Just wondering if anyone here uses a skid steer with a snow blower for snow removal? I have been thinking about getting one. But I have only used a skid steer for a couple of hours before. I am thinking about 60 to 75hp with a 7foot blower. Anyone have any experience with this combo? Goods? Bads? Thanks.
they clog up with wet snow get a high flow machine to run it
I run a 6' blower on a 763 Bobcat. It is a standard flow unit. It does a nice job and even in wet snow it rarely plugs. I also have a plow for the Bobcat. The snow will determine how far you can blow it. Around the house I prefer the blower since I don't end up with with hard packed drifts late into spring. The blower spreads it out and it seems to melt away faster. I use the plow on light snow falls since I can travel much faster and can clear areas much faster. A blower will cause you to travel much slower.
For residential type work, driveways and such, I wouldn't get too concerned about having high flow. If you need some distance and are doing larger areas, then the high flow will have an advantage. Get the skid loader first, then match the blower to what flow you have. Most companies offer several different motors to match your hydraulic flow. I know a bunch of guys using them for commercial and personal use, and only a couple of them run high flow. Erskine/Quick Attach makes a nice unit for an all around type machine. In a more commercial application, I think the Buhler is a pretty slick machine.
hmmm, the toolcat forum over at tbn has lots of info bout snowblowing and the various blowers people like. some tracked machines work ok in snow, some are terrible. iirc the cat/asv is the one of choice, the tak is the worst in snow. i've not read of anyone using a blower on a skidsteer tho i'm sure it happens, most of the stuff i've read is about the toolcat esp for spreading sand/salt at the same time.
I have one on my machine, my machine isnt high flow and it works great. Once you have one you can't go back to a blade!! It rarely plugs, maybe if you try to plow through 3ft drifts. Once you get a feel for it you slow down let it throw and away you go.
Here is mine just bought this Winter. My machine makes 85 hp net and flows 42 gpm through the high flow. The machine is incredible. I can load a tandem truck with the shute in about 5 minutes. It will throw snow at least 45 feet in cold conditions. That blower is 85" in width. Its a great commerical grade blower. The key is to generate enough gpm and have enough torque to run effectively at least if your doing it commerically. That is a Quick Attach/Erskine 2400XL model.
I have a schulte 7400 on my A300 bobcat. I put a grader blade on the bottom to dig to bare concrete and pavement. I can push snow over the top of the blower in any snow condition and blows snow up to 40' feet.
Very nice Case,love the chains as well,they must really help out on packed snow/ice.Now that is a serious snow moving machine! 42 GPM ,thats plenty of power for any conditions.You load tandems with the chute you have on it in the picture?
Thanks for the compliment. There is another chute that goes on it for loading trucks its much taller. Takes about a half hour to change over.
HELLO Everyone ! ... Its time to get this thread rolling again. Been watching /reading this site for years .... Now I finally joined ! ... All I have to do is figure out how to post pics and stuff ... Happy New Year to you all !
Ever since I saw the pic of KSSS's machine ....Ps(that is one nice hunk of a combo unit KSSS)....I could not stop thinking I need to finally update my older Buhler for this New One ! ....Here is a couple of my Pics
I like that tall chute design. The open front design would prevent some plugging. I like it. The added lights on top also look great. I will keep that idea in mind. Great job putting that set up together.
Thanx Ksss. YA!...... it was alot of work to integrate all of the lights into Bobcats wiring harnesses ....now have all of the 4 way flashers c/w turn signals working and side strobes (amber where the boom cyl's are) and Led's amber to the rear .....there's nothing freakier than having a car/truck coming at you broadside at 65mph ....it almost seams a beacon is more of a BULL'S EYE than a warning device..... been doing this stuff for 36 years now...... been thru the open tractors w/blades , p/u's with blades, tandem dumps w/frink plows to big skidsteers .... have had skids for 12yrs now and they are by far the most versatile units going especially for snow removal, buckets, blades, and now the "Buhler 8424 Commercial Snow Blower" .....when you are opening up Logging Roads, that have never been plowed all winter, and the snow is too plentiful to put it any where nothing beats the Blower ....its been a DREAM finally come true......GK
both of thoses machines are awesome
Any pics. or videos in action?
