R84 snowcaster

[Harry]

I started looking at the snowcaster the other day and was not happy with what I found. I was planning on replacing the chain and belt then put it back on the GT. I removed the auger which appears straight and the bearings look good. There are a few dings in the auger which can be hammered with a dolly to straighten but the sprocket is looking poor. I can probably get a few winters out of it but would hate to get stuck with no GT to move snow. I have an older Sears two stage blower that works great but as I get older it’s a struggle to use. So do I look for a used 48” auger or just upgrade to a Berco for the 446? I think you all will agree a Berco is the way to go. I see a couple of used 48” two stage blowers on CL that are about an hour away drive time. Both close to the same price. Harry

[Eugen]

Nothing can stop you now @Harry .

[DavidBarkey]

I have yet to put a Berco on a Case . But I have put them on a few other tractors and am always impressed how well they work .

[myerslawnandgarden]

Harry,

An option to consider would be to just replace the auger sprocket as in the long run it would likely be more cost and time effective than locating a used auger with a good sprocket. If the rest of the R84 is in good shape, that's what I would do.

I do always keep them in stock......... https://www.casegardentractorparts.com/c1sncaausp.html

Bob

[DavidBarkey]

Harry,

An option to consider would be to just replace the auger sprocket as in the long run it would likely be more cost and time effective than locating a used auger with a good sprocket. If the rest of the R84 is in good shape, that's what I would do.

I do always keep them in stock......... https://www.casegardentractorparts.com/c1sncaausp.html

Bob

Thanks Bob . Did not know was ready available as a separate part .

[Eugen]

Harry,

An option to consider would be to just replace the auger sprocket as in the long run it would likely be more cost and time effective than locating a used auger with a good sprocket. If the rest of the R84 is in good shape, that's what I would do.

I do always keep them in stock......... https://www.casegardentractorparts.com/c1sncaausp.html

Bob

But the man who does that needs to know a thing or two about welding! @Harry , I wonder if you know somebody who does!?

[MattA]

Harry here is another Berco. Its probably a bit of a road trip for you to NH. This model has the chain drive auger like the model sold for ingersoll tractors. The input stage may be a different belt drive setup but you can probably adapt it. The impeller has 4 blades. Mine only has 3. Maybe it's a newer model? I can post any pictures of my Berco that you need. There is also an electric chute kit but it will set you back about $300. Also the chute rotation handle is on the left side.

https://nh.craigslist.org/grd/d/berco-s ... 23380.html

[Timj]

Berco has a couple of different drive setups on their blowers.
The chain drive auger like Matt's

This seems to be the style used for Ingersoll tractors

The other style has the drive pulley mounted to the blower impeller like MTD and Agri-fab.

This seems to be a more popular design. I have considered adapting one of these style to my 448. My hang-up has been with getting the right rpms to run this style. I had found that Agri-fab had designed theirs for 800-900rpm impeller speed. I would assume Berco's would be similar rpms but don't know for sure.
Running off the front PTO at around 3500 rpm there's not enough room to increase the blower drive diameter to get the rpms down to 900 if I figured right. I didn't run numbers to see were rpms would be after running through multiple pulleys like above but I think this design would put blower too far in front of tractor. I had figured with going directly from pto through mule and to blower pulley like the model Harry posted.
Just a little ramble, throw your 2 cents in.

[MattA]

The MTD style snowblowers are setup for the correct pulley rotation on the 3 digit tractors but not the 4 digit tractors.

Below is a picture of my Berco. It's got a chain drive gear reduction from the input shaft on the bottom which drives a gear box to the impeller and it also drives the auger through another shaft and chain drive gear reduction. The input pulley can be flipped to move the belt to the right.

Tim if I remember correctly the Berco already sits forward quite a bit. I think my 4016 struggles a little to lift it. Another 50psi in the lift circuit might fix this?

[DavidBarkey]

I have mounted Both styles on different tractors, but the one thing in commond was they were all vertical shaft engines . I had both here at one time when thinking of addapting one to a Case before Eugen brought me the caster I used .
My conclusion .
Was if I was to use the all belt design was to build a belt to belt reduction sub frame to come back under the tractor . This had some pros and cons . Pros, move some weight rear , belt slip if jammed , all pulley are available off the shelf . Cons belt maybe damaged if jammed , more parts to wear out .
If I used the chain/gear box design . One belt and snap fast sub frame . Sub frame could be made to extend under frame to allow the addition of extra weight mid tractor . Pros , less parts . shear pins not belts damaged if jammed . Cons , high load will shear a pin and instead of slipping belt , Jam up means you are pulling the cover to replace shear pin which fail very easily .