Front mount or loader mount blower?

[mjstef]

What's the preference here. I'll have a power pack for hydraulics for a firewood processor so I can go either way.

 

[oldnslo]

With loader mount you can lift the blower higher to clear drifts. It also moves the weight farther forward so might make back of tractor light.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I ran a loader mounted 'blower for a couple of years, and one issue with it (for me) was the distance between the front axle and the 'blower.

It was about the same as the distance between the axles, which would be fine if going straight on level ground, but that's not quite how my driveway is.

 

[hayden]

I opted for loader mount (SSQA). The available tractor mount frames were not compatible with the loader, so it was either/or, and I didnt want to give up the loader since I still use the bucket and forks from time to time. Also, the tractor mount frame was huge so a storage issue off season, and looked not fun to install and remove.

 

[CalG]

What's the preference here. I'll have a power pack for hydraulics for a firewood processor so I can go either way.

I've got a pair of front mount blowers on somewhat smaller tractors. I have a tight space that I clear of snow, and can not imagine trying to do it with a loader mounted blower. Just due to the added LENGTH of the setup.

But if you have open spaces, I can't see why a loader frame mount wouldn't offer some useful benefits.

 

[leonz]

What's the preference here. I'll have a power pack for hydraulics for a firewood processor so I can go either way.

A hydraulic power pack for a smaller mule like yours will never have the horsepower to torque ratio needed for a loaded mounted blower UNLESS
you purchase a very large high flow power unit with 50 plus gallons of oil in its reservoir.

If the power pack has been properly designed it will have a hydraulic vane pump and a high flow gear motor to provide enough oil flow to spin the 540 RPM gearbox in the two stage snow blower with enough torque to equal or be greater than the needed horsepower to operate it./

You also have to have 2 additional circuits for the chute rotation and spout control.

As Neil Messick has said hydraulic powered snow blowers are not all they are cracked up to be.

 

[grsthegreat]

My unit is pictured on left. Its loader mounted. Has worked for past 14 winters. Easy to swap between plow and bucket if needed. Easy to use. Its nicely balanced with large rear mount powerpack. It uses i believe a 25 gallon, 3000 psi and 15 gpm pump. It works absolutely awsome in fresh snow, and packed snow. For wet snow, i usually swap to plow.

Very easy to install for winter and remove in spring, excapt for pto pump. As i get older, that dog gets heaver. It feels 10# heavier every winter. Last winter it felt like it weighed 300# . Last year was first year i called a buddy to help.

Driving forward to clear snow is a godsend. When my buildings shed i have to move snow for horses to get in and out of barn and make room for new shed snow. Being able to lift blower makes it an easy task.

It uses all of my available 45 hp tracyor to work that pump.

 

[mjstef]

A hydraulic power pack for a smaller mule like yours will never have the horsepower to torque ratio needed for a loaded mounted blower UNLESS
you purchase a very large high flow power unit with 50 plus gallons of oil in its reservoir.

If the power pack has been properly designed it will have a hydraulic vane pump and a high flow gear motor to provide enough oil flow to spin the 540 RPM gearbox in the two stage snow blower with enough torque to equal or be greater than the needed horsepower to operate it./

You also have to have 2 additional circuits for the chute rotation and spout control.

As Neil Messick has said hydraulic powered snow blowers are not all they are cracked up to be.

I've run a hydraulic blower on my skid steer the last 6 years with no issues. That was the biggest reason for buying a skid steer in 2018. I got tired of looking behind me all the time in the spring opening driveways for two or three weeks for my business. My skid steer flows 22 gallons a minute. The power pack I'm looking at flowa 21.3 gallons a minute so it shouldn't be much different.

 

[oldnslo]

what size tractor do you have? 21.3 GPM is going to require some PTO HP.

 

[mjstef]

what size tractor do you have? 21.3 GPM is going to require some PTO HP.

online hydraulic calculator shows 38 hp minimum and I would be going 45 hp.

 

[oldnslo]

online hydraulic calculator shows 38 hp minimum and I would be going 45 hp.

That should work but doesn’t leave much power for moving the tractor, raising loader, etc.

 

[blizzardslayer]

I’ve run a rear mount for 20 years. Would never give up my loader. At minimum, I clear about 2 miles with multiple passes after a storm. Our snow is typically heavy and we usually get about 14-24”, sometimes more. I’m able to stand up with a knee on the seat, so pretty comfortable. I also have a blade attachment that I can throw on the loader if the snow is light and only 6” or so for fast runs. Also, don’t know if your road is gravel, but if it is, you could replace you skid shoes with the shortest leaf spring from a semi and your blower will “read” the terrain in float and pick little to no gravel.

 

[pacosperson]

What's the preference here. I'll have a power pack for hydraulics for a firewood processor so I can go either way.

My experience is a front drive snow blower for four inches and up and a power angle plow for less than that. There are compromises with heavy-wet/light powdery but those numbers control what I install before storm.

 

[smiley]

I fabricated a front mount 3pt and found a reverser for and front mounted a 2 stage 7 ft blower on my 399 Massey Ferguson. After that the biggest snowfall we had was 1 ft. After a couple years I put the blower on back again and the 9 ft blade on front which was much faster to plow my 350 foot driveway but the blower was still on the back and did use it 1 time after a 3 ft snow overnight and 5 ft drifts.
Moved to Florida after that and don't worry about snow anymore.

 

[DonChevelle]

On a front frame-mounted blower, you have way less drag on the skid shoes.

 

[HobbleCreek]

For a long time I've switched back and forth between a rear blade and a rear mounted snow blower (PTO). The blade is great until I run out of room for the snow to move. The blade builds up banks on the sides of my driveway and eventually there's just noplace for the snow to go. The snow blower has presented several challenges. First, driving backwards mean a stiff neck and poor traction in deep snow. Also, lots of broken shear pins due to rocks finding their way onto the driveway and getting buried in the snow.

For those reasons I'm looking at moving to a loader mounted hydraulic snow blower. I really need the blower to move the snow far enough off my driveway to avoid just building a bobsled track. I'm looking forward to driving foward and replacing no shear pins. I think I'll find a few other uses for that hydraulic power pack too.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

The blade is great until I run out of room for the snow to move. The blade builds up banks on the sides of my driveway and eventually there's just noplace for the snow to go.

I sort of got around that by using the offset function on the rear blade, which allows pushing the snow about five feet past the edge of the driveway.

Still, with enough snow that only delays the inevitable. That's why I got the snow blower. Some 50 feet away is better than five feet, and helps the driveway dry quicker.

 

[smiley]

I had 350 fy driveway so moved blower to front mount on 4wd 399 Massey Ferguson. Never got over a foot of snow after that, so wound up putting 9 ft blade with 3 ft side wings and pushing off to side at bottom of pass. Maximum of 6 fast 300 ft. passes to clear upper portion. About 15 to 20, 75 foot passes in large parking area in front of house pushed over bsnk into field on lower end by house. Put my blower on back again to use for the very rare big 3 ft snowstorms which happened only once, when we got back from Florida and 4 ft of snow over half of it. I had to wallow down to garage to get tractor out.

 

[HobbleCreek]

I sort of got around that by using the offset function on the rear blade, which allows pushing the snow about five feet past the edge of the driveway.

Still, with enough snow that only delays the inevitable. That's why I got the snow blower. Some 50 feet away is better than five feet, and helps the driveway dry quicker.

That has been my "work around" also, but on the lower part of my driveway it doesn't help at all. There just arent 5 feet available to push the snow into. I've got my neighbor's fence on one side and a hillside on the other. Thanks for responding.

Which snowblower did you go with?

 

[HobbleCreek]

I've run a hydraulic blower on my skid steer the last 6 years with no issues. That was the biggest reason for buying a skid steer in 2018. I got tired of looking behind me all the time in the spring opening driveways for two or three weeks for my business. My skid steer flows 22 gallons a minute. The power pack I'm looking at flowa 21.3 gallons a minute so it shouldn't be much different.

Which power pack are you looking at that flows 21.4 gpm? The most I'm finding is the Erskine and the Quick Attach (which look like they're the same machine) at 20 gpm.

While I've mentioned those two machines, do any of you know who actually builds them? They really look like they're the same machine with a different label.