Front snow blower for B2601

[jkrubi12]

I'm starting to research obtaining a front-mounted snow blower setup for my '22 B2601 and I'm interested in user advise of what to look for when shopping for such a system.

I would prefer a setup with durability, power controls (discharge chute rotate & angle) and capability, 48-inch plus. My plan would likely include a 60" back blade, both for scraping & ballast. User recc's for tire chains is also requested.

Kubota brand preferred, as well as Land Pride. Models recc'd for my tractor include BX2822A, BX2816, BX2830 (48"), B2781B. Would be looking for the entire system including the mounting apparatus.

Hopefully I'll hear from experienced owners/users of such a system with acquisition advise. My tractor has R14 tires (loaded), FEL, Kubota 3rd function and work lights.

TIA to all replies!

 

[DustyRusty]

It is kind of late in the season to find used, but occasionally a complete unit shows up on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. I sold a BX5455HD over the weekend, and the buyer told me that he has been looking for one for 5 months, and those that he found were 100s of miles away. Sold my 60" QQSA snown blade also to the first person that came to look at it. There seem to be some snowblowers out there, but not many hitches to connect them. I have been looking for a BX2822 for a while and just found one this past week. The first one that I have found.

 

[ve9aa]

You may never find a used system and you have to be 100% sure it will fit your machine with the CORRECT K-connect system. There are several which all look similar.

I have the BX2830 blower on my BX2380 (confusing, I know) and love it. Very beefy and blows snow like there's no tomorrow.

 

[jkrubi12]

You may never find a used system and you have to be 100% sure it will fit your machine with the CORRECT K-connect system. There are several which all look similar.

I have the BX2830 blower on my BX2380 (confusing, I know) and love it. Very beefy and blows snow like there's no tomorrow.

Thanks for the information; do you know if each specific 'blower' has it's own 'K-Connect' system, or is the K-Connect designed for the tractor itself?

 

[Mrlunchbox]

Thanks for the information; do you know if each specific 'blower' has it's own 'K-Connect' system, or is the K-Connect designed for the tractor itself?

As far as I know they are specific to a model range. The K connect will be able to handle a blower, or blade, or sweeper basically.

 

[DustyRusty]

I believe that the BX & B both use the same K Connect, but the driveshaft is different.

 

[sn0wman72]

We have a BX2822A and a 60" Landpride back blade on our B2601, the set-ups main purpose is snow remaovel 200+ yards of driveway with over 200" of snow each winter. This a great set-up for our needs (PNW snow), only downside is sometimes the blower pushes a layer of snow for a bit. The BX2822A blower is the commercial grade: thicker steel, gearbox (rather than chain drive) and chute rotation is standard. I rarely have a need to adjust chute angle, and adjusting manually works just fine.

 

[ve9aa]

I am not certain but Mr. Lunchbox, if he has any knowledge is likely correct. For sure driveshaft lengths will be different. This forum is FULL of threads from guys who've bought the wrong loader or wrong snowblower and tried to adapt it to a different tractor. Most either give up or spend lotsa $$ getting there.

If you're expecting a smokin' deal on a (used) snowblower system to fit your 2022 B-series, you're probably going to be disappointed. These systems hold their value.

Why not go to a dealer and buy one system you can be assured will work? I mean, you just dropped all that money on a new tractor....what's another few k ?

BTW, the BX2830 is the "commercial" or "HD" version of one of the blowers available for the BX series (and maybe it fits the B-series too, for all I know). It was pretty rare to find one here in NB, Canada, but I wanted one that was only 48" wide (several reasons) .and also super heavy duty (several reasons), which it is. It's a wee beast. It came with hydraulic chute rotation (almost too fast) but I opted for electrical deflection (much cheaper and I can use deflection and rotation at the same time rather than a solenoid operated 3rd function hydraulic type rig up).

I really put it to the test in the middle of the winter, snowblowed a path through 2' deep old snow out behind my shed...about 100' in all....and it did it. In 6" of snow, it doesn't even know the snow is there. You can go full speed in 4WD HI. In deeper or wetter snow, you do need to go a little slower. 4WD LO

I was so confident I'd like it, that after just a few snowdays, I sold my beloved 15yr old walk-behind blower which was also a beast. 45" cut, dual wheel, MTD, 13hp?/338cc? blower. Normally I always keep a 'backup" machine but my trust in this blower is high, so my backup machine is now a small 28" cut Sears blower with low hours.


Mr. Lunchbox said: As far as I know they are specific to a model range. The K connect will be able to handle a blower, or blade, or sweeper basically.

 

[jkrubi12]

So in furthering my research I've discovered that all five front-mounted snowblowers recommended by Kubota (B2781B, B2782B, BX2822A, BX2830, BX2816) specify the same 'K-Connect' (B3411) & '4-point front hitch' (B3410) which is presumably designed for the B01 tractor.

The 2 'commercial' edition blowers (BX2822A, BX2830) seem to utilize the B2784A Hydraulic Chute Rotation kit and the BX2821A Hydraulic Chute Deflector kit, as does the other BX-model blower (BX2816, 50").

Does anyone know if the 'BX' blower designation refers to all-gear drive system (unlike the chain drives in the B2781/B2782 blowers)? Any opinions on why the BX2816 snowblower is so much less expensive than the 'commercial' editions (BX2822A, BX2830)?

Again, thanks in advance for your knowledgable replies!

 

[jkrubi12]

@ve9aa, as much as I'd like to find a 'smokin' deal' I'm not holding my breath for one. Just about everything I've acquired for my tractor has been new, or like new. I wouldn't really consider a 'system' that was heavily used or excessively worn - I'd just get a new system. I'm not even planning on utilizing a tractor-mounted snowblower system at all this season, but actually looking forward to next season (& beyond).

