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Keeping rocks out of front mount snow blower

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John in Colorado
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2003-03-18          51432


I use a JD 770 tractor with a front mount blower (JD 59")to clear snow on our Colorado rocky mountain dirt road. The road is 3 miles long, and this is quite and effort. The unit works well except for one problem - rocks! No matter how careful I am, I sometimes drop the blower too low, or there may be a rock in the snow. I break a couple shear pins per run. I was thinking about constructing a slatted type device to be mounted under the blower intake which would filter out the larger rocks. Has anyone thought about this? I sure could use some help.

John




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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-03-19          51446


Off the top of my head, trying to separate rocks from snow is likely to be something else to clog up with snow when it is wet (less of a problem in Colorado I guess).

What I do is learn to like snow-pack. The first few snows of the year I use the loader (floated and with the blade curled a bit off the ground). The object is to clear off any junk and leave a bit of snow. After some snow pack and a good freeze, my 3ph blower skids support the blower on the snow pack. I keep the blade a bit up rather than try to clear down to the gravel. After using the loader, there aren't any rocks unless some new ones arrive somehow--which does happen.
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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
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2003-03-19          51449


Do you mean a slatted type device that whould stop wet snow from entering the blower so that packs up like the out spout? ....


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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2003-03-19          51457


I guess in some areas rocks must fall out of the sky. :)

Anywho, I second Tom's emotion. Plow first to establish a base, and use the blower for subsequent storms.

The only fly in the ointment would be if, like in my neighborhood, the snow completely melts off between storms.

That was not a problem when I lived in Alaska and probably isn't a problem where Tom lives, but unless John lives above 7000 feet it might affect his situation. ....


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Art White
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Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2003-03-19          51461


I'll try something different here for you. When I sell a three point hitch blower I found that to leave the top link a little long will allow the owner to scrape the pavement bare. When on gravel, shorten the link to allow the blower to run on the heel of the blower or where they normally have the skid shoes(that normally don't help much or bend easily) that way youare leaving a base. I have seen on a few front mounts(the exception not the rule) that have a turn buckle to adjust the angle of the blower. If you were to make your blower to allow the turnbuckle for that adjustment I think you would be on a positive track for solving your problem. ....


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Stan
Join Date: Feb 2002
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2003-03-19          51463


On my front mount blower, I run the blower up off the ground about an inch or so when I'm on the gravel stretch. I'd drop the skids down, but then I can't scrape the pavement clean (and no, my wife won't learn to deal with the snowpack near the house).

As long as I don't get going so fast that I bounce, and watch grade changes carefully, I'm OK.

A word of warning, I buy shear pins by the dozen - so my method isn't 100% effective. ....


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John in Colorado
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2003-03-19          51492


I appreciate the responses (at least most of them). No, rocks don't fall out of the sky. They constantly roll off the side cuts of our road which was blasted and dozed out of the mountainside. There is a reason these are called the Rockies. I do try leaving a base, but believe me, when snow blowing a rough road, it is impossible to always keep the blower at a steady level. What I envisioned was something like a landscape rake on the leading edge of the blower which would divert rocks. This is a real problem, and maybe there isn't a solution. I just thought I'd see if anyone else has had this problem and if anyone came up with a fix.

John ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
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2003-03-20          51495


I remember the Colorado Rockies and the Colorado snows. Something like a rock catcher might work since most snows were dry. My chute regularly clogs in wet snow when I forget to run the pto till the auger clears when I stop. Of course the fan does pack snow into the chute, but I imagine that any effective rock catcher would be subject to clogging in wet snow. If something is rigged up making it easily detachable would be good.

I've broken about four shear pins in that many years. Each time it has been because I became impatient and used the blower before freeze-up (three of those pins was in the 'Winter of my Discontent' or something). It's not much of a problem for me but putting shear pins in 0F weather is definitely high aggravation.

People with rotary cutters who break a lot of shear pins often look for a cutter that has a slip clutch. I haven't thought about it but I guess there's a possibility of stand-alone after-market units that could be rigged up to a blower.




