Walk behind snow blowers

Moline_guy · Mar 1, 2010

Has anyone used a walk behind blower for moving grain. I don't own one, just wondering if they would work in a bin to move grain towards an auger? I have seen guys clean up grain piles with 3pt snowblowers to push grain towards an auger, figured the small ones would move grain also on a smaller scale. Just a thought, there have been a lot of used ones in the paper, i think a lot of people bought new ones. We have 18' flat bottom bins (3300 bushel) and we use a small 4" auger to get to the 7" unload auger but its still a lot of shoveling when cleaning out the last 400 bushels. Thanks for any replies.

Kentb of SWMO · Mar 1, 2010

Have you tried a leaf blower? We use back-pack leaf blowers to fight grass fire at the fire department. They will move a lot of stuff. I know for sure leaf blowers will work on Fescue Seed but Fescue is very light seed.

Kent

Pat-CT · Mar 1, 2010

I would almost rather have a small 2 stroke snowblower, I would think grain could get jammed in a 2 stage one and break shear pins where a 2 stroke would just kind of spit it out. Sounds like it would work though

BillinCentralMO · Mar 1, 2010

How do you use a blower in contolling the fire? Is it just to blow loose leaf litter out of the firebreak or does it do something more ?

BillinCentralMO · Mar 1, 2010

How do you use a blower in contolling the fire? Is it just to blow loose leaf litter out of the firebreak or does it do something more ?

landlord7012 · Mar 1, 2010

local limestone quarry uses an old Ariens 2-stage to clean up tight spots under teh belt to the kiln. Works for limestone screeenings and snow, don't see why it wouldn't work for grain. Fires from dust and chafe might be a concern...

Bill

Leyland-270 · Mar 1, 2010

I was told to be cautious of the dust as it can cause an explosion if the conditions are just right. I have a few different lengths of sweep augers that I use, far less dust than a blower. Our newer bins all have sweep augers built in and we now have a grain vac that we use on the smaller bins. Suck out clean and no need for an auger. Can load a semi in 40 minutes.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 1, 2010

Very serious explosion potential. Grain dust is very explosive. The blowing effect would create dust and the engine would be the ignition source. The exhuast in an enclosed area would also be a concern for carbon monoxide poisoning.

504 · Mar 1, 2010

Do your wife a favor and add 50,000.00 to your life insurance.

Moline_guy · Mar 1, 2010

LOL, yea probably a dumb idea, the winter has been too long. We usually rent a grain vac for cleaning out the bottoms. Clean 3 or 4 bins and just rent it by the hour seems to work the best.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 1, 2010

We just got four of them, any tips? We have never use one.

Tom from Ontario · Mar 2, 2010

I took an old 4 inch 10 foot auger and cut half the tube away and hung it from the roof for an instant portable sweep auger. The grain left was easily moved with a broom for final clean up.

Kentb of SWMO · Mar 2, 2010

They are use to clean a fire line. They also tend to blow the fire out. I think what works best is a two man team. One man with a leaf blower followed by a man with a hand rake. The man with the rake can take care of the hotter spots that the leaf blower guy misses.

Kent

Walk behind snow blowers

Moline_guy

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Kentb of SWMO

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Pat-CT

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BillinCentralMO

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BillinCentralMO

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landlord7012

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Leyland-270

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Anonymous-0

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504

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Moline_guy

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Anonymous-0

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Tom from Ontario

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Kentb of SWMO

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