The BX2830 like you have certainly looks like a model that I'd like to get for my tractor. I assume that it's an all-gear drive system with commercial-grade durability, which is what I'm looking for. While I'm leaning to hydro rotation & deflection, the electrical deflection seems logical based on your explanation, much appreciated.

Your descriptions on how beefy & capable your snowblower is line up perfectly with my desired equipment ratings, helping me narrow my choice! TY

 

[ve9aa]

So in furthering my research I've discovered that all five front-mounted snowblowers recommended by Kubota (B2781B, B2782B, BX2822A, BX2830, BX2816) specify the same 'K-Connect' (B3411) & '4-point front hitch' (B3410) which is presumably designed for the B01 tractor.

The 2 'commercial' edition blowers (BX2822A, BX2830) seem to utilize the B2784A Hydraulic Chute Rotation kit and the BX2821A Hydraulic Chute Deflector kit, as does the other BX-model blower (BX2816, 50").

Does anyone know if the 'BX' blower designation refers to all-gear drive system (unlike the chain drives in the B2781/B2782 blowers)? Any opinions on why the BX2816 snowblower is so much less expensive than the 'commercial' editions (BX2822A, BX2830)?

Again, thanks in advance for your knowledgable replies!

I can only offer the smallest of insights as I have not seen the others. All I have experience with is the 48" BX2830 and its mating K-connect system to my BX.

My dealer told me it was either "Heavy duty" or "Commercial grade" (I think he said the words "commercial grade") THAT's the one I wanted.
I have a 220' driveway, on a high ridge, way out in the country, in NB Canada.
I remember him saying things like "no chain drives", "thicker steel" and "reinforcing bars" all of which I believe to be true. I think it was something like $2000 more than the homeowner version, which might be great for a suburban environment 25' driveway in the lower part of US Midwest or northern tier of the South, but not for here.

 

[ve9aa]

This setup has:
Hydraulic rotation of chute--almost too fast ;-)
Hydraulic lift of the blower itself (probably obvious...it weighs A LOT)
Electric deflection of chute...linear actuator type motor.

I went this way for 2 reasons....the electric deflection was around 1/2 the cost of the hydraulic deflection (which was only $600 or $700 vs. $1500 iirc) and I can fix electric should it fail.

Most importantly however and be clear on what you want to do. I was told that if I wanted the $1500 hydraulic deflection it would involve solenoids and sortof a 3rd function rig-up, so I couldn't actually rotate the blower and change deflection at the same time. If this is important to you, then maybe it's a consideration.

When I am up close to the end of driveway/mailbox/cars/house/whatnot, I do occasionally deflect (usuallly down) and turn the chute away from stuff at the same time, so being able to do both concurrently was a winning combo.

I don't know how your tractor is setup...perhaps it would be different for you & your hydraulics.....



While I'm leaning to hydro rotation & deflection, the electrical deflection seems logical based on your explanation, much appreciated.

 

[ve9aa]

p.s.- there is a Canadian Kubota Dealer on youtube which does comparisons to 3 snowblowers on the front of smaller tractors.(I want to say 2 videos?) Chris someone from huckabones equipment. I only watched the video a few months ago, but it confirmed 100% what I already knew. Search for it. It's worth a watch.

 

[ve9aa]

Snowblowers LD vs. HD

There are the 2 videos on this page.

 

[DustyRusty]

@ve9aa, as much as I'd like to find a 'smokin' deal' I'm not holding my breath for one. Just about everything I've acquired for my tractor has been new, or like new. I wouldn't consider a 'system' that was heavily used or excessively worn - I'd just get a new system. I'm not even planning on utilizing a tractor-mounted snowblower system at all this season, but looking forward to next season (& beyond).

The BX2830 you have certainly looks like a model that I'd like to get for my tractor. I assume that it's an all-gear drive system with commercial-grade durability, which is what I'm looking for. While I'm leaning to hydro rotation & deflection, the electrical deflection seems logical based on your explanation, much appreciated.

Your descriptions on how beefy & capable your snowblower is line up perfectly with my desired equipment ratings, helping me narrow my choice! TY

I believe that I can shed some light on this subject since I have both the BX2822 and BX2816 blowers. The BX2816 is the same blower that Kubota has offered for almost 20 years and it is chain driven. In fact, if you want to spend the money to "upgrade" a BX2750 snowblower (fits all the BX series up till the 80 series that was introduced around 2017) you only need the hitch that fits onto the rear of the snowblower and replaces the short driveshaft with the newer female clutch shaft. If you find one of these older snowblowers with the mounting hitch, they can be installed on the tractor if you remove the front grille guard.
Moving onto the BX2822 it is a gear-driven snowblower and the rear reduction gearbox replaces the chain and sprockets. It is also heavier gauge steel and a more stoutly built snowblower designed for commercial use. The BX2830 is just a narrower version of the BX2822, and all the mechanical parts are the same except for the front augers being narrower. I believe that the difference in cost is about $300. Even though the BX2822 is a newer version that works with the K Connect system, physically and mechanically it is just about the same as the former BX5455HD snowblower, and once again, you can "upgrade" that blower to the K Connect system. I would also like to point out that there are minor differences between the older and the newer snowblowers such as the newer one having a provision for mounting the hydraulic chute diverter already welded onto the chute, making the conversion quite easy. As with all the new snowblowers being delivered now, the models such as the BX2822 now have a letter added to the end, becoming the BX2822A. I haven't studied the parts listing yet to see exactly what has changed, but in the past, it was usually only minor item changes.

 

[jkrubi12]

@DustyRusty, excellent information, much thanks for explaining the details!

 

[thebicman]

You could also check with the dealers if they possibly have an older model sitting around. Im using a BX2755HD blower with a B2798 mid pto kit. This is not the K connect system.