Snowblowing rules of thumb

[Lockport]

I used to have a Kubota T1770 with a belt drive blower and it would just stall if ice had froze in the auger preventing it from turning. You won't have to worry about that anymore. 3 cylinders of diesel powered craftsmanship on a chain driven, shaft drive auger will not be overwhelmed by a little ice. In fact, take big bites. Last year I cleaned a path to by back yard for a large BH to dig a broken septic line and it'll cruise through 24" on hard pack as fast as it can shoot it up the auger.

Gravel: Best thing to do I discovered this year was box blade the drive and get the crests and dips out. Second, set the skid shoes a couple inches. That's what they're for. If you like, after it develops a frozen layer, drop the shoes (although I never do).

Sheer bolts? Can't say, in three winters, I have ever encountered any situations where I have broken one.

Enjoy!

 

[SPYDERLK]

I used to have a Kubota T1770 with a belt drive blower and it would just stall if ice had froze in the auger preventing it from turning. You won't have to worry about that anymore. 3 cylinders of diesel powered craftsmanship on a chain driven, shaft drive auger will not be overwhelmed by a little ice. In fact, take big bites. Last year I cleaned a path to by back yard for a large BH to dig a broken septic line and it'll cruise through 24" on hard pack as fast as it can shoot it up the auger.

Gravel: Best thing to do I discovered this year was box blade the drive and get the crests and dips out. Second, set the skid shoes a couple inches. That's what they're for. If you like, after it develops a frozen layer, drop the shoes (although I never do).Enjoy!

Sounds like you have enuf power driving the same thrower I have on my BX1500. Mine is underpowered. From my experience with smaller walk behinds you need about 4.5 to 5HP per foot width at 18" depth to move at reasonable speed. So Im putting your PTO at around 20HP???

If it starts snowing again around here more than about 6" at a pop, I will mount an auxiliary engine on the snowthrower before I use it for deeper stuff. Its just too frustrating. Til I do that I will use the 8HP walk behind. It will practically pull you along thru more than a foot of snow. I mounted small outboard wheels with little snow guard fenders to allow for the gravel. Skids have brought the gravel up and caused trouble for me, but the worst is when a neighbor did a "favor" and plowed part of my 1mi drive before I got there. When I got to the disturbed area it started throwing gravel and broke the shear bolt.
larry

 

[Lockport]

Sounds like you have enuf power driving the same thrower I have on my BX1500. Mine is underpowered. From my experience with smaller walk behinds you need about 4.5 to 5HP per foot width at 18" depth to move at reasonable speed. So Im putting your PTO at around 20HP???

Nope. Just under 17HP at the PTO. Yours is just under 14. I have the BX2750B that mounts on the front of the tractor. I run it at high 2K RPM...nearly 3K. I am surprised you have trouble with it.

If it starts snowing again around here more than about 6" at a pop, I will mount an auxiliary engine on the snowthrower before I use it for deeper stuff. Its just too frustrating. Til I do that I will use the 8HP walk behind. It will practically pull you along thru more than a foot of snow. I mounted small outboard wheels with little snow guard fenders to allow for the gravel. Skids have brought the gravel up and caused trouble for me, but the worst is when a neighbor did a "favor" and plowed part of my 1mi drive before I got there. When I got to the disturbed area it started throwing gravel and broke the shear bolt.
larry

I have had springs with lots of gravel in the yard but never broke a sheer bolt. My driveway was crested down the center near the road, but this year I Box Bladed to get rid of some puddling spots and really leveled it out. First snow of the year I noticed I had pretty much resolved the problem completely. Gotta love that. With a mile of driveway thats a lot of blading. Especially if you went with a smaller blade like the 42" It wouldn't be like you were scarifying, though. I had my dealer get me a BB and he delivered a 60" and its been great. I have ripped roots with the teeth 1.5"-2" into my hard packed clay with the diff engaged and four wheel drive in low with occasional 'run at it' situations somewhat reminiscent of a tractor pull. Lots of fun!

 

[SPYDERLK]

Nope. Just under 17HP at the PTO. Yours is just under 14. I have the BX2750B that mounts on the front of the tractor. I run it at high 2K RPM...nearly 3K. I am surprised you have trouble with it.

Well... Its because mine is 10.6 @ PTO. That gives me about 2.5HP/ft and you have 4. That gives you the bulling performance of my 8HP walk behind, which is impressive.
larry

 

[Lockport]

Well... Its because mine is 10.6 @ PTO. That gives me about 2.5HP/ft and you have 4. That gives you the bulling performance of my 8HP walk behind, which is impressive.
larry

Right you are. I was looking at the BX1830 stats. That BX2750 snow thrower is way too big for that. Kubota should have made something about 40" across the front. When I had my T1770, it had a 17HP Kawasaki gas engine and its belt drive snowblower was 40".

 

[davitk]

I have a Kubota TG1860G (gas Kawasaki 18 horse) driving a TG2746 46" Kubota snowblower. Belt driven, handles everything thrown at it without so much as a hiccup (well, everything but the wife's trumpet vine and the chicken wire trellis), and throws a good 20 feet. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[Lockport]

I have a Kubota TG1860G (gas Kawasaki 18 horse) driving a TG2746 46" Kubota snowblower. Belt driven, handles everything thrown at it without so much as a hiccup (well, everything but the wife's trumpet vine and the chicken wire trellis), and throws a good 20 feet. Maybe I'm just lucky.

My T was really good at throwing snow. Only problem was it was too light and no diff lock. Chains and wheels weights it would still get stuck on a little ice and the slightest depression in the drive.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have a Kubota TG1860G (gas Kawasaki 18 horse) driving a TG2746 46" Kubota snowblower. Belt driven, handles everything thrown at it without so much as a hiccup (well, everything but the wife's trumpet vine and the chicken wire trellis), and throws a good 20 feet. Maybe I'm just lucky.

My 8HP MTD 22" throws a good 40'. Maybe its spinning faster?
larry

 

[crazyal]

Barb wire fence is another nice thing to find while blowing. You would be amazed just how quickly it will pull it off the posts and hard it is to remove.

 

[pdowling1]

Barbed wire is also attractive when wrapped around a Bush Hog spindle. Loads of fun to remove!