HB580 Broom experience???

[TNMark1]

Question..
Thinking of buying a broom.... I didn't ask the dealer, but what powers it? Ventrac videos ... Are lacking..... One seems to show a belt off the front to the broom which also powers a hydro pump? (which I'm guessing angles it)....

Someone have one?

Mark H

 

[JackIL]

Welcome to the Ventrac club.

The belt drives a hydraulic pump that powers a motor attached to the broom. The direction of rotation is reversible. Lifting and angling of the broom are controlled separately by the tractor hydraulics.

Details are available on the Ventrac Website where you can download brochures, operators manuals, and parts catalogs for all products.

Welcome to the Ventrac club.

 

[Raw Dodge]

I second what Jack said,I have a Steiner broom and I love how well they work.I know that it's not nearly as well built as the ventrac unit..As for video quality, I think they are more to show you the operation and performance than to show how they work.Ventrac has excellent support ,and they have every owners and parts manual for everything they've ever built online available from their website for free...they also have several brochures. .I wish other companies would follow there lead and do the same. I cannot get free manuals online for my Toro,Dixie Chopper, and Steiner machines...

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

When I purchased my Ventrac 4500Y in December of last year, I also purchased an HB580 Broom and a KX523 Snow Blower. We had a good bit of snow this past Winter, and I ended up using the HB580 Broom substantially more often than I used the KX523. The HB580 Broom is useful for snow depths up to 4 to six inches.

I was very pleased with the performance of the HB580 Broom.

Our resident guru JackIL has explained the workings of the Broom.

I have not yet used the HB580 Broom to deal with leaves, but that time is coming.

Here are some pictures from this past Winter...















The Broom also very effectively deals with slush.

 

[TNMark1]

Sounds good Was wondering about on snow.... I'm going to order one as soon as I get back.......

Thanks

Mark H

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

Sounds good Was wondering about on snow.... I'm going to order one as soon as I get back.......

Thanks

Mark H

You're most welcome.

If you are interested in getting a broom so that you have it available for use before the first snowfall, I would suggest that you order the broom sooner rather than later. I did not place my order for the tractor and attachments until early December of last year. My dealer had a snow blower in stock, but not a broom. The factory was also out of brooms by that point, and another production run would not start until February or thereabouts... or so I understood from my dealer. The district manager for Ventrac found a broom at a dealership down in Virginia or North Carolina, and the manager drove down himself to pick it up. The district manager then dropped it off at my dealer's place of business, and the dealer delivered the broom along with the snow blower and the other attachments that I ordered.

The point is that seasonally sensitive items like snow blowers and brooms are best ordered a few months in advance of the anticipated first use. I got lucky.

 

[prs]

TNMark;

I wonder how the broom would have handled the snows we had last winter. Not so good is my guess. But our typical snows might be managed quite well by it.

prs

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

TNMark;

I wonder how the broom would have handled the snows we had last winter. Not so good is my guess. But our typical snows might be managed quite well by it.

prs

I obtained excellent results last Winter with my broom. There were a few storms in which the depth was too much for the broom to handle unless I were to go out in the middle of the storm and clear the first several inches off of the driveway. For those storms, I used the snow blower. All in all, I would say that I used the broom at least three times as often as I used the blower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Why wear out a broom when there is clearly (in the nice pictures) enough snow for a blower which is available for use?

 

[Raw Dodge]

Why wear out a broom when there is clearly (in the nice pictures) enough snow for a blower which is available for use?

I was thinking the same thing,the broom is a high cost per hour tool,that brush isn't cheap and doesn't last forever. I have a friend who doesn't have a plow,he uses his broom on his John Deere to push deep snow if it's relatively dry,He leaves the broom turned off and uses it as a plow first pass,then turns it on for th final pass,he does sidewalks and this works for him,his blower is much lower than the large 24 inch tall model ventrac sells.

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

Why wear out a broom when there is clearly (in the nice pictures) enough snow for a blower which is available for use?