Nice machines CRAFT & KSSS I notice both of you have chains on your machines, the guys around here that own skid steers tell me that they go through chains like crazy. I was wondering if you all do the same or have some trick to keeping them under the machine. I was told the quick radius turns are what tear them up. The guy I bought my chains from told me that I only wanted to put them on the back wheels because both would be to much wear and tear. I am new to my skid steer and was wanting some knowledge from the experts! Thanks
I have chains on the back only this year. What tore my chains up was having a huge push box. I had plenty of power, just traction was an issue. Turns can be an issue but for me the big push box was just too hard to hook up with any traction. I think I am going to go to a big snow bucket. The pusher I have is built my FFC. I have been getting my chains at Camp Equipment in Belgrade. Seem to have the best chains at the best price. You have to spend the money for the best ones or your throwing your money away on the cheap versions. I am waiting for the next snow storm and I am going to take video of the blower clearing snow and loading trucks and put it on my website.
Craft & KSSS where do you use the blowers with the high chute the most? Do you have commercial contracts or do you hire out to municipalities? How is the production rate loading trucks vs. a wheel loader? I am considering upgrading my low flow skid and blower to high flow unit. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks
I hire out to large residential and small municipalities. I normally run the smaller chute except when loading trucks. I usually can load a typical tandem truck in about 7 minutes. The colder the weather the better when blowing. You will want all the flow you can get out of whatever machine you chose. The graders make a windrow (which compacts the snow, not ideal) and I blow the snow into a truck. I would get as wide a blower as you have machine for. Mine is 85" which is as wide as I found. You get less spill off the edges that way. I think the open chute on Crafts would be better for loading trucks, no chance or much less chance of plugging. Mine will plug if you push it too hard when its warmer out. Be sure when you select a skid steer get the control handles that will allow the blower to be plugged into the electrical connection and allow chute operation from the control handles. This prevents having to have a separate control handle mounted somewhere in the machine to operate the chute direction and spout elevation. When loading trucks your constantly changing the angle of the spout or chute it seems. It would be a major PINA to have to fiddle with another control handle for those functions. When your running the blower at full capacity they use fuel. As far as advantages over a wheel loader, the biggest advantage is you can pickup the snow without worrying about backing into someone and taking up the whole road in the process. I found positioning the truck just in front of the blower works the best. I shoot over the tailgate of the dump truck. Takes some time to get on to.
Craft - Did you get much benefit from the rubber deflector on the top of your auger ? PDG X
WOW ! lots of action today ! .....where do I begin ? ........ well thanx for the compliments ! ..... We see alots of compacted snow/ice on the ground around here, usually from mid Nov. to the end of March, and with the total weight of my present and past machines, in excess of 10,000 lbs at times, there is nothing scarier than not being able to stop or keep control of your machine especially when the thing decides to go into a power slide .... there are many theories of how to chain-up a machine mine are as follows : if you chain up the front only it does not push worth a crap, but if you go over a bank with the front end, you pick-up the boom you add traction to the front taking away from the rear and out you come, it will also turn easier........ if you chain up the rear only, then you have great push, if the front end drops over the edge you can be hooooped, it also turns around easier,...... when all four are chained-up well you have the benifits of all of the above, but you can't do the donuts without leaving black dust, (seen in the spring when it dries up), all over when on asphalt, so a guy just has to use a little more finness and make larger turns........ 12 yrs ago was the last time I ever only chained up only one end, since then its all four or stay home. As far as wear to the chains goes, well there are chains and then there are real chains. If you guys noticed we (KSSS & I) are using chains that have a crosser every second side link (we call them super singles up here) that way the crossers don't get stuck in between the chevron lugs which leaves very little chain expossed. Also I found with my first sets that the material used was not heavy enough, the crossers were 6mm & 7mm including the clevises. With the weight and power of the large frame loaders in tore them apart ..... so the sets I now have are 8mm and are 5 yrs old (5 winters use) ..... 