[gellys 406]

just spent 3 days clearing snow on a airfield grass run way 650m X30m and taxi ways. Started in the middle going up and down clearing the snow to each side did about 4 runs with a 8 foot bunce plough snow wall was getting big by now so started pushing the snow to each side and reversing for each run seem to take forever with a small plough and some parts of the field were very bumpy causing the blade to dig in bringing the mog to to a halt and lifting the front wheels this happend twice the second time it bent the ram managed to fit another ram and a saftey chain to stop it digging in the bunce landrover type rams are only light duty think in the future a 10 foot blade with a larger type ram ,
anyway question about snowblowers, how far do they chuck the snow?
whats the best set up front or back?
could a mog carry a engine powerd one on the front?
how come some mogs have the engine in the back?
would a blower be best suited to this work ive just done?
any imput and photos to follow ta john in manchester

 

[MogMountain]

Sounds like you definitely want a blower, if only to keep the snow banks out of the way (depending on how much snow you get). A snowblower should throw the snow 50 feet or more (with a controllable shoot you can control in which direction). Not sure about carrying an engine in front, but I suspect such an animal would have its own set of tires to support the weight. Beauty of a Mog is that you can run the blower in front rather than having to operate in reverse all the time. Blowers are either operated off the front PTO or powered by rear mounted auxilary engine (more power), with the power transfered to the front blower via a under the chassis PTO or hydraulics.

 

[normalbloke]

Barton?

 

[gellys 406]

Hi normal bloke, yep spot on Barton, or manchester city air port these days they have had no operations there since last tues mansged to get there runway open and taxi ways going.
The little bunce blade did ok but think it needs a 3 m one or a blower for this type of work thing is will we gever get snow like this again?

The mogs front axle is showing even more trouble now theres play on both front wheels and the cv joint looks shot on the drivers side,
not sure what to do with it rebuild , replace full axle with second hand one ,part ex the mog as it is ??

thanks for the imfo on blowers think a front mounted one on the pto would be good that way you can see were your going theres 3 old 404 blowers on ebay at the mo ??
john

 

[rostige]

The following are some opinions from someone who has used mogs for snow removal; but you also need to hear from guys who are using 406 cutters every day and there are a few of them....

just spent 3 days clearing snow on a airfield grass run way 650m X30m and taxi ways. Started in the middle going up and down clearing the snow to each side did about 4 runs with a 8 foot bunce plough snow wall was getting big by now so started pushing the snow to each side and reversing for each run seem to take forever with a small plough and some parts of the field were very bumpy causing the blade to dig in bringing the mog to to a halt and lifting the front wheels this happend twice the second time it bent the ram managed to fit another ram and a saftey chain to stop it digging in the bunce landrover type rams are only light duty think in the future a 10 foot blade with a larger type ram ,~~~~Schmidt, Schmidt, and Schmidt or one of those copies of a Schmidt plow..most of the other stuff I have seen are toys.

anyway question about snowblowers, how far do they chuck the snow?~~~~all depends on consistency of snow, type of blower/ cutter. Single stage VF Schmidt run off 406 pto... my guess is an average of 60-100 feet. Anything less than 2 feet of snow or so with one of those is a waste of time and mog. Very slow ground speed. 2 stage blower more versatile, higher ground speed. Things they are not good at: 3 feet or more of snow (around) and icy/ hardpack material. Check some of the old threads here for more info.

whats the best set up front or back?~~~If you use it only occasionally like I do (2 stage) the rear mount is ok but the best place is up front so you are not twisting your back, looking in your mirrors, guessing, etc. Way more useful on front. You probably also know gelly but if mounting a store bought blower in the front you need to reverse PTO direction or make sure you buy a blower that is built for front use or reversible like 101's there over in Jolly England.


could a mog carry a engine powerd one on the front?~~~I think it would be a waste time...better to use PTO's or get aux motor style.

how come some mogs have the engine in the back?~~~dedicated motor, more power to cut and cast the snow ie. greater distance, less work on driving motor.

would a blower be best suited to this work ive just done?~~~If you are not loading trucks with the blower then you should wind up with less of a wall of snow (than using a blade) which in turn causes less snow drifting later in season. Try and visualize or measure if you could blow that snow 50'-150'...is that a good place to put it? Maybe a loader would work better (loading into trucks) If these snows are rare someone is going to have to pay to have that thing on standby...

