Snow, long driveway and being a tight A$, uh (hindend)

Here I sit, new big "used" snowblower I bought for the heated Oliver is a peice of carp, it sdoesnt throw the snow more than 5 feet, guessing the impeller is just wore way down from where it should be. The 544D just will not start this am, she just wont fire and it's been plugged in for 2 days,2 year old batt's are not cranking and I needed to put the charger on, so apparently i can't even use the smaller blower. So I resort to the skidloader and that smaller 66" litter/lightmaterial bucket. Been out since 6:30, it's now 9:45 and all I accomplished was to clear out a couple elderly neighbors so they could make it to church and break a trail down our 1/2 mile drive so the wife can make it to church. Now that I am good and frustrated I need to decide if I should by a blower for the skid loader( heated cab), go buy a new 3pt blower for the oliver(heated cab), or just go buy a plow for the 1 ton and try to deal with the snow banks along the driveway drifting me in, I have 100 acres+ open feilds to the north and northwest. I have been getting buy with what I have since the place was bought in '04, but them were pretty mild winters. Thanks for letting me vent, now to make up my mind before "el cheapo" gets in my brain again.

Should have went to church with your wife! Get your mind off of the snow.

how much hp is the oliver? how big the blower? even with the impeller worn it should better then that. the impeller depends on the rpm of the pto. if you have a 1000 pto try puttin it on that one. we used ours on the 4630 for years which was 1000 an man would it blow. that is if you have enough hp. i have a V plow on a pickup also its nice but it has it limits an eventually you run out of run to put the stuff an have to blow.
we live down a 1/2 mile private road with banks on the sides in places.
johndeeregene

i'd put a blower on the skidsteer. heres one
snow blower

Dave,
If you're gonna spend money, go with a blower on the skid loader. If I had a heated cab on mine, I'd be all over that idea. What a slick deal when you have a nice heated cab. Also, think about how nice it would be to not have to look backwards while blowing like you do with the tractor. With your driveway, you don't want banks from the blade on a pickup, because they are gonna fill in. I didn't want to start the tractor today, so I had my brother use the pickup and plow, but I can already see that soon I am going to blow those banks away because they are going to cause my driveway to fill in. Mine's not nearly as long as yours, but it's no fun when it blows and now the 3" snowfall just put 18" in your driveway because of the blowing.
Besides, a blower for the skidsteer and a good truck blade will run you about the same price.
Last thought, although not ideal I'm sure, is there any chance of putting the blower that is on the I.H. on the Oliver to get you by for awhile?

Yup - Minnesota winters are back, after a 3 year absence!

--->Paul

Well, It"s on a 1750, which is putting out < guessing, closer to 100hp. It"s a older Lorenze 3 auger blower, it was missing the tractor 1/2 of the pto so when I called and gave them the tag# the said it is a 540rpm pto, and thats what they sent me. I dont have a tractor with 1000rpm. Normally I brave the cold and wind with the 544, no cab, but the JD blower on that is narrower than the tractor tire width.

I may try that, the Oliver is set for 30" rows and the 544D is set for wide rows so I may gain a couple inches. How's little one doing?

Doing great! Her and Mama went to church this morning, but I'm fighting a nasty cold. Either hacking or blowing, and didn't want to do that there.

That's a 2-stage blower, right? (I know the current models are all 2-stage.)

From what I've heard those Lorenz blowers are BEASTS and throw snow to beat heck!

From my experience with 2-stage snowblowers, 540 RPM units are direct drive to the paddle wheel and 1000 RPM units have a gear reducer between the PTO shaft and paddle wheel. How is your's set up?

Direct drive to the paddle wheel. Eats sure eats the snow with the augers, but doesnt throw it worth a darn. Maybe 20 feet with a good tail wind.

somethings not right!!! sure you dont have a sheared bolt where the fan attaches to the shaft???? or however its attached somethings is loose???? check it out---

soemthings wrong--sheared bolt where paddle attaches to the shaft, or something attaching it is way loose--check---also---skid steer blowers are about 5400 moneys!!!!!!

From past experence with Lorenze,They are or were the "Biggest Pile of JUNK"that was ever made(Snow Blowers).I kept mine two days and could never move over a couple inches of snow with it.When they wanted to pay me to fix it and let them take pictures of when fixed,they got it back and the dealer sent TWO semi loads back to the factory.If yours was made in that time period(78-83,84)you have your hands full.

Dave, could you post some pictures of the blower and the fan? I can see a big blower having trouble with light snow but if you back her into deep snow it should throw it. I have a Farm King double auger and it will throw snow 100 feet or more in a huge arch.

I'd go with a blower on the skidsteer. Might as well put her to work when you're not scooping chicken poop. Maybe next fall I'll come help you put up some snow fence if you like. Have some brats and beers, too.

Dave,

I suspect that where the blower fan joins the shaft driving it that you have a sheared key. Maybe a long 5/16" of 3/8" square key or maybe one or more Woodruff keys in line.

I have an Allied 8' blower 1990 vintage that had some oak firewood run through the blower (damm lying customer) and bent the 'ell out of it. With a bit of torch work and some welding, we put it back to work blowing snow in about 3 hours. It will still throw snow in a serious manner. I think the Lorenz is a tougher blower than my Allied.

Does this Lorenz have a 3 shaft gear box ahead of the fan? If so, there may be a sheared key under a gear inside of the gear box.

Another possibility is that the PTO engagement of the Oliver is slipping. If it is engaged with a hydraulic pressure on a PTO band (like the Fords do) then that is a possibility.

Because of the huge cost of the blower and the necessary hydraulic motor drive, I would not buy a blower for the Bobcat. Unless you can keep the Bobcat in a heated garage or shed, the cold starts on the Bobcat can eat up the hydrostats and main hydraulic pump. Besides, if you get the Bobcat sliding around on the ice they have no steering control. When you get stuck in the field in mud, you can "bucket" yourself out. When you have the snowblower attached, you are in deep doo-doo. Besides the bobcat has so little ground clearance you can easily hang it up on hard snow. I speak from experience on this, I have 2 plow trucks w/8' blades, 2 130 Hp tractors powering 8' 2 stage blowers, one 105 hp tractor w/front and rear 9' blades and a 975 Bobcat with 9 ft snow bucket. I only use the bobcat when I have to load snow into trucks to haul it out. The bobcat is just too slow for longer or wider drives. The bobcat has the highest maintanence costs per hour of any of the above equipment.

BTW, if you do buy the bobcat snowblower, check to see if your bob is equipped with the high flow hydraulic circuit first.

Your cheapest solution is to fix your Lorenz or your Oliver. But it is your $$$$ to do as you want.

Paul in MN