance each side, on the rear wheels - no more pulling snow down.

I have only used them the one time so far - and of course I found snags and bent each wing just a little at the bottom (rocks protuding from soil and frozen solid into the ground ?). Gonna put extra skids or runners on the bottom of the snow blowers - which should help.

Thanks

Jim

 

[goodbyeNJ]

Jim
Thanks for posting final results, with pic. Looking good. Always good to know final results.I think you made a wise choice to change original plan of 6" per side to 4" per side.

 

[sparrowhawk]

Has anyone on here built the same setup except for the top lip of the blower? The reason I ask is I would like to better protect the pastic rotation hydraulics housing from snow coming over the top of the blower. I just scarred my covering up (no biggie but could be a pain if i have to reattach frequently in high snow). I would say a bolt-on of no more than 6" angled forward a bit would be perfect.

Anyone seen this before?

THanks

 

[crazyal]

Has anyone on here built the same setup except for the top lip of the blower? The reason I ask is I would like to better protect the pastic rotation hydraulics housing from snow coming over the top of the blower. I just scarred my covering up (no biggie but could be a pain if i have to reattach frequently in high snow). I would say a bolt-on of no more than 6" angled forward a bit would be perfect.

Anyone seen this before?

THanks

My old neighbor has a set up like what you are talking about. He used 1/8" clear lexan. The glass shop he got it from put it in a break and bent it to the angle he needed. He did put a couple of braces to help support it. Being clear you can see through it (not perfectly) and the headlights can shine through it.