Homemade 3pt Snowblower

[LFEngineering]

With the availability of cheap (or in my case, free) model specific garden tractor snow blowers I started toying with the idea of modifying one to be a 3pt blower.
I picked up a 42" deere front mount blower. The impeller was designed to turn counter clockwise at apx 1600 rpm. To achieve this I made a 3.25:1 gearbox with some surplus gears from eBay.
With some advisement from fellow TBN members I decided to cut my PTO shaft and tuck the blower as close to the tractor as possible. I welded up the 3pt cage to fit and now I can't wait for snow.

 

[CalG]

I really like that reversing gear box.

I have a blower that turns "the wrong way" that could use such a device.

I like your shop!

 

[davedj1]

I like it.
I have been thinking that I want to build one out of two 30-36" front mounted blowers, I want it on the front though, like an underslung deal with a rear pto drive, I would make a chain and sprocket set up dropping the pto down and then running it forward under the tractor. Each blower will be driven via chain and sprockets that way I can gear them as needed. I have yet to find any "free" ones though...lol To be honest I haven't looked too hard just yet but I may start to.

 

[airbiscuit]

How did you determine the gear ratio you needed?

 

[LFEngineering]

Googled snowblower impeller rpm, the average was 1600. Checked my walk behind blower with an optical tach and got 1590rpm so I went with 1600.

1600÷540=2.96

Opted to go with a 3.25:1 so I can run the tractor a little slower or have some extra when the time comes.

 

[ottawarob]

Very cool, interested to hear how it works!

 

[CalG]

Googled snowblower impeller rpm, the average was 1600. Checked my walk behind blower with an optical tach and got 1590rpm so I went with 1600.

1600÷540=2.96

Opted to go with a 3.25:1 so I can run the tractor a little slower or have some extra when the time comes.

If "size matters" converting the rule of thumb from RPM to tip speed will be a good option

60mph seems to be a good number ;-)

 

[herm0016]

i have been thinking about this for my cub cadet blower. my old cub will not run in the cold. the AC runs great at 0 degrees. ( as long as it was plugged in a while to start it)

 

[Reb954]

Googled snowblower impeller rpm, the average was 1600. Checked my walk behind blower with an optical tach and got 1590rpm so I went with 1600.

1600?40=2.96

Opted to go with a 3.25:1 so I can run the tractor a little slower or have some extra when the time comes.

The average of 1600 rpm was with what kind of blower? I can see that on a walk behind single stage blower but not on a bigger pto mounted blower. Every pto mounted blower I have been around was 540 rpm. I don't know what your impeller diameter is but following are examples of what your tip speed will be compared to my pto blower with a 27" diameter impeller.

27" diameter = 84.823 inches circumference @ 540 rpm = 45804 Tip speed in IPM
20" diameter = 62.8319 inches circumference @ 1600 rpm = 100531 Tip speed in IPM
16" diameter = 50.2655 inches circumference @ 1600 rpm = 80425 Tip speed in IPM

If you really are running 1600 rpm you will need to make sure the impeller is balanced well or it will shake you and the tractor apart.

 

[LFEngineering]

Since it was belt drive off a garden tractor mower with little ratio change the the 1600 RPM range is right in the ballpark.

Regardless I tried it last night and it blows snow. Now I just need to tighten up the 1/2" impeller/drum gap.

 

[Hilbilly]

Excellent work!!!

Love that gear box too. I can't tell from the pics but is there a way to adjust the gear lash? If not how did you figure out the distance required between centers to have the correct lash. I've been toying with the idea of running my rear mount snow blower on the front of the tractor, driven by the rear PTO. But that would require a reversing gear box like the one you made and I would like to know how to determine the correct gear spacing.

 

[LFEngineering]

I'm fortunate to have access to a visual measuring machine at work. I setup the gears gently pressed together (no lash) and had the tech measure the center to center distance and it was 4.80000 (yes to 5 decimal places). I added .010 for clearance and machining variation, ended with very little play. Will it last for 100,000 miles? Probably not, but it should outlast everything else on the blower.

Prior to the visual measuring machine, I had thought of grinding some close fit pins and using them to establish center lines. Then use the same process of measuring the gears gently pressed together.

 

[Dave M7040]

Excellent work!!!

Love that gear box too. I can't tell from the pics but is there a way to adjust the gear lash? If not how did you figure out the distance required between centers to have the correct lash. I've been toying with the idea of running my rear mount snow blower on the front of the tractor, driven by the rear PTO. But that would require a reversing gear box like the one you made and I would like to know how to determine the correct gear spacing.

This is an idea for reversing the pto direction for a front mounted blower I found years ago.

This might give you some ideas which do not need specialized machining skills.

Dave M7040

 

[LFEngineering]

Ooo I like that.

 

[Hilbilly]

This is an idea for reversing the pto direction for a front mounted blower I found years ago.

This might give you some ideas which do not need specialized machining skills.

Dave M7040

Thanks Dave. Funny thing is, I've already got that pic saved on my desktop from some previous research I had going on about a year ago, for the same topic.

John