1 on my old JD 8875 and now the fourth winter on the A-300, but keep in mind that my machine is an "ÄLL WHEEL STEER" which does hugely reduces wear, but having stated that I still got 3 winters on a heavy skid-steer out of them, before I got an AWS..... So as the saying goes "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR".....What you use the machine for dictates what you should buy and use. ...... I have been known to plow many Logging roads up to 20 miles long, and drive-way/roads in excess of 2 miles long, so when you only have 1 set on or cheap chains well ???? ...NOT GOOD !! I too have a contract to load trucks with the taller shute. I wound up getting this job cause they have been loading trucks with a 966C with a chip bucket (5yd Cap) for 30 yrs and as KSSS stated no looking behind just go straight, never have to worry 'bout if there is enough room to load side ways. it was just an out dated way to do things. ....... Keep in mind as KSSS also said in a past post you need lots of flow and Hp to make it work efficiently ..... smaller units will work, but deff. not that quick .............. As far as the rubber deflector goes I found that when you are finishing up a parking lot or you come up to a building, the speed that my auger turns at it spits quite a bit of snow forward of the blower, the rubber flap WORKS, when you go into full depth snow drifts or what ever, the flap just folds in out of the way. Most all of the European blowers like Kahlbacher, Zaugg, or Westa all have those flaps on standard equipment.
Thanks for the info KSSS & CRAFT sounds like you guys love what you do. Anyways KSSS is that Belgrade Montana? and what is the cost of the better chains? Thanks again and i will defininty experment with my machine to see what works.
KSSS I understand what your saying about the hand control. I have the extra hand control for the chute. That is definitely on the upgrade list for the new machine. I do like the open the idea of Buhler tall chute being open. I'm running an Erskine blower. Performance of the Erskine has been great. But after 3 yrs. of use, I finding the metal housing of the impeller coming apart at the welded seams and the wearing thin. I would like to get into a blower constructed more for a municipal application. CRAFT how long have you used the Buhler and how do you like it's performance and construction? Is the front auger chain driven and how does it handle objects getting lodged in the auger? Meaning shear pins or hydraulic pressure release. How do like the A300 all wheel steer during snow removal operations? Your information has been great. Thanks again for the replies.
Yea its Belgrade, Mt. I bought my first set while working in Big Sky about three years ago and bought another set last year. Like Craft said be sure to get the chains with the cross chains every other link. Don't even waste your time with anything else. I priced these heavy chains all over Mt last year and Camp was the cheapest. They were $100 more in Billings. Cant remember the name but they are from Norway or something like that. They still wear but really they are the best I have found. I put 500 hours on them in Big Sky in some absolutely nasty conditions and they held up great, I got one more year out of them pushing snow and burned them off with the snow pusher. I am thinking they were like $250 for the set which is two tires.
CRAFT, I have a little problem with my blower with chunks being flung by the impeller when blowing packed banks. Does your flap reduce this from happening? Thanks
Hello Guys : JGS, I know exactly what you mean with the housing, I believe thats why the commercial Buhler has a replacable metal liner in the fan housing. My old buhler was a converted 3 point hitch model, but it had an oil bath gear box and the fan housing was a 24"dia. too. The fan housing wore a little, it got a crack at the weldment of the circle, stuck the rod to it and it welded up great. I had the old one 'bout 12 years, the old JD did not perform that great for the blower application, for the last 4 winters tho it has survived a **** kicking .... and that made me stick to a Buhler. One of the main reasons was exactly as you ask, The Structural Integrity of these units are outstanding ....... @ buhler they told me this why they had built a type specific unit for Commercial Skid steers, they tested and re-tested them to make sure they would withstand the twisting of what a skid could throw at it, the other thing was I had hit something really hard with the old one and the Auger got bent bad ..... if the hydraulic motor was bolted directly to the auger I suspect that it too would have been damaged ....