I read through a long recent thread about the B2401 (gear drive) tractor in the Buying Advice forum cuz I am also considering one, mainly to use for snowblowing in the winter, some logging & landscaping in other seasons, and very occasional loader work, on my 50 acre wooded property here in Canada (hence the snowblower LOL). Other than the ergonomic issue of driving in reverse for a rear-mount blower, I am wondering how suited the 2401 is to that task. It is a non-synchro gear set, there are 3 reverse gears, and also if I understand correctly the PTO spins down when the clutch is depressed. Any advice/opinions/experience muchly appreciated!
Rear-mount snowblower on B2401DT (gear drive): yay or nay?
- Thread starter Utepils
- Start date
Warning: 'snow' wasn't on our spelling word list until 4th grade.
First, is it 4wd? If not, I'd nix it.
Then, at least it has 3 reverse speeds, unlike our Ford's 2 (too) - too fast and too slow. You'll always be going slower than optimum, so it comes down to your patience and amount of blowing. It would have to be a great deal.
kubotasam
Well-known member
Equipment
B2410, B7100dt, B7500,Woods BH750,Landpride 2660RFM, Tiller, B2781 Snowblower
Operating a rear mount snow blower on a gear drive tractor with a single stage clutch can take some getting used to. If the snow blower starts to load up because of traveling to fast or even worse blowing heavy wet snow you will want to stop movement of the tractor to let the snow blower clear. The problem is when you push in the clutch to stop the tractor moving, the snow blower stops turning and the next thing you have is a clogged chute (especially if in heavy wet snow). Not saying it is impossible, I did it for many years with a rear blower on a B7100. What I did was when the blower started to load up I would raise the snow blower to let it clear. Then push in the clutch, shift tractor and go forward to where I had already been, drop blower and try again.
With a hydrostat transmission you can stop movement of the tractor without stopping the snow blower turning, much easier to keep it from clogging.
With a hydrostat transmission you can stop movement of the tractor without stopping the snow blower turning, much easier to keep it from clogging.
It's better than shovelling snow by hand and beats walking behind a small gas powered blower.
Just match your gear/speed with the snow conditions and keep warm.
If you get sick of being cold and wet and having a sore neck from driving backwards for hours on end you might sell your open station gear tractor buy a bigger cab tractor with HST like I did.
Just match your gear/speed with the snow conditions and keep warm.
If you get sick of being cold and wet and having a sore neck from driving backwards for hours on end you might sell your open station gear tractor buy a bigger cab tractor with HST like I did.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
I considered all the options 3 years ago when I bought my BX23S
1) rear mounted, +-$2500 Canucks,hard on MY body ,interesting to operate....
2) front mtd,PTO driven, +-$5000, easy on body and operate but no bucket for 4 months
3) SSQA mtd, selfpowered,+-$500,best solution.
Being SSQA it goes on/off in seconds,so I can use bucket or forks in the winter
Up front is easier for me to operate and control
It gave me a 'project' for the summer to make it and save 1,000s of Canucks ! Simple in concept, easy to build.I took two 24" walkbehind snowblowers, 14HP engine,E-clutch,battery,sprockest,chain and proved it works.....Kinda 'funny' how it hasn't really snowed hard since then.....
I know there's commercial units(look for ATV blowers..) but they are $$$ However if you get a lot of snow it'd be an option. If you're young,,agile and don't mind fighting 3PH stuff in the bitter cold well #1 might be your option.
1) rear mounted, +-$2500 Canucks,hard on MY body ,interesting to operate....
2) front mtd,PTO driven, +-$5000, easy on body and operate but no bucket for 4 months
3) SSQA mtd, selfpowered,+-$500,best solution.
Being SSQA it goes on/off in seconds,so I can use bucket or forks in the winter
Up front is easier for me to operate and control
It gave me a 'project' for the summer to make it and save 1,000s of Canucks ! Simple in concept, easy to build.I took two 24" walkbehind snowblowers, 14HP engine,E-clutch,battery,sprockest,chain and proved it works.....Kinda 'funny' how it hasn't really snowed hard since then.....
I know there's commercial units(look for ATV blowers..) but they are $$$ However if you get a lot of snow it'd be an option. If you're young,,agile and don't mind fighting 3PH stuff in the bitter cold well #1 might be your option.
