Adapting a Snowblower

[Stumpy]

Hello all. In a few days I'm planning on buying an L175 that's available locally. It's got a broken steering box so I've got to fix that and give it a coat of paint but once that's done I'd like to mount a front snowblower on it.

What are my options here? Change is tight so buying a new blower with a front mount kit is unlikely. What I'd like to do is get a cheap used garden tractor belt driven blower and borrow the PTO belt router from a Woods mower. I'll fab a mount for the blower and then fab some idler mounts for the belt midway down the tractor. Anyone done anything like this before? Is there a better way? Is the a blower overrated and should I just throw a plow on it?

 

[300zx]

Stumpy, those aren't easy questions to answer, but I will give you my opinion. As far as your options, I haven't been around a L175, so I don't know much about it's attachments or the Woods belt drive you mentioned. I have used a Wheel Horse single stage blower since 1996 and haven't put my front blade on since I got it, so for me, I really like the blowers for snow. I have a B7100 and restored a B748 blower for it last winter. I haven't yet used it, but here are some pictures during the restoration. You can also see how it drove off of the front engine PTO with an electric clutch.

https://picasaweb.google.com/110263893958737890068/KubotaB748bSnowCaster

This blower is called a snow caster and is the same one used by Ingersol (and probably even made by them). The only difference between the Kubota and Ingersol is the mount from the lower swivel bolts back to the tractor.

One last thing I will mention is that a snow blower is heavy on the front, so a 2WD will need a lot of ballast on the back to hold traction. I put fluid in the rear tires and 250 pounds of weights on the back of my Wheel Horse to get better traction.

Good luck,

John

 

[pat331]

John, NICE job. It is hard to believe your restored snowcaster is the same one is the first pictures.

 

[300zx]

Stumpy, I can't take all of the credit. I had it sandblasted and then powder coated. It was my first experience having something powder coated and I was really satisfied. I will know more about how it holds up after this winter season.

John

 

[GEP]

Stumpy, I can't take all of the credit. I had it sandblasted and then powder coated. It was my first experience having something powder coated and I was really satisfied. I will know more about how it holds up after this winter season.

John

John Nice job and yes the snow caster is the same as on a case mounts are not. Now what i would do is to install a shute rotading motor and a controler for the angle flap on the top of the shute. If you like i can tell you what to use for controll motors. I beliefe you would realy like them
GEP

 

[300zx]

GEP, I would be interested in how you powered the chute rotation and the angle flap. I had seen on another forum where someone had used the motor from an electric window regulator.

John

 

[Stumpy]

John thanks for the reply, that actually helps quite a bit. You've got quite a nice setup there. It turns out this tractor does have a front PTO, I had thought it didn't. That simplifies things greatly. Now I've just got to get it in running shape again and find a blower.

I bought this thing for $1000 with no steering and no reverse. Reverse gear looked straight forward, teeth had been rounded off. When I took the steering box out though I took a look at it and thought to myself huh, I shouldn't be able to see through it. The bottom of the steering box casting had completely cracked away and had been rattling around inside the bell housing

It apparently had just enough clearance at the bottom of the bell housing to not interfere with the clutch. A good bump would have probably sent that into the pressure plate and then through the side of the bell housing. How it didn't do that when he started it for me when I was looking at it I don't know. The entire inside of the clutch housing is covered in rust, water, and the remnants of gear oil so I think I'm going to split the tractor and clean everything in there.

Fun fun. Is there any place to find a steering column or box cheaply or should I just bite the bullet and get the $450 new unit I found online?

 

[300zx]

Sounds like you have some challenges in front of you. I have not been into the steering box. There are a lot of posts on here about it.

You might try West Kentucky Tractor Parts for used parts:

http://www.wkytp.com/

This article by Vic may also help you:

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/2010/09/how-to-repair-a-steering-box-part-2/

Good luck,
John

 

[300zx]

Stumpy, sorry, but I had to add this picture to your post for those who like to work with wood and need inspiration in adapting their snow blowers to their tractors. I saw it on another forum and had to re-post it here because it put a smile on my face. From the looks of the driveway, it must work pretty well. Check out (what I think is) the drive shaft for the blower, running from behind the seat to the front of the tractor. And the lift leaver on the left side behind the seat. It looks like when you pull it back, it lifts the blower. Someone really put some work into making this!

John

 

[Stumpy]

Wow that's pretty creative. I'm trying to figure out what he's done for the drive though. I can't tell if that's an electric motor or some sort of hydraulic setup. While neat I think I'll stick with steel though

I've got parts on order to get this thing running again and til I get them I'm trying to decide on a snow removal option. The front crank spline is seems to be something obscure, a 1in by 17 spline shaft. I read all your posts on the hoops you needed to jump through to make your blower pto and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. I'll still need to make a lift and frame for the whole thing. I may just adapt a plow, that way I don't have to worry about power transmission. We'll see what's in the budget.

 

[Rust Addict]

Here is a home made rear weight frame. This goes into a home made 3 point hitch frame for my 2" hitch box connector. The weight frame is just angle iron, welded onto a 2" bar. The weight blocks are iron but were intially just going to be 4 solid concrete blocks, but the steel was free to me, so I built around that instead. I just couldn't see building a weight box that can not be moved around without the use of the tractor. I think this goes around 250#, and makes all the difference on traction on a B6000E with a snowcaster front snowblower. I'm now learning to steer using the rear brake one wheel at a time with the split break pedal.

 

[Stumpy]

Jeese those are not inconsiderable chunks of steel. You steal some battleship armor? Nice setup. If I ever get around to doing a blower I was going to do something like that or I saw someone who build a 3pt attachment point for a metal trashcan and then filled it with rocksalt.

 

[Kubota_Man]

I saw someone who build a 3pt attachment point for a metal trashcan and then filled it with rocksalt.

Maybe get a spreader and after you move the snow spread the rock salt and or sand and have less snow for next time. Just a thought