First Snow for the B2601

[River19]

I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for a dumping of snow......and we got a decent first test in NH yesterday with the Nor'Easter that dropped 8" of heavy wet stuff after 24hrs of rain ahead of it.

The 48" blower worked flawlessly and with the RB1560 back blade combo I had everything I needed.

My driveway is 500' of gravel with a steep grade up to the road......I am running turf tires with the rears filled and I ran 4WD Low the whole time and I had no traction problems whatsoever blowing AND dragging the blade up hill. That impressed me. I have wheel spacers coming so I CAN run chains but so far I don't "need" them at this point luckily. That being said, I will probably get the chains, just not with the same urgency I original anticipated.

Question for the group.......what RPM do you guys run when blowing snow? I ran basically at the "540" PTO line, so ~2800ish, and that seemed correct based on performance, but I am sure there are opinions.

Thanks

Steve

 

[RCW]

The correct answer is to run RPMs at the 540 marker.

Whether mower or snowblower, I run where I deem the RPMs are appropriate for the task.

A diesel engine doesn't like to be bogged down, so you always need to run it an an RPM that avoids that.

8" of heavy snow would likely have me at PTO- rated.....8" of dry lake effect...maybe not so much.

 

[River19]

The correct answer is to run RPMs at the 540 marker.

Whether mower or snowblower, I run where I deem the RPMs are appropriate for the task.

A diesel engine doesn't like to be bogged down, so you always need to run it an an RPM that avoids that.

8" of heavy snow would likely have me at PTO- rated.....8" of dry lake effect...maybe not so much.

Thanks, I'm on the same page my thinking was similar, I figured "fuel's cheap....burn it" especially since I was blowing up hill so why strain things unnecessarily .

Appreciate the reply.

 

[thebicman]

Have the same tractor also with loaded turfs. Driveway is level and not once have I had a traction issue. Curious why you went with a 48" blower. Especially with such a long driveway. Tractor is more then capable of operating a bigger blower. I went smaller with a 55".

 

[River19]

Have the same tractor also with loaded turfs. Driveway is level and not once have I had a traction issue. Curious why you went with a 48" blower. Especially with such a long driveway. Tractor is more then capable of operating a bigger blower. I went smaller with a 55".

The choice for me was really between the 50" "Residential" blower and the 48" "Commercial" blower as I didn't want to pay for the 55" and in practice there isn't much difference between 48" and the extra 2" or 7".....either way I have to go up and down the driveway twice......a wider one doesn't really do anything but make it more unwieldy around the garage, vehicles and camper/horse trailer etc. I wanted the heavier build quality of the "commercial" blower.

 

[Fatfenders]

The correct answer is to run RPMs at the 540 marker.

Whether mower or snowblower, I run where I deem the RPMs are appropriate for the task.

A diesel engine doesn't like to be bogged down, so you always need to run it an an RPM that avoids that.

8" of heavy snow would likely have me at PTO- rated.....8" of dry lake effect...maybe not so much.

540rpm with a front snow bower?

 

[River19]

540rpm with a front snow bower?

The 540 rpm "mark" on the tachometer.....which is up around 2800rpm engine speed.

 

[Fatfenders]

The 540 rpm "mark" on the tachometer.....which is up around 2800rpm engine speed.

Got it. I have a digital dash on my LX2610 and have to switch from engine rpm to pto rpm. Since I don't have anything to run on the rear pto, I don't use that setting. Dealer just said to run mine around 2400 rpm for the front snow blower.

 

[River19]

Got it. I have a digital dash on my LX2610 and have to switch from engine rpm to pto rpm. Since I don't have anything to run on the rear pto, I don't use that setting. Dealer just said to run mine around 2400 rpm for the front snow blower.

Ah....the old analog vs. Digital dash thing....makes sense.

With a blower or any PTO implement listening to the machine will tell us much of what we need to know. Just like my walk behind blowers.....if you hear it bogging down and you see it starting to just pour snow vs. throwing the snow....back off on the ground speed and let that blower eat at a more reasonable pace.....

Overall I was impressed, or I should say my expectations were met with regards to the performance of the blower and tractor.

I was also really impressed with how useful the back blade is as a compliment.....and with the non-frozen gravel driveway I ran the blade with the "smooth" side not the traditional cutting side forward.....worked fine for my needs while not digging into the driveway too much.

 

[ltpeto164]

This is my first winter also with my 2020 B2601 and 55" blower. I have 2 link 3/8" ladder style chains ordered along with Kubota B8786 wheel spacers (1 3/8"). I also have a mid mount mower, does anyone know for sure if the spacers are not compatible with MMM deck? I can not even get a straight answer directly from Kubota either way. Otherwise I guess I will find out myself when I switch from blower to mower next spring. Thanks

 

[River19]

Quick update now that we had a nice 20" dumping yesterday.......

Tractor, blower and back blade were outstanding. Handled the 2' + drifts with no issues and it was enjoyable to clear.

Of course it was not without incident, literally the last pile I pulled away from the house had a 6" rock in it, blew 2 shear bolts.....BUT I have extras here as I planned ahead. So the tractor is in the garage this morning and I'll replace the bolts when I have some time and get ready for when we need to clear more snow.

I am impressed with how thrifty it is on fuel. Blowing at full throttle for a couple hours total I only used about a quarter of a tank. Not bad.

Turf tires with no chains continued to impress me. No slipping while blowing up hill AND dragging the back blade.

Steve

 

[Trail]

The spacers are necessary for chains? I have a BX and unless I have the rear chains on perfectly, they will hit the frame. Is this what spacers are for?

Hope you don't mind I jumped in with my own question River19. Sounds like you have a good set up for the snow. Its interesting you are having so much success on turfs with no chains. I'm back to turfs this winter after using R4`s the last few years and have noticed absolutely no drop off.

 

[River19]

The spacers are necessary for chains? I have a BX and unless I have the rear chains on perfectly, they will hit the frame. Is this what spacers are for?

Hope you don't mind I jumped in with my own question River19. Sounds like you have a good set up for the snow. Its interesting you are having so much success on turfs with no chains. I'm back to turfs this winter after using R4`s the last few years and have noticed absolutely no drop off.

No problem with taking the thread elsewhere.

I have spacers on order as I was prepared to get chains, but so far I am doing fine. I am sure if I get onto pure ice then chains might come in handy......but if I do my job right, we won't have enough ice like that to matter.

My understanding was chains need spacers at least on the B2601 95% of the time......I'm sure there is a unicorn set of chains that someone's brother's friend's cousin's barber used on the 2601 without spacers for years but......