Building a 3 pth leaf blower

[sleepyhollow]

How much should one of those silo blowers cost used, provided there is no rust through, ie still usable, good bearings etc... Also what RPM do they typically operate at? Thanks,
Sleepyhollow

 

[Steve_in_Ont]

Price - I'd say it's a buyer's market. Just a bit more than the scrap value would be expected.

PTO RPM - Good point. There are two RPMs, 540 & 1000. Generally the 540 rpm unit will have a fan that's about 36" in diameter, and the 1000 rpm units are about 24". However, the best way to tell is by any remaining stickers and the splines on the PTO shaft. The 540 units will have the same spline pattern that your tractor has... The 1000 RPM units have PTO shafts designed to work with a tractor PTO with about twice the number of splines (but still about the same diameter though). Someone out there should know the actual number of splines on these two systems...???

But just because it's a blower that was designed to run at 1000 rpm, it does not mean that it would not work at 540... it just would not blow as much air...

 

[Loges1]

If my memory serves me corectly 540 has 12 splines and 1000 has 24.
The silage blower will definately blow leaves. Your neighbors 1/4 mile away might not like it-thats probably where they will end up. That thing was made to blow wet corn silage 60 + feet straight up through a 6" duct. A leaf blower like that would put a smile on your face a 2x4 couldn't knock off!

 

[sleepyhollow]

I'm liking that silage blower idea... I did some searching on the web today and found a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.blackpondfarm.com/farmequipment.htm> silage blower </A> for $150 obo. Unfortunately, I'm in Connecticut and it is in Washington state.

The bearings probably need to be replaced. Not sure how much work that is??? Anyone seen this type of thing for sale in the Southern New England area?
Sleepyhollow