I had a 782 with a blower that was ok. it required matching the speed and keeping the mouth full as mentioned earlier. I had weights and a counterbalance on a sleeve hitch. all Vinyl cab. I think a cab is essential for any blower. Now I am in a 2182(last year made) for the last 15-20 years. It has a full metal sims cab with glass windows. 451 blower. I installed a reverse pitch radiator fan and most the time I have to snow blow with the door(s) open it gets so warm inside the cab! I swapped the plastic chute for a JD metal chute. I have cut additional teeth on the chute swivel - 270 degrees. I can exhaust snow within an inch of the windshield effectively blowing it behind the tractor. I blow over gravel so the blower is always full weight on the front axle -the power steering makes this easy. 451 is very heavy so the mass of the 2182 makes it move easily - I still need to run foam filled rears and 75 pound weights. there is a three point that I have a scraper box and linear actuator to allow operation indepented of the shared lift front and rear. This also adds to the counterbalance for the weight of the snow blower.

So Your a person I have to make sure I never Buy a used tractor from :Rant:
I had foam filler Fronts On My 2182 when I bought it. I understand why the Previous owner did it as the foam was filled with thorns Those front tires were a royal PIA to remove even with a sawzall :ThumbsUp:

Best cyclops for snowblowing
 

Your reverse pitch fan is a clever idea to blow heat into the cab. Gotta have heat to be comfortable!

I have a 1641 with a 16 hp Briggs Vanguard (no radiator) that I would like to use with a 451 blower that I have, but it needs a cab. Before I try to find a Sims cab for my setup, I’m wondering if you have any ideas to blow heat from the engine into the cab to keep warm?

I like the idea of staying warm while clearing snow, however if there is no practical way to get heat to the cab, I might just forget the idea and sell the blower.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome! :bigthink:

you could go electric heat. The "A" store has many to choose from. there is not a lot of extra power generated in my 2182 electrical system, yours might be different. I run a car battery in mine instead of the lawnmower battery, that might help.

Funny how there so many different opinions on what works the best. I believe the only way to find out what works for you is just to try different ways. No one mentions that when pushing snow with a blade, I found that you can run out of room for snow unless I push it far out into the yard. I then would sometimes push dirt and rocks too. To avoid digging up the grass lower the shoes as far as possible the first few snowstorms until the ground is frozen, if you have a rock covered driveway this is the only way to avoid throwing or pushing rocks. I settled on using a snow thrower on my 149 CC. I did the rubber flap mod on the auger; I believe that is the best and single most important thing you can do to any snow thrower. I also painted the inside of the chute, auger, and housing with graphite paint. There is no best solution, only what works best for you. The different ways of moving snow have differnt advantages and downfalls, and it depends on the weather conditions you have and the disadvantages that you can best live with. I agree that a cab is essential with a snow thrower, make sure it has a windshield wiper.