Best Cyclops for snowblowing
 

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?

Best Cyclops for snowblowing
 

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. :beerchug:

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! :bigeyes:

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. :biggrin2:

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? :biggrin2:

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.

Best Cyclops for snowblowing
 

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! :biggrin2:

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.

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.

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. :biggrin2:

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

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.

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.