Cyclone snow blowers?

[screamin400]

Has anyone used the inverted cyclone snow blower from pronovost? My dealer wants 11,500 for a 92" with wings. They are suppose to be awesome. What have you heard on prices?

 

[leonz]

Hello screamin400,

The only way your going to know for sure about how they operate is to contact a few pronovost dealers in Ontario and Quebec and ask how many they have sold and whether it would be possible to contact one or more of these purchasers and ask them how they like these snowblowers.

If your going to buy you should do it very soon as they may be unable to fill your order.
As I mentioned before you will save a wad of money if you cross over the border and buy it at a Pronovost dealer and your Ontario or Quebec sales tax will be refunded at the bodrer crossing unless you intend on deducting it as part of a business expense for an annual depreciation expense against gross income for your plowing business.

As far as I know Riest still has that single stage pull behind unit for sale too.

 

[screamin400]

I see they are cheaper in Canada but I need it for the deduction. I can use it against my dealer though. Guys I have talked to like them a lot. I did purchase a meteor 87" for one tractor but now thinking of adding another one

 

[leonz]

Hello screamin400,

Just keep in mind that all the parts are generic and the only specific ones you have to worry about are the wear edges.

The hydraulic motor for the chute rotation and the chain(if used) the hoses and the cylinder for the spout are common and if your using it for commercial use the warranty is only a year if I remember correctly. They probably use a comer gearbox as well.
The gear ring for the chute may be the only other wear part you should have from the dealer or the factory.

What steered you away from the Riest single stage pull behind unit for under $6,000.00 I told you about, was the the smaller width the issue?

Just remember "any snow blower" is as dumb as dirt and a single stage is much smarter because it has fewer parts.

 

[screamin400]

We are going commercial snow blowing. Width is a big deal. I like the cyclone with the wings but 11500 is crazy. 9500 for it without the wings. It appears to not need a rear scraper blade so that offsets a little bit. A new meteor with the rear blade is about 6500 give or take. I do like the job that the Cyclone does but I think my dealer can do much better than he is saying. I am grouping the blower in with the tractor as a one price deal so have to go with what he sells which is just about everything.

 

[Agvg]

The problem for a lot of one stage is how well they handle very heavy and wet snow.

Even two stage can be bad under those conditions, so the buyer should ask someone with product experience under difficult snow conditions, and that are independent from the dealer or factory.

 

[screamin400]

The problem for a lot of one stage is how well they handle very heavy and wet snow.

Even two stage can be bad under those conditions, so the buyer should ask someone with product experience under difficult snow conditions, and that are independent from the dealer or factory.

The couple guys I have talked to love them. These are two stage. I was hoping the folks on here had used them but I think the price stops a lot of people.

 

[leonz]

If it were me I would still hold out for the single stage Riest pull behind ONLY because you will have all the torque you can use since all the torque delivered is being sent to the chain drive for the snow blower rotor. They can add wings to the unit they have and the single stage unit has much more steel in its construction. The lower cost would let you go up one or two engine frame sizes too.

For the money that they want for it you could have them add chute spot lights and rear marker lights too.

The lower cost of the Riest single stage will let you go up one or two engine frame sizes for a purchase and the power take off would never be short of torque to spin the snow blower rotor as it has four paddles in the center for direct discharge up the chute.


With heavy wet snow you going to have to go a bit slower anyway but with the single stage unit and a larger mule/engine frame size you will never lack for torque under any condition.

You can always add slick sheet material or paint the interior of the snow thrower and the cross auger with slick plate paint to prevent snow hanging up and the single stage will not clog like a 2 stage will either as the construction of the machine is fully open and exposed except for the rear portion of the snow blower rotor housing which has an adjustable gap to allow the user to throw even more snow rather than have that 1/-3/8+ inch layer amount of snow staying in the housing for each rotation of the snow blower rotor.

As I have mentioned before I never had a bit of trouble with the 12 horse IHC Cub Cadet with the horizontal Kohler engine I had with the single stage snow thrower that was belt driven through a right angle bevel gear box to the cross shaft that spun 40 roller chain to power the snow blower rotor. I had to take smaller bites in wet slush but other than that it was never short on power.

 

[screamin400]

If it were me I would still hold out for the single stage Riest pull behind ONLY because you will have all the torque you can use since all the torque delivered is being sent to the chain drive for the snow blower rotor. They can add wings to the unit they have and the single stage unit has much more steel in its construction. The lower cost would let you go up one or two engine frame sizes too.

For the money that they want for it you could have them add chute spot lights and rear marker lights too.

The lower cost of the Riest single stage will let you go up one or two engine frame sizes for a purchase and the power take off would never be short of torque to spin the snow blower rotor as it has four paddles in the center for direct discharge up the chute.


With heavy wet snow you going to have to go a bit slower anyway but with the single stage unit and a larger mule/engine frame size you will never lack for torque under any condition.

You can always add slick sheet material or paint the interior of the snow thrower and the cross auger with slick plate paint to prevent snow hanging up and the single stage will not clog like a 2 stage will either as the construction of the machine is fully open and exposed except for the rear portion of the snow blower rotor housing which has an adjustable gap to allow the user to throw even more snow rather than have that 1/-3/8+ inch layer amount of snow staying in the housing for each rotation of the snow blower rotor.

As I have mentioned before I never had a bit of trouble with the 12 horse IHC Cub Cadet with the horizontal Kohler engine I had with the single stage snow thrower that was belt driven through a right angle bevel gear box to the cross shaft that spun 40 roller chain to power the snow blower rotor. I had to take smaller bites in wet slush but other than that it was never short on power.

I am not looking to reinvent the wheel here. I am listening to the guys doing 2-5000 driveways. They are just getting started with the cyclone now but a few ran last year. Was hoping someone on here had run one

 

[leonz]

What made you think I was reinventing the wheel?

I suggested the Reist unit only because it was half the cost of the Pronovost Cyclone and you could have a bigger tractor with higher horsepower in the bargain to provide more usable torque and you would be saving $6,500.00.

 

[Agvg]

How far does this onestage throw the snow? Two stage can have very impressive throw lengths if that is important.

 

[leonz]

I am unaware if Reist has done a tonnage per hour measurement with thier single stage units but all that amounts to is dumping a set tonnage of snow in front of the attachment and timing how long it takes for the snow blower or snow thrower to clear it per minute at 88 feet per minute (1 mile per hour); 176 feet per minute(2 miles per hour); 264 feet per minute(3 miles an hour).

Like any other snow blower or snow thrower the slower one travels the farther the snow and ice will be cast as the full torque delivered to the attachment will be transmitted to the snow blower rotor to spin the augers to deliver the smaller portion of snow and ice to the 4 paddles and then up and out of the chute and spout.

A snow blower or snow thrower on a tractor is a lot different than a walk behind snow blower in that it is being powered by a 540 RPM PTO gearbox or a 1000 RPM reducing gearbox from a larger farm tractor.

A large walk behind the the Yamaha 1028 or 1332 2 stage track drive units chop the snow in to the smallest proportion with the serrated cross augers before it is pushed in to the impeller housing by the forward motion of the snow blower when it advances into the snow pack where the snow ahead of it is pushing it into the cross auger housing and it is ejected by the 4 impeller paddles through the chute and spout.
The 1028 and the 1332 Yamahas have slick liner material that prevents the chute and spout from becoming clogged as all the material is thrown out at a very high velocity with the 4 blade impeller. The Yamaha folks have measured the tonnage moved per hour with their walk behind units and they move a lot of snow
The impeller of a 2 stage walk behind snow blower is powered directly by the engine through a linear drive shaft that connects with a spur and worm gear drive system that operates the cross augers which feed the snow into the impeller housing. The yamahas have the distinct advantage of heavy serrated cutting flights that break the ice and snow into smaller pieces allowing the snow to be conveyed to the impeller that much faster to be discharged.

Most snow engines are run at 3200 or 3500+- RPM and the 4 blade Impeller is V belt driven with one or two V belts in a reduction drive method through the drive pulleys and then the larger driven pulley which is the same size as the impeller diameter.
If the driven pulley was smaller it would force a stall and the belts would burn up.

One advantage of a pull behind is the fact that the surface area of the rear tires will compress the two bands of snow in front of the pull behind snow thrower and allow the snow blower rotor to pull the snow into the center of the rotor that much faster if it is a powder type snow.

The snow blower rotor on the single stage Reist snow throwers consists of a narrow flight ribbon that is 16 inches in outside diameter if I remember correctly and ribbon height is 3 inches in diameter allowing a total of 6 inches of ribbon flighting to convey the snow and ice to the center where the four paddles throw it up the chute and out of the spout to be discharged.

The center portion of the snow blower rotor has 4 paddles to eject the snow offset at 90 degree angles taking 4 bites per revolution so if the snow blower rotor was rotating a 600 RPM the 4 center paddles in the snow blower rotor would be rotating 2400 times per minute to discharge the snow that is being fed into the snow blower rotor as the tractor advances in to the snow pack.

With the open cross auger design the snow can be pushed forward creating a mountain of snwo that the snow blower still has to get through to clear an area where the single stage unit will not have that issue as any snow that is pulled in will be discharged in one revolution of the snow blower rotor without clogging.

 

[grader guy]

I am unaware if Reist has done a tonnage per hour measurement with thier single stage units but all that amounts to is dumping a set tonnage of snow in front of the attachment and timing how long it takes for the snow blower or snow thrower to clear it per minute at 88 feet per minute (1 mile per hour); 176 feet per minute(2 miles per hour); 264 feet per minute(3 miles an hour).

Like any other snow blower or snow thrower the slower one travels the farther the snow and ice will be cast as the full torque delivered to the attachment will be transmitted to the snow blower rotor to spin the augers to deliver the smaller portion of snow and ice to the 4 paddles and then up and out of the chute and spout.

A snow blower or snow thrower on a tractor is a lot different than a walk behind snow blower in that it is being powered by a 540 RPM PTO gearbox or a 1000 RPM reducing gearbox from a larger farm tractor.

A large walk behind the the Yamaha 1028 or 1332 2 stage track drive units chop the snow in to the smallest proportion with the serrated cross augers before it is pushed in to the impeller housing by the forward motion of the snow blower when it advances into the snow pack where the snow ahead of it is pushing it into the cross auger housing and it is ejected by the 4 impeller paddles through the chute and spout.
The 1028 and the 1332 Yamahas have slick liner material that prevents the chute and spout from becoming clogged as all the material is thrown out at a very high velocity with the 4 blade impeller. The Yamaha folks have measured the tonnage moved per hour with their walk behind units and they move a lot of snow
The impeller of a 2 stage walk behind snow blower is powered directly by the engine through a linear drive shaft that connects with a spur and worm gear drive system that operates the cross augers which feed the snow into the impeller housing. The yamahas have the distinct advantage of heavy serrated cutting flights that break the ice and snow into smaller pieces allowing the snow to be conveyed to the impeller that much faster to be discharged.

Most snow engines are run at 3200 or 3500+- RPM and the 4 blade Impeller is V belt driven with one or two V belts in a reduction drive method through the drive pulleys and then the larger driven pulley which is the same size as the impeller diameter.
If the driven pulley was smaller it would force a stall and the belts would burn up.

One advantage of a pull behind is the fact that the surface area of the rear tires will compress the two bands of snow in front of the pull behind snow thrower and allow the snow blower rotor to pull the snow into the center of the rotor that much faster if it is a powder type snow.

The snow blower rotor on the single stage Reist snow throwers consists of a narrow flight ribbon that is 16 inches in outside diameter if I remember correctly and ribbon height is 3 inches in diameter allowing a total of 6 inches of ribbon flighting to convey the snow and ice to the center where the four paddles throw it up the chute and out of the spout to be discharged.

The center portion of the snow blower rotor has 4 paddles to eject the snow offset at 90 degree angles taking 4 bites per revolution so if the snow blower rotor was rotating a 600 RPM the 4 center paddles in the snow blower rotor would be rotating 2400 times per minute to discharge the snow that is being fed into the snow blower rotor as the tractor advances in to the snow pack.

With the open cross auger design the snow can be pushed forward creating a mountain of snwo that the snow blower still has to get through to clear an area where the single stage unit will not have that issue as any snow that is pulled in will be discharged in one revolution of the snow blower rotor without clogging.

Hi i have a 92" Normand inverted and this blower is my only experience. My question about single stage blowers is that the bearing get alot more abuse so how well do they hold up? I do not use a rear scraper with mine because I don't want to deal with it. I do however wish i could get closer to garage doors. I also think that the Normand i have mounts closer to the tractor so the blower has less leverage against the 3 point hitch. I have had a part break on the the 3 point so weight and distance away from tractor should be things to look at.

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning graderguy.

The bearings for single stage bearings are the open flange mount type of single row ball bearings just like the single row ball bearings used for the flail mower rotor bearings. These single row ball bearings operate at one third the speed of the roller bearings used on flail mowers being 600 to 700 revolutions per minute.

These cast flange single row ball bearings are mounted on the outside of the side weldments of the single stage snow throwers and can easily be replaced on the carrier side as well as being greased.

The roller bearing on the driven side can be replaced by removing the roller chain, then remove the drive sprocket and the locking ring flange bushing and then remove the complete bearing flange and replace it with a new complete flange bearing.

Flange bearings last for years when operated under load. We replaced our first set of flail mower bearings probably 14 years ago on the flail mower I use and the flail mower I use is 37 years old.