Hydraulic front snowblower compact tractor?

[Dfixit1]

I have 3/10 mile driveway through the woods that I’ve been plowing and there are times I run out of room. So I get out my Kioti CK-3510Hst with FEL and move piles.
So I thought I would get a rear PTO snowblower but after reading other threads with neck issues so I’ve ruled the rear PTO snowblower out.
So I decided to go the front snowblower route but the Kioti front has to be dealer installed and they have to remove my backhoe mounts to install snowblower subframe mounts.
A friend told me about his setup from the 90’s which was a 80 hp Belarus with a front hydraulic snowblower.

My Kioti is 35 hp. Has anyone used a skid steer tool mount hydraulic snowblower with a compact tractor?
Pros or cons to using a hydraulic snowblower mounted to the loader tool mount?
If so what location did you mount the pump? Mid PTO or rear PTO?

t

Regards

 

[fishhead]

it certainly can be done- see postings by GRS the Great

But it isn't gonna be cheap.

If all you need to do is blow back piles and banks periodically i would think you could make a rear push blower work- maybe just don't go out and do it all at once- Too, when blowing banks you are going to be going slow so you might be able to make mirrors or a camera work
try sitting turned in the seat as well.

I have 3/10 mile driveway through the woods that I致e been plowing and there are times I run out of room. So I get out my Kioti CK-3510Hst with FEL and move piles.
So I thought I would get a rear PTO snowblower but after reading other threads with neck issues so I致e ruled the rear PTO snowblower out.
So I decided to go the front snowblower route but the Kioti front has to be dealer installed and they have to remove my backhoe mounts to install snowblower subframe mounts.
A friend told me about his setup from the 90痴 which was a 80 hp Belarus with a front hydraulic snowblower.

My Kioti is 35 hp. Has anyone used a skid steer tool mount hydraulic snowblower with a compact tractor?
Pros or cons to using a hydraulic snowblower mounted to the loader tool mount?
If so what location did you mount the pump? Mid PTO or rear PTO?

View attachment 594080View attachment 594081t

Regards

 

[jgayman]

A compact tractor just doesn't have the GPM hydraulic flow necessary to run something like a hydraulic front snow blower. Even larger tractors would struggle. That's why most hydraulic front blowers use a Power Pack mounted on the 3PH. The Power Pack is basically a big high flow hydraulic pump that runs off the PTO and has its own oil reservoir and cooling system. They work well but they are VERY expensive... $8-10K for starters.

I echo the previous poster. Reconsider a rear snow blower. I do the majority of my plowing going in reverse with a rear blade. It's not that big of a deal. Turn yourself around in the seat a bit so you don't have to turn your neck all the way around. If looking over your right shoulder it also helps to rest your right arm behind the seat. It's not that bad really.

 

[ruffdog]

Looking backwards isn't bad, blowing against the wind with no cab is much worse.

 

[RNeumann]

I looked very seriously into this.......sort version- it ain’t happening!

Long version. Their are companies that will sell you a hydraulic pump that is PTO driven that is then used to power the blower. With the 35hp machine it will need an added reservoir to keep it all cool enough to operate.....according to the manufacture. They wanted about $8000 for the blower and pump but the extra items added up quickly!

The reality is the hydraulic blowers were made for skid steers. They have huge hydraulic pumps and a lot more hp when compared to the CUTs we have.

If you really want to go that way I’d consider mounting an old read blower on the front and powering it with a small engine. A lash up like that is more realistic- I’ve seen a few on here.

 

[Dfixit1]

Yes it appears to be an expensive idea! Priced one out with the rear power pack and its about $12k.
Looks like I will get the Kioti front mount blower for $7k otd.
My idea is to blow the snow instead of pushing with a plow and to sell the plow truck.
Thanks for the replies!

 

[clarky711]

Or consider a rear pull type blower. I have an old 6’ one on the back of my 35hp Kubota and it’s great. Having the FEL on is a huge help too.

 

[Dfixit1]

Or consider a rear pull type blower. I have an old 6 one on the back of my 35hp Kubota and it痴 great. Having the FEL on is a huge help too.

I checked into those and our snow gets too deep for that style of blower.

 

[DHD]

Your CK-3510 hst is 35 HP, but what is it's PTO HP ?
Here is an old thread about
hydraulic pump on PTO for front mount snow blower.
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/158528-hydraulic-pump-pto-front-snow.html

 

[ruffdog]

This place says you don't need a cooler....hmm?

Sheyenne Tooling & Manufacturing - Compact Tractor Snowblower

 

[leonz]

This place says you don't need a cooler....hmm?

Sheyenne Tooling & Manufacturing - Compact Tractor Snowblower

========================================================================


Don't waste your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The MOTOMOWER SNOW SHARK was the very first snow blower that had the VERY FIRST four paddle center mounted chain drive impeller which was much simpler than what is shown by these folks.

The other thing is a high flow volume system is needed with the hydraulic system that has more than 35+ gallons in capacity.

If you want simple simplicity and a snow thrower that will not have snow building up in front of it as you travel forward by the open auger design look at the Meteor front mount single stage snow thrower which is the Riest Industries design for single stage snow casters.

The Riest/Meteor design uses a soild one piece snow blower rotor with solid auger tube and narrow auger flighting and a 4 paddle center impeller that will operate at 600 RPM plus.

