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Mark (EC,IN)

Posted 11/17/2006 06:22 (#62600)
Subject: Snow Blower ???

Schlegel Farms, Hagerstown Indiana

What can any one tell me about snow blowers (I know nothing). One auger or two....any brand that really shines... or any brand to stay away from?

Will be used on an IH 1086 or a John Deere 4430.

... TIA .........................Mark

Tom Russell

Posted 11/17/2006 06:50 (#62609 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: Re: Snow Blower ???

McLeod County Minnesota

Around these parts, Loftness gets high marks. Mine is 11 years old and the next repair will be the first.

A twin auger blower is only necessary if you are planning to blow snow that is consistently deeper than 3-4 feet like it would be if you are blowing parking lots. Here on the farm, twin augers aren’t necessary.

Here is a little trick I have learned from many years of blowing snow. As you may already know, you need a tractor with a creeper reverse gear. As none of mine go slow enough, I have a 540 rpm blower running on a 1000 rpm tractor that runs at approximately half PTO speed. That is the only way I can move slowly enough to keep from overloading the blower. I use a 100 hp tractor on a blower that is rated for 60 hp so there is little danger of overloading the tractor engine.

Greywolf

Posted 11/17/2006 07:12 (#62618 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: Re: Snow Blower ???

Aberdeen MS

One can get away with much smaller HP requirements than thought of really.

Quite few years ago and old timer told me to cut the RPM's in half of what was full speed. 540 down to 250 or so .... etc. Power requirements go up exponentially as RPM's increase. One doesn't gain extra output from the blower above the half way point. Granted there are times, but after blowing snow for over 20 years with one of those things.... personal experience has concluded with the validity of that statement. The amount of shear bolt usage has greatly diminished after slowing down blower speed as well.

I have an IH 80 double auger 80" cut. Mounted on a 930 Case CK. The reverse creeper gear sure would be a nice feature, and if a choice can be had on power units... definately use the creeper. But with that said, I have yet to replace the clutch on the 930, and in '97, I contracted with the county and took care of widening 15 miles of county road after the V plow opened a single pass. The plows couldn't push any more snow off the road and blowers were needed to go up and over.

I have "drift busters" on mine. 4 foot pieces of cutting edge bolted on the sides to slice drifts and have it fall in front of the augers too minimize "undercutting". They work great... until one starts undercutting with them on. But in that case, one is only slicing about 6" of drift and still loading up the blower past full capacity.

Loftness is probably one of the best units that could be bought for durability as Tom mentioned. I'm not sure is Schweiss has been bought out or not, but another brand that is/was built to take abuse.

Main item to pay attention to is the gearbox. On anything over a 48" cut, go for a 200 HP gearbox to stand up. We all claim to "take it easy", but everyone will overload a blower way more than they think they do.

Chad H

Posted 11/17/2006 09:29 (#62672 - in reply to #62618)
Subject: One exception Bruce...

NE SD

We've got one that takes lots of power and lots of RPM's to do its job when you get into hard snow. Of course it's an all blower machine and not an auger machine. I forget who made it, but it was made here in SD and I think Wildcat may have bought them and now Wildcat isn't in the business anymore either. Anyhow, when they were selling them they had an advertising video of digging a basement with one. All I can say is that if you are looking at a snowblower, whichever tractor has a slower reverse gear will be the best one. I'd think IVT would be gravy for this application, but finally having a tractor that has a .5mph reverse speed at WOT helps a lot.

cho

Posted 11/17/2006 10:36 (#62697 - in reply to #62672)
Subject: RE: One exception Bruce...

Was the name Fair

Chad H

Posted 11/17/2006 14:10 (#62755 - in reply to #62697)
Subject: RE: One exception Bruce...

NE SD

Nope. Fair is still in business making blowers. I used to think it was a Fair but it's not. There's a sticker on there I'll have to check to see. The company that made these sold to Wildcat, who then was bought out by "Alamo"??? Not sure if they're still being made. I'll have to dig a little. One thing I'd like to change is to add some cutting knives out on the "twists" to help chop up the snow a little better. It would require balancing them but wouldn't be too hard. The newer ones only have two fans so they can throw the snow a little farther.

Cliff SEIA

Posted 11/17/2006 12:54 (#62737 - in reply to #62618)
Subject: Re: Snow Blower ???