(don't get me wrong I'm not slaming the Erskine, its just that I had no experiance with them or knew of no one with one, I was so close to getting one from the Bobcat dealer @ 0% on attachments, but they did not even come close to the table with price) in my case all I had to do was pull it out block it up and use one of my excavators to bend it straight again, not even an hour and good to go, a chain drive is not the nightmare that other people portray ....have NEVER broke a link or even a shear pin on the old one because of being hyd driven it was set so it would releave and stall rather than break as opposed to pto, no give ..... on the new one both the fan and auger are chain driven, the auger is built way stronger too ..... the chain size is as big as some skids drive chains ..... as far as the A-300 goes I love it have had zero issues ..... 1500hrs on it as of today and if you found the right lug on the fronts you can still make out "12X16.5"on the face (original rubber).....BTW we have no soft soils here all hard clay meshed with jagged grit and of course Rock ....in the snow it performs great cause you're not skidding one side to turn ,less ice compaction that way and in the spring when a guy goes back for final billing you don't have to hide for fear of all the ashpalt ripped up as I did before, never forget these large frame skids are HEAVY....if you noticed I have suit case weights on the rear, since I put them on the spinning virtually stopped (POPS wheelies good too LOL) customers like it too no turf dammage, I did a stump grinding job on a Golf coarse was crossing the greens with it and the manager could not believe what I had done ....only minor chevron pattern in the grass ...less than their tractors..... Hey Steve! ...thats exactly what was happening with the big blower it was spitting all the large hard crap forward, when I got close to a steel garage door I was affraid of denting them when you were peeling the compact up, and some of the places there would be a slidding door not 4' away where you stopped and guess what? .......so yes! it stopped all of the involentary projectile launching LOL ..... I mounted the flap just a hair above the auger, it was a shot in the dark and it worked, uhmm I guess too it depends on your blower if the top housing is far enough over the auger to hang down to be effective ...if not i'm sure it could be lenghtened, my housing is almost flush with the front of the auger ........ hope this helps........... TTFN ....GK
Here seems to be the place to ask a few questions so I shall. What are your thoughts on the Lorenz skidsteer snowblower? http://www.lorenzmfg.com/snow.htm And Schulte http://schulte.ca/products_snowblowers_bxseries.htm How well do they (skidsteer snowblower) go though snow drifts that have been setting for a few months? How important is the fan design? Would the lorenz six blade fan be better than a four blade? What are some design factors that you like from one brand to the next?
changexlt: I purchased a Case 445 77hp Skid Steer with an Erskine 7' blower back in December. The Case Construction dealer in Fargo said that Erskine is what the contractors use. I have a friend who has been in the snow moving business for over 20 years he has an Erskine, good solid machines no problems. As far as using the skid steer/blower in hard packed drifts it hasn't been a problem. It eats right into them just go slow. I blew along a fence line in my pasture so the animals wouldn't walk over it 2' to 4' drifts for about a half mile. The only thing I ran into on the hard packed snow is to make sure to get close enough to the ground so you don't high center the machine. I had to get pulled off after the tires lost traction once. On the taller drifts you can raise the blower take the top off back up lower the blower and blow the bottom away. I don't have high flow and it still blows snow 20 to 40 feet depending on how wet it is and how fast I try to move through it. By matching the speed to the conditions it blows it farther other wise you end up with a blowing bulldozer pushing a big pile out in front. I also have an 7' bucket with a grapple on it. It also worked very well in the hard packed drifts. Pushed the bucket into the drift as far as I could go then used the graple to take a bite. Takes longer to move snow with the bucket but uses a lot less fuel compared to running the SS wide open to turn the blower. I got a bolt on grapple form Haugen Attachments in Casselton ND. Very good heavy duty less expensive than a new bucket with a grapple and it can be removed easily. www.haugenattachments.com One thing about the Erskin I like is that there are no shear pins. It has a hydraulic relief valve that stops the augar when it gets jamed. You just reverse the auger to clear the jam. Which can happen in very hard packed snow with all makes of blowers. Nice feature beats the heck out of changing shear pins at 10 below. It has a 4 blade fan. The most important thing about purchasing a snowblower for a skid steer is to match the blower to the gallons per minute and hydraulic pressure the skid steer produces. Erskine matches the blower to the skid steers out put. Erskine blowers are made in Erskine MN which is east of Crookston MN on hwy 2. Their website is www.erskineattachments.com . Quick-Attach and Erskine are the same machine. QA sells direct to the public and Erskine sells through dealers. Airedale