My technique when the only tractor I had was 2 WD and geared far too fast in reverse for blowing was to make use of one rear wheel brake to get one wheel to spin while the blower cleared. Probably hard on the Diff but it was a tough old machine.
Dave
Dave
You are correct that the 2401 only has a single-stage clutch. This was just stupid on Kubota's part. They did themselves a big disservice by doing this. I can't imagine an independent pto clutch would have been that much more to engineer into the design.
Anyway, 3-point snowblowing with a gear drive is frustrating and annoying. That's the best way to describe it. Your travel speed is never correct, you need to anticipate stops well in advance, and you need to multi-task big time. If you mess up and have to clutch to stop suddenly, you've just clogged your shoot up.
That being said, I will never part with my gear-drive B7200. It has more grunt power, higher travel speed, and better suited for stationary pto work. When it comes to snowblower however, the Hydro is superior in every way. Given your anticipated work, I would stay away from a gear drive.
Anyway, 3-point snowblowing with a gear drive is frustrating and annoying. That's the best way to describe it. Your travel speed is never correct, you need to anticipate stops well in advance, and you need to multi-task big time. If you mess up and have to clutch to stop suddenly, you've just clogged your shoot up.
That being said, I will never part with my gear-drive B7200. It has more grunt power, higher travel speed, and better suited for stationary pto work. When it comes to snowblower however, the Hydro is superior in every way. Given your anticipated work, I would stay away from a gear drive.
Sorry, here's a dumb question. I understand when you push in clutch PTO power is disengaged. If you go to neutral on gear shift and let out clutch does PTO spin or no? Something else I wanted to do with the B2401 is use a chipper but if there's no PTO unless in gear and moving I'm out of luck.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
Not that dumb...
yes , if the PTOs engaged, whatever's attatached to it will spin when you release the clutch...doesn't matter what gear the tranny is in(1-2-3-n-r)
Just think of all the neat old tractors with belt driven machinery at fairs.....
yes , if the PTOs engaged, whatever's attatached to it will spin when you release the clutch...doesn't matter what gear the tranny is in(1-2-3-n-r)
Just think of all the neat old tractors with belt driven machinery at fairs.....
As stated above, the pto will always spin when it's engaged and the clutch is released. Chipping is stationary PTO work. The gear drive has the advantage here (more efficient = less fuel consumption). It's the work that requires pto operation while moving that's the PITA w/ a gear drive, Snowblowing, mowing, rota-tilting, leaf blowing, ect..... There is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to safely and efficiently operating a tractor!
Sure beats the old fords that surprised you Bush hogging and had a ten min wind down you go from tractor to tractor and forget you cant stop and back up without winding down the pto cuz pto goes in reverse when you go in reverse I know rookie mistake but done it a couple times . But this summer will be doing the bushhogging on the kubota
My external over running clutch cost me about 60 dollars. It's a Speeco.
For your application I would recommend an inverted AKA pull type snowblower instead of a traditional 3 point blower. They are much better suited for those of us running gear drives with a non-live PTO. My L2501 is gear drive, 2WD with non-live PTO and it does excellent with an MK Martin SB68PT pull type snowblower. They make a 60" that would work good with that B series. Oh and you don't get a sore neck from driving in reverse the whole time and you don't get snow in the face like the other types of blowers give you.
Hi @Utepils,
Did you ever get a B2401 with snowblower?
Just finished cleaning up a 45cm snowfall with my B2401 with the bucket and a rear blade and with that much snow found I had to use the bucket for the bulk of it. Actually did some with my old push snowblower with led me to think about getting something for the tractor the odd time we get 20+ c'mon one day.
At the end of last season I got a deal on an MK Martin SB54 snowblower for use with my B2401.
I have about 3 hours on it so far, all blowing heavy wet snow, up to 12"/30cm. In sections where it was less than 8" I could use M-R but more than that L-R range was necessary.
Although 1.3km/h is slow and boring it's still faster than using the bucket and rear blade, taking about 40 minutes to make 2 passes of my 300m driveway, including clearing the pile left by the county plow at the road.
To work around the single stage clutch, I put in the transmission in Neutral, without touching the clutch, to stop the tractor but keep the blower running. I was surprised how smoothly it goes into N with little force on the shifter.
Last edited: