Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Loftness Snowblower on 416

11K views 66 replies 13 participants last post by  Ragnian 
#1 ·
Finally got some pictures of the blower mounted to my truck.

I am having some small problems with it, all of them are solved or I can see a path to solve all of them.

The only thing I have do not have completely figured out is the driveline from the Mog to the snow-blower it needs to be able to operate at angles around 45-50 degrees.

Does anyone have a really good PTO driveline/shaft maker they like or have used? I sent a note to driveline service of Fresno to see what they might suggest.

Anyway here are the pics :)
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#3 ·
Trev, thanks!

I saw that they did I asked the driveline shop in Fresno CA about them. My google-foo is not really bringing up many PTO driveshaft specialists...

I have plenty of time to sort all this out prior to next winter. A fun project to work on though!!!
 
#5 ·
Would kind of rather not build my own drop box.

The blower traverse quite an arc...from input shaft on blower above PTO by 5-10 inches to the input shaft being below the blower by 25 inches or so.

I like the Walterscheid wide angle PTO drives...where did you find the specs 25° continuous and 75° temp? I have been searching their site but not seeing that.

I would guess those specs have to do with the life of the shaft....wonder how much faster 50° would wear it out...
 
#8 ·
Can you convert a PTO drive line to CV joint over Universal to increase angle potentials?

Course a drive chain drive reposition box as mentioned earlier would probably be more cost effective.

Another option could be? put a PTO hydraulic pump on the Front PTO and matching hydraulic motor mounted to the snow blower.
 
#9 ·
After many hours reading about drivelines last night I think Trev's idea is probably the best one. chain-drive

I had thought a CV joint would be a great way to go but it seems they do not like extreme angles either and are quite expensive.

I am waiting to hear back on the life of wide angle PTO shaft running at 55HP and 540RPM. Even if the wide angle shaft has a long enough life it might still be much more cost effective to go the chain drive route. (there were some charts on another manufacturers web-site that showed 900HRS at 50 degrees)

I was REALLY hoping for plug and play. :-( Fortunately I have the summer to get it sorted out.

There is another option....much smaller tires and wheels on the Mog would fix the angle issue with the driveshaft.
 
#10 ·
I might have hit on an idea...

What do you guys think about a PTO centralizer mounted on the front of my truck?

I looks like I could mount it up....

The distance between the two counter rotating shafts on my truck is about 2 78 inches which from the pictures looks like it might be tight. I can always cut the other output shaft off....if I need the front PTO to spin in the original direction I can just take the reverser box off.

As soon as I send this I walking back out there to put some grease on that thing!!!!!
 

Attachments

#12 ·
gottabediesel,

Yep they spin opposite to the direction most North American implements need.

I have a reverser on mine so it spins the correct direction...one shaft the on one the right in the picture spins the wrong way...the one on the left spins the correct direction.

Excited to see your photos!!!
 
#13 ·
Ragnian,

I too have a rear mount blower mounted to the front of my 406 (only I used a Schmidt hoop to make my front 3 point hitch). My pto shaft sticks nearly straight out from the connection on the truck. I did this by mounting a chain sprocket on the blower pto shaft (I also added a pillow block since the load on the shaft was no longer axial). I then ran #80 chain up to the pto reverser mounted on the upper portion of the blower. On the slack side of the chain loop I mounted a manual tensioner. It works great.

BWSwede
 
#14 ·
bwswede,

I kind of remember some pictures of your setup...or at least I think I do. Do you happen to have any photos?

At this point I am just gathering ideas and information.

I assume you have a 20spd? I was testing the blower on snow-banks in the elevated position so the driveshaft was not stressed. I determined through the use of a couple of shear pins it REALLY likes the ultra low gears in icy thick snow :) It seems to be able to eat anything in the lowest gear...of course it takes a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another question do you use a counterweight? With the blower up my truck is nose heavy but after I go to float mode the truck is back to even weight distribution. I could not run it in the float position due to the driveshaft problems. :-(
 
#15 ·
I don't have any photos since I added the pto reverser. My truck is an hour away. I'll snap a few next time I am at that location. There are photos posted on this site when I was using a chain to reverse the direction, but that didn't pan out as good as I had hoped.