Just another reason I upgraded to the commercial SS blower from Buhler...its what I have done alot of is open up roads that snowmobiles and quads or the hero 4x4 guys trying to see how far they can go before getting stuck, which leaves a muck pile of frozen hard crap...... my skid has the HP, HI-Flo and the weight to hook-up on the ground and do it in a single push.... as mentioned in the previous thread you have to slow down though .... the cutting edge plays a major role in doing this as well, so does the structural strength of the housing and side plates , ..... as my snow blades are, I take the skid shoes off right from new so that I can scrape down to the bottom .... it would be nice if all the North American manufacturers of Blowers would do as the European units...their augers are made of Hardox steel and the leading edge is serated (like teeth) check out www.kahlbacher.com or Zaug and Westa ...thats all them boys do over there is bust thru avalanches and snow drifts ..... as far as all of the Hyd blowers that I checked on they are all shear-pin less and use hydraulic relief ... I looked at the schulte's but they did not make a big enough blower for me, largest was a 74" but from what I could see they were tough ..... as far as 3,4 or 6 blades goes it requires alot of hyd hp to drive them puppies like the prop on a plane ...everyone has a different theory
With winter fast approaching us, I thought I would bring this topic back to the top of the list. An update. I have purchased a Buhler snowblower to replace the Erskine blower. After the return from the welding shop, the Erskine will be kept as a backup. I am very impress with the construction of the blower. This blower definately is built with commercial/municipal work in mind. I will be interested in seeing how it performs.
Congrats with the new blower purchase ! ...... and YUP tis the season to begin yapen bout this stuff, and before you know it we'll be up to our arm pitts in it and wish'n that it was spring again ....LOL ..... I too am looking forward to using my new one.... got ripped off last season here, Not much snow........BTW which model did you get, and what are you using it on...maybe post some pics ?...........:drinkup
I happen to stumble onto this blower. A dealer about 2.5 hrs. west of me had it. It was demoed once and sat for over a year. Almost half the price of a new one. I bought the Buhler B7422HSB-2. Its a low flow unit that matches my hydraulic flow. For now it will be attach to a Takeuchi TL130. I am still looking to upgrade my CTL.
There was a You-tube video of the same blower as yours, mounted on an ASV 60 ..... if my memory serves me correctly........ just enter a google search for buhler snow blower it should still pop up in the list Keep us posted this winter how it works out for you ...... :drinkup
Anyone got the snow blower attachment on a tracked machine?
adan .... look at JGS's 2 posts back thats what a TL130 is ..... and the you-tube clip is also one .......... :cool2
adan what's your question? As I posted. I do run a snow blower on a tracked machine.
I have a T190 and my dealer was trying to tell me it won't hook up traction for a snow blower attachment or a dozer blade in the snow..
I am running a New Holland LX 170 high flow with an IFC commercial blower. Two years ago I switched from chains to studded snow tires. I have had this unit running commercially for 5 years. Must haves are 1. good lights 2. good wiper 3. good defroster 4. good coffee mug 5. tons of snow
I have a tracked Cat, and it is scary if you are on hard pack or ice!! It is great on everything else.
I have have been running a ctl in snow for quite a few years now. Rubber tracks are terrible on hard packed snow, ice, glazed surfaces, or especially steep grades. I will only use my ctl with the snowblower. I have found as long as you drive forward with equal power going to both tracks, you can get enough traction to use the blower. There are are tracks made by Bridgestone called Polar tracks designed specifically for snow. I have no experience with them. But heard they offer better traction than the oem tracks.
