What size snowblower?

[apps]

Nowhere left to dump the snow with FEL. Looking at 3 point options for a GC1715. Would a 60" be too much to handle? Other option is 54" as I would want a little wider path than tractor width & has to throw a good distance. Most of snowfall is dry, windblown & drifting with average 15-20 cm snowfalls. I did a lot of searching but I want to hear actual MF owners' experiences.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Either will work fine. The wider it is, the slower you'll need to go in heavy or deep snow. I've seen videos of people using a 60" on the previous model to the GC1705, the GC2400, and it didn't seem to have much of a problem. I have the 50" front blower, and wish it was wider. I've give up a bit of speed for some extra width.

Just be careful of weight. Some of the brands get pretty heavy, not that the GC can't handle it, but it can get a little light in the front for steering.

 

[atsah]

I have a Blizzard B54 and my GC1705 doesn't want anymore blower than that, the 1715 has 1/2 PTO HP more than mine and I don't think that's enough to go to a 60. I blow a lot of snow and most of it is powder but in the fall and spring we have some heavy snow, and when we do the 54 is all it wants.

If you buy the 60 you're first pass will be slow because you are feeding the full 60 inches to it but after the first pass you can cut the amount down if it's to much for it. The 54 works great for me because sometimes I back into hard bankings and it chews into them slowly but does a good job..

 

[Langanobob]

I have a 63 front mount blower on my GC1720, not sure how that relates to a 3 point hitch blower. It works fine. In older windpacked drifts I have to go pretty slow but It gets the job done. If I try to push too hard in deep heavy snow I hear the engine RPM痴 drop off a little bit so I slow down and the RPMs instantly pick back up. I like having the extra width.

 

[atsah]

540 and 2000 are two different ball games..

 

[oosik]

In the day, I had a 60" unit on a 4WD Ford 1700( 26 engine HP ). Worked well. There were times, really deep snow > around three plus feet, where I had to slow down or make two passes. I've got a mile long gravel driveway. There are a couple places where the wind can cause drifting. I would just make things easy and take two passes thru these short areas. Half with the first pass - remainder with the second pass.

Nice thing about a blower. You can usually get the snow completely out of the way. Won't ever have to deal with it a second time. Some times I have to bust old berms I've created along my driveway. With my heavy tractor and rear blade it's not a problem but a waste of time.

The ONE thing that is disagreeable with a 3-point blower. Going in reverse. It would take me three to four hours to clean the yard, driveway and mail box area. My neck and shoulders would be sore the following day. Such is life.

With my heavy Kubota and rear blade - the same job takes an hour or two now. And I'm always going forward.

 

[csquared]

Look at Woodmax blowers designed in Buffalo NY. They are great blowers, built like tanks and really thow the snow.

 

[BLSXJ]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

why? you wont drive through the snow when making normal turns and with the hydro you can adjust your speed to match the snow depth and density.

 

[atsah]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

Okay that would make the blower 6 ft wide since his tractor is four feet wide. A 24 HP tractor is NOT going to run a 6 ft blower.

OP, look at PTO HP specs on the blowers website, it will tell you the range of PTO HP you need to run there blower.

 

[JWR]

Either will work fine. The wider it is, the slower you'll need to go in heavy or deep snow. I've seen videos of people using a 60" on the previous model to the GC1705, the GC2400, and it didn't seem to have much of a problem. I have the 50" front blower, and wish it was wider. I've give up a bit of speed for some extra width.

Just be careful of weight. Some of the brands get pretty heavy, not that the GC can't handle it, but it can get a little light in the front for steering.

Agree. I use a 60" 3pt blower on a 24hp Kubota B2150 that is about 400lb heavier than the GC1715. I handle an Agro-Trend Canadian made 5ft blower with ease and comfortably "not too big" at all. It is very heavy. It would be nice if you have a FEL up front for balance as well as "two way snow removal." I have a creeper gear in the B2150 which is important for stick transmission snow blowing but with hydrostatic that should not be a problem in your case. As Fiziksgeek says watch the weight of the blower. And as Atsah says pay attention to the hp rating of the blower -- I think you'll find your hp can handle the 5ft but it would be a good thing to know if you were right on the edge versus being in a comfortable bracket of power needed. My B2150 is speced at 24hp but it is a 4cyl and tends to be stronger than the numbers indicate. I'm convinced the hp figures 30 years ago were more conservative than they are now.

 

[aczlan]

540 and 2000 are two different ball games..

Nope, they transmit the same amount of horsepower, just the 2000RPM PTO can use a smaller shaft.
Also, many (most?) front blowers use a reducer to drop the PTO speed at the fan to 540RPM.

Aaron Z

 

[atsah]

Nope, they transmit the same amount of horsepower, just the 2000RPM PTO can use a smaller shaft.
Also, many (most?) front blowers use a reducer to drop the PTO speed at the fan to 540RPM.

Aaron Z

They may but they seem to be not the same.

 

[atsah]

Shows 15-25 PTO HP for up to 64 inch. It depends on were you live, depth of snow you normally will be blowing and the weight of it. I could use a 5 ft but it would be slow going.

 

[JWR]

Nowhere left to dump the snow with FEL. Looking at 3 point options for a GC1715. Would a 60" be too much to handle? Other option is 54" as I would want a little wider path than tractor width & has to throw a good distance. Most of snowfall is dry, windblown & drifting with average 15-20 cm snowfalls. I did a lot of searching but I want to hear actual MF owners' experiences.

Because you indicated that most of your snowfall is dry, I doubt that horsepower will be your problem at all. When the snow is hardpacked or been laying there for a long time before you get to blow it -- that's when you will notice the engine loading down and you just have to go slower. To me that's not much of a penalty for being able to do the 60" wide path instead of something narrower. Again I'd be a little more concerned about weight than I would having the HP to drive it. Depending on where you buy, maybe you can get a chance to attach the blower to a 1715 and see how it feels before making the purchase.

Where are you located and how long is your snow removal season ?

 

[atsah]

Also blowers vary in weight, when I bought mine, the MK Martin in 54 was
360lbs, my blizzard in 54 is 502lbs.

 

[tjcooke]

I have the woodmaxx 60" blower on my gc1710, it's heavy, but manageable. I removed the bucket on the FEL and replaced it with a 72" plow, which is about 150lbs heavier than the bucket, so it is a better counterweight for the blower. I have only had a chance to use the blower once since I got it, and that was for about 4" of heavy, wet snow, which it handled no problem at all. every storm seems to be freezing rain now in CT.... still waiting for that 12"+ snow storm to really test it out.

 

[BLSXJ]

Okay that would make the blower 6 ft wide since his tractor is four feet wide. A 24 HP tractor is NOT going to run a 6 ft blower.

OP, look at PTO HP specs on the blowers website, it will tell you the range of PTO HP you need to run there blower.

48"+12" = 60":scratchchin:

all I was suggesting is a bit of overhang on each side is helpful. sizing a blower width based on hp is difficult because snow doesn't have a constant density.

 

[Oldoak]

As Fiziksgeek says watch the weight of the blower. And as Atsah says pay attention to the hp rating of the blower

Very sound advice to base your final decision on. :thumbsup:

Various opinions and advice can be helpful but also can still leave a person confused. There are always variables to the norm.

 

[atsah]

with a hydro-static transmission I would suggest 12" wider then your tires.

When you say the above it can mean 12 inches beyond the tires on either side. I guess you meant 6 on either side.

 

[apps]

Where are you located and how long is your snow removal season ?[/QUOTE]

Just outside of Sudbury, northern Ontario. Season is usually mid-December to end of March. Snowfall this year has been ridiculous, many records broken.