Loader-Mounted Snowblower Driven By PTO

Loader-Mounted Snowblower Driven By PTO SNOWBLOWERS Snowblowers 22-6-4 Farmall tractors don't have rear hydraulics or a 3-pt. hitch so it's difficult to mount a snowblower on them. Eugene Blindauer, Ply-mouth, Wis., solved the problem by mounting a 2-stage snowblower on his Farmall M's front-end loader and powering it with a shaft that's chain-driven by the pto. "It works better than a rear-mounted snow-blower because I have a good view in front of me and don't have to turn around," says Blindauer. Blindauer stripped down a self-propelled snowblower, keeping the auger and blower unit. He welded on mounting brackets made from 3-in. channel iron. To mount the blower he simply drives up to the snowblower and pins it to the bucket mounting attachments. Here's how the tractor's pto power is transferred to the snowblower. An angle iron frame attached to the tractor drawbar supports a 4-ft. long shaft that rides in bearings at each end. The shaft is fitted with a small sprocket. A second, larger sprocket is welded to a splined hub that mounts directly on the pto shaft. The 1 to 2 sprocket ratio doubles the tractor's 540 rpm pto speed to 1,080. The short, chain-driven shaft connects to a 7-ft. long telescoping driveshaft off an old chopper. Each end of the slip shaft has a splined universal with a spring-loaded locking pin that makes the shaft easy to connect up or remove. The blower spout is rotated from the tractor seat by turning a 5/8-in. dia. steel rod one way or the other. "It works good," says Blindauer. "I chained the bucket arms to the tractor frame so I don't accidentally lift the loader arms too high and bend the drive shaft. I didn't have to spend a lot of money because I already had most of the material. My total out-of-pocket expense was about $60." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Eugene Blindauer, N6580 Cty. Rd. OJ, Plymouth, Wis. 53073 (ph 920 893-8191).

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