PTO Blower making my life miserable!

[DMW]

ruffdog, which lower hole? I see only 1 attachment point for the top link on the snowblower.???

 

[ruffdog]

Where the top link attaches to the tractor...is there one place or do you have a choice of 2/3?

 

[torch2k]

Thanks for the video. The 3pt arms are raising as you go back, if you place it at the 1 setting, does it help keep them stationary? There is no other adjustments I know of. The only other suggestion I would have is to repeat the same thing after lengthening the top link. The angle of the blower is changing when the weight comes off the tractor, so it tilts up. 3-4 threads at a time.

I'll play with it some more but I doubt it will work. The other night (earlier in this thread) I had quite a bit more length on the top link, it was to the point where the snowblower was angling down quite a bit and everyone on here thought it looked crazy When I start to lengthen the top link much more than where it's at now, clearance starts to become an issue for me. By that I mean that the blower just doesn't get very high off the ground, even at the highest setting, when I angle it too much more. This ends up causing the blower to drag when I am scraping with my bucket or when I am trying to work my way down a fairly steep bank in my driveway.

Like I said, I will keep playing with it, but tomorrow morning I'm making some calls to price out something a bit smaller to see what my options are.

Where the top link attaches to the tractor...is there one place or do you have a choice of 2/3?

Nope, just one hole.

 

[aczlan]

IMO, you need the skid shoes that are missing in this picture (or a steel wheel on each side to perform the same function, something like this: Steel wheel

The two holes in the bottom right corner of the picture should have skid shoes in them, that will help prevent the blower from tipping forward like it is doing.

Aaron Z

 

[DMW]

The blower doesn't come from the factory with shoes.

 

[ruffdog]

Maybe the issue is how this blower contacts the ground like other's have asked. What kind of edge does it have? Does it start acting goofy when the edge is gone?

 

[torch2k]

Maybe the issue is how this blower contacts the ground like other's have asked. What kind of edge does it have? Does it start acting goofy when the edge is gone?

Check out the attached image, it's got a strange lip to it rather than a normal cutting edge.

 

[ruffdog]

Like this one...the first pic?

Used 26 Agro Trend C-6 Snow Blower | AgDealer

 

[tcreeley]

# 5 says lengthen the top link to keep it from riding up.

The company manual says this -
1. When attaching the blower make certain all guards are in place.
2. Ensure that the fan and auger rotate freely before connecting PTO shaft to the tractor.
3. Use proper pins and ensure that all connections are secure.
4. Engage the PTO at low engine RPM and slowly increase speed to operating level. Operating speed will vary with snow, weather, and ground conditions.
5. Adjust the top link of the three-point hitch to match the ground and snow conditions. Increasing the length will cause the blower to cut deeper into compacted snow, but may also cause the blower to scrape gravel or stones into the fan, which can be a danger to nearby persons, pets, livestock or buildings. Decreasing the length of the top link causes the blower to ride back on the skid shoes, raising the cutting height, thereby reducing the possibility of scraping gravel or stones into the blower.
6. Adjust the deflector for the distance of throw required. Moving the adjusting bar, to shorten the distance between the pins increases the distance thrown.
7. Be aware of the presence of people and objects that may be obscured from vision by blowing or drifted snow. Be certain that no children have tunnelled into snowbanks which are to be removed. Never let children slide down snowbanks in the vicinity of an operating blower.

 

[ruffdog]

But then it looks like the OP's first photos......no problem with a taller tractor maybe...

 

[DMW]

torch2k has decided to look at other options. I feel it is my duty as a TBNer to spend his money wisely. Front mount blower built for the tractor is always a great choice. Less neck and back strain over the years, but come with a heavy price tag. Research the model before making a choice,there are some good and bad front blowers made by Cub/Yanmar. A rear blower up to 54" would be optimal, 60" only if found used at a decent price. 350-450 pound range. Shoes will limit the cutting edge's contact the asphalt, less scratching. Something to look for. Anything else?

Just a reference for price range:

 

[Reb954]

In the second video in post 58, right at the end, watch how much the lower arms are moving where they pin to the blower.

Are you sure you have the right pins, if yes then you probably need bushings between the pins and lower arm ends. It makes me wonder if you have a Cat 1 blower but Cat 2 lower arms ends. Or maybe it is Cat 0 and Cat 1. I'm not sure on that tractor.

I had a similar situation with my tractor and blower. The blower was setup for both Cat 1 & 2 but the tractor was setup for Cat 2 diameter wise but the arms wouldn't go wide enough due to hitting the tires to fit into the Cat 2 position on the blower. My solution was to make new pins that were Cat 2 diameter all way through the Cat 2 & 1 snow blower slots, then step them down to fit through the Cat 1 inner plates on the blower. Hopefully that makes sense. The only bushings I use is to control the side to side movement within the blower attachment points.

Doing this gave me a lot better control of the blower due to removing the slop in the attachment points. You probably have a similar problem with the top link, I know mine did but I just made a pin to fix it.

It appears you just have too much slop in the attachment points to have much control over the blower.

 

[CobyRupert]

Is this a Cat I blower on a Cat O 3 pth?