We've also got a twin auger IH #80 and although it hasn't hardly snowed in the three years since I bought it I've used it enough to know that most tractors don't have a slow enough reverse gear. I'm in the process of putting a loader on the 1066 we will use on the blower so in deep snow I can put the tractor in neutral and use the loader to push the tractor slowly backwards of need be.

schwinnj

Posted 11/17/2006 07:17 (#62619 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: RE: Snow Blower ???

Northwest Ohio

We've got a BerVac single auger ... 84" I believe. Run it behind an IH1486 ... have not had any problems. As far as stone driveways go ... the leveler, the better (pretty easy to end up with stones in the field).

chris dds

Posted 11/17/2006 08:24 (#62634 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: RE: Snow Blower ???

Loftness, no question! Of course, I'm also from MN and Loftness is a MN company -- I'm not sure about their presence in oher parts of the country.

Loftness, on their big heavy duty blowers, uses a 1000 rpm drive with a big reducer to the blower fan. It is important to find a bower with the largest blower fan possible.

When blowing snow, you main concern should be the durability of the blower to stand up to hidden obstacles you might encounter -- such as big rocks, cement, blocks, and other things under the snow. Look for a brand that has adequaqte shear protection and heavy duty blower components and cross augers. If you blow enough snow, you will hit things!

We have a Lorenz, and am not impressed with the thing. It runs the fan at 1000 rpm and takes way too much hp. The fan is so small that it can't get the snow away fast enough. Also, when you hit something bad, parts bend, like fan blades, before the bolts shear. We also have a big blower that was made by a local manufacturing shop that we bought second hand. This thing will handle much abuse and obstacles with minmal damage.

Edited by chris dds 11/17/2006 09:12

Greywolf

Posted 11/17/2006 08:32 (#62639 - in reply to #62634)
Subject: Re: Snow Blower ???

Aberdeen MS

There presence is nationwide. I'm 15 miles from the plant, and a good friend used to be their #1 drivers for delivery. Many trips to Cal and southern states moving the stalk choppers labeled as cotton choppers.

As far as the "big stuff" going through the blower.... i'm not so certain ANY blower will stand up to what you described. I have my "area" to blow determined before the first snow and it's cleaned up so I can blow without fear. An ounce of prevention ...........

That being said, neighbor contracted with the state to take care of a stretch of MN #4 during heavy snows to eliminate plowing ridges on the shoulders. After a headon between a car and semi occured in a heavy snow area...a frozen gallon jug of milk was in the bank. He found it the hard way..... blowing with a Schweiss ...... took almost $1000 bill to put the blower back into operation.

Indy500

Posted 11/17/2006 09:02 (#62655 - in reply to #62639)
Subject: Re: Snow Blower ???

CND

I like our Schweiss because it doesn't have a cutting edge. This keeps it out of the dirt. It does take a lot of power and running half throttle does as much as full throttle. Blower depth adds capacity, blower diameter adds distance of snow throw.

Gromit

Posted 11/17/2006 10:06 (#62683 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: RE: Snow Blower ???

Lac qui Parle County Minnesota

Agree with Tom and Chris, Loftness. We're on our second Loftness. Our first one had only a three way directional spout (right, left, straight). New one has hydraulic spout with hydraulic deflector on the end of the spout. You want one with real heavy duty drive chains as snow can wear them out fast. You wouldn't think so with snow but I remember back in 96-97 when guys using Caterpillar dozers, were wearing out a set tracks from pushing so much snow.
One thing we always do after harvest is "snowblower proof" the yard. Woodblocks, cement blocks, kids toys, etc are nasty going through the blower.
Single auger work much better unless like stated before you are blowing a lot of very deep snow. We've a couple of neighbors who have made snow blowing machines out of old hydro driven combines. Work really slick.

Keith on DelMarVa

Posted 11/17/2006 11:09 (#62712 - in reply to #62683)
Subject: RE: Snow Blower ???

I love snow but......... If we had enough to justify modifying an old combine into a snow blower, I think I would lose my mind.

sounds like we get just enough here.... get a 24' inch dump every few years ....usually the weekend I have to pull a 20ft box trailer home 3 hours from an outdoor show .... through Pennsyltucky.... where they dont seem to have the funds for plow trucks or salt.

Keith

jburke

Posted 11/17/2006 18:59 (#62836 - in reply to #62600)
Subject: Mark,why not .....

Fort Meade, FL

....go with a plow on a truck or even a tractor,at least for our area with no more snow than we get each year?

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