Snow Size of 3pt blower

[SensibleNick]

First off, Thanks Leonz for a stunning flood of useful opinion.

I'm slightly confused by a couple of the things you said though - are you talking about two different things?

A snow blower that is assembled using a flat rear panel using the Pronovost Puma as an example will be less troublesome from plugging and jamming of ice and snow as the open auger is exposed from the top and essentially sucks down any accumulation into the impeller housing.

The open auger design of the typical 2 stage snow blower
(Which I absolutely hate) floods the the impeller no matter the snow type wet, heavy or powdery drifted compacted snow.

From what I understand, you're saying that for reasons of stiffness and maintaining bearing integrity, its good to have an Enclosed auger, but at the same time, It's good to have it open to allow snow to drop into the impeller.

I'm curious as to how you see the Lorenz blowers: I'm aiming to make a rear-mounted blower for next year, and rather like their layout - have you got any insight into the use of paddles instead of an auger?

Thanks again! :thumbsup:

/Nick

A paddled Lorenz Blower...

 

[escavader]

I almost bought a 60 for my Bx ,but when i figured out the #of passes doing my drive with a 60 or a 54 there was no difference,it was gonna take 3 passes either way. I have a 13 ft wide driveway ,its gonna take 3 passes anyway you look at it,A 60 inch is was gonna cost more also
My PUMA 54 is just right ,i think with a wider one its doable but id have to have more weight up front ,in addition to my FEL.Im pretty positive id had to have bought some suitcase weights or make something to keep the front down
Get one wider than your footprint,un fourtunately there are no standard sizing out there.METEORS and pronovost for example run different in widths, a 50 inch is only 2 inches wider than my tires,and id be driving in the un moved snow on corners etc.Iam glad i got the 54 it seems just right to me
ALAN

 

[Scrounger]

I had a 54" blower on the BX2200, it handled it well. I think 60" maybe a little too big for a BX. Then again if you go slow enough you can put anything on. , BUT do you really want to go slow all the time??

NY_Yankee is right, the 60" is going to be a bit big. You really want to stay with something that is as close to the actual width of your tractor as possible. The 54" seems to be the sweet spot and the size I'm looking to add to the tractor.

 

[Scrounger]

We sell the 50 inch Buhler/Farmking 50 inch for the BX22's. 60 is a little much. Our 50 inch is in stock again at $1995 and the 60 inch at $2195. Ken Sweet

Ken

I've seen the 50" for much less, do you have an updated price. I'm interested in one for the BX right now.

 

[leonz]

First off, Thanks Leonz for a stunning flood of useful opinion.

"I'm slightly confused by a couple of the things you said though - are you talking about two different things?"


Yes- two different dimensions-for a narrow throated 2 stage blower with a roof over the auger so to speak and a braced and welded three sided box with a narrow uppewr shelf for added strength and a base plate with a cutting edge.


"From what I understand, you're saying that for reasons of stiffness and maintaining bearing integrity, its good to have an Enclosed auger, but at the same time, It's good to have it open to allow snow to drop into the impeller."




Full length welds are your friends.

Properly positioned bracing avoids problems from twisting and racking and reduces stress from impeller rotation at full RPM.


With the top partially exposed the snow cannot fall over the roof line of the auger enclosure if it is deep as the open auger breaks it up and pushes it to the center as the tractor advances.


I'm curious as to how you see the Lorenz blowers: I'm aiming to make a rear-mounted blower for next year, and rather like their layout - have you got any insight into the use of paddles instead of an auger?


It costs less to make thats all that amounts to, and the paddles simply break it up and the lower smaller half auger moves the snow to the impeller.

Any two stage snow blower is nothing more than a scoop with three or four sides and a fan that has an engine, transmission and drive wheels, or is moved by a prime mover and powered by the same prime mover.

Dont get me wrong it takes a lot to make a snow blower especially the small ones as they have to put all the parts in a very small square inch area.

A gear driven snow blower like the Yamahas or the BCS and Grillo Berta single and two stage units has no slippage and the power delivered is huge which creates high impeller torque and rotation speed


Thanks again! :thumbsup:

/Nick

A paddled Lorenz Blower...

If you copy the Lorenz design dont be surprised
if you are visited by the legal eagles at Lorenz
and be sued for patent infringement unfortunately.

Or hide it in the barn and use it only in the middle of the night
when their is no moon nor any witnesses to said operation.

 

[crazyal]

First off, Thanks Leonz for a stunning flood of useful opinion.

I'm slightly confused by a couple of the things you said though - are you talking about two different things?





From what I understand, you're saying that for reasons of stiffness and maintaining bearing integrity, its good to have an Enclosed auger, but at the same time, It's good to have it open to allow snow to drop into the impeller.

I'm curious as to how you see the Lorenz blowers: I'm aiming to make a rear-mounted blower for next year, and rather like their layout - have you got any insight into the use of paddles instead of an auger?

Thanks again! :thumbsup:

/Nick

A paddled Lorenz Blower...

I thin it's in the attachment section but somebody just widened a blower. For the augers they just had a local steel (or maybe it was ductwork) shop cut rings and then with a simple split he turned them into part of the auger. It sounded like it was cheap. Or I know there are a couple of people here who have a CNC plasma cutter that may do it for a good price.

 

[johnems]

From what I have been told the shaft driven is better way to transfer power to the plower. Also their is concern about bending the loader arm. (To me this is bopguse if you take your time you will be OK.)

Does and one have real world experancI have a 3050 with a loder with a quick connect. I am in the process of looking for a front mounted show blower. As I see it I have 2 options. 1) Shaft driven OEM kubota or direct for the kubota subcontractor who make it. 2) I could do a front end loader hydrolic powered unit.

e with each type to comment on performance.

 

[Chad450r]

I have a 48" luck now on my bx 2200 and that is all I would ever want built heavy and manages it well any bigger and I'd be crawling IMO

 

[SensibleNick]

If you copy the Lorenz design dont be surprised
if you are visited by the legal eagles at Lorenz
and be sued for patent infringement unfortunately.

Or hide it in the barn and use it only in the middle of the night
when their is no moon nor any witnesses to said operation.

Man... are you guys scared of Lawyers!! :confused2:

1. I'm Not going to "Copy the Lorenz design" (There are many points I think could be improved) ... but thanks for the vote of confidence.

2. Patent infringement is a bugger to prove, and as I'm a private individual making 1 blower for my own use (no profit), Lorenz probably wouldn't even sniff in the direction of Sweden even IF I were to make a visually identical copy. (Which I'm not going to do anyway)

My blower's going to end up with an impeller and augers.... like ALL 2 stage machinery... The only question is, "Paddles or spiral-augers?" Lorenz are neither the only ones to use paddles, nor the only ones to use a pair of augers instead of one. :thumbsup:


So Back to my original Question....
I was just wondering if you (or anyone) had an opinion or experience of the paddle design instead of spirals: I see the cutting of rings as a waste of material: (unless you cut 120 degree arcs and then weld them together), and Given that I have unlimited access to an abrasive water-jet at work, and am one of 2 people who know how to make the programs for it, the cost of getting someone else to cut rings isn't something that'll ever bother me: it's only a question of function

If for example it turns out that you guys reckon spirals are WAY better than paddles, (I get the feeling they "sweep" the ground better) I'll obviously be going for spirals!

I've also been thinking that the paddles might not be as good at turning the packed snow into blowable powder, whereas toothed spirals probably break it all up a lot better.


There's another question I have though... (sorry if this is turning into a thread hijack) ... I see a lot of videos of blowers that *do* get bogged down... is it possible that a blower could benefit from having a less speedy auger? Would that help to ensure that you never overfed the impeller, or would it turn into a hindrance when you're only dealing with a light snowfall?

Hope this helps to clarify that I'm not simply a copy-cat... There are a few patents out there with my name on, and a few more applications waiting to be filed (my company likes to protect it's designs) ... so there's are few things that irk me more than a simple copy/paste approach to design!!

All the best,

/Nick


EDIT!!! I now realise that you DID answer with Paddle info... I had just missed it because it appeared in the quote itself. Thanks again!

 

[fish6942]

I went back and forth between a 50" and 60" rear blower for my BX2350. I ended up with the 60" and am glad I did. I have some good drop offs near the edges of some parts of the driveway and the extra width keeps me a little farther away. Also, even with the wider unit, I still end up running over unblown snow with the front tires when making steering corrections.

FWIW, I also have chains on all tires due to a 10% grade in part of the driveway.