Snow Snowblower Conversion

[bdhsfz6]

I'm tired of the stiff neck I get every time I work in reverse to clear snow with my Woods SS74 3 pt snowblower. With that season rapidly approaching, I'm again trying to figure a way to mount the Woods on the FEL of my Kubota. It would be easy enough to weld it to a QA adapter plate and fit a hydraulic motor but powering it is the question.

Tapping into the main FEL hydraulic circuit is the way Kubota / Landpride and many aftermarket models power their units. I have heard complaints however about the loss of power to the FEL cylinders when the hydraulic motor is in operation. This would be a problem for me since I often adjust the blower height and angle due to uneven terrain. This means a diverter valve won't work so I'll have to add a spool valve. I was thinking of tapping the BH hydraulic circuit but I'm not sure this will solve the problem.

The only sure way to avoid loss of FEL power is to use a PTO powered pump but the cost would be too much. I'm willing to spring for a valve, hoses and a hyd. motor but beyond that, I'll just buy more aspirin for my stiff neck.

I'm curious if anyone here has attempted this project and if so, what were the problems / results, hyd. motor size etc. For those who have front mounted snowblowers, is the loss of FEL cylinder pressure really an issue?

 

[carlhwv]

I'm tired of the stiff neck I get every time I work in reverse to clear snow with my Woods SS74 3 pt snowblower. With that season rapidly approaching, I'm again trying to figure a way to mount the Woods on the FEL of my Kubota. It would be easy enough to weld it to a QA adapter plate and fit a hydraulic motor but powering it is the question.

Tapping into the main FEL hydraulic circuit is the way Kubota / Landpride and many aftermarket models power their units. I have heard complaints however about the loss of power to the FEL cylinders when the hydraulic motor is in operation. This would be a problem for me since I often adjust the blower height and angle due to uneven terrain. This means a diverter valve won't work so I'll have to add a spool valve. I was thinking of tapping the BH hydraulic circuit but I'm not sure this will solve the problem.

The only sure way to avoid loss of FEL power is to use a PTO powered pump but the cost would be too much. I'm willing to spring for a valve, hoses and a hyd. motor but beyond that, I'll just buy more aspirin for my stiff neck.

I'm curious if anyone here has attempted this project and if so, what were the problems / results, hyd. motor size etc. For those who have front mounted snowblowers, is the loss of FEL cylinder pressure really an issue?

I have a Lorentz 7810...for sale....moved to TN....that I ran on the FEL of my 7040. I have have a third value and only have to hold the trigger in for the blower to turn. The thing you need to watch if you go hydro is matching the pump/motor on the blower with the flow rate of your tractor system. My 7040 is rated at a little of 11gpm and the pump on the blower is 14-16gpm rated and the blower worked fine. Only used it in big 2' plus snows biggest was 4' and it chewed it up. Down side is no loader..definitely recommend running a blade on rear with this set up. Hope this helps.

 

[Dave M7040]

I have an inverted snow blower. It is a two stage which you pull behind the tractor on the 3 pt.
I have not done it but I think with a bit of metal fabrication you could convert a back up style to a pull style and actually have it so you could still use it both ways by not destroying the existing hitch hardware.
I have a surgically fused neck and love being able to blow with out turning my head to look back.
Here is a youtube video of one in use:

Pronovost Inverted snowblower V 1 � e - YouTube

In this photo you can see that the 3 pt hitch lower arms are extending through the blower to provide a new 3 pt hitch lower points.

Unlike the first photo, on my blower there is a solid shaft that extends from the blower fan out to a pillow block on a structural brace running between the two 3 pt lower arms.
At this point the regular pto shaft connects to the blower.

Currently your fan will be held to the gear box by a bolt in the center of the fan hub. If you remove the bolt you will likely find that the fan hub is splined to lock to the gear box.

This is where my solid shaft is connected to the fan and welded to the fan hub. The center of the fan hub serves to center the solid shaft before it is welded.
The solid shaft and fan are restrained by the pillow clock set screw.

If this idea appeals to you I can provide more photos.

Sorry there is so much white space in my post. Dont know why

Dave M7040

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's an age old problem. There simply isn't enough hydraulic capacity on the average tractor to run a blower. End of story!

A hard drive line or external PTO pump and tank are the only options.

 

[hutchman]

I bought my used MK Martin just for that project as well. It will be a future project ... but for now ... stiff neck.

My tractor has no where near the flow rate or quantity of hydro fluid to run the blower and keep it cool. There are commercial units that have one or two hydro motors and they have a large 30 gallon (or more) tank that goes on the 3pt. hitch and the pump ran by the PTO. I've done the math to determine I could get a system like that to work. From what I've read, you need that large volume of hydro fluid to keep the system cool ... the sump of the tractors most of us have here isn't big enough to cool it.