Yes, I have a 20 speed. It will not work it most deep snow conditions without one.

Yes, I use a counterweight. I keep my Farmi winch on the rear 3 point. Not only is it a good weight, it works very well to pull stuck vehicles.


BWSwede
 
#16 ·
Heres some pics of the reverser and chain drop box. Also the blower fan looks large, whats the blower designed for? 540 or 1000? it does make quite a difference to match it. I can send better pics later if it helps once I disconnect the blower and remove the guards for a summer overhaul.

Will
 

Attachments

#17 ·
gottabediesel,

Thanks for the pictures! Now I understand how you made it work. I like your solution!

My PTO reverser is mounted on the truck so after talking and thinking on it for a while and finding a PTO centralizer at a good price in Europe. My current plan is to mount the centralizer on my reverser box which is mounted on the truck.
Hopefully if I go this route anything else I want to mount up front will already have the PTO driveshaft problem solved. (though I have no idea what else I might mount on the front)

The blower is set up for 540RPM and has a 27" fan 40-120HP...the short testing I have done with it so far it has worked really well :)
 
#20 ·
Another option would be to move the PTO input on the blower using chains. AKA put the drop box (raise box?) on the blower instead of on the Mog.
 
#23 ·
Dropbox on the mog means he can use it (as he states) for a variety of future North American equipment. If mounted to the implement, it's a one trick pony unless you plan on swapping and adapting it to many implements.

I can see Ragnian's Uber-DoKa with a PTO driven limb-shredder 9200 in the future, maybe a PTO driven 3pt cement mixer, ooh, ooh, and maybe a PTO driven 3pt Mogerita mixer ;)
 
#24 ·
Dropbox on the mog means he can use it (as he states) for a variety of future North American equipment. If mounted to the implement, it's a one trick pony unless you plan on swapping and adapting it to many implements....
Guess it all comes down too how many Pony's one expects to have in the stable. :devil

Otherwise point good but...... then again What's different between removing/replacing it at mog end ... or removing/replacing it at implement(s) end.. when your Pony stable is small. Your still taking it on and off of something just as often in most cases. Now if you "swap" implements on the job/often, then the extra step of moving box between implements well could be a PITA.


hmm..... another idea lol. mount it to a quick hitch
 
#26 ·
Thanks for all the ideas!

For now I am going to try the PTO centralizer on the truck....for several reasons but especially the ability to mount a 3pt Mogerita mixer!!!!! (the limb shredder 9200 is almost as tempting)

I do think the chain drive solutions are VERY good and if I did not have access to a centralizer I might have gone that route.

I should have the centralizer in 2 weeks or so as soon as I get it and weld up some bracketry to correctly hold it I will post pictures.
 
#29 ·
I am not allowed to get a Jiffy Hitch system until I have at least three implements I routinely use!!!!! :grin

Cool stuff for sure. A couple of minor drawbacks other than the cost...

-lengthens overall package by 2 or 3 inches (that could help driveshaft angles)
-adds about 100 pounds or so

Still if you were constantly changing/removing implements it would certainly be handy. I saw very similar ones on Unimogs all over Europe.
 
#30 ·
Also adds some safety. The less time you have to spend between the implement and the tractor the safer. The Gangl system even better, not having to leave the tractor seat would help prevent a lot of common farm accidents such as when the operator forgets to apply the parking brake, or the implement shifts on it's blocks, jack, wheels. That kind of thing.
 
#31 ·
PTO centralizer showed up from Germany today :)

Did a quick test fit on the truck...good news all around on that.

-I had thought I might have to remove one of the shafts from my PTO reverser, as you can see it is close but plenty of clearance.

-I did not know if the centralizer output shaft could be turned around. Turns out it is about a 2 minute job to changing it from outputting one side to the other.

-My plan is to modify the bracket it came with to use the hitch point on my bumper to hold it in place.

I assume it takes 90W oil?

Anything I am missing...? Seems to easy...
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top