Best Cyclops for snowblowing

[bgushen]

I have a 451 snowblower on my 1862 and it does well in fluffy snow but struggles in slushy snow. I’m considering buying another cyclops to put the snowblower on, and my 1862 would get a snowplow. What would be the best cyclops for snowblowing? (I love the cyclops series) I’d imagine it would be the one with the most torque. I keep hearing that v-twins don’t have the torque of the horizontally opposed twins so does that mean the Kohler commands in the 1864, 2084, and 2284 would struggle more than a magnum in an 1862 or 2082?

[garydee]

My Dad purchased a 1641 cyclops new in 1994 with a 44 inch deck and a 45 inch snowblower (model 451). Living in Chardon, Ohio (the snow capital of north east Ohio) made it a challenge to keep up with the heavy snow, especially using the 451 blower. He had a crushed stone driveway on a slope that was difficult to clear without throwing stones all over. He decided to sell the 451 blower in favor of a 42 inch blade, which he used successfully for many years, clearing deep snow with that 1641.

I have a snow thrower attachment that has always been a challenge to use unless the snow was dry and fluffy. I recall several times being frustrated with the chute clogging and the snow collecting in the front of it. Being the only thing I had to move the wet heavy snow, I ended up shutting the pto off and using it like a plow!

I purchased a compact tractor some years ago with a power angle blade. It moves any kind of snow quickly and easily with no frustration. Instead of going out more frequently to clear snow with the blower before it builds up too much, I just wait until the next day and get to work when the weather has calmed down. No snow blowin' in my face either!

I can't recommend any cyclops style tractor, or any small tractor for that matter for blowing wet heavy snow. The blade excels in most any conditions, so that is my choice. Almost not worth having a blower, when most often, it can't get the job done. Your 1862 should do well in any snow with a power angle blade together with weights and chains for improved traction.

[ol'George]

The trick to throwing wet slop is keeping the mouth full, and adjusting your forward motion to keep the governor wide open but not allowing the RPM'S to drop, thus loosing power.
It can be done with a little practice.
Also a slight increase in auger speed with a one tooth increase in the jack shaft sprocket driving the auger helps.
I find a 4 paddle auger works better than a 2 paddle auger on the QA-42's
Now these are single stage throwers, not 2 stage blowers, as I have not had experience using 2 stages blowers.

Clearing snow on gravel surfaces is tedious, most times I keep the thrower higher than I want, just to keep from having to rake the rocks out of the grass come spring.
Also I have, as mentioned, used the thrower as a blade to pile snow at the edge of the driveway so raking rocks is confined to a foot or so on the grass.
Did I mention I hate snow?

[Sergeant]

Originally Posted by garydee

I can't recommend any cyclops style tractor, or any small tractor for that matter for blowing wet heavy snow. :

Cubs May not be good for It, But my John Deere X748 with a 47-inch Blower has no issue with blowing wet, heavy snow. That's where the Deere Poly second stage augur put the steel to shame. The steel 2nd stage augurs are better with dry, powdery snow. As far as further throwing distance, I have a 450 for my Cub Cadet 2182, and yes, it does have issues with wet, heavy snow. But any of the current Deere Blowers with the Poly second stage. Handles wet, heavy snow without an issue.

[garydee]

Good information! Experience is the best teacher...thanks for sharing your insight and practical experience on the technical side. Gives me some ideas to try besides waxing all the parts that contact the snow on my thrower. There's more to it than one would think!

[bgushen]

Originally Posted by Sergeant

Cubs May not be good for It, But my John Deere X748 with a 47-inch Blower has no issue with blowing wet, heavy snow. That's where the Deere Poly second stage augur put the steel to shame. The steel 2nd stage augurs are better with dry, powdery snow. As far as further throwing distance, I have a 450 for my Cub Cadet 2182, and yes, it does have issues with wet, heavy snow. But any of the current Deere Blowers with the Poly second stage. Handles wet, heavy snow without an issue.

So is it a plastic impeller? I had no idea. I’m considering doing the impeller mod that’s all over YouTube. It’s just adding a rubber flap (from an old mud flap) onto each blade of the impeller fan. It’s supposed to increase throwing distance and reduce clogging.

[Radioguy41]

We got 13" of the wet stuff yesterday and my neighbor's new HD John Deere with snowblower wouldn't move it. He asked me to clear his long uphill driveway with the 4Runner and then he used the blower as a plow to clear the bottom and around the mailbox.

When we first built this place I had a blower; two seasons of fighting that thing then spending a week in the Spring raking all the stones from the driveway out of the grass convinced me there had to be a better way so I went with a relatively inexpensive Snowbear plow for the truck and never looked back. I'm too old to sit out in the cold on a tractor. The 4Runner is nice and toasty warm, thank you very much.

[Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Radioguy41

We got 13" of the wet stuff yesterday and my neighbor's new HD John Deere with snowblower wouldn't move it. He asked me to clear his long uphill driveway with the 4Runner and then he used the blower as a plow to clear the bottom and around the mailbox.

When we first built this place I had a blower; two seasons of fighting that thing then spending a week in the Spring raking all the stones from the driveway out of the grass convinced me there had to be a better way so I went with a relatively inexpensive Snowbear plow for the truck and never looked back. I'm too old to sit out in the cold on a tractor. The 4Runner is nice and toasty warm, thank you very much.

What Model Blower ?
what style of blower front mount or rear Mount?
What Model tractor ?
Because I have never had an Issue with My 47-inch with the same depth of snow with either My X748, 1025R or 2025R using the same blower On each tractor.

[Oak]

I'm sure the Deere X748 is 10x better than any Cyclops or Cub Cadet garden tractor being they are at least 10 years newer and 2x the price.

But, I will say that they are very nice machines.

[Frank1541]

I have been using my cyclops with the 450/451 for 25 years with no issues. First with the Magnum 18 and later with a Kohler ECH23. We had a foot of very heavy wet snow last month. No problems. As stated above, the trick with slush is to increase the speed of the tractor, not slow down. This keeps material moving through the system.