If memory serves me right, a Prince makes a PTO pump that will do 22 GPM and that is what I was planning on using.

 

[hutchman]

It's an age old problem. There simply isn't enough hydraulic capacity on the average tractor to run a blower. End of story!

A hard drive line or external PTO pump and tank are the only options.

Yup, that's been my conclusion as well from what I've learned checking into it.

 

[PILOON]

Front mounted as well as pull types rotate opposite to the standard rear mounted blowers.
Hydraulics or mechanical reversers becomes necessary and complicated as well as costly.

Initially my blower was a mechanical front mount 'find' but I returned it to rear configuration ASAP as my tractor was not hydrostatic
Lowest fwd gear selection was simply too fast for the HP but reverse was just fine.
Also there was a whole lot of bearings, joints etc to cause maintenance issues and that not counting seasonal changeovers.
Also maneuvering in close quarters easier.
But all that said I don't mind sitting 'side saddle', also I installed a back up camera to make life easier.

What I once did however was to add a 16 hp motor directly on a blower and made up suitable ears to replace my FEL bucket.
That worked quite well until I ingested a discarded car starter that was under the snow. LOL, mea culpa!
Unknown to me was that the augers were rusted to the shaft so sheer pins did not work and caused the gear box to simply explode as well as trash one auger.
It simply was not economical to repair,
I had simply calculated ratios and used a V belt to drive the blower.

 

[Jay4200]

I'm curious if anyone here has attempted this project and if so, what were the problems / results, hyd. motor size etc. For those who have front mounted snowblowers, is the loss of FEL cylinder pressure really an issue?

You can't tap into the tractor hydraulics to power your blower - there isn't remotely enough flow. You need a BIG PTO-powered hydraulic pump/reservoir that can run up to your FEL and drive the enormous hydraulic motor you are going to need.

Hydraulic Power Unit Attachment - Power Pack by Quick Attach Attachments LLC

 

[hutchman]

You can't tap into the tractor hydraulics to power your blower - there isn't remotely enough flow. You need a BIG PTO-powered hydraulic pump/reservoir that can run up to your FEL and drive the enormous hydraulic motor you are going to need.

Hydraulic Power Unit Attachment - Power Pack by Quick Attach Attachments LLC

Hadn't seen that before. That's awesome ... gives me something to study for inspiration for my build as I'm sure that's a pretty penny right there!

 

[cat fever]

You can't tap into the tractor hydraulics to power your blower - there isn't remotely enough flow. You need a BIG PTO-powered hydraulic pump/reservoir that can run up to your FEL and drive the enormous hydraulic motor you are going to need.

Hydraulic Power Unit Attachment - Power Pack by Quick Attach Attachments LLC

That is very nice.

 

[carlhwv]

You can't tap into the tractor hydraulics to power your blower - there isn't remotely enough flow. You need a BIG PTO-powered hydraulic pump/reservoir that can run up to your FEL and drive the enormous hydraulic motor you are going to need.

Hydraulic Power Unit Attachment - Power Pack by Quick Attach Attachments LLC

Has anyone priced this? Also, does the HP rating equate to gpm flow rates?

 

[hutchman]

Has anyone priced this? Also, does the HP rating equate to gpm flow rates?

Kind of. I use the hydraulics calculator at Surplus Center to figure things out.

 

[Malachi Raymond]

I have an inverted snow blower. It is a two stage which you pull behind the tractor on the 3 pt.
I have not done it but I think with a bit of metal fabrication you could convert a back up style to a pull style and actually have it so you could still use it both ways by not destroying the existing hitch hardware.
I have a surgically fused neck and love being able to blow with out turning my head to look back.
Here is a youtube video of one in use:

Pronovost Inverted snowblower V 1 � e - YouTube

In this photo you can see that the 3 pt hitch lower arms are extending through the blower to provide a new 3 pt hitch lower points.

Unlike the first photo, on my blower there is a solid shaft that extends from the blower fan out to a pillow block on a structural brace running between the two 3 pt lower arms.
At this point the regular pto shaft connects to the blower.

Currently your fan will be held to the gear box by a bolt in the center of the fan hub. If you remove the bolt you will likely find that the fan hub is splined to lock to the gear box.

This is where my solid shaft is connected to the fan and welded to the fan hub. The center of the fan hub serves to center the solid shaft before it is welded.
The solid shaft and fan are restrained by the pillow clock set screw.

If this idea appeals to you I can provide more photos.

