Snow Blower Ground Clearance

[miro]

Last year, I had some problems with the snow blower on my B5100 ( front mounted) - essentially I could not get enough ground clearance when i was blowing out about 200 ft of washed 3/4 inch gravel driveway.
The side bars dug in and within about 4 - 5 ft of travel I heard - tik, clack, clack - as the gravel was being heaved up the chute.

So this year,I made what I think is a better way of maintaining about 2 inches of clearance - see pictures.
I've tried it out on a recent small snow fall and it seems to work OK, but so far this year we've had much much less snow .

I know that it works best when going in a straight line , turning requires that I lift the blower a bit so the rubber wheels are above the snow ( more or less)

The blower in the background is a Grave%$#y -
Miro

 

[RCW]

What's up with the vacuum cleaner hose off the muffler???

Not sure it'll work. I would make shoes that get the height you want.

If it does work - and I hope it does - after a few passes at 2" clearance, you may want to have a way to reduce it to 1" or less, once a good base is built up.

Otherwise, you may have a lot of ice to deal with.

That is an ingenious way to get clearance - great idea!!

 

[tcrote5516]

What's up with the vacuum cleaner hose off the muffler???

That's his SNOW BLOWER

I kill me sometimes.

 

[miro]

The hose is to direct the exhaust at start up out of the garage - I start it after 1-2 hours of block heater, but it still fires only on 1 cylinder initially and then both after 2-3 minutes.
So I get a whole lot of white smoke - I just pipe it outside.

We get enough snow falls that we don't get much ice build up - I prefer the hard packed snow.

Miro

 

[miro]

BTW - the "hose" is a stainless steel flex exhaust pipe picked up at the dump.

M

 

[Tooljunkie]

Best off to tramp all the snow and freeze yourself a base. A drag of sorts works.
My driveway was a souphole this first snowfall, and was a muddy gravel sloppy snowy mess. Turf torn up everywhere.
It snowed heavy but wasnt cold. Ground didnt freeze very fast.

Having those wheels swivel a few degrees in either direction would eliminate the need to lift, unless backing up.

Good idea, building to suit your needs.

 

[RCW]

We get enough snow falls that we don't get much ice build up - I prefer the hard packed snow.

Many years we do, too. Later on, that hard-pack snow turns into ice.

I like a good base - just not too much of it.....I throw sand down periodically, and that helps during the thaws. Last couple winters, I probably had 4" built up in places.

That is a great idea!! I really hope it works!!

The exhaust pipe is a good deal too! It looks like the hose on our vacuum at home in your picture - had to ask.

Best wishes!!

 

[skeets]

Looks like a hunk of greenfield flex conduit.. I had s piece on my yeller tractor for killing ground hogs stick the end inthe hole the other onthe muffler and run it on half choke for about half an hour,, seemed to work

 

[Diydave]

Miro, that gravely has a proper name, to them whats ever operated one...

its known as a dog eater...

 

[miro]

Actually, the Gravely that I have is known as a "snow cannon" - it tosses the snow above the power line.
But it's only 26 inches wide - and my driveway is 3/4 mile long - hence the Kubota machine.

The "dog eaters" are earlier versions of that machine and are enough to scare anyone - eve experienced operators.

M

 

[al m]

I'm thinking that's not a Kubota blower,did you do the mods to adapt it?