BX2360 front snowblower - how to keep it from digging in?

[wild bill]

I had some ultra high molecular weight polyethelene (UHMW) which works like wood (you can cut it, shape it, even drill and tap it) and I fit it to the skid bottoms with (4) 1/4-20 bolts each.

Thanks dsmiley, I picked up a 12x12x3/4 sheet of UHMW from ebay and added it to the OEM shoes. I tried it this morning and I am very happy with the results!

 

[jayhawk238]

Hi dsmiley.

Do you remember where you bought the switch for your chute deflector or what it's called. I just have a toggle switch mounted near the steering wheel but your setup is sooooo much better!

 

[dsmiley]

Hi dsmiley.

Do you remember where you bought the switch for your chute deflector or what it's called. I just have a toggle switch mounted near the steering wheel but your setup is sooooo much better!

There's a post about it here . I can't find a record of the actual switch purchase so I don't know where it came from but it is a common switch.

 

[fxdb96]

I had this same problem and sheared 6 bolts the first winter. The OEM skids are just inadequate, too small, so I wanted to make them bigger. I had some ultra high molecular weight polyethelene (UHMW) which works like wood (you can cut it, shape it, even drill and tap it) and I fit it to the skid bottoms with (4) 1/4-20 bolts each. I made the skids long enough to actually go under the cutting edge. These are 5/8" thick I believe, but I think 1/2" would work too. I started with them 1" thick and then made them thinner. Anyway, they work great and I might shear 1 bolt a year now and pick up very few rocks from my 3 gravel driveways blowing in the float position.

View attachment 399634

Skids mounted.
View attachment 399635

Hey dsmiley - look what i made....

 

[dsmiley]

You won't be sorry.

 

[JWR]

I use a rear PTO driven snow blower on a Kubota B2150. I fought the gravel issue for years until I realized what a HUGE difference the angle of attack makes. I adjusted my top link on the 3pt hitch to make sure the snowblower edge is pointed slightly upward. That is easily adjusted on a flat concrete floor. Doing that made all the difference in the world ! Now I can simply lower the blower completely into a float mode and go right ahead with no worries about gravel being picked up. Rarely of course a piece or two does get into it but now it is so rare no one would even think of the issue. Surely you can adjust your front-mount blower to cause the cutting edge to point slightly upward and fix your problem. The skids and other ideas the guys have suggested are good ones, but I think it is more fundamental to get that edge pointing upward. By the way, it doesn't take much -- a very slight up-angle makes a big difference.

 

[JWR]

Get a similar problem before freeze up...until the ground freezes up the skid shoes often just dig in and not support the blower...particularly on loose gravel and crushed stone surfaces...Been thinking of possibly adapting some anti scalp rollers from a mower deck to carry the blower until the surface freezes..Rear 3pth blowers have the advantage of the adjustable top link but any front mount I've encountered don't allow for the approach angle to be adjusted...Not sayin' they don't exist but the 3 I have had on 3 different botas didn't.

Wow ! Hard to imagine that they made a snowblower with no way to adjust the angle of the blower relative to the road surface. Having had 3, obviously you know. If there is absolutely no adjustment provided, then the thing has to be mounted to some surface and I would think that could be shimmed to change the angle (??)

 

[dsmiley]

Wow ! Hard to imagine that they made a snowblower with no way to adjust the angle of the blower relative to the road surface. Having had 3, obviously you know. If there is absolutely no adjustment provided, then the thing has to be mounted to some surface and I would think that could be shimmed to change the angle (??)

No shimming is possible. The blower is mounted to and supported by a subframe only. The tongue into a pocket mounting arrangement precludes shimming. But if the skids are large enough to support the blower on soft ground then it isn't a problem anyway. The problem is that RAD Technologies, the manufacturer, didn't supply a large enough skid, but IMHO this is the only problem with these blowers and is easily rectified.

 

[sandyc]

I plow my gravel drive til it freezes. From there on out or until the next thaw I use my blower. It takes but a minute to switch between those implements. Heck I'll even drop the subframe and put the loader on if I have to dig out the street end or the mail box. Another thing to try is to not float the blower. From time to time you might have to adjust the level if you drive is uneven. I might shear a bolt every year or two by doing the plow/blower thing.

 

[dsmiley]

I plow my gravel drive til it freezes. From there on out or until the next thaw I use my blower. It takes but a minute to switch between those implements. Heck I'll even drop the subframe and put the loader on if I have to dig out the street end or the mail box. Another thing to try is to not float the blower. From time to time you might have to adjust the level if you drive is uneven. I might shear a bolt every year or two by doing the plow/blower thing.

These days I use the loader bucket until the ground freezes. I had a machine shop cut a 3/8" slot the length of a 1 1/4" pipe to put over the cutting edge and welded small pieces of angle iron to the ends to attach it to the bucket sides. This does such a good job that I didn't even mount the blower last year. It doesn't dig in and does a better clean up job.