If the snow depth is sufficient, I will use the blower. If there is only an inch or three, I use the broom.

I also use the broom for clean-up, if necessary, after using the blower.

My broom rotor shows little sign of wear.

 

[TNMark1]

Just for the record, I recently bought the broom and the snowblower... I have not picked them up yet.... Probably going to do that the middle of May....

Last year we had up to about 15" of snow at a time. I've got a 60" blade and was lazy and left the duals on the wheels... It did OK and would push maybe 6-8" of snow before the weight of the snow made the tractor slide down the blade.... So it would snow and I'd go out and clean for 2 hours and then snow more then clean it again.

There was a section of road that I didn't clean and went back to do it at the end of the storm and you had to clean it by going across the road at 45 degree angles instead of straight down it. Hence I bought the snowblower... The Ventrac with low ground clearance isn't great in deep snow, so a blade is worthless on a driveway which isn't paved (or its deep) and thats another use for the snowblower...

I also clean about 1 mile of state road (yes the state doesn't clean it) and its easy to get stuck making it wider and running off the edges..... Snowblower will help there....


I'm probably not going to use the broom much because of the "high cost" and also the fact that most of our snow melts in a few days...

Waiting on winter again....

Vernon if you want to play, come on over... I'll probably be next door to you cutting my former MIL's place in mid May....

Thanks all

Mark

 

[murphy1244]

The snow blower works very well. I went and got a Femco top with a golf cart rain cover for blowing. Makes a world of difference.

 

[prs]

Mark, as you have probably noticed, I have plenty enough to "play with" here. Although this early drought has saved quite a bit of fuel so far.
The 45 degree snow removal was very familiar to me.

prs

 

[BKBrown]

Get a set of tire chains for the Ventrac 2 link spacing v-bar chains on either front or rear (or both) will keep you going straight and it is not easy to get stuck unless you high center.

The Ventrac with low ground clearance isn't great in deep snow, so a blade is worthless on a driveway which isn't paved (or its deep)

I also clean about 1 mile of state road (yes the state doesn't clean it) and its easy to get stuck making it wider and running off the edges..... Snowblower will help there....

Mark

 

[TNMark1]

BKBrown..... Where are the chains from??? I guess I need to search the web some...

Got the broom today.... Swept a lot of crap off the road from recent storms (gravel, dirt, sticks, etc)..... Does a great job... But if there is dirt packed into asphalt from being run over by cars, it doesn't do much.... Dirt on asphalt also creates a dust storm you would not believe....

Had a few tons of gravel that washed into the yard... Scooped some up and thats not to bad... I also broomed some out... Dealer says the broom will dethatch lawns... It has clearance issues on rougher ground and when the broom bottoms out on a high spot, the hydraulic motor doesn't turn it.... It did pretty well moving gravel around. Grass will come back someday... With the rain thats coming down now, I'm guessing it will all happen again...

Mark H

 

[prs]

Yep. The remark I made above about drought. I should of knocked on wood. We sure are The Soggy Bottom Buys now! Life in the deciduous rain forest.

prs

 

[steveta]

Try using it with full weight transfer. It should prevent some of the scalping and pressure on the broom.

 

[TNMark1]

Steveta...... I did run it on #4 full weight transfer.... Maybe I should try it on NO weight transfer... PRS lives near me .,... He can confirm its wet here now.... Maybe next week.... Of course I could read the manual, but I'm guessing after we get past 14 pages of safety there is MAYBE 1 page on how to use it...

Mark H

 

[prs]

If all else fails, read the instructions. lol

The manual will suggest a weight transfer setting. The transfer springs seem to counter balance about 230 or so pounds if I recall Jack's video correctly, so if the broom is a good bit heavier than that I would use MAX setting, so long as it did not float or bounce too much.

I don't like making a lot of dust. Maybe catch a time when the pavement is wet after a rain and then sweep it.

prs