Snow 1026R/47" blower: ballast?

[chelydra]

We had a couple of inches of powdery snow last night. Almost not even enough to be worth clearing, but a chance to try the new machine. A few question:

- Don't know what will happen with deeper and wetter snow, but the blower seemed happy around 3000 RPM. I prefer to keep engine speed down to reduce noise and fuel consumption, and to make it easier to move carefully in restricted areas. Is there any issue with running the blower below PTO standard RPM, as long as it works?

- Hydraulic chute is GREAT. Expensive, but I'm very glad I got it. It's kind of quick, though. Is there an inexpensive flow restrictor I could insert in one of the lines, or some other trick?

- I took almost half the bricks out of the ballast box when I swapped out the FEL. The front end was still way too light, making steering hard. So I took the BB off completely, and it felt about right. Is it OK to use the 47" snowblower without ballast?

Thanks, and I hope you're all having winter fun!

 

[cast_and_blast]

I run my 2305 with a 47SB at about 2500 RPM until I get in the "deep stuff" which hasn't happened this year. I do not run any ballast on the back and I seem to have easy steering and good traction.

Scott

 

[chelydra]

Aha - maybe I got mis-led by seeing ballast boxes on all the JDs with snowblowers at a couple of dealers. I'd much rather leave it off - not just for front traction, but to reduce overall length in tight quarters. The 47" SB is light enough that I'm not too worried about front axle loading.

 

[C-Range]

Hi,

Congratulations on your new equipment. Excellent choices!

The only reason for using rear ballast in your case would be to help retain traction. Having MFWD, this shouldn't be much of a factor. For 2WD machines there is more benefit. You are doing fine without ballast.

Regarding the hydraulic rotator, I suggest you just give yourself some time to get used to it. Before long, you'll be glad for it's speed. For now, just tap the lever a bit to fine tune. You'll get the feel for stopping the rotation so that your discharge is aimed accurately.

Enjoy!