I agree with others:
-Lengthen the top link so that blower "attack angle" is more aggressive and blower doesn't ride up. This will solve problem #1.

However this will make problem #2 worse, which is not being able to raise the blower much. This is because tractor and it's lift arms are too low.

You may need a better cutting edge on blower.

 

[Reb954]

Is this a Cat I blower on a Cat O 3 pth?

It is the other way around. I just looked up his tractor, tractordata shows it has a Cat 1 3 pt. I can't find the blower but looking at the pictures it appears it is Cat 0. That will give him roughly 1/4" of movement on the bottom and top pins. He may be able to adjust to minimize one problem but other problems will still be there. The first solution is to use bushings on all three pins, then adjust the blower angle.

 

[SkunkWerX]

I'm late to the discussion and only have 2 thoughts after reading this entire thread.

1. I had a BX with an old 52" Meteor blower, both Cat 1, worked fine, always left the Top Link adjusted for a pretty much level blower. The Metoer has similar skids & cutting edge to the OPs blower.
So it was a SCUT with a Cat 1 blower, used on pavement. Whether it was wet and slushy or deep blizzard conditions it never rode up. The BX had the Kubota "inching" valve on the 3PH, which I would place all the way down so that the full blower weight was on the ground.

2. It would be very interesting to see what the OPs blower would do on another tractor. If there were a friend or neighbor with a Cat 1 compact tractor, that would be worth a try to see if the problem continues, (pointing at the blower), or the problem goes away (pointing at the OPs specific combination).

Lastly, I would give a call to the snowblower company, explain what's happening. They likely have heard of this before.

Good luck, getting it to work correctly, or with a new set up.

 

[leonz]

After seeing these videos I would definitely add a quick hitch for more weight and more reach.

 

[Farmer495]

For your viewing pleasure I made a couple of videos this afternoon for you to take a look at. Sorry for all the slo-mo, I don't know how to get rid of it now that it's recorded.

Video 1
- Showing you the full range of the 3PH lever. At the end I am showing you level 3 of 6 on the lever, so I'm about half-way up before the blower gets picked up and becomes level I guess.


Video 2
- Reversing down a fairly clean driveway slowly
- first bit of action is at approx 26sec.
- slow-mo highlights what is happening at the connections when it comes across the first bit of snow (well, hard icy-snow today actually)
- Obviously it's going to jump up when it hits a bump, I realize that -- i just did the video to show what is going on back there

I watched the videos, looks like when the blower gets to go down all the way, it tips towards the tractor slightly, the "cutting" edge you have is bent up a bit, and when the blower tips back at acts as a ramp and climbs the snow.

I had an old 78" with the style of wore out edge and found I had to have the top link "longer" (not too long) to make sure they blower stayed the right angle when I dropped the hitch all the way.

I now have a much heavier new 78" with a nice sharp cutting edge and it will still climb, especially in the slush, the last snow fall I had was likely same as yours (slushy and heavy)

 

[PILOON]

If U lengthen the top link you will cut down more.
If that does not 'cut it' perhaps replacing the cutting edge on the blower will help (might be worn out)
My blower was always leaving a small pile of snow and in frustration I replaced the bolted on cutting edge and that cured the 'left behind' small piles of snow.
Most blower cutting edges are no more than standard flat stock.
I, when replacing, used 1/4 flat rather than the thin 'tin like' that the blower came with. Cheap cure.

 

[torch2k]

Hi all, I lost track of this thread for a few weeks but wanted to update you on my situation.

I ended up spending some money. My first stop was to a local Pronovost/Normand dealer and I was literally turned away because they were only willing to sell me a blower if it was attached to a tractor, regardless of the fact that they had inventory sitting around. I couldn't believe it. Apparently they have a hard time selling tractors in the winter if it doesn't come with a blower, so I guess business must be good if they can tell a customer with cash-in-hand to go take a hike.

Next stop was John Deere, they have a big local presence here and lots of stock, and happy to help. I ended up purchasing a new Frontier SB1154 (sold as a JD unit). I spent about an extra $1k (Canadian funds) to get the hydraulic model and purchased/installed my own plumbing for the rear end.

This blower is a little lighter than the other unit and is 6" narrower. When you look at it side by side is doesn't look a whole lot smaller, but the chute and auger are still quite substantial. It's working really well. No riding up on the snow whatsoever. And of course, the hydraulics are making it a pretty fun toy to play with.

My conclusion out of all this is that the old blower was intended for a taller tractor. While the hitch pins were are sized correctly (believe it or not), the lower arm height on my tractor was allowing the blower to lean back. No amount of adjustment on the upper arm was able to fix it for me - It would have taken so much length on top that it would barley allow me to pick the blower up off the ground when raising the rear end, and that was a no-go in my yard.

The Frontier blower has multiple mounting points for the rear arms and proper skids, so that may also have been something that is helping on this model.

The new color scheme makes it look a little funny, but I'm definitely happy with the performance now.

 

[ruffdog]

^^I agree with the OP's assessment of the issues and what was causing the problem.....good luck and happy snow storm! :cool2: