Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600?

[aelsnow]

@ruffdog The only info QuickAttach provides is that it is a 2000 series Eaton Char-Lynn motor spec'd for 24 - 28 GPM, but they don't say which size it is. If I ever have to take it apart, I'll take note of the motor specs.

 

[laurencen]

great Job, my Bobcat blower is high flow and shear pins, had it stop many times even found the 14 inch adjustable wrench last fall and stopped dead but never sheared the pin, would be quite the job to fix in the field

clogging happens and a pain to clear, when the blower starts to throw the snow way less I back off even reverse of its out with a hockey stick

have fun and enjoy,

 

[aelsnow]

A couple more "firsts" last weekend:

• Drove the toolcat on sheer water ice on steep roads. Similar to the packed snow experience, the chains worked great going straight up or down, but slid when side hilling. For next season, I'll upgrade to chains with crossbars going in both directions and/or v-bar studded chains.
  
  
• Used the blower to clear 12" - 18" of settled and frozen hard snow / ice that was hard enough to not leave footprints in it when walking on it. All of the blowing this weekend was while driving up steep access roads. It was slow going, requiring a few passes to get the first full-width cut through. After the first cut was done, I was able to take full-height / 1-pass cuts by taking a bite that only filled ~1/3 of the blower width.

The dirt road surfaces are uneven, making it hard to find the sweet spot between hitting/blowing dirt versus leaving too much snow and getting stuck.

I was impressed with the toolcat's ability to move 12" - 18" of frozen-solid mank going uphill. It's not quick, but it gets the job done.

 

[ruffdog]

Keep up the good work.....Spring is coming!

 

[aelsnow]

@Cycledude I saw your post about edge tamers.

Will they work on the cutting edge of a snow blower?
Will they work on uneven dirt roads, or do they only work on smooth surfaces (road beds, lawns, etc.)?

 

[ruffdog]

My old Lorenz blower only has 2 small puck type skids and they don't work good. What I would do is mount a couple nice big skids on the sides like these guys sell:

Snow Blower Skids

 

[aelsnow]

My old Lorenz blower only has 2 small puck type skids and they don't work good. What I would do is mount a couple nice big skids on the sides like these guys sell:

Snow Blower Skids

Interesting, I'll take a look. You're right I'm currently working with 2 puck-style skid shoes. I've adjusted the skid shoes to raise the cutting edge up, but I either haven't found the right height, I just need more experience (likely), or another type of shoe/guide would help.

 

[laurencen]

the issue I find with the pucks is they are at the back of the blower frame so depending how you tilt it will allow the cutting edge to dig in and still ride on the pucks, just my opinion the skids should be beneath the edge that way it would rock on the skids without the edge digging

 

[ruffdog]

The shoes I made for my rear blade are the size and shape of the ones on plows for pick-ups. They glide over uneven ground much better because of their size. For shoes, I think you just need a bigger footprint.

 

[aelsnow]

This is better.

Guided by this discussion, I bought three 6" bolt-on Edge Tamers, and mounted them on the cutting edge of my blower. Each one installs by simply replacing one of the OEM cutting edge mounting bolts with the longer bolt provided with the Edge Tamer. The edge tamer gives the blower a steel ski to ride on and raises the cutting edge ~3/4" off the ground.

I gave it a quick try, clearing a road we hadn't yet opened this winter, blowing through about a foot of frozen, settled snow going uphill. They seem to do their job, allowing me to apply a lot of down-pressure on the blower to cut through the ice, but (mostly) preventing me from blowing dirt. TBD if they take away too much bite in tough conditions, but I think they'll be great.

I need another big storm to truly test these out.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've never seen a Toolcat in person, I've got to say I enjoy living vicariously through others that have them lol.

Good thread, regularly updated, and it's good to see how well the TC is working for you!

 

[Xfaxman]

I've never seen a Toolcat in person, I've got to say I enjoy living vicariously through others that have them lol.

Have you seen this Toolcat thread? Toolcat 5610 F and 5610 G Series Pictures

 

[tacticalturnip]

Have you seen this Toolcat thread? Toolcat 5610 F and 5610 G Series Pictures

No, no I haven't, thank you for the link.

 

[Cycledude]

This is better.

Guided by this discussion, I bought three 6" bolt-on Edge Tamers, and mounted them on the cutting edge of my blower. Each one installs by simply replacing one of the OEM cutting edge mounting bolts with the longer bolt provided with the Edge Tamer. The edge tamer gives the blower a steel ski to ride on and raises the cutting edge ~3/4" off the ground.

I gave it a quick try, clearing a road we hadn't yet opened this winter, blowing through about a foot of frozen, settled snow going uphill. They seem to do their job, allowing me to apply a lot of down-pressure on the blower to cut through the ice, but (mostly) preventing me from blowing dirt. TBD if they take away too much bite in tough conditions, but I think they'll be great.

I need another big storm to truly test these out.

Thanks for the suggestions!

View attachment 733490View attachment 733491View attachment 733492View attachment 733511

Seems like a great idea, I just might try using EdgeTamers on my 72 inch rear three point hookup snow blower this winter.

 

[aelsnow]

I finally got to put the edge tamers to a significant test yesterday with my first plowing of the season.

I put them on the blower late in the season last year, but didn’t get enough snow to give them a full test.

They work great!

It’s much easier to avoid picking up gravel, dirt, and rocks.

I’m clearing roads and driveways that are uneven surfaces that are a mix of dirt, coarse gravel, pea gravel, and rocks. I still have to be keep the blower high up off the ground in the pea gravel driveways, but for the rest of the surfaces, the edge tamers make it far easier to move snow rather than dirt and rocks, and takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.

The job goes faster, the blower doesn’t clog as often, and it’s easier to leave 1-2” of snow on the ground.

 

[aelsnow]

A few upgrades and changes for my mountain Toolcat this season.

I changed the tires and chains this winter to get more grip. Last winter I used Turf tires wrapped with a 2-link-spacing, square-link ladder-style chain. They worked well going straight up and down, but the machine would slide when side-hilling.

The job last year involved plowing a few unavoidable side hills, but this year the job expanded to include a steeper (up to 12 degree / 24% grade) and scarier road that also adds more severe side hill work.

I changed to the Bobcat snow tires (much narrower than the turf tires), and a studded 2-link-spacing ladder chain custom-made from Blue Jay Industrial. Blue Jay is based in Northern Idaho, and they specialize in chains for forestry. These are the most aggressive chains Blue Jay makes.

The difference is stunning. I now have ferocious grip in all orientations, I no longer worry about side hills, I have far more grip than last year’s setup, and I can easily plow roads going uphill that were a struggle last year.

The EdgeTamer skid shoes/skis work well in low-density snow. They take the guess work out of trying to keep the blower’s cutting edge from digging into dirt/gravel on uneven terrain. They make it trivial to leave 1-2” of snow on the ground, and I can work a lot faster. However, with heavy, sloppy, dense snow, the EdgeTamer "skis" ride up on the dense snow and result in leaving more snow on the ground than I want. I ended up removing them to clear ~4" of sloppy 40 degree slush from the roads. I'm going to leave them off for now and try to be more subtle/careful with the stock cutting edge of the blower. I think what I'd ideally want is for the "skis" to have a shorter front and come to an angled-up blade such that they work as currently designed when the blower is roughly level, but can cut into heavy snow if I tip the blower forward for a more aggressive bite.

Thanks to all of you who helped me with the machine setup. As currently set up, this machine is just about perfect for the job.

The only thing I’d ideally add is a plow, in addition to the blower, for when the snow is light and fluffy so that I could use less fuel and move faster. But I don’t currently have space to store an extra attachment, so the blower is my do-it-all snow attachment. The blower solves a lot of problems that plows cannot solve and/or that plows create.