I’m looking to buy a 310 deer or a 420d it cat backhoe. I’m wondering if I can put a snowblower on the front of it? I assume the flow rate is going to be the issue? Also is the flow rate only going to be sufficient when I have the RPM’s cranked. And is that only controlled by how fast I go? Or can I be crawling and still have high RPMS?
It's not too hard to look up the maximum speed in each gear. I'm gonna guess that first gear will be slow enough for most of what you want to do, but not near as handy as a hydrostatic transmission for a snowblower. The pressure and flow rate are also easy to find. How are you going to plumb it though? You won't get the total flow and pressure from one of the existing valves. I suppose you could put a big valve right by the pump and put all the power to the blower, but then you'd have to shut the blower off to move the loader. Other option is an engine driven blower, never seen one sized for a backhoe, but anything's possible.
Thanks! With the front aux hydraulics I won’t get enough flow?
snow blowers use alot of gpm 15 to 20...I want to put one on a tractor with a loader and im going to use an auxiliary PTO pump to get me the proper gpm, also all the hydraulics for the blower will be separate from the tractor, so if something goes boom its all self contained and wont hurt the tractor hydraulics..I can get a pto pump for $6 to 7 hundred bucks and thats still cheaper than tapping into the tractor hydraulics for lesser gpm..most of the snowblowers are made for a skid steer and the PTO driven for tractors, but you have to drive backwards all the time and kill your neck doing it..so if your going to tap the backhoe hydraulics you have to make sure your gpm is enough to run the blower.. http://www.woodmaxx.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SB-84-PTO
Sorry I know very little about this stuff! So if I put the separate pump on I could then use the aux hydraulics on the front of the loader and use your average skidsteer blower? Am I understanding that correct?
no, I dont think those backhoes have an independent PTO for driving equipment like a regular farm tractor, but im not 100% sure on that, there may be a plate on the tranny to install a PTO..you would have to look at service manuals or wait for someone that knows those machines to answer..
no backhoes don't have rear PTO's. In the old days you could add a front mount hydraulic pump basically where the hand crank start went, but most already have the front filled for the last 50 years or so, no room. You should be able to find the specs for the front auxilary hydraulics. I'm guessing they're sized small for a grapple or 4 in 1 bucket, not for a hammer like the back might be.
I think if you ran a snow blower off the backhoe hydraulics you'd have to consider how much heat is going to be generated in the hyd. system by the constantly running snow blower. Most commercial snow blowers have a separate engine for the snow blower.
if you can't do it with hydraulic capacity, you can do it by hydraulic motor, that will run on your machine's output, and then gearing up to 6-700 RPM, by adding a drop chain and appropriate sprockets, over to the pto input of the blower. A lot of work, if you want info, go to surpluscenter.com's formula page. Remember that the theoretical does not always equal the reality of worn pumps and valves...