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garydc
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Posts: 10 kawartha lakes,on.
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2007-11-22          148631

Has anyone ever converted their 3 point hitch snow blower to a front mount?

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hardwood
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2007-11-23          148636

Garydc; I've saw pictures of conversions but not a real live in person one. One I remember hung the blower on the FEL frame and drove it with a hydraulic motor from a pump on the PTO. The others used a home made three point on the front of the tractor to mount it. If your tractor has a mid PTO it likely runs too fast and in the wrong direction to power it directly with a shaft under the tractor. I've thought about one too but haven't gotten up enough courage to ask the price of a new one for the 4310, but likely by the time you are done converting you may end up spending about the same as trading yours for a front mouint. You may decide to do it just for the challenge of it all, if so "More Power To Ya", we all have a bit of that in us. Frank. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
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2007-11-23          148643

I've both mounted them on the front of a tractor and a pickup truck.

On the pickup truck-mounted units (plural) they've been both self-propelled and shaft driven. The shaft driven ones are by far the easiest to do and work the best, there's more work involved, but it's not nearly as fussy work as it is to put the engine directly on the blower.

What kind of information are you looking for Gary?

BTW, your profile puts you about 30 minutes south east of me, small world huh?

Best of luck. ....

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garydc
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2007-11-23          148669

thanks for your responses. I am thinking about updating to a b2630 or b3030 but presently have b6200 and a 5ft meteor blower and am thinking about coverting it to a frontmount and was wondering what was the best way to get the drive connected? Gary
p.s. where do you live Murf. ....

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Murf
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Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2007-11-26          148739

Gary, without making too much available to the whole 'net, but in terms you will definitely know.....

About 5 minutes north of 9, just off 48.....

BTW, if horsepower on your little 'Bota is an issue, there's another way to do it, and will make a REAL snow machine!!

Make a skid mount up and put a small car engine on the 3pth and run a shaft underneath the tractor to drive the blower which is then front mounted.

Best of luck. ....

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garydc
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2007-11-26          148757

Murf I know the area you are in very well, have a few freinds and acquaintance's in the general area.

Interesting idea for the blower ,so far I have not had a horsepower problem with my little bota but I imagine the extra gearbox and pto shaft will have a little more draw, but I'm not going to convert until I can purchase my new tractor which I hope to have for this spring. So the coversion will likely be a project for next summer.
Gary ....

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Hettric
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 133 MA
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2007-11-27          148762

Better yet, a "Bota" diesel from Surplus center.
Great idea Murf! ....

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candoarms
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1932 North Dakota
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2007-11-27          148763

Murf,

I have my eye on a pickup transmission that has a PTO shaft output on the side of it. This is an option for most heavier trucks, which most people don't need.

So the question is........would it be possible to power a snowblower with this shaft? Is this a continuous live shaft? If so, at what RPM?

I don't know how it works. Maybe the shaft only rotates when the truck is in neutral? Somebody help me out here.

Joel ....

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Art White
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2007-11-27          148764


The transmission drives off a transmission are quite limited as far as the horsepower they can transmit. I'd be concerned over this problem as if you look at the joints that are used to drive an attachment that often will tell you the limits of this drive.

I have seen a couple of people convert to a front blower from the rear. For one operator that has the time to make it and respect it's limitations they have worked. Otherwise I would not recommend doing it from a value stand point. ....

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Murf
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2007-11-27          148765

Joel, the PTO on a truck transmission is geared directly to the main cluster, its speed is based strictly on the engine RPM's so it will spin any time it is engaged, regardless of gear, including neutral or reverse. Unless you had a HST-equipped truck you couldn't control the RPM's independent of vehicle speed.

It is however meant only to run very low power items such as (primarily) a hydraulic pump or a gear reduction winch. I doubt it could safely make anything more than about 10 or 15 horsepower, past that you would start getting into bearing problems from the increased side-loading of the drive and driven gears.

Best of luck. ....

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candoarms
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2007-11-27          148767

Art White, Murf,

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I was thinking about using it to power my blower, as I don't have a cab on my tractor. The transmission for my pickup would cost me 200 dollars......a cab is about 3000.

But, since the PTO on the truck transmission isn't geared down, there's no easy way to make that work for me. I was hoping that the PTO transmission was geared down by a factor of 4......that is 2000 engine RPM to 500 PTO RPM.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board. hehehe.

Joel ....

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Murf
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2007-11-27          148768

Joel, if your handy around the shop it's not a hard job to make up a dedicated snow blower truck, we've done several over the years.

Best of luck. ....

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candoarms
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2007-11-27          148771

Murf,

I use my truck for too many other things to make it a dedicated blower truck. If I had a second truck to work with, I might consider it.

Now my uncle has a Rambler straight-6 engine installed on a skid on the back of his tonner. According to his research, that engine produced more torque than any other engine of a similar size. He uses it to blow snow.....and it works great. I might have to do something similar.

Holy Cow. I woke up this morning to -20 degrees. Thankfully the wind has died down a bit, but I'm still not going out in this weather to blow snow. A blower mounted to my pickup is probably the solution I'm after, but I'll have to figure out how to make it easily detachable.

Looks like I have yet another summer project ahead of me. Problem is, our summers are too short already!

Thanks.

Joel ....

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Murf
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2007-11-27          148775

Joel, we always do it in a dedicated truck, usually an old 4x4 that's no longer road worthy.

We've found the old Ford "Big 6" 300 cu. inch straight 6 to be fantastic for this purpose. Besides, they're plentiful and run forever. If you can get it with the 3 or 4 speed gear box out of a 4x4 even better. The output shaft is perfect for hooking up to the hanging gear box. The tranny gives you both the gear reduction unit, and the rear mounting point. If you can find a 1,000 rpm blower, second gear is usually about a 2:1 ratio, so the engine running 2,000 rpm is a good combination of power and economy.

All we've ever done is mounted a gas tank in the truck box in ahead of the engine next to the cab and a rad. A lever to activate the clutch is a necessary thing. Battery & alternator are optional, but highly recommended, running cables from the truck engine is a PITA. Throttle we always do by means of an adjustable, 2 position lever, one position is fast idle for starting, etc., and the other is a preset running speed that yields 540 or 1,000 rpm to the blower. You can also vary the gear ratio some with chain in the hanging gear box.

Make the hanging gear box out of a piece of heavy wall structural tubing, big stuff, usually we use 6" x 12" to leave ourselves lots of room to work. Cut access ports in it after making the holes through for the input, idler if used, and output shafts with carrier bearings on BOTH sides. You will also need a drain hole at the bottom (3/4" pipe thread plug) and a fill and level hole (fill 3/4" bolt, level 1/2" bolt threaded in) Tension is accomplished by an idler wheel that pushes in on the return side of the chain, this also stops the slapping that would otherwise happen. All the chain and gears are readily available at any industrial supply place. When all is done in there simply make covers of 1/4" plate steel that bolt on to seal the ports in order to fill it partly (to top of bottom gear at least) with gear oil, slinging will keep the top end wet enough.

Note: Drain plug will leak if you don't use a pipe thread plug or a shouldered bolt with a gasket, bolt threads never tighten like a pipe thread.

Feel free to ask if you need more precise answers or such. As the old saying goes "no need for us BOTH to make the same mistakes.". ;)

Best of luck. ....

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Art White
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2007-11-27          148787



Not to far from here in Rome I had to stop the other day as a late 80's chevy was set up with an old Mckee lower on the front with what looked like a ford 200 in the back. The drive wasn't quite done as there was nothing between the drive shaft and the transmission output. I think he made it that far and then was over come with the project. Murf, I've seen belts used to for transmitting the power. ....

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candoarms
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2007-11-27          148789

Murf,

Well, I've got a Ford 300 6 cyl. sitting in the shop that I have no use for right now, so I may as well save it for my old pickup when the windows no longer roll down. hehehe. That oughta be happening right soon like. She's an 83 model, with about 250,000 miles on her. Still runs like a top.

I also have a cogged belt and a couple of pulleys from an old blower that sat atop a racing engine I inherited when I moved into this place. Provided the belt is about the right length......just might be.......I could have just about everything I need to make this project a reality.

My son inherited a Ford wagon from a friend, after he blew the head gasket on it. There's my radiator, and possibly a fuel pump and tank. I'll have to round up a drive shaft to run to the front, as the wagon is a front-wheel drive model......worthless those things are for anything.

Joel ....

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candoarms
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2007-11-27          148790

Murf,

I just remembered that the Ford 300 has a brand new fuel pump mounted to the side of the block already. No need for a fuel pump.

Joel ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
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2007-11-28          148798

Joel, it does sound like you have nearly everything you need in "inventory" as I call it up here.

But if I may offer a few pointers;

The drive train is not the place to experiment with "I think it will be strong enough....". You can use several heavy drive belts as Art mentioned, I've seen it done, but each one I saw the owner said it was going to be changed, cold icey belts don't grip well. Besides, large long belts are spendy, and a PITA to get multiples to tension properly.

The fuel pump doesn't need to be anything more than an old outboard fuel tank of 5 gal. size. more than that will be a PITA since you can't drive it to the gas station to fill it.

We usually hit a local truck wreckers and get the drive shaft out of an old school bus, or long straight truck. They're plenty strong and cheap, real easy to shorten too.

Best of luck. ....

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PILOON
Join Date: Dec 2008
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2009-01-06          159124

I have a set-up to reverse and front mount a 60" meteor type blower.
Dont use it as I prefer rear mount PTO blower. ....

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auerbach
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2009-01-06          159126

Gary, anything can be done, and it's always easier to work going forward than backward. But most blowers are on the back because:

You usually get better lifting control with the rear hitch than with a front mount. You get the weight over the rears where you want it. You have the front bucket for working and counterbalancing. On/off is as easy as it gets. ....

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GREGGG
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2 Kingston, Ontario
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2009-11-23          167007

Have a look at this.

http://www.mkmartin.ca/front-mount.html

By the way,I'm a couple hours further east. ....


Link:   M. K. Martin Front Mount

 
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tanganggood
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2009-11-24          167008

SPAM deleted by Moderator. ....

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