BuffaloD200 51 #1 Posted January 17 This somebody on here? Dude fabbed up dual 24" Ariens snowblowers and mounted to a C-145. I'm strongly considering doing something similar and have questions. DeafTruck 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,553 #2 Posted January 17 That video is 15 years old so I haven't been around log enough to know if it was someone here. Doesn't look specifically familiar. Excellent idea. Can't tell if the execution was a success. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bar Nuthin 933 #3 Posted January 17 (edited) Hard to see, but it looks like he was happy with it! Love the wave at the end of the second video! Edited January 17 by Bar Nuthin 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,461 #4 Posted January 18 4 hours ago, BuffaloD200 said: considering doing something similar and have questions Ask them anyway! You'll need a good 90 deg gearbox. There's lots of guys on here that can provide info and ideas even though they haven't built one. I was thinking of something like that before getting a big WH 2 stage. Still think about it once in a while as I have some blowers out there to use. Even if you use a larger 30" or 32" and add wings to the sides 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 13,334 #5 Posted January 18 (edited) 41 minutes ago, wallfish said: Ask them anyway! You'll need a good 90 deg gearbox. There's lots of guys on here that can provide info and ideas even though they haven't built one. I was thinking of something like that before getting a big WH 2 stage. Still think about it once in a while as I have some blowers out there to use. Even if you use a larger 30" or 32" and add wings to the sides I’m not sure you’d need a gearbox since something like a mower deck mule would probably also work (with a suitable idler/tensioner). Snowblowers don’t need to be lifted more than a few inches and that helps with belt routing. I can definitely see that with a lot of area to clear, 48 or 60 inches of blower would come in handy. Edited January 18 by Handy Don 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bar Nuthin 933 #6 Posted January 18 41 minutes ago, Handy Don said: I’m not sure you’d need a gearbox since something like a mower deck mule would probably also work (with a suitable idler/tensioner). In the very first video, it looks like his intentions were to add a drive pulley to the far blower and modify a mule drive to line up with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,461 #7 Posted January 18 Look at the original blower setup and size the drive to them accordingly. The engine pulley on the blower itself is pretty small so connecting it directly to the modern WH PTO bell type pulley with a belt will whip those things about 3-4 times faster than the original design. Nothing wrong with speeding things up but going that much faster could be an issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8ntruck 7,368 #8 Posted January 18 A couple three years back, somebody here rigged a pair of walk behind snow blowers sort of like a plow to one of his tractors. He left the original engines on them to get around the connection to the PTO. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,553 #9 Posted January 18 2 hours ago, 8ntruck said: A couple three years back, somebody here rigged a pair of walk behind snow blowers sort of like a plow to one of his tractors. He left the original engines on them to get around the connection to the PTO. Might have been @Gregor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuffaloD200 51 #10 Posted January 20 On 1/17/2025 at 8:09 PM, wallfish said: Ask them anyway! You'll need a good 90 deg gearbox. There's lots of guys on here that can provide info and ideas even though they haven't built one. I was thinking of something like that before getting a big WH 2 stage. Still think about it once in a while as I have some blowers out there to use. Even if you use a larger 30" or 32" and add wings to the sides I currently had a single stage mounted to my D180, and I'm quite unhappy with its performance so I would like a two stage. As far as I can tell, WH never made a two stage so I might as well fab something up. I also have a D200 with FEL. My two theories are to use my FEL frame and attach 2 blowers in place of the bucket or use/build a WH snowplow frame to mount the blowers on. As you may know, D-series tractors have the PTO on the front, not along the side like most Horses. So I should not need a 90° gearbox. Now, I could use the hydraulic pump on my D200 to drive the blowers hydraulically which would allow for a lot of movement in the system with flexible hydro lines. Or a more (likely) cheaper solution is to belt drive the blowers - but I'm not sure how best to connect that pulley system to my tractor. Driveshaft? On 1/18/2025 at 12:45 AM, 8ntruck said: A couple three years back, somebody here rigged a pair of walk behind snow blowers sort of like a plow to one of his tractors. He left the original engines on them to get around the connection to the PTO. That was another thought I had. My main concern I think would be the weight of the additional engine(s) and the added length. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 13,334 #11 Posted January 20 50 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said: use the hydraulic pump on my D200 to drive the blowers hydraulically I'm fairly sure the D’s use a Sunstrand Model 15 hydrostatic for motion with a charge pump for lift. I’d need the model numbers to find the exact capacity of the charge pump, but I’d bet that it is nowhere near capable of delivering the (volume and pressure) needed for a snowblower--you’d need 6-8 hp for each of the two blowers. Input horsepower for a given pump. One medium model 15 pump displaces 1.2 cubic inches and runs at 3600 rpm and 260 psi max (231 cubic inches per gallon). To calculate the HP it is using when fully loaded we use: HP = PSI x GPM ÷ (1714 x 0.85) HP = 260 x (3600 x 1.2 ÷ 231) ÷ (1714 x 0.85) = ~2.4 So, the charge pump can at best transfer 2.4 horsepower. If you have an auxiliary pump on your FEL, it might transfer 6 or so horsepower but still well below the demand of a snowblower. 1 hour ago, BuffaloD200 said: That was another thought I had. My main concern I think would be the weight of the additional engine(s) and the added length... a pair of walk behind snow blowers sort of like a plow to one of his tractors. He left the original engines on them... A pair of blowers stripped of their unneeded parts would, I’d guess, weigh less than 100 lbs. each. Add the FEL bucket’s weight to its lift capacity and I’d bet you are well over 300 lbs. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuffaloD200 51 #12 Posted January 22 On 1/20/2025 at 3:13 PM, Handy Don said: I'm fairly sure the D’s use a Sunstrand Model 15 hydrostatic for motion with a charge pump for lift. I’d need the model numbers to find the exact capacity of the charge pump, but I’d bet that it is nowhere near capable of delivering the (volume and pressure) needed for a snowblower--you’d need 6-8 hp for each of the two blowers. Input horsepower for a given pump. One medium model 15 pump displaces 1.2 cubic inches and runs at 3600 rpm and 260 psi max (231 cubic inches per gallon). To calculate the HP it is using when fully loaded we use: HP = PSI x GPM ÷ (1714 x 0.85) HP = 260 x (3600 x 1.2 ÷ 231) ÷ (1714 x 0.85) = ~2.4 So, the charge pump can at best transfer 2.4 horsepower. If you have an auxiliary pump on your FEL, it might transfer 6 or so horsepower but still well below the demand of a snowblower. A pair of blowers stripped of their unneeded parts would, I’d guess, weigh less than 100 lbs. each. Add the FEL bucket’s weight to its lift capacity and I’d bet you are well over 300 lbs. Alright, so hydraulic sounds like a poor choice. Belt driven or blowers with their own engines sounds like it. If I'm using a FEL and belt drive, I would need a way to limit upward movement so I don't inadvertently break something in the driveline. I may be better off going with a custom frame similar to WH snowplow frame instead for simplicity sake. Looking at a complete 24" 6hp Husqvarna, it weighs 202lbs. So your guess of ~100lbs missing everything but the front half sounds plausible, provided I go with a belt system off of either my 18hp or 20hp Kohler. I would have to do two, making it approximately 200lbs which seems to be a fair match for my current 48" Wheelhorse single stage. A 13hp Predator engine weighs 73lbs, so I could potentially use one of them to drive 2 blowers. That would keep all available power for running the tractor and simplify driveline setup. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 13,334 #13 Posted January 22 3 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said: A 13hp Predator engine weighs 73lbs, so I could potentially use one of them to drive 2 blowers. That would keep all available power for running the tractor and simplify driveline setup. I like this idea! An electric or centrifugal clutch would make it easy to on/off the blowers and by having the entire blower system be self-contained you could still use the FEL minus the bucket without concern for lift height. I’m sure you can figure out a chute control that is also height-agnostic. @wallfish used, I think, a power window motor in a simple housing for his blower. A side benefit of lifting above a few inches and having the reach of the FEL frame would be the option to take off the tops off of any large snow piles! Go for it! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuffaloD200 51 #14 Posted January 22 17 minutes ago, Handy Don said: I like this idea! An electric or centrifugal clutch would make it easy to on/off the blowers and by having the entire blower system be self-contained you could still use the FEL minus the bucket without concern for lift height. I’m sure you can figure out a chute control that is also height-agnostic. @wallfish used, I think, a power window motor in a simple housing for his blower. A side benefit of lifting above a few inches and having the reach of the FEL frame would be the option to take off the tops off of any large snow piles! Go for it! Ok, now to scour facebook for some junk blowers! I did see that window motor hack. That's a great idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,461 #15 Posted January 22 The clutch idea Don gave is a good one. Either electric clutch or centrifugal clutch so they can easily be stopped from spinning. The electric motor is a good way to control the chutes too. A window motor might be kind of weak to turn 2 of them depending how it's set up. I've since changed my set up to a larger gear motor something similar to this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2SXFJ1Q/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B0D2SXFJ1Q&pd_rd_w=0dhL4&content-id=amzn1.sym.7446a9d1-25fe-4460-b135-a60336bad2c9&pf_rd_p=7446a9d1-25fe-4460-b135-a60336bad2c9&pf_rd_r=KKG5P9XCCPW6PPSQZPDC&pd_rd_wg=Fpq5Z&pd_rd_r=78b65765-b458-4a88-9b0f-c48b8313000e&s=industrial&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw&th=1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 13,334 #16 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, BuffaloD200 said: Ok, now to scour facebook for some junk blowers! Unlike Buffalo, around here snowblowers are going begging as homeowners outsource their snow clearing. I’ve gotten three by picking them up at the curb over the past few years. Personally, I’d give Craigslist a good look, as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 22,006 #17 Posted January 22 On 1/17/2025 at 3:20 PM, BuffaloD200 said: Dude fabbed up dual 24" Ariens snowblowers and mounted to a C-145. Hardly seems worth all the engineering and fabrication to have 6 more inches of clearing width over a factory WH single stage attachment Am I missing something? Is it just bragging rights that ya “built it yourself”? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 27,399 #18 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Sparky said: Hardly seems worth all the engineering and fabrication to have 6 more inches of clearing width over a factory WH single stage attachment Am I missing something? Is it just bragging rights that ya “built it yourself”? Perhaps add 6" wing scrapers on sides - gets the coverage without too much muss and fuss... I don't have a blower, but I think that's what I'd do since I'm not an engineer and I don't play one on tv... 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuffaloD200 51 #19 Posted January 23 2 hours ago, Sparky said: Hardly seems worth all the engineering and fabrication to have 6 more inches of clearing width over a factory WH single stage attachment Am I missing something? Is it just bragging rights that ya “built it yourself”? In his case, maybe. But personally, I'm quite unhappy with my WH single stage. To my knowledge, a two stage does not exist for the D-series. So my only options are buy another tractor or build something cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,461 #20 Posted January 23 (edited) 10 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said: So my only options are buy another tractor or build something cool. I vote "build something cool" You could also look for a larger Craftsman 2 stage tractor blower and modify that Edited January 23 by wallfish 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites