Christmas gift for The Big Kahuna - SSS

[gkabbt]

Guys,

We all know that Jon, a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim, lives way up north in Skandia, Michigan and gets lots of snow.
Maybe we should all chip in and get him this for Christmas!          







This is an 8' Snowblower converted from a 3pt tractor PTO to a self contained 302, V8 Driven Blower.

The 302 is a 1995 Carbureted Roller Motor, with a governor to maintain the RPM you set.

The Blower Motor has its' own tach, oil and temp gage mounted on the back of the engine, in plain sight thru windshield.

The Blower Motor is controlled completely from the cab of the truck (Start/Stop/RPM)

The Blower Motor shares the truck battery however the fuel supply and cooling systems are independent.

The Hydraulics are 12V self contained pump/motor (under hood of truck) with Quick Disconnects to the (2) Cylinders.

The Blower is mounted to a '77 F-350 4x4, the truck is not for sale.

The brains/controls for the blower are hooked up with a 4-flat trailer hitch plug.

I built the complete blower a little conservatively with the small block 302, I must say even at 1800rpm (engine speed) this blower absolutely launches snow, even better than anticipated.

I don't think the application would be ideal in a city setting with houses and windows close by, however for the hunting land, when you are out of room to push snow with the plow, it's the ticket.

There's a lot of the logistics that could certainly be done differently to suit your needs including 12V power, fuel or hydraulics. The blower could probably be lifted with a regular plow pump as it only needs about 400psi to lift.

I would potentially include the Blower and Truck Side Wiring Harnesses (and solenoid), Control Panel (on counsel in my truck) the 12V Hydraulic Pump, Reservoir, the cylinders and sq tube with the UHMW poly slides. I plan to keep the Truck and the Bumper.

I'm asking $4900 for the package but I'm willing to work with you if you don't need everything.

Please put some thought into this before calling as this is a Serious Blower.
Call Nine Two Zero 850-0294 between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
NO TEXTS!!

See attached photos.
• Location: Kaukauna

http://greenbay.craigslist.org/pts/4235116114.html

Looks like fun to Me!

Merry Christmas Y'all,
Gregg

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Hmmmmmmmm.  First things first -- what a wimp!  The photo shows the blower going through snow that must be all of four or maybe five inches deep.  Big whizzing deal.  I use a broom for snow that's only a few inches deep.

And then I wonder why the guy that built it was so chintzy that he didn't put better controls on it -- unless he just didn't want to add to that expensive four-conductor wire that he used from his duck boat.  Most blowers have adjustment to tilt the end of the chute up or down - directing the snow higher to loft it farther away or into the wind so it'll blow, or to bend the stream of snow down to avoid getting it too close to something you want to avoid smothering.

For that matter, I don't see that the chute is able to be rotated, either.  Again -- it's often necessary to change the direction in which you're throwing the snow because of prevailing winds, close by buildings or years, fences, etc.  Things might be okay when you're going in one direction, but turn around, the wind blows the snow right back in your face, and - it gets so thick so quickly on the windshield that your wipers cannot keep up with it.

Ask me how I know all of this stuff.  Go ahead -- better still, come on up for a visit and I'll let you have the fun yourself.

As a bit of technical data, our skid-steer mounted snow thrower is all hydraulic and operates from the high volume pump of the Bobcat.  With that feature I'm also able to tilt the entire blower forward or backwards to allow, for instance, lifting the entire rig up a few feet to cut down the top part of the snow bank - without having the blower deck be at a sharp angle to horizontal.  The other adjustments I've mentioned are all hydraulic, too, and operate from thumb-controlled buttons on the joysticks used for steering and movement.

Gregg, I appreciate your thoughtfulness, though, and am glad you're thinking of Nancy and me way up here.  Merry Christmas.

[Stainless1]

I was thinking SSS would hate that thing... I know there are days he appreciates being snowed in with Nancy... 

[gkabbt]

I was thinking SSS would hate that thing... I know there are days he appreciates being snowed in with Nancy... 

 
       Good one Bob! Thoughts like that had not crossed my mind!     

Gregg

[gkabbt]

Come on up for a visit and I'll let you have the fun yourself.

Winter Carnival is still on my mind.....We'll see what happens!

