Front-End Pto-Driven Snowblower

Front-End Pto-Driven Snowblower POWER TAKE OFFS PTO S Power Take Offs PTO s Rick Bezemek saw no reason to blow snow while driving in reverse with his WD Allis Chalmers Instead he rigged up a front-end pto drive and mounted a used snowblower on the original trip-style loader I ve had the WD for more than 30 years and bought the blower with the intention of mounting up front says Bezemek The two-clutch power control on the WD lets me run the pto while the tractor is slowed or stopped Attaching the lightweight blower to the loader was easy Bezemek used quick disconnect pins so he could switch from snowblower to bucket as needed It takes me longer to put tire chains on than it does to mount the snowblower he says Modifying the pto was slightly more difficult The pto housing on the WD is situated not far back from the halfway point on the tractor Bezemek purchased a splined shaft and machined it to replace the original pto output I bored a hole in the front housing and replaced the original pto shaft in the bearing with the new one he says I then replaced the housing and installed a seal A pto extension shaft connects the output shaft on the WD with the input shaft on the blower Bezemek simply pulls a pin at either end to disconnect remove and store the shaft He recognized the danger of accidentally lifting the loader-mounted blower too high and damaging the shaft To prevent that he installed two stop chains between the loader frame and the tractor frame I set the stop chains so I can lift the blower about 14 in off the ground says Bezemek I also attached 12 by 12-in skid pads on the bottom of the blower to prevent it from cutting into the lawn Bezemek says he has used the blower for the past four years and the pto modification works fine Best of all he can move snow in a fifth the time required with his old garden tractor-mounted blower Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Richard Bezemek 2717 Nicol Rd Deckerville Mich 48427 ph 810 376-4042; rbezemek@mwrco com

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