I have a JD 214 with a 37" snowblower on it. Works great with 1 exception..it tends to ride up over the snow in some areas. I'm sure its do to my gravel driveway which is not perfectly level and the fact of it's short wheelbase. It does work better than a plow but I'm looking for ideas to keep the front down. Any thoughts? I already have the skids up as high as they will go. I may take them off completely.
Snowblower ideas?
- Thread starter rwhite
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SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I have the same thing happening with my DK45 and 72" blower. Eventually I will buy a hydraulic top link, useful for other things, and then I can adjust angle of attack and height on the fly. My driveway currently has too many large stones to run the blower without skids. I pick up a few stones occasionally with the skids set to the second of three levels.
Adjust your top link. They make small ones. I have SB48 Blower. https://www.harborfreight.com/category-1-top-link-60634.html
its your skids that are riding up and over the snow. You can also try sharpening your cutting edge a bit if it has one so it will cut into the snow... Also slowing down sometimes helps and not driving over the hump.. As soon as you drive over it it gets packed and your done
I was thinking of grinding a chamfer on the cutting edge to get it to cut in. I'll try that.
Medic21
Minister of Fire
Is it hydraulic lift? If it is you could add a two way valve and cyl for the snow blower and use down pressure.
I have a huge rear mount blower (Lucknow 80" double auger )and a 10 foot repurposed power angle county road plow and they both sit most of the time because I'm retired so I don't need to be wasting diesel fuel and I don't find removing snow to be all that much fun anyway.
Only time I get them out is if the road becomes impassable and I need to go somewhere.
I got it if I need it but, unless it's urgent, I prefer staying inside where it's warm and toasty.
Only time I get them out is if the road becomes impassable and I need to go somewhere.
I got it if I need it but, unless it's urgent, I prefer staying inside where it's warm and toasty.
jd 214, unless his came with the FEL, it is mechanical lift, as about 90 % of lawn tractors are. I do not know what the FEL option for that unit cost when new , saw a used set up on flea bay for $400. packed snow is only one reason for riding up the other is too fast forward speed where the blower is overloaded vs it's ability to blow the amount collected. You can run into the same problem with a walk behind.
Mechanical lift. I've thought about going electric or hydraulic but haven't found the right deal yet. I'd like to find an entire parts tractor. Probably cheaper than just the unit. I only paid $1k for an excellent tractor with mower and snowblower and 200lbs of weight. The units I've found on Ebay are 1/2 that
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Thought about that but I dont think the manual lift will handle to much more. The blower is fairly heavy as it is. I need to get the dimensions of a new scraper and see how mine compares. It may not be wide enough. I do have the option of drilling a hole in the blower frame and putting a pin in it to keep it from pivoting up. Only issue is getting off everytime I back up so I can lift it up. Otherwise dragging it backwards just packs it more.
I have a '94 425 with hyd quick hitch, 47 blower, 54 blade and recently got a "Little Buck Loader" for it. Hyd down pressure will pick my front wheels 4" off the ground. Due to cracks & frost heaves I have unfortunately plowed up a few small chunks of my pavement. OUCH.
Gravel is a different animal when it comes to snow removal. I have a small section of gravel for a parking area and purposely let an inch or 2 of snow on it. I'd rather deal with the ice than pick the gravel out of the lawn each spring.
I'd try inspecting, adjusting or replacing the scraper edge. Another idea may be to take your existing scraper and cut "teeth" into it to make it look & function like a tooth bar for a loader bucket. If your blower weight sits on the teeth, you will actually have more pounds per square inch of contact pressure. Hopefully that would scrape up the packed areas. Worst case you would have to run over those areas a second time to scrape the remainder.
Gravel is a different animal when it comes to snow removal. I have a small section of gravel for a parking area and purposely let an inch or 2 of snow on it. I'd rather deal with the ice than pick the gravel out of the lawn each spring.
I'd try inspecting, adjusting or replacing the scraper edge. Another idea may be to take your existing scraper and cut "teeth" into it to make it look & function like a tooth bar for a loader bucket. If your blower weight sits on the teeth, you will actually have more pounds per square inch of contact pressure. Hopefully that would scrape up the packed areas. Worst case you would have to run over those areas a second time to scrape the remainder.
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