Rear facing snow blower question

[zpilot]

Newby question, when using the snow blower do you folks lower the 3 point as far as it will go down and let the blower float over uneven ground or do you try to adjust it up and down to keep minimal contact with the ground? This will be used on asphalt.

 

[oosik]

How you "set" the lip of your blower depends upon the surface you are operating on. If I had asphalt - drop the blower down on the asphalt. Adjust the top link so the lip of the blower was raised one inch above the asphalt surface. Let the rear of the blower make full contact with the asphalt. This might leave small drag marks. Trying to keep the entire blower one inch off the asphalt will be an impossible task. You could put "feet" on the blower. They would probably leave marks on the asphalt also. There are also various types of added "lips" that could be put on the blower.

If you allow the lip of the blower to make full contact with the asphalt - run the risk of chewing up your driveway asphalt.

So it's your choice - raise it an inch - add feet - some form of aftermarket lip.

 

[seville009]

I would always put it all of the way down on asphalt and let it float.

note that you can/should adjust the angle of the blower (up or down) via the top link. As you lengthen the top link, it pushes the snowblower down at a slightly sharper angle so that the scrapper edge digs in more (or the opposite if you want it to not dig in as much)

 

[leonz]

What brand of snow blower do you have?

Does your snow blower have adjustable skids/runners? That will determine whether you need to adjust the angle of the snow blowers
cutting edge.

A lot of it depends on the condition of the asphalt and whether it is a fine top coat, rough base coat, broken up, laid over concrete etc., and any slope requiring you to have bare pavement to allow safe entrance and exit of the driveway/lane/private road and how old the asphalt matt is it is.

 

[zpilot]

Yes it has skid pads, driveway surface is only a few years old and smooth and in good shape. I am thinking of adjusting the shoes so that the cutting edge is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch above the asphalt.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Newby question, when using the snow blower do you folks lower the 3 point as far as it will go down and let the blower float over uneven ground or do you try to adjust it up and down to keep minimal contact with the ground? This will be used on asphalt.

Yes. All the way down and float unless I happen to be going through a plowed bank. In that case I may run the blower off of the ground to take a bite out first before dropping the blower all the way down.

 

[Jims1025R]

John Deere, converted from front mount, to rear three point for new JD tractor. It works excellently. It has skid shoes, and I have adjusted them so the cutting edge of the blower is 1" off the driveway.

 

[zpilot]

Thanks for all the reply's they helped allot. One more question, does anyone know if poly skids are available for this blower?

 

[maxadventure]

should be easy to order some HDPE sheet and cut your poly own shoes. I run steel skids and float my blower, but I also am usually moving snow over mountain driveway pavement that is never level or even, so to do a decent job I have to float.