The chain drive is simple and set up just like the cross shaft drive system of a rototiller or flail mower wherein the PTO shaft is connected to the right angle gear box which transfers power to the cross shaft and then the cross shaft uses single row #60 chain sprocket to transmit power to the #60 single row sprocket that powers the snow blower rotor and the roller chain drive eliminates the need to use sheer pins.

You can purchase a mechanical drive front mount snow blower for your mule if it has a mid PTO. A rear drive propeller shaft system will cost more but it can be done and use the 540 RPM drive system.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Interesting concept. Anyone have one of these? Review with pros and cons? Relative cost?

I wonder how durable they are? I also wonder about running higher hydraulic pressure through the loader lines than they were designed to carry?

Would be interested in hearing anyone's experience with them, sounds like they've been out since at least 2011.

They're roughly 3 hrs from me, so driving there is doable, but would rather hear some real world reviews.

 

[Howling]

Has been done on SCUT
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/348216-fel-snowblower.html

 

[clarky711]

I checked into those and our snow gets too deep for that style of blower.

Where are you located and what’s your usual max snowfall? Mine has handled plenty of 16-18” storms with no issues (upstate NY). If you get more than that in one sitting, just do it twice. Works for me, and like I said, having the loader is invaluable when dealing with that much snow.

 

[fishhead]

I am with clarky on this one, for a couple of reasons-

First with my current set-up( jd3720 and pronovost p-74-inv) i have done up to 2 ft of long term compacted snow - much worse than a 24 inch storm .

2 in your pics the snow in the woods really doesn't look super deep. Nor drifted.

3 you said your road runs through woods so big time drifting shouldn't be a problem.

4 - this one is the biggie -you don't have a cab on your tractor. i am probably one of the few on here who have had a front mount and a rear pull. the front mount was miserable for leaving me coated with a thick layer of snow. With the rear the only time i get the snow on me is when i do a lot of back and forth in congested areas- i could even limit that by using it as a pull box more. (pull it out and blow later)
Think of the difference being driving toward the snow at 5-6 mph or away at 5 or 6 mph- the delta is 10-12 mph

5 your tractor has a bit more clearance than mine and is similar in weight so it do should fine

The real thing that would make a rear pull less desirable is frequent , deep, long drifts

Where are you located and what痴 your usual max snowfall? Mine has handled plenty of 16-18 storms with no issues (upstate NY). If you get more than that in one sitting, just do it twice. Works for me, and like I said, having the loader is invaluable when dealing with that much snow.

 

[ruffdog]

The real thing that would make a rear pull less desirable is frequent , deep, long drifts

That is when I get my blower out.....when it is deep and just too much to be pushing. Otherwise, I just use the front/rear blades because it is much faster.

 

[jgayman]

Interesting concept. Anyone have one of these? Review with pros and cons? Relative cost?

I wonder how durable they are? I also wonder about running higher hydraulic pressure through the loader lines than they were designed to carry?

It's tough to tell from the photos but I'm guessing they do not use the existing hoses. Most blowers of this configuration will have dedicated hoses running from the PTO driven pump up to the loader arms. The main reason is because of the high flow required they need larger diameter hoses than what the loader uses.

With implements like this they require high flow volume more so than higher pressures.

 

[Dfixit1]

Your CK-3510 hst is 35 HP, but what is it's PTO HP ?
Here is an old thread about
hydraulic pump on PTO for front mount snow blower.
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/158528-hydraulic-pump-pto-front-snow.html

Rear PTO is rated 29.7 hp

 

[fishhead]

agreed- if its real deep i'm not gonna make it through- but its not like these things are anemic- I just cleared our lower drive from some drifting- rare here but this last arctic push is strong- this was 33" on the high side- not shallow but not real deep- no issues and i could go a good bit deeper with the bucket cutting some-say raise it to 18" up and the blower raised just off the surface-this adds 1000 lbs to the rear of the tractor and lessens greatly the force to pull the blower. Chains really help, and diff lock etc.

As far as speed, for snows up to 6 inches i go almost as fast blowing (6-7 mph unless a steep uphill) - i usually rear blade the early snows to make guard rails with wet snow because drive has significant exposure in some spots. Our drive is somewhat narrow and this leads to having to push plowed banks back more because of the repose angle ( say your banks are 30" high- they stick out from the top of the pile by probably 15-18 inches due to the snow falling/rolling back on the the edge you just cleared- When i blow i get an additional 2-3 ft of cleared width because it just cuts. Once you blow it usually you never touch it again. In congested areas and parking zones the blower is way faster.


Again this is for me, and a pick up plowing would be faster, until it runs out of space. Rear pulls work really well for paved drives with turnouts, parking etc. For roads, less so but my drive is over a 1/2 mile and i can do a down and back and clear the parking area quick and dirty in 15-20 minutes.

I attached a couple of pics from today- the fresh drift and a plowed/bucketed ice/snow bank i was cutting back

That is when I get my blower out.....when it is deep and just too much to be pushing. Otherwise, I just use the front/rear blades because it is much faster.

 

[fishhead]

found a couple more from the past- this snow in my neighbors drive was the accumulation of the winter to date so it was compressed and had been rained on and frozen and i got through it- barely but it was a lot more dense and had a much higher W/C than fresh snow.