Gregg

[floydjer]

The only question I have is ...How would Jon get through the snow between the house and the garage so he could take the blower out and clear the driveway???

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't have a photo of it, but we do have a small snow thrower that is parked in the downstairs entrance (that we use during the winter so I don't have to shovel the front deck).  And the door down there opens inward so I don't have to push it through 3 feet of snow.  The walk from house to garage is about 30 feet so it takes about five minutes or so to clear it.

But even that wasn't good enough for my ADHD-itude, so I've fashioned a tunnel that covers the first 8 feet or so from the house.  Since the walk has cement walls about 4' high (on either side) I drilled, installed fasteners, and attached bent-to-shape 1/2" rebar to them, making a rounded top.  Then I take a 10 x 15 plastic tarp (why do we have so many of them, especially in the race trailer ) and use tie-wraps to hold it in place.

The snow is then mostly prevented from building up on those first few feet.  Yes, some does blow in during windy times, but not nearly so much as before the tunnel was installed.

The medium size snow thrower is usually kept in the barn for the winter and the garage for the summer, but so far this season I haven't taken it from summer storage.  Not enough snow to bother with it, yet.  Ditto the big snow thrower for the Bobcat.  I've moved it around but not put power to it - yet.  Again I'll mention that you're all invited to come up here for a visit and run the machines.  It's a kick -- especially when you haven't done it before.

[floydjer]

Jon...Remember winter of 1978-79 ??  I had to go out an attic window so I could shovel snow away from the doors at ground level. Remind me again why we live here???

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I remember it vaguely - it was one of my first winters living here in the greater Marquette megalopolis.  But -- when I first arrived in the Copper Country to go to Tech, back in '67, I was told the story of the many folks up there -- more so in Calumet, but lots of 'em in Hoton/Hancock -- who had outside stairways leading from a doorway to the ground.  During winter they'd go out the upstairs doorway and walk down the steps 'til they got to the snow.

And I did see, many times, the yards of folks that built elevated sidewalks from house to street.  Maybe only 3 - 4 feet about ground, but still -- lots less shoveling required.  Go there during the non-snow times (usually during a weekend in late July) and you'd see these goofy looking elevated walkways and wonder. . .

PS:  Here's a link to a very famous "snow thermometer" that's along US 41 on the way to Eagle Harbor.  Take a look at the amounts -- and, for you, Jerry, the dates:

http://www.pasty.com/snow/index.html

[bak189]

75 degrees and sunny at our place here in Gold Canyon, ARIZONA.....come on down................................

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Nope, Bob -- I couldn't be happy in a place like that.  I know it doesn't sound right to many folks, but here we've got four distinct seasons, each of which is unique and enjoyable.  We have a few hot days during the summer - maybe a week or two.  Our autumn is so colorful with the trees and such -- that we're a major tourist destination for color touring.  Springtime is great, what with frost many mornings through the beginning of June.  Bright green grass and trees budding and even peepers shouting their greeting from the wetlands out in our field.  And winter -- well, winter speaks for itself.  Lots of snow, lots of cold, and best of all -- tourists.  We tell them the same thing over and over:  We're a great place to vacation.  Come on up here, spend all of your money snowmobiling and skiing and snowshoeing, then go home.  You wouldn't like living here.

We've got about 1/3 of the land area in the state of Michigan (in the UP) and quite a bit less than 10% of the population.  No neighbors.  We live on 60 acres of hardwood forest and even have both electricity and running water (although it's a pump and septic tank system).  The Dukes Road (we live on the Dukes Road) is a paved county road that is plowed regularly.  But -- now for one of the best parts - - when we leave home for the day or even the weekend we just about always leave the keys in the ignition and the car or truck outside in the driveway.  When we get home if the car is gone -- it'll show up sooner or later, usually full of fuel, with a neighbor that needed it for some reason coming into the house to thank us.

Can you top all of that?

[AJR192]

Yep, I can top it. I live an hour and ten minutes from Bonneville.............

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Suum cuique, as they said in Latin.  Best wishes for the holidays.

[jimmy six]

What is "snow"?

[Seldom Seen Slim]

If you've got to ask -- you don't need to know.  Suffice it to say that it's how we get well more than half of our precipitation, and it also helps keep out the riff-raff.