We switched to studded Master Craft MSR snow tires on our New Holland. They have lasted for 3 seasons and counting. The traction is fantastic, and no more blowing through chains every season. They are not as good as chains for plowing, but with the blower, I will never go back.
adan ! ...you're in flatland country you won't have a problem ..... take a bunch of short sheet metal screws and stud the track like we do on snowmobiles there are even special studs for CTL's for that purpose too .... BC also has winter tracks now available if you wanna spend the big bucks ... telivader ? ... not a big problem but the guy was wanting to know about a TRACKED skid-steer and not a Tired Skid-steer, LOL but seeing you mentioned the Mastercraft tires who sells them ? ....Canadian Tire ? ..... :beatsme
Buhler snowblower Hi, I was hoping someone could help me. We picked up a Buhler 7422 HSB 1 snowblower on an auction. We have it on a 80 horse skid steer with 3000 psi rating. It has 23 gallons per minute. The issue is that it just doesn't seem to blow far...we were thinking it would blow at least 25 feet, but it just doesn't seem to be able to do close to that. I know the HSB-1 model has the lowest gpm needs, middle teens. What is our best way to remedy this? I read in the manual something about adjusting the hydraulic module, but the fan is always supposed to be the primary motor anyway, but could that be an issue? Should we buy a HSB-3 motor which would be rated closer to 23 gpm? Or is that not as much a problem as just that the fan doesn't have the capacity. Its 22 inches in diameter. The skid steer seems to have the power, it doesn't bog down. We need help?
i think you need high flow for a blower
When I was looking around to buy a blower. They really stressed that the blower needed to be matched to the gpm that the machine put out to perform properly. I have a Quick Attach regular flow blower and my machine flows around 22gpm if I remember right, and it will blow fluffy snow about 25-30. If the snow it heavy that distance drops a lot.
7422-1 is a good unit, and there are alot of ways to play with what you've got there ! Providing you actually are suppling 23gpm .... the type-1 series uses the 2000 series eaton motors (2) with a 6.2 cu.in disp. ..... the thing is you can throttle back a bit to reduce the gpm ..... but you have to know if the fan impeller is at rpm ..... maybe this will help .... (23gpm x 231) divide that by 6.2 cu.in = 857 rpm (@ 100%) but they call it drive train loss you use the figs @ 80% = 685rpm fan impeller speed .... I did alot of playing around with my 8424-4 it ran at 575rpm (@80% w/stock gearing) I changed the fan gearing from 15t x 15t, and geared it up to 20t (bottom sprocket on motor) X 15t (top sprocket-fan shaft) .... now its ~747rpm .... It'll put the dry snow out to 80' (measured it) .... but in the heavier snow it'll stall out abit easier now .... I had to play with the hyd module that adjusts the priority flow from auger to fan or visa/versa ..... But you have to know what the fan is doing ! .... yours rpm is plenty according to the hyd formulas (math) I checked mine with a hand held Stewart Warner tach (available at any auto parts place, ~$70.. money well spent)... its easy to use, the butt end of the fan shaft is exposed behind your attachment Q/A plate (you won't get bitten by the chain and sprockets, they are in behind the housing, you'll see it) ... I checked it many times and the formulas are acurate for the math calculated RPM I have another Allied/Buhler blower that was converted from a 3 pt hitch set-up to hyd ... it has the same 2000 series motor as yours, only its the 9.6 cu.in ....I had to play with the gearing as well, and I ran that unit with 21gpm (standard flow).... not recommended by Eaton but I ran that thing on hi-flow throttled back to about 30gpm (for hundreds of hrs with no problems) it blew snow like crazy, the fan speed was around 750-800rpm ... because it was the 2000 motor it did not have the torque to grunt thru the heavy stuff with out slowing down the ground speed ..... where the 6000 series on the new one will .... I went to the big-boy because of the wider housing and the remote control ability of the shute/tipper, purchased the truck-loading shute as well .... ALSO on the Buhler, the ability to fine tune adjust gearing with the chain driven auger and fan, where as the direct driven ones you cannot, when you suck bad things up the Motor never gets wrecked. The adjustment module is sensative, you will have to start with the base adjusments given in the manual (available on-line infull on Buhlers site) and have to play with it, Listen to the FAN ! ...that's the trick. I hope this will help you out to make it work efficiently ... let me know if we can help out more ....Cheers ...
