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Snowblower - Runners or Wheels?


HubbardRA

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I've never owned a snowblower before, but am currently in the process of mounting a Sears snowblower onto my AC716H. Blower has no runners on it. My question is: Should I make runners or put wheels on the rear of the blower if I am going to use it on a gravel driveway? I need some expert opinions.
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Rod, mine has skids on it. That one didnt have any? If you decide you need a pic of the originals let me know. I've never used one with wheels. Only ones I've ever seen with wheels were craftsman. Only reason I can think of for wheels is so you dont scratch and scrape a blacktop drive. I'd go with whichever is easier to fabricate but wheels would probably jump over gravel giving a rough finish where skids might slide large gravel out of the way till everything is frozen solid. Just my opinions. Dan
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Rod, I bought a Dynamark 8HP walk behind 30 some years ago, had for 20 some years and never replaced a scraper bar because it had steel wheels and they wore down little to nothing. I had a flat surface to work with though, concrete. As far as a gravel driveway goes using runners would be my bet as you are going to have raise your cutting edge somewhat so you don't snag your blower on the wheel depressions that will always be present. My two cents.
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Rod, I used a B110 with the 36" single belt blower on my parent's gravel driveway for a number of years. I lowered the skids (L shaped in cross section) on each side of the blower to about 1" below the bottom of the blower; this worked pretty well and prevented the blower from digging into the gravel. The driveway was a fairly fine evenly packed stone. I'm sure the type and condition of driveway would effect the distance you'd have to set the skids to clear the most snow while minimizing the amount of stones thrown. You can count on throwing some stones, especially if someone's driven on the driveway and spun the wheels down to gravel. I'm not sure rear mounted wheels would work as well since I don't believe they'd "cut" down to the top of the gravel the way the skids do. I think they'd tend to ride up on top of packed snow and the blower would keep raising higher than you want. Just my opinion, I don't have any experience.
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I don't think wheels would be that good of a idea...I had a walk behind/push blower that had little lawn mower type wheels and they would just get snow packed on them and stop turning anyway...I think all the Wheel Horse blowers had wheels too...might not be bad on a tractor but that walk behind was a bear to push when the wheels would not turn...
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My "62" simplicity sno-away, walkbehind has the orig. steel wheels,no good in my gravel driveway,,considering going to sometype of ski/skids,,,really throws crushed rock a good distance. mike
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On my broabmoor the tractor kept trying to ride over the blower. I was thinking that wheels would prevent this from happening. My drive way is crushed stone. It seens to me that wheels mite be better. I have the skide adjusted so the blower is about 1 and 1/2 inches above the grownd. Elon
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Thanks for the info guys! Dan, Kirk, Pictures would help with the skid design. I would appreciate picts if you have the time. By-the-way, I was actually thinking of a set of rollers across the rear of the blower like the mowers have on them. Do you think this would just be a snow catcher and jam up?
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Love to see how u mount the sears blower. I came across 2 older Sears blower last week for sale, the price was good i think $100. easch. They have never been used, bought from a sale when they close the Sears Plant in Illinois. But they have been setting outside ever sence. I would love to see a pic of any 36" Sears blower that is tractor mounted. And just what it would take to mount it to my older lanlord.
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I think that because we are talking Simplicity here, then snowblowers should have full width rollers in the back. This way one would get the best of both worlds. A roller would act like wheels but also like rails in its width. Plus, it would pack down any gravel that it might have lifted up. Maybe someday when I get a snow blower, I will try to mount a row of rollers.
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Rod, Here's some pics of the stock Simplicity skid:

It is about 5" wide at the bottom; the "foot" is about 3/4" wide.
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Here they are Rod. Identical blower so these should be it. Skid is 2 1/4" wide and 4" long. The slotted mounts are 1 1/4" wide and about 6 1/2" long. As you can see the wear plate across the bottom of this blower, you got the better one. I thought it had skids too or I would have put these on it.
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This is the beast....

The flat part of the skids was worn completely off, but the weld's still there.

This blower bolts solidly to the frame and has its own lever to raise and lower it. The drive pulley is on the right side, and has the clutch on the blower. Hmmmmmm..... How hard do you think it would be to adapt this thing to drive from the rear PTO and use it as a rear mounted blower?

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Yup that is the same beast. Off 70's Sears Custom Series. I too thought of mounting one on the back. I didnt even get as far as checking the direction of rotation though. LOL I dont think it would be a big hassle to mount one that way Kirk.
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Kirk, I am using a fixed pulley on the front engine shaft, coming out the side, around two idlers, and straight to the pulley. This will allow use of the existing idler type clutch. Hood is in the way on an AC7XX, so I am going to modify a hood from a throw-away tractor with a fixed grille and liftable top for use with the blower. Don't want to hack up the AC hood, and it would not open because the Sears mount will be in the way. Going to cut off the sears handle and weld on a flat lever for mounting a rod to. Also going to fabricate a plate to mount directly to the lift lever for attaching the lift rod. Can't lift from the right side because of interference with the belts. Actually not too hard of a fabrication job. I have the axle mount fabricated. I'll post pictures when I get the idler mount fabricated and the belt on. What do you think of adding short extensions on the front sides and front top to pick up a couple inches more snow. This one pictured is the same as I got from Dan. Dan, Looks like you forgot about runners just like I forgot the mower belt linkage and idlers.
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Dan, Kirk, Could either of you make me a template or at least give me the dimensions of the bracket with the slots in it. I can make the feet from the picture. I would appreciate your help. I guess the main thing I need is the angle on the bracket.
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Kirk, Are you planning for a rear, or a front mounting. If you are going to do a front mount I can try to get pictures to you this weekend. I turned the two original mounting plates upside down (swapped sides), then welded my mounts to them.
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Well, let's see.... I have a 42" A-C, one of each single belt 36" and two Simplicity three belt 36" blowers, plus a 32", 36" and three belt for spares to front mount......
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