PTO or Hydraulic Debris/Leaf Blower???

[JohnDeereJoey]

I am looking for opinions/experiences using tractor Hydraulic vs PTO powered debris/leaf blowers.

Th PTO blower would be much less costly, especially when the cost of a hydraulic power pack is considered! The hydraulic blower would be more visible when seated in the cab... I am considering a Buffalo Turbine blower of each type.

The PTO would mount on the 3ph and the nozzle would rotate about an axis longitudinal with the tractor:

The hydraulic unit would mount on the loader and the nozzle could rotate on the same axis...

OR the loader could be raised in the dump position and the nozzle would then rotate in the around a vertical axis:

Is the ability to rotate the nozzle about the vertical axis in tight areas, between buildings...as useful in the real world as I imagine????????????

It will be used on 2 properties. Small amount of lawns, but each have roughly 1/4 miles driveways and large turn-around/parking areas areas. Both properties are heavily treed, dropping a large amount of leaves and some twigs. One property has a house a 3 garages. The other property currently is used as a private RV camp. Both properties driveway/parking areas are crushed stone.

Thank you for sharing your experience with tractor mounted leaf blowers!

Joel

 

[TMGT]

Can't help you between the 2 options, but we have a bunch of the PTO units at work (even run off cabbed Deeres like in your first pic) and I am amazed at how well they work.

I could see some advantages to a ladder mounted one but not sure it would offset the cost and additional hassles of removing the power pack when not in use.

At work they are used to blow off large sidewalk and curbs, amazing how much control the operators have.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

Thank you TMGT.

I need the power pack to run my snow blower. Since the debris/leaf blower will be used for fall and spring clean up I'll likely just put the power pack on a little earlier in the fall and remove a little later in the next spring. I think I'll be ok with that.

Your right, the older I get the heavier the pto pump gets!

 

[TMGT]

Since you already have the power pack that makes the difference a little less, whats the price difference between pto and hyd?

If its not much $ I would say the hyd might make better sense in you're case. Do you have a cab? There is an advantage to blowing all the stuff behind you, the ones they use at work are mostly used while going forward.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

Yes, I have a cab.

Not counting the pump, the pto and hydraulic blowers are very close in price.

Turns out my existing pump will need to be upgraded to run the hydraulic debris/leaf blower...ugh! So it raises the total cost substantially. But, the the existing pump is also a bit small for the snow blower, so the upgrade would give the snow blower a nice boost. (Rationalized to perfection! )

 

[TMGT]

Sounds like you already know what you're going to do!

Can you just upgrade the pump on your existing pack or do you need to replace the whole unit?

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

I know what I THINK I'd like to do...but really would like input to determine if my desire to be able to operate the hydraulic unit in a vertical position is worth the cost.

Good question about the existing power pack. I'd very likely need to add a cooler/fan along with a bigger pump. The cost of those items might pay for close to half of a completely new power pack! Ca-ching $$$

 

[mikester]

Cool! Looks like a jet powered tractor.

 

[JethroB]

Powerful looking machine. Rent it out to NASCAR on race weekends.

 

[dlctcg]

Those look like the Buffalo Turbine blowers.... They are nice blowers. They are used a lot around here by golf courses, towns, & municipalities for large areas. I was luck enough to get to try one prior to us purchasing one (family member works at one of them), they way they are designed they moved to much of the stone where I tried it for me to be comfortable using it in our 1/2+ mile gravel drive. Even lowering the PTO speed below 540 the these things move air.... & our drive & culverts were a major reason for the blower.

We have a PTO Debris Blower, we actually lucked out on a barely ever "used" one that I needed to setup for our use, & I really like it on the back of the tractor... the dust storm is behind me 90% of the time. Now we do not have a cab so that makes a big difference, but even still the amount of dust & leaf debris these things move I would guess you will be cleaning the tractor hood grill of leaves & debris with a front mount more often. Oh, I also use the bucket on the FEL to push the big pile in to the woods or to toss the collected bigger sticks etc. along the drive so just another reason I like the rear mount...

The blower has made days & days of work to hours... you won't be disappointed

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

Thank you for the reply dlctcg! Nice setup you have! That big gauge wheel on the back of the blower looks like a great feature to have.

Yes, the pictures are of Buffalo Turbine debris/leaf blowers. Was the one you tried PTO powered? If so, was not being able rotate the nozzle on a vertical axis a limitation compared to the blower you have now?

I googled your blower...it appears to have some options for nozzle rotation and deflector. How useful do you find being able to adjust the deflector up and down?

 

[dlctcg]

Thank you for the reply dlctcg! Nice setup you have! That big gauge wheel on the back of the blower looks like a great feature to have.

Yes, the pictures are of Buffalo Turbine debris/leaf blowers. Was the one you tried PTO powered? If so, was not being able rotate the nozzle on a vertical axis a limitation compared to the blower you have now?

I googled your blower...it appears to have some options for nozzle rotation and deflector. How useful do you find being able to adjust the deflector up and down?

The gauge wheel is great... we have a lot of uneven ground.

The Buffalo Turbine I used was a PTO unit & although not having the vertical axis wasn't a real issue for our use I can see it being handy for some situations... Again I still like having the bucket on the front.

So, our blower has both nozzle rotation (230 degrees left to right swing) & deflector up & down (now - added the deflector up & down). Both incredibly valuable for our needs... rotation = pretty self-explanatory... the up & down of the deflector is a huge help with not moving the gravel out of the driveway & with being able to aim it down into our culverts to blow them out. When we got the unit it was wired incorrectly so I decided to wire it & added the defector motor... so glad I did.

Here are a couple more pics...

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm Jealous. Buffalo Turbine is awesome!

Hydraulic could always be adapted to something else.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

The gauge wheel is great... we have a lot of uneven ground.

The Buffalo Turbine I used was a PTO unit & although not having the vertical axis wasn't a real issue for our use I can see it being handy for some situations... Again I still like having the bucket on the front.

So, our blower has both nozzle rotation (230 degrees left to right swing) & deflector up & down (now - added the deflector up & down). Both incredibly valuable for our needs... rotation = pretty self-explanatory... the up & down of the deflector is a huge help with not moving the gravel out of the driveway & with being able to aim it down into our culverts to blow them out. When we got the unit it was wired incorrectly so I decided to wire it & added the defector motor... so glad I did.

Here are a couple more pics...
View attachment 697521View attachment 697522View attachment 697523
View attachment 697520

Thank you for the additional information and photos!

 

[shooterdon]

Jrco Heavy-Duty Attachments for Commercial Mowers @ Great Northern Equipment

Jrco commercial and residential zero-turn and stand-on mower attachments include dethatchers, spreaders, aerators, leaf blowers and plows, and more.

www.jrcoinc.com

When I had my walk behind leaf blower (Little Wonder) I looked at making something like this to mount on a SSQA plate. Mounted on a pivot assembly, it would follow the contours on the lawn. It would not have the power of the turbine unit you are looking at but for leaves it would work well and be relatively inexpensive. Disadvantages would be no nozzle rotation and having a separate gas engine to deal with. Off setting that is ease of mounting and cost. I looked at mounting it on a carry all, but driving forward seemed like a better option for my needs.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

Thank you for the reply shooterdon!

I hear you about front mounting the blower. That is one of the main reasons I am looking at a hydraulic blower. Not having to look to the rear of the tractor to see the implement is becoming more and more appealing as I age!

 

[dlctcg]

Jrco Heavy-Duty Attachments for Commercial Mowers @ Great Northern Equipment

Jrco commercial and residential zero-turn and stand-on mower attachments include dethatchers, spreaders, aerators, leaf blowers and plows, and more.

www.jrcoinc.com

When I had my walk behind leaf blower (Little Wonder) I looked at making something like this to mount on a SSQA plate. Mounted on a pivot assembly, it would follow the contours on the lawn. It would not have the power of the turbine unit you are looking at but for leaves it would work well and be relatively inexpensive. Disadvantages would be no nozzle rotation and having a separate gas engine to deal with. Off setting that is ease of mounting and cost. I looked at mounting it on a carry all, but driving forward seemed like a better option for my needs.

So prior to us having the PTO blower... I did a "down & dirty" version with our walk behind blower.... I ratchet strapped it to a pallet & then used the pallet forks to have the blower out front. It actually worker pretty well for the driveway, but as you mentioned you lose nozzle rotation & the second engine to maintain...