Another home brew BX project,, snowblower

[js5020]

Well in fashion with my norm I can't justify 4k for a blower from Kubota and since I have a real nice snowblower I bought for 150 bucks 4 or 5 years back I'm gonna do some fabrication and put it to use on the BX. Now it won't be as fancy as the one from Kubota but it should fit my needs.

For my purposes I want a blower I can mount and use on either the front or back of the machine depending on snow depths. So the unit will be self powered with a 13 or 16 hp chonda electric start engine, some sort of electric controls to rotate the chute and angle the deflector, electric pto and possibly throttle.

The addition of a blower will give the BX 3 snow fighting weapons, front blade, snowblower and the loader,, bring it old man winter.


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[skeets]

Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out ,,, hope you post pictures so we can follow the build

 

[js5020]

Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out ,,, hope you post pictures so we can follow the build

No worries I will post pics of the build. I'm just removing the blower from the original machine, last I used it was in 16 or 17 when we got 24 inches. The blower did a great job, just wasn't on a machine that could push it through that much snow or the drifts that followed.

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[majorwager]

Kinda like this ??

THIS is NOT my creation but I admire the project. The wording of the original designer's post and more photos are located in subsequent entries if you scroll down through the posts.

 

[js5020]

Kinda like this ??

[emoji48] yes. That looks like a beast.

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[armylifer]

Kinda like this ??

That thing looks big enough to tackle any snowfall. What a beautiful machine!

 

[js5020]

Just gonna kick an idea out there for opinions,, I'm thinking the easiest way to mount this on the front is with a receiver hitch in the loader bucket and a 3pt receiver hitch on the rear. I didn't want to mount my snow plow on the loader because the forward projection of the blade and overall length would just give the snow to much leverage to push the front end side ways, but the blower is pre much a straight on push. I can also get a lot of height and can maintain level at any height on the front, the rear well not as much lift and I'd have to manually level the blower but adequate. Has anyone run into unique operational issues with a blower on the loader, can you use the float or is the weight of the loader to much to float it? This blower is coming off a garden tractor so it isn't as heavy as a 3pt blower, thoughts?

 

[js5020]

Kinda like this ??

I don't see a pto clutch, how hard is that to start the engine? I will assume you have an ignition kill wire for emergency shut off them?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You have a BX23S with a SSQA attach loader, pull the buck off and either attach an SSQa plate to the front or SSQA plate into a Quick hitch.
This give you the ability to use it on the front or rear and it swaps in a snap.

I have the exact same snow blower as the one in the picture that majorwager posted.
It's Snow machines snow blower and it's a specially designed snow blower that only requires 15HP to run, not all snow blowers will work that low of HP.
But I'll tell you this, even my L with 30 PTO HP it will drag it right down to nothing in heavy snow.

 

[majorwager]

General note:
The blower I posted is NOT mine, but I did correspond w/ the fabricator. There is NO clutch. I did suggest an idler pulley (gear) to reduce chain slack.

There is no kill switch but that is a minor addition. Owner does mount this on FEL, made no provision for rear mount. I just purchased a 3 point to SSQA from titan, so that would also be a non issue.

Owner reported NO steering issues but there is a frontal projection to consider.

He had used it in med density snow, going slowly as NIW mentioned, No reported issues.

Power is derived by 23 hp. Honda, electric start. He did shroud the engine w/ sheetmetal, as the initial test had the engine covered w/ fine snow.

I will try to find more photos and a link to the owner's post. UPDATE: More Info and photos in post below.

 

[majorwager]

This is the post from the snow blower designer that added a gas engine.
NO link, I don't advertise for that pinhead website.
Fellow mounts unit on the other brand of orange, model 3510.


"Conversion cost about:

Engine: $620 with coupon
QD plate: $100
Chain and sprockets: $175

I had some steel to make the QD attachments and of course expert welding...free. I paid $500 for the rear snow blower so the entire thing cost about $1,500 and allows the whole thing to be lifted up on the FEL to clean up and take it up to blow snow deeper than 16 - 18". We had one snow of about 28" which required two passes but worked fine. I welded a piece of 2" angle on the bottom of the front edge to keep it out of the rocks and also skids on both sides as well. No problem at all with picking up rocks or dirt.

I bought a 2500 lb remote control winch to control the chute but haven't got around to installing it. I haven't found it a big deal setting the chute to throw to the right and do most of my drive and area between the house and shop (80' x 100') using just the "right" setting. I do sometimes set it straight ahead to move snow in different areas. It's 1.3 miles from the house to US 95 so all the neighbors do their part to clean the road. I clean the 1/4 mile along my property and usually the widow's drive and parking area. Takes about 2 hours to do it with the blower from inside a 70F cab...great improvement over heavy clothes and wet condition on my old Ford...but I do kinda miss it. "

There were more posts about the engine shroud, engine drive rotation, and orientation, but what is the fun if you have ALL the answers??

More photos, next post.

 

[majorwager]

Photos from the fabricator of engine mounted FEL snow blower. Ironically, the fabricator is from North Idaho. Could actually be a neighbor of NIW??

 

[js5020]

You have a BX23S with a SSQA attach loader, pull the buck off and either attach an SSQa plate to the front or SSQA plate into a Quick hitch.
This give you the ability to use it on the front or rear and it swaps in a snap.

I have the exact same snow blower as the one in the picture that majorwager posted.
It's Snow machines snow blower and it's a specially designed snow blower that only requires 15HP to run, not all snow blowers will work that low of HP.
But I'll tell you this, even my L with 30 PTO HP it will drag it right down to nothing in heavy snow.

I have a BX23S but I have the pin on bucket, I didn't want to take the lifting capacity hit that comes along with the 500 buck surcharge of the ssqa.

I have used the victim blower on a 24" snowfall with a 16up engine running both the blower and tractor, full depth full pass was slow and I could have used more power but a snow like that isn't the norm.

 

[js5020]

Photos from the fabricator of engine mounted FEL snow blower.

Thank you for posting those pics and previous text.

 

[majorwager]

JS 5020
Point of notice. The SSQA from titan is way less than $500 but then you need adapter plate(s) and must modify your bucket. I have converted a few and the convenience is amazing. Minimizes front projection w/ no attachment, I never remove any of my loaders, even in tight mowing. There is a small lift capacity penalty as you noted. BUT going from snow tool, to bucket, to forks is a two minute project.

 

[js5020]

Well this project isn't going to happen. I had a vision of the end result but the actual application wouldn't work and the changes necessary to make it work resulted in something I didn't want. So better to stop now and regroup rather than make something that would be a headache.

On the hunt for a different blower more suitable for conversion.