Snow Attachments Not throwing snow very far.

[tdejong302]

I just bought a n.h. tc18. It came with a aftermarket blower. The problem I have with it is its not blowing very far. PTO's say 540 on the tractor. Its only blowing snow 5-8 ft. Is this normal. Also should I leave the pto engaged on the blower as I pull forward. And one last dummy question.... how high should I lift my blower when its on. I have heard lifting it too high wears out the pto. Any help, advice or suggestions you can offer is greatly appreciated. This is my first real (well small real tractor) and I'm learning on the run. thank you. Any suggestions on where to get decals for my tractor. The pto' lift and 4 wheel drive don't have any decals left.

 

[Shadow99]

What kinda snow? Heavy-wet snow is the worst, especially if there is not enough of it (under 2-3").
Drier snow is the best to throw, but it also needs to be more than 3" deep.

I find that if the snow is wet & under 3" deep, I use the blower to gather the snow, then engage PTO, at the end of a run, blowing it in same direction as impeller. If the flow of snow out the chute slows too much, that's when you'll get a clog.
Sometimes a coat of "cooking-spray" inside the impeller housing & chute, help a lot with the wet-stuff.
Just don't let your "significant-other" catch you stealing the last of her cooking spray!
I found the more snow I can feed-into my snowblower, the happier it works!

Regards,
Shadow

 

[tdejong302]

I was moving light stuff and banks both. However, my 8 hp walk behind blew it as far. Under the load the banks blew the same. thx. I might just have to push it backwards and engage the blower.

 

[HEC]

Type and depth of snow can be factors like mentioned above . The gear ratio of the gear box for the impeller , the clearance between the impeller and outer chamber , the number of blades on the impeller , can be factors . My guess is you are trying to blow to little snow at one time or it is wet heavy snow . Pointing your chute deflector up as far as it will go will help to get more distance .

 

[Shadow99]

In most cases a walk-behind snowblower will throw the snow further, due to the higher rpm of the impeller.
I still use my vintage 1964 Gilson 26" 8hp blower, & find it doesn't care what it inhales! Ate neighbors 50' dog-run cable & didn't stall out, loose asphalt from driveway, stones, bricks, you name it, my Gilson's eaten it!:thumbsup:
Where as the 60" blower, has stalled out my 30hp tractor a couple of times. When it found a lawnmower tire hidden in the snow, & after a tried to make a "zero-clearance" impeller, for it this past summer.
Heard whap-whap-whap, & it stalled, before I could dis-engage PTO. Lesson-learned, Ford 715 snowblower impeller, is not centered in housing & can not be adjusted.

Shadow

 

[smfcpacfp]

Welcome neighbor. I was thru Munising almost two weeks ago on a snowy night. I was low on gas and thought I had better get some gas so I pulled into the big Shell station. I was planning on taking 94 home, but since I was in Munising, I decided to take 28 - big mistake. It was horrible white out conditions for 20 miles outside of town. Mercifully nothing bad happened.

Knowing something about Munising, I think throwing snow 5 feet is going to be a problem, because your edges may get so high, that the snow won't clear them. When that happen you may need to hire a big front end loader to move them back. I had to do that with the blower unit I had before my current one which is why I got rid of it. My current blower throws it 80 feet or so. I am not sure what a n h tc18 is (New Holland ?). I only disengage my PTO if I need to get out of the tractor. Here is a short video of my tractor in action.

http://youtu.be/Kl8e-L0qqrE

 

[Al Mac]

I just bought a n.h. tc18. It came with a aftermarket blower. The problem I have with it is its not blowing very far. PTO's say 540 on the tractor. Its only blowing snow 5-8 ft. Is this normal. Also should I leave the pto engaged on the blower as I pull forward. And one last dummy question.... how high should I lift my blower when its on. I have heard lifting it too high wears out the pto. Any help, advice or suggestions you can offer is greatly appreciated. This is my first real (well small real tractor) and I'm learning on the run. thank you. Any suggestions on where to get decals for my tractor. The pto' lift and 4 wheel drive don't have any decals left.

