Every winter, I drop the bucket on my B7500 and attach the front mounted B2781A snowblower. The snowblower works extremely well except when the snow is heavy and wet and then the snow just pushes forward and does not feed into the blower or the snow clogs the snowblower very quickly. Does anyone have any suggestion or know of any attachments that i could place over the snowblower to use the snowblower attachment as a makeshift plow?
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Wally
I have similar equipment - two B7510's matched to a B2781A and B2782B, with a B2781 as a spare.
I suspect we have a lot of "regionality" tied to this particular question. Here in the Ottawa Valley we traditionally have had colder winters and blowing snow has never been a problem. Now, with climate change, our winters are getting warmer and the snow is getting wetter. The difficulties of blowing the snow are increasing.
Some of the advice given above is excellent advice and easy to follow. Ditching the metal rods that are designed to prevent us from putting our arms into the discharge chute is one of the best and easiest first steps. Those were installed to keep lawyers happy; lawyers must always have somebody else removing their snow because if they did it themselves they would quickly see what a bad idea these "guards" are.
I've found that I can blow extremely wet snow with all three of my blowers. One has to slow down quite a bit and take a narrower bite since the B7500/7510 only has 17HP at the PTO. Make sure to keep the RPM all the way up. Also, if possible, aim the discharge chute to the LEFT as the snow comes off the impeller at the right and it's easier for it to follow a more linear flow out the chute to the left - with dry snow you'll notice the machine will blow several feet further to the left than the right.
If you are pushing the snow with the blower then it's time to take a good look at your skid shoes and their adjustment. Install the newer shoes found on the B2782B as they are quite a bit bigger than the original ones on the 2781 and 2781A - they're not hugely expensive. Also, take a hard look at your cutting edge. The cutting edge is replaceable and I would suggest you consider replacing it if it shows signs of becoming rounded off. It has to have a square edge in order to actually cut the snow. The interaction between skid shoe height and cutting edge quality makes quite a difference in the ability to blow vs push snow.
Another massive determinant in snowblower performance is clearance between impeller fan blades and the impeller housing. The tips of the blades do wear over time and when they do, blower performance suffers. A search on this site will find old threads where folks have added heavy rubber to the tips of the impeller blades to achieve a better seal against the impeller housing - some operators who have done this report very significant gains in performance.
Lastly, if your machine has rust pitting on the impeller blades, impeller housing or discharge chute, sand it off and make these parts smooth. I tend to put the blowers away in the spring with a coat of Krown rust proofing on them so they don't rust. A $10 can is enough to do all three blowers and have a bunch left over.
For those who are using the older-style "bolt on" quick hitch, yup they are a pain. The newer style quick hitch that pins on is a one person 10 minute job to install. They are worth the money if you can find one for sale.
Wishing you happy snowblowing!
PS: my avatar shows my former B2410 and B2550C blower - that combination would blow water even though the B2550C only has a 3-blade impeller.
