Hello,
I have a Branson 3725CH (37hp engine and 33hp PTO). What size 3-pt snowblower would work best? I am thinking about a 72” or 84”. I’m just not sure if a 84” would be too big for my tractor. Thanks
Both the six and seven foot snow blowers are too large for your tractor to be effective.
The power take off uses the available torque the engine and transmission
generate to provide the implement the centrifugal speed to operate an
attachment like a snow blower.
The resistance created by the snowpack being pushed into the auger housing will drag the
speed of the open cross augers down and continue to pack into the housing as it reaches
the fan housing.
In order to be able to use the tractor in snow effectively you should buy a 4 foot Power Take Off
driven snow blower and have 8 inch wings attached to it.
The reason why is that the 4 foot snow blower will let you operate the Power Take Off at the 540
Revolutions Per Minute engine speed while you are traveling in reverse more effectively and be
less taxing on the engine as it does not have a turbo charger.
The drive train will be operating at the 540 Revolutions Per Minute with the 4 wheel drive operating
in reverse speed at a speed that will not plug the snow blower because the fan will be operating at
The recommended speed
Another way to do this is to use a single stage snow thrower with an engine that would power the snow
thrower and the control the chute and spout with a 12 volt electric system using a pendant control.
The mk martin 1060E single stage snow thrower uses a GX 390 11.7 horsepower engine with a belt to roller
chain final drive.
A single stage snow thrower is of the simplest design for a motorized snow removal implement as it has no
right angle gearbox to provide the torque needed to spin the fan and use a connected shaft to rotate a spur
to worm gear drive to operate the open cross auger.
The single stage snow blower operates using a high speed of rotation to rotate the snow blower rotor to chew in
the snowpack and discharge the broken snowpack at a very high rate of speed up through the cute and spout using
4 paddles in the center of the snow thrower rotor.
The GX390 honda engine uses a double V belt drive system to rotate a drive sprocket and the roller chain to spin
the driven sprocket that spins the snow blower rotor at a very high rate of speed and torque.
The S1054E and the S1060E are equipped with the gx390 engine and have the SSQR mounting system which would
require the SSQR mounting plate to use a a 3 point hitch adapter that would allow it to be attached to the three point hitch.
The other option would be to mount it on your front end loader if the tractor in your avatar is the one you have.
You would need a longer power cord to operate the snow thrower from the cab.
As the gas engines have been detuned due to the EPA mandate for pollution limits at the tail pipe for small engines you
should invest in a larger fuel jet to increase the fuel flow and the engine torque at high idle/wide open throttle which is the
engines operating speed to power the dual V belt drive and roller chain final drive.
The S1054E is $9,250.00 and the S1060E is $9,650.00 based on 2020 prices.
Mounting it on the loader allows you to drive forward while clearing snow and slice off deep snowpack in several layers
if needed and eliminate snowplow berms
Granted it is a lot of money but you need to understand that a snow blower or snow thrower requires high torque to
operate effectively.
The two 3 point hitch mounted mk martin single stage snow blower models offered in the 1000 series are the 1048(48 inch cut) and 1054 model(54 inch cut) that are rated for 15-30 horsepower.
Adding 8 inch wings to the 1054 would allow you to clear 70 inches slowly in one pass. The steel plates would have to be 12 inches wide to allow enough steel to be bolted to the smaller wings of the 1054.
The three point hitch models use a right angle gear box to spin the cross shaft that spins the drive sprocket and roller chain to spin the
driven sprocket that spins the snow blower rotor at 540+ revolutions per minute.
The only thing that will break if you hit an object is the roller chain on these four models of snow throwers.
You want and need simplicity for snow clearing and these 4 snow blowers will provide simplicity and ease of maintenance.
If the tractor you own is the one in your avatar the two motorized units would attach to the SSQR plate.
The two motorized models would require a change order to have a longer control cable added to the order to either snow thrower on your front end loader for it to be long enough to reach the tractor cab.
The change order would also have to have a waterproof male and female plug to allow you to pass the cable from the outside to the inside of the cab. This can be done as waterproof electrical male and female plugs are readily available.
