Dumb Idea (repeat ?)

boustany · Mar 4, 2003

I could have sworn I posted this yesterday, but then again I could have just been temporarily insane. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Maybe Muhammad figured it was just too dumb an idea... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

So, my dumb idea is as follows:
I get a literal pain in the neck from snowblowing in reverse. Because my 3010 has a Mid-PTO, I was woundering whether it made any sense to try and convert a rear blower to a front blower (Kubota's front blowers are really, really expensive).

I figure that I'd need to make a 3pt adapter, plus a reducer.

Any thoughts, or did I finally slip off the deep end?

CTyler · Mar 4, 2003

The rear PTO is 540 rpm and the Mid is 2000 rpm. Right?

What will you use for a reduction unit to slow down the blower?

Anonymous Poster · Mar 4, 2003

How about a pto hydraulic pump and a 540 rpm hydraulic motor mounted on the snow blower?

Put a pressure relief valve at the pump, no need for a control valve because it would only turn when the pto was engaged. And ony turn in one direction...

The surplus center has a 20 gpm pto pump for under $400 [they have several] and a 528 rpm cont. wheel motor [20 gpm] with 300 Ft. lb. torque is about $280...

I think the url is: www.surpluscenter.com

5030 · Mar 5, 2003

converting a rear mount to a front mount sounds really complicated, besides, that's a lot of hose from the rear pump to the front blower. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Daryl
Forage Services L.P.

Hoeman00 · Mar 5, 2003

Do just like Henro is talking about, here is an item similar that is forsale in classified adds, www.wide-range.us
They say this has equivalent of 17HP and they have a bigger unit too.

gbirky · Mar 5, 2003

A couple of years ago, I ran across a discussion on a tractor board regarding putting a 3pt hitch and pto on the front of a tractor. Apparently this used to be quite common. The 3pt mechanism was actuated with cables from the rear 3pt, and if I'm not mistaken, the pto was driven by the rear pto with either a shaft and belts, or maybe just belts. I have often wondered if this wouldn't be a great setup. The snow blower is one very obvious application, but think about this - how about a finish mower mounted to the FRONT of your tractor where you can see it ...

Anonymous Poster · Mar 5, 2003

I live in Minnesota, where (normally) snow moving is serious business. Back in the '70s front mount conversions were sort of popular. That fad died away very quickly.

They were run by a driveline under the tractor, from a chain drop on the pto. More parts to maintain, fix, and buy. With the front-mount brackets & hydaulics, it at least doubled the cost of the blower. We are talking 60-120 hp 8' wide blowers, so belts were too expensive & not as durable.

It took a lot more effort to mount & remove the whole setup.

The worst part was that it stuck all the weight out front of the tractor. It made the rear end very light, and this was before front-assist 4wd tractors. A person ended up with almost no traction, and a whole lot of weight on the front axle & power steering pump.

Farmers realized they prefered having a blower on the back, & a bucket on the front to deal with the big drifts & cleanup.

So, the whole idea kind of faded away again. Now, some compact tractors have really good setups for front mount, and some of the bigger tractors have mid-ptos & front wheel assist. On those tractors it can work fine.

But, most farmers here in MN have realized a good 3pt blower is the best way to go. Once in a while I see the front mount systems for sale on an auction, and they sell for parts - the driveline price, or someone wants to adapt the front-mount brackets for other uses.

Just how things are here, I'm not against the idea for those tractors it works with. Myself, I prefer a 3pt blower, back where the power is, and the weight is needed.

My brother in law convered a small Kubota front mount to a 3pt.

--->Paul

boustany · Mar 5, 2003

All good points so far.
The reduction gearing was a tricky bit, but I would think the hydraulic motor might be a better idea, especially given that I have a pump on the backhoe and they already sell front mount hydralic gizmos for skid steeers.
I was wondering if anybody knew how to figure out the sizing of the motor. I can buy all kinds of them locally for not much money.
And, I wouldn't be surprised if it works out to be a dumber idea, but still I gotta think these things through.

SteveV · Mar 5, 2003

So, let me get this straight, you bought two tractors, both with the seat facing in the wrong direction? Have we hydraulic steering? I'll let your imagination work from there. SteveV

pennwalk · Mar 5, 2003

I have a Yanmar YSS48 snowblower for my 186D. The Manual shows it 3 ways. As a rear mount, as a front mount powered by the rear pto, and as a front mount powered by an electric pto off the front of the engine. The front mounts have a frame on the blower that bolts to a subframe under the front bumper. There is a hydraulic lift cylinder to pick the blower up. With the electric pto, which is mounted to the frame in front of the engine, there are 2 belts that go to a reduction gear box (3.68-1) then a short pto shaft to the blower. The rear pto option has a short pto to a (1-1) reverser gearbox that runs a long shaft along the subframe under the tractor.Then a pto shaft to the blower. There is a hydraulic chute rotation option. The manuals have several nice drawings. For all I know you can still order them from Len. I guess that someone made them for Yanmar cause they look exactly like the ones that Kubota used to use.

Chris