front mount 3ph

[balsam]

I have a 3430 Kubota with a 6', 540rpm blower on the back. I do a few neighbors driveways and we have had so much snow this year I ended up with "tennis elbow" running the tractor in reverse....not a young man any more.
I would like to mount the blower on the front using a mid PTO and a front mount 3PH. Despite having experience with hydraulics(not so much with tractors) I would like to go mechanical to avoid the inefficiencies and maintenance of the hydraulic system.
Can someone tell me what rpm a mid mount PTO runs at and it's direction of rotation. I understand I may have to exchange my blower to do this without running into gearing problems. I did ask the dealer here about doing this and for some reason he tried to talk me out of it. He did mention however that installing a mid PTO was very reasonable.
I avoided this in the past in order to keep the FEL on, thinking I would use it, but I have used it very little and only to do a little scraping....I plan on keeping my blade on the back.
I plan on building the 3ph myself as I have had design and welding experience but would appreciate any suggestion on the subject.

 

[Bob77064]

Welcome

 

[Notforhire]

Kubota mid PTOs run at 2000 rpm. Not saying it can't be done, but I think you would be better off w/ a new blower rather than converting yours.


Bill

 

[6011Artist]

Welcome Balsam. If I wanted a front mount 3ph I'd get one of the Yanmar (others may have it too) 3ph systems and adapt it to what I need. My 2200 has a hydraulic tank that is seperate from the rest of the tractor as in it has it's own fluid and everything concerning the lifting components are inside of the tank and the lifting arms protrude from the tank. All you will need to do is plumb the hydraulic lines into this self contained system. The tank is made of steel so you also could cut it and shorten it and weld it back together. You could run a cable style linkage back to your operators seat for lifting/lowering. Look at that idea to give yourself ideas. It would be a matter of building a heavy duty bracket to bolt on your front end and mount everything to.

As far as the PTO, I'll let someone else bite off a chunk of that one to chew on.

 

[nybirdman]

Kubota makes a sub-frame to mount "front snow blowers".Sell/trade your rear mounted.Going to be a lot more expensive to put it on the front,but worth it.

 

[smiley]

Not a Kubota but for ideas, here's a link to a back to front conversion I did 3 yrs ago. I wound up moving the blower to the back again as we've had so little little snow, it's faster to use the plow with wings 12 ft at a time.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/187397-max-snow-beast-finished.html

 

[Ductape]

M K Martin has what you are looking for. Either buy from one of their dealers, or make a reasonable copy of theirs.

MK Martin | Front Mount Kit