Sorry there is so much white space in my post. Dont know why

Dave M7040

If you wouldn't mind I would like some photos, that would be great thank you

 

[JWR]

.... The thing you need to watch if you go hydro is matching the pump/motor on the blower with the flow rate of your tractor system. My 7040 is rated at a little of 11gpm and the pump on the blower is 14-16gpm rated and the blower worked fine. Only used it in big 2' plus snows biggest was 4' and it chewed it up. Down side is no loader..definitely recommend running a blade on rear with this set up. Hope this helps.

Carlhwv is right about flow. He was getting by with marginal specs on his 7040 and your MX5800 has less main pump flow. Just won't work. I know of an airport clearing blower that seemed to have plenty of flow specs but had to be retrofitted with bigger hoses, etc.
Even if you had lots of flow, the single pump means a "one track mind" and the blower would stop the minute you tried to raise the loader, etc. Just a mess. Flow diverters are costly and do not solve your problem anyway. You'd really need a secondary pump on the PTO IF you go hydraulic. Then you have to watch out for 2 more things: reasonable rpm matching AND rotational direction. Juicy project. If you did have the FEL mounted hyd driven blower and a pump on the pto you should still be able to use a blade on the 3 pt in the rear and be able to "clear both ways."

 

[BoylermanCT]

Since hydraulic versions don't seem to be a good option, are there any self powered units? At work they use the giant front end loaders with snow pushers to clear all of our parking lots (acres and acres). They all push the snow into a few huge piles 20 feet high, and then they hook up a diesel powered blower to one of the front end loaders that is 12' wide and 5' tall, and blow the piles into the woods. The last of the snow melted on Friday. Regular snow has been gone for 4 weeks.

Do they sell a smaller self powered version that you could mount a quick attach to?

 

[PILOON]

While I have never seen one, I rigged my 48" Bervac for front mounting.
I made 4 pieces to replicate the FEL pin attachment points, welded those to the blower, calculated sprocket diameters and fitted the large one to the blower PTO input.
I then mounted a 16 HP Wisconsin motor on the blower body with the smallest matching sprocket. A chain tension mechanism came next.

The rig worked like a charm with very few hickups that were not easy to rectify.
The main shortcoming was that I really needed a clutch mechanism as starting was tricky.

All worked as I had hoped until the blower tried to ingest a scrapped car starter that was buried under the snow and totally destroyed the blower in that all the sheer bolts did not function due to rust having welded the augers and fan to their shafts. (blower was used and internal rust simply unseen)

 

[Al 2]

The OP was last year and we haven't heard back from him. If he or anyone else is interested in a self contained front mount blower for ATV or small tractor check out Bercomac. Bercomac - Accessories for Lawn & Garden Tractors, ATV, UTV and compact & sub-compact tractors . I have no experience with one on a tractor but 2 friends have them . One on an ATV and one on a Side X Side and they are very happy with them.
Al

 

[Al 2]

After looking more closely at the site it looks like the model for the tractor does not have it's own engine. The other ones do. As for mounting on the loader itself you would have to make up some kind of adapter.
Vantage 66" Snowblower - Bercomac.
Al

 

[BoylermanCT]

At $6500 for the Vantage 66", I think I will continue to drive in reverse! Could probably get a 2nd smaller used tractor with front blower for that kind of money.

 

[bdhsfz6]

The OP was last year and we haven't heard back from him. If he or anyone else is interested in a self contained front mount blower for ATV or small tractor check out Bercomac. Bercomac - Accessories for Lawn & Garden Tractors, ATV, UTV and compact & sub-compact tractors . I have no experience with one on a tractor but 2 friends have them . One on an ATV and one on a Side X Side and they are very happy with them.
Al

I just noticed the recent addition to my original post.

I got through the winter, including the 30" March blizzard we had, using my rear mount Woods SS74. It took a while but my stiff neck is finally gone. I appreciate all the advice and info provided in this thread. A PTO hydro powered front blower looks to be too costly to construct but I like the idea of a self powered unit. The only question is, if I fabricate the rig myself, how much HP would be required to spin a 74" blower in deep snow?

BoylermanCT makes a good point about the cost of buying a ready made self powered blower or building one myself. For the same $$ I might be able to get a smaller used tractor with a front mount blower.

I learned something this past winter that actually made me rethink the front blower issue. I mainly use it to blow back the snow piles along the side of the road when they get too high. When that happens, I can't push the snow over them with my pickup plow and the road narrows. During the March blizzard, my friend from across the valley came over with his L3830 to help. He has a 90" FEL mounted front blade which was much more task efficient. I was surprised at how high he was able to pile snow! Working at a 45 degree angle to the road, he pushed back the banks almost twice as fast as the blower moved them. The section he did looked pretty ratty buy hey, it got the road open!

I can get a FEL blade for <2k (I already have a 3rd function kit) and with the 74" blower on the rear, I'd have a pretty good working solution. I may just go that route.