hydraulically driven snowblower

I have been thinking about a front mounted snowblower for my 35, and a friend suggested using hydraulics to power it. Has anyone here ever done that? What pump would I need and what hydraulic motor? And then there is a reservoir, or could I use the tranny sump? Would I use a cooler? Would I lose power to the hydraulic system?
Thanks for the help.

The tractor hydraulics would not have sufficient flow for your purpose. It pumps about 4.5 gpm at a pressure of 2000 or 2500 depending on the Pump in your tractor. You can use the hydraulic oil in the tractor, but you must return the oil straight into the hydraulic chamber using the connection under the seat on the l/h side, you MUST NOT return the oil through the oil filler Plug or you will overfill the transmission and possibly starve the Hydraulics. They usually use a Pump and Motor that operates at about 8 - 10 gpm and 2500psi pressure, but you don"t want anything less than this, but it can vary depending on how much you are trying to move.
Providing that you are not really making the Blower work hard, you shouldn"t need an oil cooler, you will be able to tell soon enough once you start working and if necessary pipe a cooler into the system. If you look at some manufactured blower and see just what HP motors and Pumps they use, it will give you a much better idea. Be sure to use Hydraulic Hoses that are big enough, make the return hose bigger than the feed and always use swept bends rather than elbows in the pipework or you will create a back-pressure in your Motor and blow the seals....John(UK)

All of the hydraulic driven blowers I work on use Sauer Sundstrand pumps and motors. These are variable displacement pumps and fixed displacement motors. Size 26 and 27"s. They pump about 60 gpm at 5k psi. They are driven by 625 horse CATs, 3406"s. Pumps and motors are not cheap,and then add hoses,a tank, cooler and some controls and you"ve got some money tied up.

Yes, I looked at Prince pumps and a 5gpm pump was $629! Real expensive. How about a gear box to run a driveshaft to the front?

I replaced the pump on the front of my 202 with one from surpluscenter.com. It was (I think) a 25 or 30 gpm pump. It was nowhere near the price you quoted. It drives my loader and backhoe. There was a front mounted pump option for the 35, you might find one at a scrapper that has a front end loader, it would have all the mounts and drive shaft etc.
There would need to be a separate reservoir. I would think that unless you have deep pockets or a good source of used parts, it might not we worthwhile. And if you do have deep pockets, why not get a more modern tractor already plumbed for what you want to do?

If you want to drive from the Crankshaft, you won't need a Gearbox, you just run it at engine speed. You can get the Shafts etc from this site to drive your Pump John(UK)

John, been looking for the spline shaft, couplers, ect for front pump drive, but cant seem to find the parts here, could you point me in the right direction please..

Thanks,
Tim

I can't see them on here either at the moment. Can I suggest you email them direct and ask, they may be on order and awaiting stock, so they would not show up..John(UK)

Thanks John....

Tim

Skid steers use wet powered snowblowers, and they work very well, but they are designed for using hydraulic attachments. You can buy blowers for atvs with their own engine. I have seen them on the front of a pickup truck as well. I have often thrown around the idea of a front mounted blower, with an engine transmission in a frame at the rear of the tractor. I am not sure if my tea would have enough clearance for a drive shaft that would match the input shaft of a blower in the raised position. I might have to hit the gym to steer it.