Rear Inverted Snowblowers 2019

[Boondox]

Hillbilly, too bad you live so far from me. I'd give you a sweet deal on my 78" inverted meteor thats only been used 3 times. I am still not happy with the results of the blower. I will try like heck to figure out how to adjust the top link to get it to scrape better. Unfortunately havent had snow in a while, and none on the 10 day forecast. Also, I foolishly thought since it was inverted I would hardly be turning my neck around. This is not true. I am looking backward probably as much as if it were a rear facing blower.

I bought a 78" inverted Meteor last fall and after reading your posts was a little concerned I'd made a poor choice. But since the arrival of snow here in Vermont I've had nothing but excellent results with it on my 600 yard gravel driveway with hills and dips along its length. I have the driveway marked with reflective fiberglass poles and simply ensure that the rear tire clears them by a few inches...knowing that the blower will get right up to them without me turning my head. This time of year it's not any faster than plowing with my rear blade angled, but later - as the snow builds up - I won't have to waste hours pushing snowbanks back to make room for more snow.

The one problem I had with it was user error. I was using the optional rear blade to pull wet, heavy snow out from between a vehicle and a structure with the PTO off. After a few pulls that snow was pushed up into the chute packed to the point where I had to clear it by hand. Lesson learned: keep things turning when using the rear blade.

I'm absolutely delighted with my Meteor and have been praying to the snow gods for more storms.

Pete

 

[Hilbilly]

Smyth Welding dealer in Red Deere Alberta 780 km away.

Dave M7040

I checked out the dealer website and there is no information on blowers. I also checked out the Smyth welding website and there is not much information on there either. When I click on the "more details" button on each of the blower types it just goes to a bigger picture of that type of blower. I can't find specs for any of their blowers on the website. As I recall your blower has a big fan and I would like something bigger than the Meteor and Farm King blowers I'm looking at but not at a huge price increase. I guess I'm asking for too much.

I bought a 78" inverted Meteor last fall and after reading your posts was a little concerned I'd made a poor choice. But since the arrival of snow here in Vermont I've had nothing but excellent results with it on my 600 yard gravel driveway with hills and dips along its length. I have the driveway marked with reflective fiberglass poles and simply ensure that the rear tire clears them by a few inches...knowing that the blower will get right up to them without me turning my head. This time of year it's not any faster than plowing with my rear blade angled, but later - as the snow builds up - I won't have to waste hours pushing snowbanks back to make room for more snow.

The one problem I had with it was user error. I was using the optional rear blade to pull wet, heavy snow out from between a vehicle and a structure with the PTO off. After a few pulls that snow was pushed up into the chute packed to the point where I had to clear it by hand. Lesson learned: keep things turning when using the rear blade.

I'm absolutely delighted with my Meteor and have been praying to the snow gods for more storms.

Pete

Glad you like your Meteor blower. My biggest concern is travel speed and that will be dictated by either the tractor running out of hp or the blower fan being undersized. I want to find the right blower to make my tractor work efficiently and I've seen some videos that show tractors smaller than mine ripping through 6" of snow and others where the tractor is bigger than mine and creeping along. I would prefer not to get the blower that requires me to creep along.

I'm going to make a few more calls this morning before making a decision whether to go ahead with the Farm King or wait until next year and spend more time trying to find a decent deal on a better blower.

 

[airbiscuit]

This is from the website at Smythe Welding (I've seen good reviews on TBN):

Do you have a long lane, and don稚 like to back up but have to get snow out of your way? Consider hooking your mid-size tractor on to one of our pull-type blowers and leave the snow behind you!

They comes standard with a flat bar cutting edge on the bottom to help cut through the tire marks. The wear shoes on the back, keep you out of the gravel when the ground is soft. These two stage blowers are easy on horse power, and very easy to operate. No more backing up to blow snow!
Technical Specifications:

CUTTING WIDTH AUGER FAN WEIGHT (LBS)
54 14 6 x 20 549
60" 16" 8" x 24" 610
66″ 16″ 8″ X 24″ 680
72" 16" 8" x 24" 715
78″ 16″ 8″ X 24″ 750
84" 20" 10" x 30" 1115
90″ 20″ 10″ X 30″ 1195
96" 20" 10" x 30" 1345
102" 20" 12" x 30" 1595

Smyth Welding & Machine Shop Ltd.

