PTO Snow Blower Buying Guide: How to know what’s right for you.
Published 9/28/22

Depending on where you live, a PTO snow blower can be a necessity or a luxury tool. If a PTO snow blower isn’t a necessity, potential buyers often ponder whether this tool is worth the investment or not.

You’ll know you’re ready to make the purchase when you’re tired of relying on paid services or the snow shovel just doesn’t cut it as a viable option anymore. Shoveling snow can be very burdensome, time consuming, but most importantly can cause excessive and irreversible strain on our bodies as we age. Whether you’re a first time implement buyer or a proud multi-implement owner seeking some guidance, let’s look at some of the many benefits of investing in a PTO snow blower.

Let’s start with some basic questions: What size property do you need to clear? What’s the average snow accumulation in your area? Where will you store it? What specifications are required from your tractor?

These questions will help you zero in on which make, and model snow blower will be the best fit for you.

PTO Snow Blower Compatibility

Making sure the PTO snow blower is a proper fit is crucial to its performance and your satisfaction. When assessing which snow blower is most compatible with your tractor, you must consider different key factors:

1. What is the specified PTO horsepower of the tractor? Making sure it has the proper horsepower determines its ability to muscle through the various conditions of winter, whether it be light powder or heavy, wet snow.

 2. It’s important to ensure the snow blowers’ body fully covers the outside width of the rear tires. Choosing the improper width will leave behind a trail of hard-packed snow, creating more work and time to clear the surface. With full coverage of the rear tires, the snow blower will leave a clean surface with fewer passes. Visit tractordata.com to view the full dimensions and track width of your tractor.

 3. Pay attention to the tractor’s rear lift capacity (at 24 inches) to ensure the PTO snow blower can be picked up and easily maneuvered without over-stressing the tractor.

These key factors provide an easy guideline to quickly reference when researching tractor- to- PTO snow blower compatibility.

PTO Snow Blower Features to consider before purchasing

 A commonly asked question is: “What PTO snow blower features should I consider before purchasing?” Let’s break it down below, so you can easily spot which features impact PTO snow blower performance.

Overall Construction- There is a direct relationship between metal thickness and durability. Durability paired with proper maintenance, heavily impacts the PTO snow blowers’ longevity.
Serrated Auger Diameter- With a larger diameter, deeper snow is easier to manage. The auger’s serrated edges aid in breaking up frozen compact snow.  This feature will be determined by the volume of snow your area receives. For example, if you live in the mountains of Colorado, you’ll require a larger auger diameter compared to the plains of Nebraska.
Characteristics of the fan (impeller)- The fan’s diameter and number/size of its fins makes a huge impact on total processing volume and discharge performance.
Bolt-on replaceable steel cutting edge- This is beneficial to homeowners who prefer scraping snow all the way down to the pavement/gravel. Having this replaceable feature gives the snow blower a fresh steel edge yielding maximum clean up leaving no lingering snow behind.
Replaceable wear items- Components such as the cutting edge and skid shoes are the most often replaced and are key components for the PTO snow blower’s functionality.

These features are the five main components that must be considered when researching PTO snow blowers. This mini guideline is a fantastic reference for new buyers in the snow removal space. The last point to review before securing your purchase is “What are the available snow blower chute options to choose from?”.

Available Snow Blower Chute Options

Many snow blowers come standard with a mechanical crank gearbox to control the rotation of the discharge chute. However, if you’d like to maximize your time and efforts, there are electric and hydraulic chute rotator/deflector options.

The electric chute is a great option to be able to control the functions from the seat of your tractor if your tractor does not have auxiliary hydraulic hookups.

The hydraulic chute option is an excellent choice if you’d like to utilize the auxiliary hydraulics already installed on your tractor. The hydraulic chute typically consists of less components minimizing maintenance points.

Being equipped with the proper knowledge gives you a huge advantage when PTO snow blower shopping. With the points listed above, you’ll quickly be able to identify which type of PTO snow blower is the best fit for your tractor and lifestyle.

To shop WoodMaxx snow blowers, click here. If you have any questions, please give our dedicated sales team a call at 855-966-3629.