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

[newdeal]

I have for a couple of years had a front snowblower for my bx2360. In the past my driveway was paved and even with the little spacers set to their highest setting it would scrape the pavement bare when I used it. Now I have a gravel driveway, and it slopes up quite a bit about 15 feet from the road (the most important area to blow because traction is tough on the slope). Of course when the blower is used I can't have it in float because it shoots a ridiculous amount of stones if I do and I have to constantly adjust the height to keep it a bit off the ground. This is a pain, especially on the sloping area and it makes the blower not work as well. I am sure if I just had a base of ice it would be OK but is there any way I can modify the blower so that it will glide on those spacers and keep the front edge raised up enough that it won't just dig in all the time?

 

[Pepsiboy]

newdeal,

Are there some kind of shoes or skid plates on the bottom or sides of the blower ?? If so, are they adjustable or in a fixed position ?? If adjustable, put a piece of 1X4 wood under each side of the cutting edge, and adjust the shoes or skid plates DOWN to touch the floor, and tighten them. (Of course, this should be done on a paved or cement surface.) If necessary, adjust up or down to get the clearance you need for your driveway. I have mine set at about 3/4 inch off the ground. :2cents: :welcome: Good luck, and enjoy the toy ---er--- TOOL. Yeah, that's it, TOOL ! ! ! :cool2:

Dave

 

[s219]

Sounds like angle is more of an issue than skid shoe height?? Can you post a picture of the blower resting on the skid shoes so we can see the angle of it?

 

[Kanook]

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.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

If your skid shoes are set down to the max and are just digging into the unfrozen gravel, maybe you need to have a wider piece of steel welded to them to keep them from digging in. I use a 3pt B2781 on my BX24, the skid shoes are about 1.5 inches wide and work just fine on my gravel drive when set at about 3/4 inch. My B2781 is probably heavier than a BX front mount blower too.

Pete

 

[sandyc]

At the risk of sounding like a wise guy......I use a plow until the ground freezes and the I put the blower on. I still manage to shot gravel into the woods.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[Jeff F.]

What about putting a piece of PVC tubing on the cutting edge? I read about guys using it on loaders and blades, why not try it on a snowblower. If you do, let us know how it works

 

[HEC]

All of us with gravel drives face the same situation until things freeze up . Like already mentioned I too use a plow, mine has a piece of 1 1/2 inch pipe with a slot in it, and is put over the cutting edge, this does help a great deal . We had one 15 inch storm and I had to use the blower with the cutting edge as high off the ground as I could get and still had issues with throwing gravel in a couple areas .

 

[dsmiley]

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.



Skids mounted.

 

[newdeal]

Thanks guys, yes the shoes are already adjusted all the way down to try to keep the blower up as much as possible but it just doesn't do any good. Like I said though it would scalp pavement with them adjusted all the way down too! Clearly they are inadequate. I think I will have to do some McGuivering to make them a bit longer so that it gets held up better by them