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Art White
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2003-03-20          51498


To switch to a blade for the gravel part might be a option although not a total answer. We have a fellow here in town that owns several buisnesses on main st, one of them, a recent purchase came with the use of the fellows older cadet lawn tractor with a blower and a cab. Well they have changed the people that plow in town so many times this winter that it seems that every week at least he eats another concrete section of curb they plowed up or some black top. I have a fellow in the shop that can pull the augers out and have them back in with either a straightened shaft or new in less then 30 minutes. The customer does appreciate that he has it back in an hour but we have seen it two and three days in a row. I can feel the frustration but don't have a good answer. ....


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Stan
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2003-03-20          51501


John,

I like your landscape rake concept, although like the others I wonder if wet snow might blind it over.

We hardly had any snow in my part of WI this year, but if we get another storm I have an old pull behind lawn thatcher (spring tines) that will cover my intake, and I could bolt on pretty simply. I just might try it.

Of course, at this point I hope I get to wait until next year. ....


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kay
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2003-03-20          51522


John
Seems to me if you are considering anything like a landscape rake out in front, that you just as well go directly to a blade out front. Drop the snowblower until you absolutely have to have a blower to get through. I can't imagine anything raking rocks out of the snow ahead of the blower, but then miracles sometimes seem to happen.
Likewise, what does a lawn thatcher do with rocks? other than drag them out so the mower tries to chew them up. Seems the snow blower would get the same treatment. But if it works, it will be a GREAT idea, and hope it does. ....


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John in Colorado
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2003-03-20          51542


Thanks for all the useful input. I don't plan to install a rake in front of my blower, I was just brainstorming on an idea of a curved slatted grate that would filter out larger rocks. I see the point that it would likely clog in wet snow (which we are getting tons of right now). I might try to fabricate something for use next winter, and use it only when the snow is on the dry side. A slip clutch on the augers would be nice as replacing shear pins in cold weather with the blower buried in snow is a pain. I wonder if there are any after market products like this which would fit on the JD blower? Thanks again!

John ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-03-21          51548


Never having seen a slip clutch, I'm limited to theory but that's usual for me.

I imagine a slip clutch is little more than two plates held together by adjustable spring tension and connected together by a shaft end into a pilot bearing. The only reason I can think of why one couldn't be entirely part of a pto shaft is a requirement for safety shields. So, I imagine that the plates are inside a housing that is welded onto an implement around its input shaft, and they probably have a front support bearing for the pto shaft.

Rigging one up seems feasible although coupling the clutch output to the implement input shaft might be a bit tricky. There'd also be alignment and balancing issues. But then, I'm probably missing something critical here and somebody will point it out. A shorter pto shaft may be needed.

After-market units might be available. Landpride makes its manuals available on-line as downloadable PDF files. I remember looking at very good exploded parts diagrams. Finding one of their manuals for a unit equipped with a slip clutch might show how detachable the clutch is and whether one could be purchased separately as a unit. I'd check their site to satisfy my own curiosity but I have to go to town this morning.
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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-03-21          51554


I purchased a 3pth blower a few years back at an auction of surplus municipal equipment, it had been used to clear walkways, etc, at a public housing complex (according to a municipal employee at the sale) and had been fitted with a safety sheild which was a steel grate made from 1/2" x 2" flat bar welded into a grid with openings about 6" square, he said it did not interfere with the operation at all, other than it added tremendously to the weight of the unit. It was ugly as sin, but for the money, $100, I bought it anyways. I've only used once myself, just to see if it worked, which it did, and no, it did not change the function noticably.

However, in your case it wouldn't help to get the rocks out of the way, just stop them getting to moving parts.

Best of luck. ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
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2003-03-22          51603


Good to hear some real experience that should open up some possibilities.

I guess I was thinking of something smaller than 6-inch openings because I imagined a 6" rock would still jam an auger and break shear pins. I am fairly certain that several of the rocks or asphalt chunks that I took out of my blower after breaking shear pins could have gotten through 6" square openings. I guess a practical question is how often would they?

I still keep thinking that a grate of that type would turn into something more like plow for some types of snows. Even in dry snow it would still have to be pushed through the snow, which would require more traction. In addition, one of the advantages of an auger type blower over a single-stage is that an auger will chew up icy snow. A grate would eliminate that advantage.

There may be a few disadvantages to the idea but given Murf's experience, it might be something to try. I believe a quick detach version would still be a good idea.
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steve ontario canada
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2003-03-22          51635


i use a 72in drag blower behind a 33d boomer .a hydraulic top link alows for tipping blower back on rear skid.i hang my 60in loader bucket about 25 cm off surface to catch the big ones.we are very rural here,big crown in road,poor quality lanes etc.i still go through pins but i do catch alot either with the loader or by driving over and feeling them with the wheels.prior to a good base i drag the blower like a box scraper,also drag the blower to clear areas where it is safe to blow(resedentials)always run at full pto speed so when you do injest the pins will pop.i also carry a propane torch to assist in pin replacement especially handy inslushy conditions.ive thought of a frt mount blower but not seeing whats going in scares me a bit around here.sorry its not really what you are looking for but i thought id throw my experiences in.good luck sr
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ChesapekeBoy
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 9 Ft Atkinson, IA
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2003-04-09          52855


I am not familiar with a drag blower.... who makes them... Do you have a web site? ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-04-09          52858


A 'drag' blower is a style of construction, not a make or model and almost nobody makes them anymore. Most of them are single stage units, V-shaped and they only have a fan, no cross auger, the funnel effect pushes the snow into the fan where it gets blown out the chute.

They used to be really popular because they were so simple to make almost anybody could whip one off in the barn in a day or two with only some scrounged parts and a welder.

Their biggest flaw was also one of their biggest advantages, that was that it faced forwards not back, so you could blow snow while driving ahead normally instead of backing up. While that was easier on the neck, it also meant you had to drive through the snow before it reached the blower. Some people solved that problem by turning the unit around, but the other problem was that wet heavy snow didn't do much but clog the funnel up. They were very good (and a little faster I think) on light fluffy snow though.

Around my neck of the woods it is not uncommon to see them mounted forward-facing to the front bumper of an old car or truck. The preffered method seems to be to use a heavy chain-drive system to run them via a 4:1 reduction directly off a 24 hp. Kohler or similar gas engine, running at 2000 rpm this means the blower gets 500 rpm, close enough. I have even seen them run via a double 'B section' belt right off a modified harmonic balancer on the truck engine. They put large (8+" diameter) caster wheels or skid shoes behind the 2 outward 'points' of the V-shaped funnel. There is no lift system, clutch or throttle linkage. They run the electric start off the 'power unit's' battery, same with the gas supply.

They look like something out of an episode of Junkyard Wars gone horribly wrong, but they seem to work, and are VERY cheap to put together compared to buying a tractor if you don't need one for anything else but snow.

We even have one contractor who built a dedicated snow blower unit out of a Toyota 4X4 that had been in a bad wreck, the cab & front end were OK, but from there back there was not much left, it apparently slid sideways into the path of a gravel truck which then drove OVER the back end. Ouch. He fabricated a new frame section for the rear half and mounted a second 4cyl. engine where the box had been. This chain drives a drive shaft mounted under the unit, which powers a conventional 7' blower mounted on a snow plow harness on the front of the little truck. Since all he does is snow removal on rural lanes it gets aworkout on a regular basis, but does it ever move snow. The only problem still to be overcome is transport, it's not quite road legal so he bought an old tilt'n'load tow truck to move it around.

Best of luck. ....


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itsgottobegreen
Join Date: Oct 2003
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2003-10-07          65737


Here is any easy way. I seen many people do this. Drop the skid shoes all the way to the ground, raise the cutting edge all the way to the top. So now the cutting edge is about 3 inch off the ground. The rock will just go right under and the snow throught the blower. or you could just pave the road. ....


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