Homemade Single stage Snowblower

[JDeerekid]

Nice job on the build. It does look like it works better going faster but still looks like it needs some kind of auger or something to feed the snow in. Depending on the type of snow it seems like it just pushes the snow instead of blowing it.

 

[radioman]

nice job on the build. i know it's already built, but wonder If you had the impeller made much bigger so its closer to the ground? Lets say you will only have 1 inch at MAX before snow needs to go up then into the single stage impeller ? I think this would resolve some of the snow pile up.

 

[foggy1111]

Dave....I told you I would post a picture of the attachment which my dad added to the snow blowers he produced. Note the beater bolted to the center of the unit. It sure helped these little plows out and was a low cost solution for an economy plow. But, as I remember it was not the total solution on this model as frozen chunky snow (from city streets and such) would still push at times...unlike on our bigger, twin rotor machines (which also had "knives" mounted further out on the rotors) to break up frozen chunks.

Also, note the flip chute. We also had a tall chute (with substantial bracing) which would load over the side of dump trucks for street clean up...used these primarily with a front mounted plow which was mounted on a loader.

These were real good units if you could feed the snow into the blower. I still see many units that were produced in the 50's out there working. I hope this sparks a solution for you.

 

[David Devuono]

Thanks, that looks like a pretty simple solution and I will try some incarnation of that idea.I am limited by about 1.5 inches of shaft so will have to machine a tight fitting hub. Probably will have to use 540 PTO instead of 1000 rpm with an unbalanced auger.

 

[foggy1111]

Yep....a hub which you can attach a plate to would be the best solution. Back in these times I don't think there was any 1000 RPM PTO speeds yet. The speed really wasn't the issue tho...as far as I can recall....it was ALL about FEEDING that blower.

Note the bolt-on arrangement at the shaft...which may allow you to try different configurations or do a replacement/repair. We did replace a few of the beaters as people would run 'em into fence posts and such. Also, I think they were about 3/4" solid rod which was inserted into a hole in that center tube and then welded. They were bent to the back to encourage feeding into the blower....but I think they mainly mixed the snow up a bit and broke up the mass thus allowing it to enter the blower. I don't recall an out-of-balance issue with this attachment...and don't recall any special balancing that we did in making the assembly. I think if you get things lined up pretty good and straight....and keep similar weights and length in the bent beater rods....you should be ok.

 

[Ice Man]

As foggy noted regarding something to break up the snow, I saw this on craig's list.

ARPS 3-point snow blower

This one looks like it has "hammers" to break up the snow. Just another idea.

Nice videos!

 

[cruzer]

heres the pictures from the above c-list add for future reference - never know when the add will expire.

i saw another version of this a few weeks ago on c-list in my area and was going to post asking about it because i had not seen on before. It was a 3-point attachment but it mounted forward so you drove over the snow and then the blower would be pulled into it like the one posted on the first page. Pretty cool idea.

One thing i noticed on your design vs. the one posted above and by the foggy1111, their is no lip between the chute and the blower...they just flowed into each other. This maybe something to look at if you still can't get it to feed after adding an egg beater to the front of the shaft.

I am amazed all the time at the level of fabrication and speed at which people are able to accomplish things on this forum.

Good luck with you egg beater add on .... i am looking forward to seeing this thing really blow some snow.

Stew

 

[vic4news]

Very nice build and fast work too.

I plow with my Jeep, but a blower for the tractor would be nice. Let us know if you add a beater bar to your build and how that works out.

Vic

 

[David Devuono]

I built a two blade propeller yesterday, as well as made up some spacers to eliminate some interference issues. I shortened the PTO shaft 1/2 inch. My top link at its shortest setting won't allow the blower to sit level so I still have to see if I can cut it down an inch or buy a shorter one. I am 220 miles from the tractor and blower so it will be two weeks before I can do a retest. It is supposed to be up in the 50F range the next two days, so guess I will be hoping for some snow in two weeks!

 

[radioman]

david - perhaps you could cut the bottom off so the snow would feed directly into the chute instead up the lip then in chute. Granted the egg beater contraption could help to lift some of the snow up but you probably would be better off with bottom lip removed.

 

[David Devuono]

The bottom section is 1/4 thick and would take a lot of effort to cut down (no electriciy so would need to bring a generator or take everything home). I will try the propeller first and it does not work, I will try it out on the 4,000lb massey. My Kubota with loader is only about 1250 lbs and I loose traction before any snow actually gets pushed passed the unit. I see that all the comercial units are close to the ground so I suppose its all a combination of that, plus the inline auger and the single vertical bearing support.

 

[Renze]

Dave....I told you I would post a picture of the attachment which my dad added to the snow blowers he produced. Note the beater bolted to the center of the unit.

Thats exactly what i was going to suggest, after the thought i had when seeing the pics, was confirmed after seeing the YouTube videos...

The trick would be to make these paddles in such order that they pull the snow in and not blow it around, over the machine and operator.
I guess the design in your picture has crystallised over the years by trial and error, so this should be the way to go...

 

[David Devuono]

In my zest to build a propeller to help the snow into the impeller, I forgot about the comment regarding getting snow all over the operator. I had to improvise with a piece of plywood and vice grips to spare the worst of the snow shower. I have to say that the blower now works great and once I extend the hood it may remain a useful addition to the family. Next summer (hopefully not sooner) I will have to replace the shaft with something longer as I only had an inch to work with so the propeller does wobble around alot.
I had to work the massey to make a pile of snow to blow.
Massey plowing snow
YouTube - Massey Furguson 135 plowing snow
Low speed snowblowing
YouTube - Homemade Single Stage Snowblower 3
top gear snowblowing
YouTube - Homemade Single Stage Snowblower 4

 

[JDeerekid]

Nice!! Looks like it eats the snow pretty good now. I see you are definately going to need some kind of top shield to keep the snow off your back.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Nice build Dave. Are you running at 540 or 1000 PTO.
Bill

 

[foggy1111]

Way to go Dave! Looks like your feeding it pretty good now. The arps hood design shown above may be just the solution to the snow showers....lol. It appears as though just a small deflector would help out alot.

From my past experience....keep that shroud as small as practical.....as snow likes to bridge on anything it can....especially when wet and refrozen.

I'm glad you got it blow'in...nice work!

 

[David Devuono]

I am running it at 540RPM, 1000 RPM was not necessary and it just doubled the snow shower.

 

[vic4news]

The test run looks really good. Very nice work. Let us know how it performs when you try it in some deep snow.

Vic

 

[deputyrpa]

Nicely done. You all made me briefly think about building one too, but then I took a sip of coffee and my mind cleared. I have a long drieway with limited areas to push up snow, and I currently use a 6' box blade.

So invigorated to provide someone with a bailout, I went on to Craigslist and lo and behold, found this unit, below. The guy wants $650. Ouch! Whaddaya think I should offer?? Or shouldn't I? It really looks nifty.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

I imagine the reason he is asking $650 is because if it is like around my area, there is a demand for those pull type blowers. Besides the advantage of not straining your neck, the older tractors that don't have a slow reverse, but have slow forward gears they would need a pull type blower. Just my thoughts.

Cheers,
Dale