37452 Glen's Hill Road, Auburn, Ontario

Voice: 519-529-7212

 

[shooterdon]

Hilbilly,

I only have a 40 HP tractor with 32 PTO HP. I got a 74" FarmKing pull blower ($4000 on sale during the summer) but have only had to use it three times so far. Deepest snow being 6" and it works well.

Had about 4" to take off yesterday. To check how it handles more snow, I used my front mounted back blade to windrow the snow into the center of the drive from both directions and then ran over the windrow with the blower. It ate it up no problem It sure is nice driving forward.





BTW, build quality seems good. I like that the shear pins are common grade 5 bolts attached with nyloks. I sheared one on the first use as I have a gravel drive and tired going too fast...that gave me a build up of gravel that stalled it out. I adjusted the top link and so far no other issues. Shear pin is easy to get to and change.

Not sure how the FarmKing stacks up against the "better" blowers. I get 120-150" of snow a year and only do my property. I am satisfied but maybe I do not know what I am missing with the more expensive units. It moves snow efficiently and I have no more mounds of snow from plowing. Seems all I need.

The SSQA plate on the front lets me mount my 3ph attachments so I use both my back blade and rake. Good enough for light work and it is nice being able to use the blade for back blading snow. If I need the bucket or forks it is easy to change over. For just over $200 delivered it is not expensive for the flexibility it affords.

Amazon.com: 3 Point Attachment Adapter Skid Steer Trailer Hitch Front Loader case: Home Improvement

 

[kco]

I see what appears to be a new 2017 75" MK Martin pull-type in Burns Lake.

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mk%20martin/sb75p-t/burns%20lake/british%20columbia/5_42338638_20181119221340126/?showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&ms=farm_equipment&orup=3_6_6&sprx=-1

The ad says they have other models in stock.

 

[Hilbilly]

Airbiscuit,

Thanks for that info. I couldn't find it on their website, so I called them and got the same info regarding the fan sizes. That's a huge jump from the 78" to 84" blower. I also got prices. The 78" is in the same ballpark as the 2 blowers I've been looking at, until shipping is added. That's the killer! I have to add about $1,500 to everything coming from back east.

shooterdon,

Thanks for the feedback. The more I look into this the more I'm inclined to get the Farm King instead of something with a bigger fan. Just too much more money. There are some things I like better on the Meteor and if I could find one locally for the same price as the Farm King I would get the Meteor.

 

[kco]

Re: Farm King. I have a very old Farm King finishing mower, their 6' landscape rake and 6' rear blade. All seem to me to be very well built. I got the finishing mower used with a Kubota L275 DT 15 years ago and use it a lot. I had to replace spindles, blades and wheels because it had seen rough service cutting between grape vine rows. I use it a lot and have not had problems since. However, the sealed spindles are getting very noisy so I will have to eventually do something about that.

The rake is quite heavy duty as is the blade. To my untrained eye the welding looks good on all their equipment.

 

[airbiscuit]

I see what appears to be a new 2017 75" MK Martin pull-type in Burns Lake.

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mk%20martin/sb75p-t/burns%20lake/british%20columbia/5_42338638_20181119221340126/?showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&ms=farm_equipment&orup=3_6_6&sprx=-1

The ad says they have other models in stock.

$4,295

 

[kco]

Airbiscuit,

Thanks for that info. I couldn't find it on their website, so I called them and got the same info regarding the fan sizes. That's a huge jump from the 78" to 84" blower. I also got prices. The 78" is in the same ballpark as the 2 blowers I've been looking at, until shipping is added. That's the killer! I have to add about $1,500 to everything coming from back east.

shooterdon,

Thanks for the feedback. The more I look into this the more I'm inclined to get the Farm King instead of something with a bigger fan. Just too much more money. There are some things I like better on the Meteor and if I could find one locally for the same price as the Farm King I would get the Meteor.

As stated before, for most snows of around 8" the speed with my 28 PTO hp tractor is a very fast walking pace or more. I really don't want to go quicker than that, even if I can. What slows me down are uphill sections. I think that is due to the HST requiring more of the power. But going downhill I can motor right along. The odd times(like lately) when blowing 12" of cement I do have to use low range and still manage a normal walking pace even uphill.

It snowed all night again and is forecast to snow all day. This evening it is to warm up and rain. So I guess the best plan is to head out after noon and get the snow out of the way. After the rain cooler weather and more snow is forecast so that will be fine. It is the wet snow that is not as much fun.

Here are a couple of photos of this morning from my upstairs window:

 

[OrangeMuscle]

The one thing that does work good is the blower really blows extremely well. I see others inquiring about moving lots of volume and trying to figure out how the 5 blade fan affects things. I went through 6 inches of snow at 4 MPH no problem for a half mile continuously. I felt I could have gone even faster if I wanted to get crazy but saw no need. It eats snow like mad and throws very far.

Can someone with an L6060 help clear up RPM's for me. There is no PTO marking on the dial in tractor, so I looked in the manual and it says rear PTO RPM is 2500. So that is what I blow at. It seems unnecessary to have to have the RPMS so high, even though I generally am a very high RPM user all round. Is 2500 really the rear PTO RPM? Thats not far from redline? I was too scared and uneducated as to what might happen if lowered the RPMS to 2000? WOuld it hurt the tractor or just not throw the snow so far. I don't need to throw the snow 40 feet.

 

[Hilbilly]

I see what appears to be a new 2017 75" MK Martin pull-type in Burns Lake.

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mk%20martin/sb75p-t/burns%20lake/british%20columbia/5_42338638_20181119221340126/?showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&ms=farm_equipment&orup=3_6_6&sprx=-1

The ad says they have other models in stock.

Sold and they don't have any more PT blowers in stock.

I talked to Jake at Timberstar. Very helpful and he suggested looking at a Wifo blower. I checked the website and the fan sizes are much larger and I think they are too big for my tractor. The 78" and 84" PT blowers have 28" x 12" fans in them. The prices are better than the other blowers too. But I doubt my tractor could run that size blower and I've only heard of this company one time before. I think I will start another thread to see if any one has experience with this blower. But if anyone reading this has any feedback regarding the quality of these blowers or has experience with a blower running a fan this size, please provide comments.

 

[kco]

Sold and they don't have any more PT blowers in stock.

I talked to Jake at Timberstar. Very helpful and he suggested looking at a Wifo blower. I checked the website and the fan sizes are much larger and I think they are too big for my tractor. The 78" and 84" PT blowers have 28" x 12" fans in them. The prices are better than the other blowers too. But I doubt my tractor could run that size blower and I've only heard of this company one time before. I think I will start another thread to see if any one has experience with this blower. But if anyone reading this has any feedback regarding the quality of these blowers or has experience with a blower running a fan this size, please provide comments.

Did you ask Jake's opinion about your tractor's ability to drive the blower, their reliability and parts availability? He would be honest with you. Also, he would likely give you names of current owners if those owners give him permission. Years ago he called me to see if I would talk to a lady who lives nearby and who has a similar snow clearing situation. She and her husband came over and she drove my tractor and blower up and down the pasture clearing 12" of heavy wet snow since there was none on the driveway to clear. She ordered a pull-type.

I think Jake would give you an honest opinion of Walco vs Meteor if you asked.

With such a demand now your best option might be to make do with your push-type this year. You could then do a bit more research and order what you think is truly the best blower for next year.

