Snow痴 coming

[Hilbilly]

Thanks, pretty satisfied with the results. Even though this blower is only 66 inches as compared the my other one at 84, it moves a lot of snow. An electric actuator on the chute will make for better directional control in the wind. The rear blade for back dragging is not near as handy as the seven ft hydraulic that I used on the front. May have to look at extending the right end and adding a control cyl. Saw an inverted on the tube that had a drop down blade for back drag close to buildings. Sittin and thinkin time.

Does 66" cover your wheel path? My old rear facing blower didn't so added a wing to each side to make it 6" wider and that worked pretty well. You could do the same and maybe add a drop blade as part of the extension. For the chute control you might want to consider adding a 3rd function to the FEL by way of a diverter valve. I did that on my old tractor and loved it. The diverter valves are available at Princess Auto. Or if you have a rear remote you could run a small hydraulic line from it to the loader and use that as a 3rd function for the chute rotation.

Whatever changes you make please post them on here. I enjoy following your progress.

 

[metalbender]

I have a Princess Auto diverter on the tractor. Installed it to run the front hydraulic blade. Hoses to the front also run a grapple and lift function on my pallet forks. Use it now for the chute rotation. Came handy for the ditch mower too. Princess has actuators for under $100, add a switch and done. My 446 had an actuator for the top of the chute, worked well. Width wise, it is very close. More snow forecast in the near future, need the practice.

 

[Hilbilly]

Sounds like you have all your needs covered. You must be enjoying driving forward in a heated cab, with the new blower setup the you created. Got to be a real sense of satisfaction. Nice work!

I might look into getting an actuator for the deflector on my blower. For the most part I just set the deflector and leave it alone. My driveway is long and there are no neighbors on either side, so I can blow the snow as far as I want without affecting anyone else. The only exception is the last couple hundred feet, where there is a neighbors driveway on one side and there I can just blow the snow to the other side. However it would be nice to have the extra control, without having to the leave the heated cab to adjust the deflector.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Metalbender, that look fabulous. Like I said I wish I had your fabrication skills, I would get myself in trouble :laughing:

 

[Hilbilly]

Well we finally got about 4" of snow last night but I don't expect it to stay. Like the last 3 or 4 snowfalls we've already had, the weather is supposed to warmup a little and that may be enough for it all to melt again.

 

[TractorTYMe]

I got 3'' on top of the frozen slush we got this weekend, I took my MK Martin out and let'err rrrrip. It was glorious, was done in 30 minutes with something that takes 2 hours pushing.

 

[Hilbilly]

I finally went out and plowed the driveway and around the buildings. This year will be a new approach to snow handling. The first run I will use the rear blade to make sure any rocks that I might have missed during my rock removal exercise get plowed well off to the side, so they don't go through the snow blower. That has now been done. The plan from now on is to use the inverted snow blower for the driveway, which is about 1 mile long and the snow plow / pusher for the areas around the buildings. Hoping this system will be the best for my needs.

Today, when I started plowing around the buildings, I quickly realized I need chains on. The R4's aren't very good in snow or hard pack and really suck on ice. So I installed the chains on the front tires just so I could get the driveway plowed. I figured I would wait until after to tackle putting on the rear chains. Turns out it took me longer to put on the fronts than rears. Then I replaced the front bucket and rear blade with the snow plow / pusher and the inverted snow blower. I'm now ready for winter. Hope my efforts weren't in vain.

 

[metalbender]

Couple of posts about grooving the tires. Might be an option wirh a smoother ride.

 

[Hilbilly]

Couple of posts about grooving the tires. Might be an option wirh a smoother ride.

I've looked at some of those posts and it seems like anyone that has tried it really likes the improvement. I bet it would really help but I doubt it would be enough for my conditions. My driveway is pretty steep in some places and I am absolutely positive the chains are required. I've used chains for years but the ones I've tried didn't cut it. I had "H" pattern chains on the back tires and even with those I would have a tough time getting up the bottom part of our driveway, where the grade is about 15%. Those chains did not have v bars and would not work on hard pack or ice. Plus the cross links would slip in between the lugs and offer very little, to no help. Last year I decided to go big and spent the money to get Euro style ice chains. Those things are expensive but they are amazing. The grip is incredible and the ride is pretty smooth. Certainly better than the ladder chains I used to have on the front tires. I now have euro style ice chains on all 4 tires and the tractor is a tank. With the old "H" chains I would struggle just to get the tractor up the bottom of the driveway, without trying to do any work. Sometimes I would have to take several runs at it and have the rear dif lock engaged. With the current setup I can plow up that section with no trouble at all.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Snow finally came, and my TYM T474 with the MK Martin SB68 was working like a charm.:licking: AAAAAND I need to groove my tires, got an iron here to do it with. Just need to clear out the warehouse after butchering and hunting season. :confused2: