[Matttman]

JDQA Snowblower???

Hello,

Has anyone given any thought on how to attach a Deere 54" snowblower to a JDQA loader? I always find it a pain to swap between a loader and a quickhitch snowblower (especially in the cold). I'm thinking about welding some JDQA brackets to the back of the 54" snowblower, and simply picking it up with the loader arms. I will probably have to install a longer front pto shaft, I already have 4 hydraulic circuits in the front of my tractor, (2 to run the loader - I'd probably disable the curl, and 2 for the snowblower chute/deflector). I guess I could try it without lifting the loader arms too high so the PTO doesn't fall off and dis-engage. Maybe I can put some sort of pin in that will prevent the loader arms from extending too far....

Anyone have any thoughts?
matt

 

[Sergeant]

Someone on this forum I think did that with a JD 400. Just search the forum. He did a Build thread I believe :thThumbsU

 

[TUDOR]

I installed a 48" blower on the FEL of my MF1655 and found a couple of problems in short order.

1. The arms needed to be chained down to the tractor frame.

2. The ends of the arms move in an arc taking the blower farther out from the front of the tractor as it is lifted.

3. When all the way down, the drive shaft is fully collapsed to the point of interference. When the blower is 8" off the ground, the drive shaft is pretty much fully extended and can come apart if the bucket curl can move at all. My loader has a self leveling feature which most do not. Even at that, the bucket (or blower) tilts back as it rises, just not as far as a conventional loader bucket will tilt. That tilt throws the chute geometry off for snow exiting when cutting down tall drifts. The snow doesn't go where you planned. If you curl forward to correct, the drive shaft comes apart.

In the unlikely event that I can try this again, the blower will be powered hydraulically and the loader will be able to lift it to full height to cut down big snow banks without issue.

 

[Matttman]

Hi Tudor,
I don't think I need to lift the blower more than 4-6 inches off the ground (which is what the JD quick hitch currently does). The lift isn't needed to cut big drifts, just to back up the tractor.

I would like to add some sort of safety which will prevent the loader from lifting more than that, and I'm not really sure how to do that yet.

The other problem is that I will lose the ability to angle the blower (left to right) which allows me to make tighter turns.

The good part is that the JDQA brackets can be welded on, and they wont interfere with the quick hitch, which means I could use it in both configurations.

Matt

 

[grandpajay]

Matt,
That will be quite the engineering feat to get the thrower to angle. I’ll certainly be watching how you do that!

My experience over the years is that, once the thrower has engaged the snow pile, it wants to continue in a straight line.

If you click on my name, you can find my assortment of build threads including the SSQA thrower mod.

Jay

 

[Matttman]

Hi Jay,

On my JD its a standard feature, and I've been using it for the past 7-8 years. The JD front quick hitch has a rotation (left-right) which most people use for the front blade. Deere also uses it for their front broom, which has the same/similar front PTO setup as the snowblower. It works very well... point the snowblower in the direction you want to go, and it acts like an articulated tractor - and you are able to make much tighter turns while blowing without having the tires run over uncut snow. I also added some 45 degree wings to the front of the blower to take a wider cut and make turning even easier.
Matt

 

[quackaddict]

It would seem like hydraulics would be the way to go to power the blower on a loader, and I feel it would be a waste of resources. Fluid power while amazing and versatile does not match Shaft power off a PTO. To cobble together enough safety features to keep the unit from coming apart while in use with a shaft PTO seems like a solution in search of a problem.

For tasks like brush hogging and blowing snow where continuous flow is needed to spin something I feel the task is better left to PTO setups. A 70hp skid loader struggles with a 5' hog while a 50hp tractor with a PTO hog acts like nothing is there.

 

[9297oldram]

A friend had one on the front of his and it used a gas engine to run the blower.

 

[Wfburton159]

Hi Jay,

On my JD its a standard feature, and I've been using it for the past 7-8 years. The JD front quick hitch has a rotation (left-right) which most people use for the front blade. Deere also uses it for their front broom, which has the same/similar front PTO setup as the snowblower. It works very well... point the snowblower in the direction you want to go, and it acts like an articulated tractor - and you are able to make much tighter turns while blowing without having the tires run over uncut snow. I also added some 45 degree wings to the front of the blower to take a wider cut and make turning even easier.
Matt

What tractor do you have? This is not a standard feature that is to be used with the snowblower. The angle cylinder is intended to be for the blade and broom only. Do you have a third hydraulic circuit or do you not use the chute rotation when you are angling your snowblower?

What your are asking to do is a serious undertaking. It has been done by Grandpajay and he locked the curl function on the loader solid and limited his lift arm function with a slotted strap. Very nice work he did there on that.

 

[Matttman]

What tractor do you have? This is not a standard feature that is to be used with the snowblower. The angle cylinder is intended to be for the blade and broom only. Do you have a third hydraulic circuit or do you not use the chute rotation when you are angling your snowblower?

What your are asking to do is a serious undertaking. It has been done by Grandpajay and he locked the curl function on the loader solid and limited his lift arm function with a slotted strap. Very nice work he did there on that.

Hi,
I have an x575 with 45 loader (recently upgraded to JDQA bucket/forks). I also have 4 circuits in the front of the tractor, so controlling the angle, up/down, chute, and deflector is not an issue.

The Deere dealer originally installed the 47" blower on the JD quick hitch (with angle function) when I purchased it. They checked with the factory and said it wasn't an issue since it was tested with the rotary broom. I recently upgraded to a 54" blower (last year). Like I said, I've been using it for 7-8 years and it made clearing a circular driveway a breeze. Since then I've been clearing a winding path in a forest area on my property with tighter turns, and haven't had an issue there either.

The only reason I was thinking about putting the snowblower on JDQA brackets was for easy and quick swapping between the bucket, snow pusher, and snowblower.
matt

 

[grandpajay]

Matt,
I’d sure love to see some pictures of your set up!

 

[Matttman]

There are a couple of pics of the loader when I did the JDQA upgrade this past fall in thread...
https://www.mytractorforum.com/12-j...17-converting-45-loader-jdqa-anyone-done.html
I'll try to post some snowblower pics this weekend.

 

[donmac]

A friend had one on the front of his and it used a gas engine to run the blower.

that would be the way to go with a bercomac self powered blower! they have remote start/chute making it a simple install!