Snowblower on B21??

aquetrac · Jan 22, 2011

Does anyone have a rear 3 point hitch snowblower for their B21? I'm curious as to the size and how it works. The B21 is a great tractor but it is a little light in the PTO HP at 13.5 HP. The rear wheel span is 51" so if I were to use one it would at least have to cover that.

Please share your experiences, we are getting a lot of snow on Long Island this year.

nvr-enuf · Jan 25, 2011

I had a Kubota BL2660 blower on the rear - worked very good. The only I hated was looking to the rear all the time.

I ended up mounting the 3 pt blower to the front loader via the use of an ATI quick attach (skid steer style) and a speedco 3pt to skid loader adaptor plate. I then run the blower with hydraulics powered by a 25 HP kawie motor on the rear, sits on top of my rear box scraper.

Works very good, only problem I have is that i do not have enough front tire weight so I have to use the brakes to steer when blowing.

aquetrac · Jan 27, 2011

Thanks for the reply. I agree with looking to the rear, but other than doing the hydro way, on a B21 3 point hitch mount is the only choice.

Ductape · Jan 27, 2011

I'd look for a 54" blower. Luckily, with a hydrostat, you can slow down your ground speed to keep the RPMs up in bigger snow falls. After the first pass, you make your next passes at half the width of the blower. It'll still be better than trying to plow with the bucket.

nvr-enuf · Aug 28, 2011

I ran a 60" on the rear - Kubota 3 pt snow blower. I will be listing the unit for sale on e bay in a couple of weeks. Worked great - has an electric rotator.

I did move the 3pt from the rear to the front - takes more pieces to do this, one of which is a B21 skid steer quick attach made by ATI which I have on e-bay currently.

Call me if you want to learn more on how to power/install a front mount blower on a B21. 262-719-4047

Kyle241 · Aug 28, 2011

I have a 60" I run off the rear of my B20. I agree the PTO HP is light but it has worked on my previous 1000ft driveway and my current 300ft one without many issues. The snow has to be really wet/heavy to bog it down bad enough but it does happen.

Tinman236 · Feb 26, 2013

Aquetrac--I intend to put a 60"er on my B21, and make it work. I agree, the PTO hp @ 13.5 seems light. I heard that is a tad underrated. I run a 54" rotovator, just slower groundspeed. If I lived in a snow belt region, I'd have a tractor with more hp, as there is hardly a substitute for lots of hp. The B21 is a very capable tractor for its size. I have not seen a video of a B21 with a 3pt RMSB or heard of anyone actually mounting one. When I do, I'll reply to you and post something on Youtube. Regards--Tinman236

Kubota B21 · Dec 1, 2015

I have a Kubota B21 and was looking to buy a 60" rear PTO snowblower. I see these threads from a while back, but was wondering if anyone has feedback or experiences to share.

I live in RI and get a decent amount of snow, but its only a couple months out of the year.

Kanook · Dec 1, 2015

If your B21 is rated at 13.5 pto hp, I'd suggest you go with a 54inch. My previous tractor (B1700) was rated 13 pto hp and ran an Agrotrend 54 inch rear blower and only when encountering heavy deep snow and snowplow wingback a few more hp would have been nice.

AStanton · Dec 1, 2015

For the B21, I too would vote for the 54". If you have to make one extra pass down the driveway, it's not a big deal. I run a Meteor 60" on my B3030 and it's dialed in. I don't think anything bigger would work better. Plus smaller units are better to put in garages/sheds and snow blow curves.

nvr-enuf · Dec 13, 2015

I ran a 60" with no problem - doesn't really matter on the size since it is a matter of how much snow you blow; wider just means you need to drive slower. That being said always run in low, gives you more hp for the blower

What u will find is that a rear blower is a pain in the neck, literally ! I hate rear blowers.

If you are creative, you could try to enable a joy stick steering and hydro static control thus sitting in the seat like u would for operating the back hoe. Now your neck wouldn't hurt at all!!!!

Carl_NH · Dec 29, 2015

HI Guys.

realize this is an old thread, but I just put a new 60" Woodmaxx SB on my B21 this fall and we had our first snow today - 5' of wet slush heavy snow. Also this is the first time I have used the PTO on the B21 ever.. SO I don't know what is normal transmission noise is for these machines running the PTO.

I have ran tractor PTO for many years on the farm, but never heard the PTO whine like I hear on my B21 with the SB. It is best described as gear noise that oscillates with the load on the blower, and is very noticeable and that is my concern. I know if this could be the snowblower impeller (it does have a 20Lb 22" impeller) making the tranny gears whine?

So, do B21's make a lot of PTO noise or oscillating gear whine under load? If you guys can let me know, if this is "normal" or not that would make me feel a lot better!

Thanks

Carl

Gator6x4 · Dec 29, 2015

Most snow blower have a gear box. Have you checked the gear box on the blower and insured it contains gear oil? The whine noise could be coming from the gear box on the blower.

AStanton · Dec 30, 2015

There is also an adjustment for the drive chain. Even though the blower may be new, check the tension there also. I believe the recommended tension on my Meteor blower is 1/2 ".

Carl_NH · Dec 30, 2015

Gator6x4 said:
Most snow blower have a gear box. Have you checked the gear box on the blower and insured it contains gear oil? The whine noise could be coming from the gear box on the blower.

Yes Thanks - the Gear Box is filled with Gear Oil - the PTO whine is coming from the tractor under seat/floor pan area. Now I guess the gear box could be transmitting noise into the PTO I suppose.. That's why I was asking if this was "normal" on the B21?

Carl_NH · Dec 30, 2015

AStanton said:
There is also an adjustment for the drive chain. Even though the blower may be new, check the tension there also. I believe the recommended tension on my Meteor blower is 1/2 ".

Yes, I ran it no snow, when I first got it, then lubricated it and ran some more, then took out the slack in the chain so there is no whipping or slop in the chain now - its not too tight as that could cause binding, but snug. .

Thanks,

Carl

nvr-enuf · Jan 5, 2016

Check your hydrostatic level in your tractor - I believe the dip stick is behind the seat, above the three point hitch

nvr-enuf · Jan 5, 2016

You can also try to see if the noise is still present with the blower off - Just engage the PTO w/o anything attached.

Carl_NH · Jan 9, 2016

Hyd oil level is good - just a tad below full, I have the blower off now and will run it again to check this.

My suspicion is the blower impeller (@ 60 lbs) is heavy and when turning it by hand with the blower gears fully meshed/engaged it has a bit of oscillating noise from the gears. If I slightly disengage the gears the noise is eliminated. So I may shim the main shaft inside the gearbox back like .040" slightly disengaging the gears.

Carl