[fonz3482]

Well everyone, now im offically waiting for snow!! I bought these 2 air tires from tractor supply on sale for 5.99 ea. I drilled 2 holes in the blower sides so the cutting edge is about 1/2" off the ground, and I installed them with 1/2" grade 8 bolts. I'm hoping that the tires will keep my stones in the driveway and out of the grass until the ground freezes solid. Then I will simply remove the tires and run the blower normally. I also got the fel loader ready for moving piles. I marked the driveway out with stakes, got the garage cleaned and helped a buddy swap winter tires onto his girlfriends car(it had a stripped lugnut head, he tried to do it on his own and spent 4hrs, then came over to my place for help.) So it was a real productive night. Enjoy the pics, and let it snow!!

 

[slkpk]

Very cool and let us know how it works out for you. slkpk

 

[ken erickson]

Nice mod! Thanks for sharing, also looking forward to how the wheels work out for you .

 

[Gears_1]

Love it! Great idea.

I've only used the blower (front mount) once this year and I have a gravel driveway. I have the runner feet all the way down and as best as I tried to adjust the level with the hydraulic front hitch I would throw way too much gravel.

I wasn't half way in the door when my wife says "You're doing the raking in the spring!!". Crap...!!

 

[HellBender]

The wheels look like an awesome idea. I don.t see how it can't work for you.

A tip to rake those stones. I took a leaf rake with metal tangs and cut them down, rebent them so they're stiffer. It has backbone but more flex than a regular stone rake for pulling them stones out of the grass. Blow your snow close to the driveway so they're close to the driveway.

 

[jthomley]

Nice Fonz!

Wish I had enough snow to need something like that.

 

[Gears_1]

Well...I've had 12" of snow this week. After two rounds of blowing snow there is one thing I am noticing. The skid shoes I have set for 'gravel'...seem to be causing more of a problem than anything else. From what I have observed, it looks like the skid shoes start to plow the gravel up in front...into the auger. Lifting the blower unit is fine...but there's probably more snow left behind than necessary as a result.

I'm going to remove the skid shoes and see what I can manage.

Still interested to see how Fonz makes out with the wheel setup...

 

[TUDOR]

I've always found that it is beneficial to pack the first snowfall, rather than clear it. This tends to lock the gravel in snowpack rather than spraying it all over the yard.

Probably not the best solution if your area has numerous freeze/thaw cycles through the winter, or if the ground doesn't freeze after the first snowfall.

It worked for me when I used the blower and it still works for me with the FEL. I found that I could remove the skids after the 3rd or 4th snowfall and use the cutting edge of the blower to keep the driveway planed down so there was very little slush in the spring.

 

[fonz3482]

Sorry guys, no reviews yet. We just broke a record from 1899 for no snow fall yet. Someday i'll get to test it out. I also agree with tudor, I'm hoping the 1st snow fall we get is 3-6", I'll pack it with my car and the tractor fel, then I'm going to run the blower on the wheels until I know the ground is frozen. Then the wheels will come off because I dont want to make a huge ice base on my driveway.

 

[alexleblanc]

i did this a while back on my craftsmen walk behind, after a season it started bending the sides out and the wheels became cambered out, i ended up building a bracket for it so the wheel had mounting on both sides of the wheel and they is fixed the problem.
Probably as clear as mud, if you want i can draw out what i built.

 

[Gears_1]

Rookie mistake today.

We've had some snow, about 1ft+/- last week. I have to admit, the municipality where I live gets top marks for snow clearing. For once, I think we actually might be getting some value for our tax dollars. So today, the plow did a couple of passes to clean the shoulders, etc. That left about 16" across the end of the driveway. It's heavy, wet and I din't want to leave it there to freeze. (some of you have figured it out already)

At one point I needed to shut down the blower or fill mine and my neighbor's mailbox. No problem...put the PTO in neutral and push the pile about 6ft...done...engage the PTO and...CLINK! I instantly knew what I had done...good thing I got those extra shear bolts! So...back up the drive way... hanging my head in shame...hoping my neighbors didn't see the reckless PTO engagement.

So, I now have assembled a kit containing:

2 - 13mm wrenches
1 - 3" nail
1 - garden trowel
2 - sets of shear bolts

Hopefully I won't need the kit again if use my head...

 

[fonz3482]

Well I finally got the chance to try out the blower. We got @ 12" of snow and It worked awesome!!! I didn't hear or see any stones shooting through the blower, and it left about 1/2" of base down on the gravel. I then put the bucket down flat, and packed all the snow down after I removed the snow.