2 pence from rosty


any imput and photos to follow ta john in manchester

 

[esde]

You might do well with a front pto driven Schmidt S-3 blower. Not terribly huge like some of the drum style cutters, but can cast snow a good distance from some of the videos I've seen. They can be found relatively inexpensively, and they are much less complicated then the bigger blower/ cutters, so they should be cheaper to maintain. My .02

 

[esde]

this is a more modern S5, on a U500, but the overall design is pretty much the same

Throws some snow pretty damned far!

 

[MogMountain]

Esde's correct that the S3 blowers should be easy to find, and moreover inexpensive. But bear in mind that they are "edgers", for lack of a better word, meaning that they clean up the edges of an otherwise plowed road. They are not designed to go through uncleared snow of any appreciable depth - need a cutter for that.

 

[esde]

From what I've read, the S3 is very capable of managing snow up to depth of 18-24", as long as the right gear is chosen. Over feed it and the chute gets clogged= FROZEN. Keep in mind that blown snow takes a lot of friction (heat), think fan, chipper, chute, and freezes fast where it falls. For occasional deep snowfall. S3 all the way.

 

[normalbloke]

Aahhh, Barton.That brings back some memorys.The runway there was always pretty marginal, with a lot of time lost to flooding.I have seen small light aircraft sink into that stuff. We were not too fussed as we were in a helicopter on skids,so never used it.
What was the surface like to drive on?I'd have thought you may have made quite an impression on it with a Mog.
Still, it had a great flying club cafe for when things really go sour!

 

[gellys 406]

barton

thanks for the imput lads plenty to think about, theres been a engine powerd bunce blower that fits a jcb or loading shovel on ebay in the uk that sold for £1,700 not sure if it would be to heavy to go on the front of a mog?

Normal bloke have you a helicopter as well?? Barton is a soggy strip the mog did well and didnt cause much damage. the snow plough wheels caused more problems digging in so i took them off and let the blade run on the surface with a safety chain to stop it digging in. the west end is realy bumpy and you had to watch your speed when turning round at the runway end it was very boggy but only got stuck once difflocks sorted it, The cafes still there but looks like its on its last legs due to no customers. the snows thawing fast now and heavy rain so i dont think it will be open any sooner due to water logging.The airport boss wanted to get as much of the heavy snow off to try and prevent further flooding but there strict rules on the height of the snow banks on each side of the run way its amazing how much snow you pile up just off a couple of runs, Best bit was driving on the snow banks at the very end to level them off keep going and dont stop he he
The ground crew liked the mog concept i was suprised to here thet had no snow clearing gear on site just two tractors for grass cutting and a couple of 4x4 toyota pick up fire units
on talking to them i mentioned that i may be selling the mog as id like to upgrade to a square cab they seemed interested as it could be converted to a fire truck ,thing is i may be shooting myself in the foot for extra work in the future but i think this snow is a one off thing in manchester the lads who got the most out of the snow clearing has been the ones with telehandlers or loading shovels and they have been charging silly money to clear carparks,
got a call on thur to clear a school car park with compacted snow they had got a contractor in with a mini digger it had took for ever and had piled the snow in the wrong places could my snow plough push the piles away i turned it down and told them to hire a jcb

looks like a axle rebuild is on the cards rang simon at atkinson voss about a changing the axle for a second hand one his humours funny he told me its not a transit van john ! he he, rebuild the axle, they have offerd to rebuild it or get the bits i need also asked about a square cab upgrade he went silent and sighed when i asked for a u1000 for under 10k he he looks like il have to put up with being spider man in a round cab for a bit longer