2010 - Volume #34, Issue #6, Page #26
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Swather Converted To Snowblower
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He got the basic idea from reading about Minnesota farmer Charlie Anderson featured in FARM SHOW (Vol. 32, No. 2).
Like Anderson, Van Der Pol started with an Owatonna swather but made design changes that he thinks work better.
He bought a 1960's Owatonna 260 swather for $900. It was equipped with a Ford Industrial 200 cu. in., 6-cyl. engine with 70 hp. He narrowed the axles by 40 in. to match his mower and snowblower. He made his own cab, using safety glass for the windshield and plexiglass for the side and back windows. He made his own 3-pt. hitch and mounted it on the snowblower. The power shaft was lengthened about 10 in. to reach the swather and snowblower shafts.
The pto shaft on the swather ran counter to the pto drive on the snowblower so it needed to be reversed. Van Der Pol used a gearbox from the discarded header, mounting it to the snowblower. A series of sprockets are used to reduce the speed of the snowblower's auger.
"I like the visibility û I can blow snow without having to look backward," says Van Der Pol. "It was a good winter project. My total cost was about $1,500. I bought a heater for the cab that runs off the swather's water pump. The windshield wiper is off an IH 856 tractor.
"I use the controls for the swather's header to raise and lower the snowblower, and the controls for the reel to rotate the spout."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jeryl Van Der Pol, 8387 S.W. 75th Ave., Raymond, Minn. 56282 (ph 320 235-1580).
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