 

[Hilbilly]

As stated before, for most snows of around 8" the speed with my 28 PTO hp tractor is a very fast walking pace or more. I really don't want to go quicker than that, even if I can. What slows me down are uphill sections. I think that is due to the HST requiring more of the power. But going downhill I can motor right along. The odd times(like lately) when blowing 12" of cement I do have to use low range and still manage a normal walking pace even uphill.

It snowed all night again and is forecast to snow all day. This evening it is to warm up and rain. So I guess the best plan is to head out after noon and get the snow out of the way. After the rain cooler weather and more snow is forecast so that will be fine. It is the wet snow that is not as much fun.

Here are a couple of photos of this morning from my upstairs window:

View attachment 635935 View attachment 635936

Thanks Ken,

Both you and OrangeMuscle seem to be happy with the travel speed you get with your blowers, so I think I will just go with the smaller fan. I really appreciate both of you providing travel speed results from your personal experiences.

Looks like we have the same forecast but I'm hoping we don't get the rain. we are higher than the town of Barriere and the weather forecast is for that town. The last big storm that blew through here, Barriere got 8" of snow and we got 3' to 4', depending on who you ask. Either way it was VERY deep. I'm going to do the same. Wait until later to plow (maybe blow) but don't want to wait until it gets too warm.

The one thing that does work good is the blower really blows extremely well. I see others inquiring about moving lots of volume and trying to figure out how the 5 blade fan affects things. I went through 6 inches of snow at 4 MPH no problem for a half mile continuously. I felt I could have gone even faster if I wanted to get crazy but saw no need. It eats snow like mad and throws very far.

Can someone with an L6060 help clear up RPM's for me. There is no PTO marking on the dial in tractor, so I looked in the manual and it says rear PTO RPM is 2500. So that is what I blow at. It seems unnecessary to have to have the RPMS so high, even though I generally am a very high RPM user all round. Is 2500 really the rear PTO RPM? Thats not far from redline? I was too scared and uneducated as to what might happen if lowered the RPMS to 2000? WOuld it hurt the tractor or just not throw the snow so far. I don't need to throw the snow 40 feet.

My L6060 has a digital display and I toggle through it to show the various screens. One of them is the PTO speed and for my tractor 540 rpm PTO speed is at 2400 engine rpms.

 

[Reb954]

Sold and they don't have any more PT blowers in stock.

I talked to Jake at Timberstar. Very helpful and he suggested looking at a Wifo blower. I checked the website and the fan sizes are much larger and I think they are too big for my tractor. The 78" and 84" PT blowers have 28" x 12" fans in them. The prices are better than the other blowers too. But I doubt my tractor could run that size blower and I've only heard of this company one time before. I think I will start another thread to see if any one has experience with this blower. But if anyone reading this has any feedback regarding the quality of these blowers or has experience with a blower running a fan this size, please provide comments.

I have a 78" WIFO blower. This is the third year I have had it. It is well built but I don't care for the chute and deflector design so I have made some modifications to it. I was on WIFO's website a few days ago and I see they have redesigned the chute and deflector so apparently others didn't care for the old design either.

 

[Hilbilly]

As stated before, for most snows of around 8" the speed with my 28 PTO hp tractor is a very fast walking pace or more. I really don't want to go quicker than that, even if I can. What slows me down are uphill sections. I think that is due to the HST requiring more of the power. But going downhill I can motor right along. The odd times(like lately) when blowing 12" of cement I do have to use low range and still manage a normal walking pace even uphill.

It snowed all night again and is forecast to snow all day. This evening it is to warm up and rain. So I guess the best plan is to head out after noon and get the snow out of the way. After the rain cooler weather and more snow is forecast so that will be fine. It is the wet snow that is not as much fun.

Here are a couple of photos of this morning from my upstairs window:

View attachment 635935 View attachment 635936

The one thing that does work good is the blower really blows extremely well. I see others inquiring about moving lots of volume and trying to figure out how the 5 blade fan affects things. I went through 6 inches of snow at 4 MPH no problem for a half mile continuously. I felt I could have gone even faster if I wanted to get crazy but saw no need. It eats snow like mad and throws very far.

Can someone with an L6060 help clear up RPM's for me. There is no PTO marking on the dial in tractor, so I looked in the manual and it says rear PTO RPM is 2500. So that is what I blow at. It seems unnecessary to have to have the RPMS so high, even though I generally am a very high RPM user all round. Is 2500 really the rear PTO RPM? Thats not far from redline? I was too scared and uneducated as to what might happen if lowered the RPMS to 2000? WOuld it hurt the tractor or just not throw the snow so far. I don't need to throw the snow 40 feet.

Did you ask Jake's opinion about your tractor's ability to drive the blower, their reliability and parts availability? He would be honest with you. Also, he would likely give you names of current owners if those owners give him permission. Years ago he called me to see if I would talk to a lady who lives nearby and who has a similar snow clearing situation. She and her husband came over and she drove my tractor and blower up and down the pasture clearing 12" of heavy wet snow since there was none on the driveway to clear. She ordered a pull-type.

I think Jake would give you an honest opinion of Walco vs Meteor if you asked.

With such a demand now your best option might be to make do with your push-type this year. You could then do a bit more research and order what you think is truly the best blower for next year.

Yes he was going to contact Wifo and ask them, then get back to me. Wish I was closer to you and could see you run the blower. It would put an end to my concerns, either way.

I've got to give some serious thought about waiting for next year or just going ahead with the blower quote I got yesterday.

 

[Hilbilly]

I can't keep up to the posts and some, like KCO's post with the pics didn't show the pics until I went to quote it. Then Reb954 post shows up after I post. This thread has hit lightning speed.:laughing:

Reb954, Thanks for that feedback. Does your blower have the 27" x 10" fan in it? That is what the website showed and Jake at Timberstar said that was the previous design. The one has the improved chute you noted and the bigger fan.

I'm going to give this thread a rest for a bit while I get some coffee and think about going ahead with Farm King or not. Keep the input / feedback flowing. This may help others.

 

[aczlan]

Can someone with an L6060 help clear up RPM's for me. There is no PTO marking on the dial in tractor, so I looked in the manual and it says rear PTO RPM is 2500. So that is what I blow at. It seems unnecessary to have to have the RPMS so high, even though I generally am a very high RPM user all round. Is 2500 really the rear PTO RPM? Thats not far from redline? I was too scared and uneducated as to what might happen if lowered the RPMS to 2000? WOuld it hurt the tractor or just not throw the snow so far. I don't need to throw the snow 40 feet.

I dont have a L6060, bit I can tell you that while it wont hurt anything, a lower PTO RPM it will not throw the snow as far and the chute will be more prone to clogging.
When blowing snow with our L3830 and its front mount 84" blower, I have it wide open when unloaded (which is about 600 PTO RPM), then adjust what gear I am in so that it settles at about 500 PTO RPM under load.
The tractor is designed to run at PTO RPM all day and you wont hurt it running it at PTO RPM.

Aaron Z

 

[Reb954]

Reb954, Thanks for that feedback. Does your blower have the 27" x 10" fan in it? That is what the website showed and Jake at Timberstar said that was the previous design. The one has the improved chute you noted and the bigger fan.

As I remember mine does have the 27" x 10" fan which works fine. I studied the pictures on WIFO's website and I think you will find the only change WIFO made was to the chute and deflector as the rest of the blower looks to be the same as mine.

 

[Hilbilly]

DECISION MADE. I ordered the FarmKing 84" inverted blower.

Will post pics when it arrives and hopefully some videos. Probably won't snow again after I get the blower.

 

[NBHAracer]

Hillbilly, too bad you live so far from me. I'd give you a sweet deal on my 78" inverted meteor thats only been used 3 times.

You seriously interested in selling your blower? I'm looking for an inverted blower. Given a choice between the two, I'd rather help out a fellow TBNer than a dealer. Although I'm in the southern part of PA, so I'm afraid you're probably some distance away from me. Whereabouts in New York are you located?