Converting lawn tractor snow blower to and atv

I am working on converting a lawn tractor snow blower to my atv. Is there anyone who has knowledge in doing so. I know that it has been done just trying to figure out rpm issues and impeller tip velocity.
My snow blower in a Sears 46 in 2 stage blower with a 15.5 inch impeller.
Motor is a 13 hp honda 3900 rpm

Does the ATV have a PTO or an auxilary belt drive ? I don't know if the 13 HP will drive a 2 stage blower ????

Go to this website: Used Lawn and Garden Tractors - Mowers - Small Engines - Jim's Repair/Jim's Tractors If you don't find the answer then call or send him an email. Good luck and please keep everyone informed of your progress.

BKBrown said:

Does the ATV have a PTO or an auxilary belt drive ? I don't know if the 13 HP will drive a 2 stage blower ????

Click to expand...

Snow Hogg uses a 13 hp Honda GX 390. Not sure, but I think Agri Fab uses a 11 hp Tecumseh.

On the tractor setup for my blower. It was on a 25 hp Briggs. I think probably 3600 rpm. The power came out on an electric clutch with a 6 inch pulley. From there it went by belt to a 10 pulley, belt to another 6 inch pulley by belt to a 9 inch pulley on the 15.5 inch impeller. I get 5400 rpm with a fan tip velocity of 21870 ft.min. When I do the math on this, it tells me that I am way over on the ft/min on the discharge velocity. That is if the ft/min velocity is the same on this type of blower versus a pto driven blower. I find you want a discharge velocity of 4000-5000 ft/min. On the new sears blowers on their 26 hp lawn tractors, they went to a 42 inch blower and a 12 inch impeller. They have a 6 inch electric pulley, belt to a 9 inch,belt to a 5.5 inch,belt to a 7 inch that is on a 12 inch impeller. When I do the math on that it still tells me that velocity ft/min is high. I have read something about high output impellers.
I'm wondering if I am doing the math correct.
RPM is 3900 coming out of motor and impeller diameter is 15.5. I get 2600 rpm with a 6 inch electric clutch/break on the 9 inch impeller pulley.
Rpm= Engine rpm x pulley size on motor devided last pulley size.

Fan tip velocity= in my case (15.5/12) x 3.14 x 2600=9490 ft/min.

Here's a post I found on the Tractorbynet forum that was posted by Oldnslo. It's not referring to RPM or impeller velocity but maybe it will help. :thumbsup:

"A basic rule of thumb is that it takes 1 hp to pump 1 GPM @ 1500 PSI so if you have 7.3 @ 2130 PSI that would be around 10 HP to drive the pump. Estimate loosing 10-15% to drive the hydraulic motor and you have about the right amount for a 26" walk behind."

Glad you are doing all the math, but my curiosity was more about how you plan to drive the blower from the ATV - PTO or electric clutch pulley ? How do you get the power to the blower ?

Rubicon said:

Snow Hogg uses a 13 hp Honda GX 390. Not sure, but I think Agri Fab uses a 11 hp Tecumseh.

On the tractor setup for my blower. It was on a 25 hp Briggs. I think probably 3600 rpm. The power came out on an electric clutch with a 6 inch pulley. From there it went by belt to a 10 pulley, belt to another 6 inch pulley by belt to a 9 inch pulley on the 15.5 inch impeller. I get 5400 rpm with a fan tip velocity of 21870 ft.min. When I do the math on this, it tells me that I am way over on the ft/min on the discharge velocity. That is if the ft/min velocity is the same on this type of blower versus a pto driven blower. I find you want a discharge velocity of 4000-5000 ft/min. On the new sears blowers on their 26 hp lawn tractors, they went to a 42 inch blower and a 12 inch impeller. They have a 6 inch electric pulley, belt to a 9 inch,belt to a 5.5 inch,belt to a 7 inch that is on a 12 inch impeller. When I do the math on that it still tells me that velocity ft/min is high. I have read something about high output impellers.
I'm wondering if I am doing the math correct.
RPM is 3900 coming out of motor and impeller diameter is 15.5. I get 2600 rpm with a 6 inch electric clutch/break on the 9 inch impeller pulley.
Rpm= Engine rpm x pulley size on motor devided last pulley size.

Fan tip velocity= in my case (15.5/12) x 3.14 x 2600=9490 ft/min.

Click to expand...

BKBrown said:

Glad you are doing all the math, but my curiosity was more about how you plan to drive the blower from the ATV - PTO or electric clutch pulley ? How do you get the power to the blower ?

Click to expand...

I was planning on an electronic clutch/brake by Warner. I have already visited with them. The are very helpful.

Just happen to stumble on this thread and thought I would share this afternoon project I did with a buddy of mine. I had a snapper thrower but the machine was dead...seemed like a waste of machinery! I have an ATV with a plow but wanted to have the option of blowing where snow banks got too high and my driveway width would slowly shrink through winter. I had thought of this a long time ago but could not figure out how to drive (cheaply) the blower from the ATV. Then the thought of a stand alone engine with a pulley seemed plausible. I set everything (Honda 5.5 hp engine I had lying around and all the thrower parts) in place and started to create ideas on how to make it work. I wanted to be able to hook up and disconnect quickly between the plow blade and blower. We fabricated a simple plate for the engine mount that would slide into the front rack and wing nuts to the rear. We used the original main frame receiver for the snapper blower and rigged it to the brush guard and also to the plow sub frame for support. With this attached to the atv, the winch cable works great to raise and lower. I measured for a belt from the engine pulley to the blower pulley and lined everything up. Keep in mind all this was completed prior to any snow fall so it has not been truly tested yet. The big two stage thrower seems to spin easily even with lower H.P. engine. Time will tell...snow will be here this Saturday and we'll give it a try-tweak as needed. See photos of the beast in my album. Cheers

Sell your lawn tractor snow blower and your atv. Buy a JD 729 with blower attachment, cab, heater, lights, and a set of weights for the back. I move all the snow in my neighborhood with mine in my JD T-shirt. SWEET !