Craft that is some good information you have provided. As I previously posted, I upgraded into a Buhler from an Erskine. I am not getting quite the same performance out of the Buhler as I am from the Erskine. My blower operates between 18-22 gpm. The last storm I used a friend's skid with the Buhler. His skid seamed to have a little better production. His flow rate was at 21gpm@3200psi. Mine was at 18gpm @3000psi. I would think you would see a very slight improvement if any for that reason. Craft have you experienced the chute jumping off the rollers it rotates on? It has happened to me several times now. Once while traveling over a speed bump. The ride from a CTL can be very intense. Other times while shaking snow of the blower. As you know the chute has some weight to it.
YES I have but it was more to my not paying attention to the 4 roller/wheels getting loose .... they are only 1/2"bolts and lock washer with a nut .... I replaced them with a Nylock nut .... when the rollers freeze up it kinda binds, causing the nuts to back off, enough to get extra play and BINGO we have lift off ..... also make sure the base plate is not bent the wrong way out, check to see if the holes are elongated .... the base plate could get bent only if the shute was to come off when the bolts came loose before ...... deffinately a pure case of OPERATOR ABUSE ..... LOL .... I'd fire an operator that let that happen ..... what do you think ? .....LOL ....cheers
Wow, lots of good information CRAFT. This is way more informative than anything I've gotten from the dealer or Buhler itself. So are you saying that running the machine full throttle could actually hurt performance or just not improve performance? So I guess the first thing I need to do is adjust the module and figure out the rpm's. My max rpm should be 857rpm? Then depending on how that comes out I could tinker with the sprockets?
JWM : No not hurt performance, hurt the hyd motor .... The gpm of the smaller disp motors may not handle the extra gpm output of 23gpm of the skid-steer for extended periods, those 6.2 cu.in motors are rated for maybe only 20gpm max (continious duty) when you try to jam the extra gpm of the machine through the motors they rev too high, so if you throttle back a couple hundred rpm the gpm will also drop... (boy what a mouthfull).... anyways thats where the hand held tach comes into play .... the hyd formula I used is the one used to calculate rpm of the hyd motor ... so if they (eaton) say that the max gpm is 20gpm for that 2000 series motor you multiply that 20gpm by 231= 4620 (don't ask me what the 231 is for, ask a hyd engineer, its in the book) ... then you divide that number by the given disp of the motor which was 6.2cu.in = 745rpm but that is @100% (I guess that is when everything is perfect, nothing is, eg: a gas engine may have a flywheel rated hp of 300hp, but you have drive train loss of 15-20%, 45-60hp lost = 240hp at the rear wheels) ... so ... 745rpm x 80% = 596rpm actual working rpm .... again this is where the tach comes in ... I checked my BC which has 37gpm on hi-flow, the formula was bang on at WOT but as soon as the blower started to work the diesel rpm drops (maybe only 200rpm, so I ran the diesel 200rpm less than WOT and checked the fan shaft rpm (no-load) .... thats why I started to play with the gearing to get the fan to spin slightly faster with my 37gpm output .... the 6000 series motors I have are rated for a max 40-50 gpm (depends who you listen to) if you do the math for the higher gpm the fan will be spinning faster, so I played with the calculator and found that if I changed the sprocket up to the 20T it gave me the shaft rpm I was seeking ...... The diff was the casting distance of the snow... like in my case I have a contract that I push/scrape all the snow to a common point in the parking lot (too many cars, p/u's, windows, and people walking around, its a 24/7 Coffee/ donut shop) I then put the blower on and throw it up and over a conc block wall, the further I can throw it the better, gives more room for a whole winters stock-piling .... when I changed the gearing ratio it gave me an extra 15-20'. The point I was making in the earlier post was that you can fine tune the blower to match your job needs (to a point)..... I have the Hp and torque to drive the bigger blower on my BC, but in the case of your 7422-1 and if its just for personal use, you don't have to fork out the extra coin for motors better matched to your skid .... a great deal at first can make it into a not so great deal in a hurry. The module acts like a balancer between the fan and auger and as they say in the manual if the fan stalls turn the screw one way ... if the auger stalls too easy turn it the other way, till you have it that the auger will stall just slighty before the fan to prevent shute clogging ...... its a bit of farting around, an extra set of eyes help make it easier. The best rpm is dictated by the torque of the hyd motor, you have the hyd flow and psi just not a higher torque hyd motor.... like trying to take an under powered truck up a hill in overdrive ... sooner or later you have to gear down ... as I also posted before the older smaller blower I have blows snow like crazy, BUT you can't overload it the hp/torque is way less than the big boy .... just gotta keep that fan spinning as fast as you can to throw effectively.... If I had to guess I'd be playing with the module.... sounds to me as if the fan is stalling out too soon .... gotta start some where. I hope this kinda cleared up your grey areas .... I have been playing with this stuff for a few years to come up with simple answers that might work .... gotta be able to help yourself if you don't have the FAT wallet ... cheers again
Thanks CRAFT. Great info...sounds like we've got some adjustment to do. Would it be fair to say that since we've got the extra power and gpm, that maybe we could get by pretty good with the larger sprocket-as long as we run the engine rpm at a level appropriate for the motor? First we'll definitely try adjusting the module, just thinking 'down the road'. We are actually dairy farmers and have some open cattle yards that drift and the snow adds up quickly. Before we haul all the snow out in the manure spreader-even though it is 95% snow... it just takes all day long. We want to be able to blow the snow a good 20-30 feet plus to blow it over the fence into the pasture instead of hauling it out. Thanks again for all the info, we really appreciate it. Next time the weather turns a bit warmer, we'll have to tinker with it.
JWM ... something was really bugging me regarding the rated max output of the 104-1062 ... 2000 series hyd motors that are on your blower. I went back into my files and found in older literature from Buhler, that those motors should handle up to 25gpm 100% continuous duty with a min 2000psi (even though Eaton says max 19gpm). I've come across this before from the OEM of my mulcher, seem that the OEMs are always higher, and Eaton is covering their butt with lower numbers. I you have a good hyd shop or hyd supplier that you can call and ask them for the rated specs ... it'd be interesting what they'd say. Your machine with 23gpm and 3000psi should make that blower humm perfectly, again you should hear that fan whirrrr sound if it's up to proper rpm ... get that had held tach ... you won't regret it, if you need the SW part number i'll get it for you. The stock gearing should put it out there at least 30-40' Ohh BTW if you decide to play with the sprockets, the largest sprocket that'll fit in the housing is the 20T, that might be too big for the hyd hp available, the sprockets are real cheap I probably would only go up 2T larger to 17T (up here they're about $17 ea.) Pray for snow ... LOL ... so you can go play
howdy all, i have been watching this thread with great interest since it's beginning. i have a 1845c that i bought brand new in 1986 and use it daily in my firewood business during the summer months to load tree lenght wood on my firewood processor. i want to buy a erskine model es2010 snowblower and use it to keep my woodyard and house/chainsaw shop cleared up of snow during the winter months.my question is.....will this unit work well here at my house/business location with the current hydraulics my case 1845c has now???.... i would like to beleive the sales man,but i would like to hear/read from others-here on this forum.
Fyrwood guy: Before making any decisions, you need to know the gpm's and psi of your hydraulic system. It is very important to match your machine to the right blower to maximize the performance. It would be worth while giving Erskine a direct call and verifying the correct match to your machine. I have an Erskine and have done that and found them to be very knowledgeable. I have been using it on a low flow Takeuchi 130. It operates @18gpm/3000psi. I have been using it to move snow piles from the ends of parking lots. The snow is much heavier from being turned over and compacted. I have been happy with it's performance. I like the Erskine performance. But have found that the welds and housing of the blower dose not hold up well. I contribute that mostly to how I use it. As you read from previous posts I have upgraded to a Buhler blower. I find the Buhler to be built for a more commercial applications. Another consideration with your machine, you will need additional controls added to rotate and adjust the chute. They do offer a pistol grip controller option to be installed into machines that are without.
nice equipment!