Not sure if your unit is like this but I had a old Ford blower (510 model I think) and it would only blow 5 to 8 feet also. It was just the design of the unit. The fan was only 3 blades and something like 16 inches across. Not wide enough and needed 4 blades it through the snow. It is like shoveling snow with a short handled kids shovel.
Check your fan size against other units the same size at the dealers. you could fine they have more blades and have a much wider fan. My new Puma a 22 inch fan and 4 blades and will send snow 20+ feet.
A smooth clean painted surface will also help some in distance but not much. In the wet sticky snow it will not stick to the unit as much when painted, which helps.


Al

 

[JerryK]

As far as lifting your blower, it's best on the U joints if you keep the PTO shaft angle 15 degrees or less under load. But raising it a little higher not under load should not be a problem with a little more joint angle. My blower has a 26" four blade fan, throwing distance falls off quickly the further you drop down below normal PTO speed. I leave my PTO engaged whilst driving forward, no need to turn it off unless you want to. Other things that can effect distance [ besides design ] is if you have your chute deflector not opened up all the way. The inside of the chute should be rust free and as smooth as a babies bottom, even if bare metal. Likewise the fan and fan cavity. These areas should be cleaned/painted each spring to keep them rust free. If this is a new setup to you, you also have to make sure the fan is not slipping on the keyed shaft, and that all shear pins are installed and nothing else is slipping. A big thing with blowers is ground speed. If you try to go faster than the blower can get rid of the snow... it won't throw for krap. Start off slow and raise your ground speed until you get the hang of it. You want to go slow enough that the motor is barely being loaded down with your RPMs up for best distance on most snow types. Good luck, Jerry... Vanderbilt, Michigan... but spent a lot of time drinking with my Finnish friends up in the Keweenaw..

 

[Al Mac]

As far as lifting your blower, it's best on the U joints if you keep the PTO shaft angle 15 degrees or less under load. But raising it a little higher not under load should not be a problem with a little more joint angle. My blower has a 26" four blade fan, throwing distance falls off quickly the further you drop down below normal PTO speed. I leave my PTO engaged whilst driving forward, no need to turn it off unless you want to. Other things that can effect distance [ besides design ] is if you have your chute deflector not opened up all the way. The inside of the chute should be rust free and as smooth as a babies bottom, even if bare metal. Likewise the fan and fan cavity. These areas should be cleaned/painted each spring to keep them rust free. If this is a new setup to you, you also have to make sure the fan is not slipping on the keyed shaft, and that all shear pins are installed and nothing else is slipping. A big thing with blowers is ground speed. If you try to go faster than the blower can get rid of the snow... it won't throw for krap. Start off slow and raise your ground speed until you get the hang of it. You want to go slow enough that the motor is barely being loaded down with your RPMs up for best distance on most snow types. Good luck, Jerry... Vanderbilt, Michigan... but spent a lot of time drinking with my Finnish friends up in the Keweenaw..

I used kids plastic snow slider inside the chute on the other blower. I used heat ( a torch) and molded it to the inside. Bolted the edge (use fender washers on the inside) with small bolts and cut off the extra on the outer edge.

Al

 

[Amvcane]

Tdejong302,

What make and model blower are we talking about? If you don't know pics please.
What is the fan diameter? Fan diameter will dictate the maximin distance the unit will throw.
Ex. 22" diameter fan = 1.83' Radius=0.92'
Circumference = 2(Pi)R = 5.78 ft
540 rpm = 9 revs/sec
Blade tip speed = 9rev/sec x 5.78ft/rev = 52ft/sec

In my opinion, a 3 to 4 blade fan makes only a small difference in performance, especially if your pto speed holds 540rpm.( tractor does not bog down). One revolution of the fan displaces the same volume whether it is 3 or 4 blades. A 4 blade fan will be easier on the engine since it is throwing 1/4 housing volume as apposed to 1/3.