Well, another blizzard is bearing down on New England. I am very grateful for the 1026R and 47" snowblower!
Do others here use ballast with this setup? If so, how much? I have found that no ballast sometimes leaves the rear wheel spinning. A full box (close-packed bricks) lightens the front so much that steering is difficult or impossible without raising the blower. Half a box works better, but emptying and re-packing the BB is a PITA.
How do you load your machine? For next year, I'm thinking of making up some kind of weight with padded hooks to hang on the front grille. About 100 pounds ought to do it. Then I could keep the full BB for rear traction. Thoughts on that? Grille strong enough?
Another option would be to drop the BB in winter, and hang a smaller weight between the 3PH ends. That would also make the machine shorter, an advantage here. Again, 100 lbs might suffice. I've been looking for old barbell weights to hang off a piece of 3/4" rebar; with a symmetric load, there doesn't seem to be any need for the top link.
My neighbor had a big party recently, and worried about parking on the street here. To help out, I took a chance, and used the 47" blower to chop through three to four feet of packed snow and ice left by plows over recent weeks along more than 100 feet of road. Took it very slow, expecting to pop a shear bolt (or worse) at any moment and worried about the loud grinding noise. But it all worked out fine, and was a little smoother once I learned to make straight-in plunge cuts to load the augers evenly. I am VERY impressed with the toughness of that attachment.
Do others here use ballast with this setup? If so, how much? I have found that no ballast sometimes leaves the rear wheel spinning. A full box (close-packed bricks) lightens the front so much that steering is difficult or impossible without raising the blower. Half a box works better, but emptying and re-packing the BB is a PITA.
How do you load your machine? For next year, I'm thinking of making up some kind of weight with padded hooks to hang on the front grille. About 100 pounds ought to do it. Then I could keep the full BB for rear traction. Thoughts on that? Grille strong enough?
Another option would be to drop the BB in winter, and hang a smaller weight between the 3PH ends. That would also make the machine shorter, an advantage here. Again, 100 lbs might suffice. I've been looking for old barbell weights to hang off a piece of 3/4" rebar; with a symmetric load, there doesn't seem to be any need for the top link.
My neighbor had a big party recently, and worried about parking on the street here. To help out, I took a chance, and used the 47" blower to chop through three to four feet of packed snow and ice left by plows over recent weeks along more than 100 feet of road. Took it very slow, expecting to pop a shear bolt (or worse) at any moment and worried about the loud grinding noise. But it all worked out fine, and was a little smoother once I learned to make straight-in plunge cuts to load the augers evenly. I am VERY impressed with the toughness of that attachment.