Snowblower sizing

[johnsayen]

Hello

if you have a 62hp tractor (L6060) with 53hp at the pto would you rather operate a utility snowblower rated for 20-60hp at the PTO or a larger, heavier commercial snowblower rated for 35-80p at the PTO?

cut widths are the same but the commercial has a bigger fan and auger and several hundred more pounds.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

kind of a 'trick question'. most will say the 'commercial, heavy one' BUT it's the CONDITION that's important. Maybe that com unit was USED commercially? having a zillion tons of snow through it, gearbox ready to explode, fan fins wore, bearings ready to sieze ? Meanwhile the 'utility' one was use LIGHTLY( only on Sundays...) and will outlive you ! ALL eqipment needs maintenance,so you have to examine 'this and that' to get a feel HOW they were used ( and abused...). No mention of price or age of the units, or make/model. If old(>5yrs) can you still get parts for them ? While bearings tend to be 'off the shelf', a busted CUSTOM gear ain't easy to find,might be impossible. Just because the com unit has bigger fan, weighs a LOT more doesn't mean it's a better unit.The 'utility' unit could have had the fan design 'tweaked' for GREAT operation, more efficient. Lighter can also mean it was designed better. You don't need a heavy blower to get rid of snow.yYou need good auger design to chew the snow up, good fan speed to toss it far,far away.

 

[mikester]

My snowblower tends to ingest newspaper sausages and tree branches hidden in snow drifts. Also the occasional rock and turf after early season snows. I prefer to err on the side of caution and want a heavier duty machine to handle the abuse.

Try to find out the secondary stage fan speed, the faster the better. My Lucknow blower has a 3 bladed fan and a large diameter, round, open faced chute. It never jambs even with wet sticky snow. My old Agro-Trend blower chute was angular with a square profile and it was clog city PITA. Always had build-up in the chute. Not a smooth flow design.

 

[johnsayen]

Here are the two model specs side by side:

 

[johnsayen]

I’m going to go with the utility version and if I’m unhappy with it this winter will trade it in on the commercial version. I am attracted by the additional 140 impeller rpm of the utility version as well as the 360lbs weight savings as well as that the L6060 is at the top of the power rating for the implement. The $2k is a nice savings too, but if I’m unhappy I’m sure it’ll cost me much more than that to upgrade to the commercial. Hopefully the utility is strong enough to power through 200” this season.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

looked at the specs and the smaller,lighter one could be a better buy.HUGE savings in weight(which you do NOT need in blowing snow...) and the faster/smaller impeller'should' toss the snow further. Kinda wondering just what a '4 point hitch is though' ?

 

[johnsayen]

looked at the specs and the smaller,lighter one could be a better buy.HUGE savings in weight(which you do NOT need in blowing snow...) and the faster/smaller impeller'should' toss the snow further. Kinda wondering just what a '4 point hitch is though' ?

That’s what I’m thinking too. I think the 4 point is the connection of the blower to the sub frame that you need attached the the tractor.

 

[Dave_eng]

I am with Mikester. for example, having the 60H chain H for heavy duty, will save you at least one replacement.

The different impeller rpm's is misleading as the two diameters are different. The actual tip speed of each will be the same.

Dave

 

[GreensvilleJay]

OK Dave, I was curious, looked online tried THREE different 'fill-in-the-numbers' tip speed calculators, NO two were the same,but they all agreed the 24"D, 685 impeller was faster,by +-20%.
One site says tip speed= diameter x PI x RPM.did that with MS calculator... still says smaller one is faster
so now I'm more cornfused...
what I do know, is a faster impeller will toss the snow further. I sped up a JD unit about 14% ( 1 less tooth) and was impesssed that it mad a big difference. be nice to see your math..I get 4 different sets of numbers, sigh.

as for the chain, when (if ?) the #60 wears out, simple to replace with #60H. well, providing the cover bolts actually unscrew,don't snap off in the welded nuts...grrrrrrr...

Jay

 

[mikester]

Just based on specs I'd go L4474 with the 3/8" auger flights. Augers tend to see a lot of abuse. Bigger 2nd stage fan too.

FYI my Lucknow is about 40 years old and has 1/2" auger that still looks like new. I can't tell you how many used machines I looked at that the auger looked like it was used for pulling railroad ties from under train tracks.

Here's some before and after photos:

https://divergentstuff.ca/index.php/2017/11/07/snowblowers-front-and-rear-pto-driven-conversions-for-my-tractors-part-2/

 

[saskydude]

Have you considered a pull type blower?

https://mkmartin.ca/products/pullType.php

 

[johnsayen]

Have you considered a pull type blower?

https://mkmartin.ca/products/pullType.php

Yes it didn’t seem like the optimal solution with our drifting

 

[GreensvilleJay]

so what's the real benefit of a pull blower vs one up front ?

 

[Dave_eng]

so what's the real benefit of a pull blower vs one up front ?

If you have a loader then it remains in service. I find the loader very helpful in cleaning snow in tight locations because you can see where the bucket is

Also, the pull type are heavy so when you need traction and raise the blower just off the ground you get an immediate boost particularly if the rear tires are chained.

However, on too small a tractor and in the face of serious drifting, the inverted blower has challenges.

Dave

 

[DustyRusty]

My snowblower tends to ingest newspaper sausages and tree branches hidden in snow drifts. Also the occasional rock and turf after early season snows. I prefer to err on the side of caution and want a heavier duty machine to handle the abuse.

Try to find out the secondary stage fan speed, the faster the better. My Lucknow blower has a 3 bladed fan and a large diameter, round, open faced chute. It never jambs even with wet sticky snow. My old Agro-Trend blower chute was angular with a square profile and it was clog city PITA. Always had build-up in the chute. Not a smooth flow design.

If that newspaper sausage gets jammed in the second stage impeller, it is going to break the chain, and there is a good chance that the second stage impeller is going to be bent so badly that you will have to replace it. I know, because it happened to my blower the first year that I had it. I repaired everything with new parts, and it happened a second time when an unknown person dropped a potato-sized rock on the driveway. At that time, I couldn't get a new impeller, so I straightened the best that I could to make it through the season. I put up with a slight vibration in the blower for the next 8 or 9 years, and never replaced it. Back then, the blower fan was about $40, and when I looked it up just a few days ago, I was shocked to see that it was over $200! I hope that I never need another one.

 

[mikester]

If that newspaper sausage gets jammed in the second stage impeller, it is going to break the chain, and there is a good chance that the second stage impeller is going to be bent so badly that you will have to replace it. I know, because it happened to my blower the first year that I had it. I repaired everything with new parts, and it happened a second time when an unknown person dropped a potato-sized rock on the driveway. At that time, I couldn't get a new impeller, so I straightened the best that I could to make it through the season. I put up with a slight vibration in the blower for the next 8 or 9 years, and never replaced it. Back then, the blower fan was about $40, and when I looked it up just a few days ago, I was shocked to see that it was over $200! I hope that I never need another one.

I've never broken a chain thankfully, just lots of shear bolts over the years. I keep several shear bolts in my tractor tool box as I tend to break at least one per season.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

thanks for the info Dave. Both my bucket and blower are SSQA,so 30-40 seconds to swap them.
it just seems kinda 'weird' to drive over the snow before you blow it away.
BTW, you guys must get REAL newspapers ! Mine are so 'thin' the blower turns them into confetti.....

 

[johnsayen]

The utility version (L4479) showed up and it is a beast! Looking forward to trying it out this winter.

 

[mikester]

thanks for the info Dave. Both my bucket and blower are SSQA,so 30-40 seconds to swap them.
it just seems kinda 'weird' to drive over the snow before you blow it away.
BTW, you guys must get REAL newspapers ! Mine are so 'thin' the blower turns them into confetti.....

Sausages are 3/4 junk ads by weight...

Used to bug me more when we didn't have county recycling pickup.

 

[mcmxi]

The utility version (L4479) showed up and it is a beast! Looking forward to trying it out this winter.

Do you plan on adding an hydraulic chute deflector? That L4479 seems similar to the SB1574 that I bought recently. Definitely a beast compared to the front mount BX5450 I used to run on the BX.