Snowblowers QA42 or QA36 ?

[McCabe]

Does anybody have experience with these blowers on a 582. Guess it doesnt really matter what machine its mounted to. I am seeing them on ebay and wonder if they will work well considering its only a single stage blower. Also anybody have a used one? Thanks Mac

[Jeff M]

Don't know how it would work for the 582, but I had a QA36 on my 127, and it worked pretty good. Don't let the single stage scare you--you just have to be a little more careful about your forward speed. The chute will never clog, either (or at least mine didn't). Hydrostatics are better for using blowers, IMHO.

[Ritter107]

the QA-36A is a better choice for you... as with that 582 you have to LIFT it up with your own arm... and at 165lbs, that blower is more than enough. It's a little better if you have spring assist, but if you only have manual lift, and especially if you don't have the spring assist, the 36inch is definantly better. You'll seperate your shoulder lifting the 40 or 42 inch ones repeatedly.... believe me.


As for running it, the 582 should be fine. I run a QA-36U1111 with a 107 that is repowered with a 12hp Kohler... and it runs it great. The trick is getting the proper feed rate, which is tough with a standard.


In addition... if you don't have a cab on that tractor... God be with you, cause you're really really gonna need it when the snow starts flying. After about 10 minutes u'll look like a snowman mate Enjoy!
- Jon

[R Bedell]

I run a QA42A on my Cub 1450. The tractor (14HP) handles this good. I have found, the type of snow you are removing makes a difference. Dry and light snow is Good. Heavy wet snow is more challenging. I do agree, that hyrdo are better suit for snowthrowers but a gear drive with a creeper option works well too. I have hydraulic lift so I can't offer any experience on the "armstrong" option. This is my first year extensively using a snowthrower verses a snow blade and I much prefer the snowthrower. I do realize, that there are jobs for both but for general snow clearing and/or removal, I am glad I have my QA42A.

[CC 1450]

I have to agree with R Bedell.

I also have a 1450, and use a QA42A.

Since you don't have hydraulic lift, you may want to consider getting a spring assist...even with the 36" wide thrower! I have installed my 42" thrower on a manual lift tractor that was equipped with a spring assist....and with the the bolt turned in far enough, even the heavy 42" wasn't bad to lift.

[Ritter107]

That's funny... i always hear about the spring assist and how easy it is to lift the blower. However, with my spring assist it still takes some effort to life my thrower. I never could get that. I had the bolt turned in the whole way too.

[R Bedell]

Can't offer you any suggestions in this arena. All my working Cubs have hydraulic lifts. For me, I like just using the hydro lever. Getting too old for all this "armstrong" stuff...LOL

[Ritter107]

I'm physically too old for the armstrong stuff Body feels about 50.

[gitractorman]

Ritter,
The spring assist works pretty simple, but if you have not fooled with it, it may not be doing anything. One end clamps to the lift rock shaft, under the transmission tunnel, the other end clamps to the back of the frame. At the back you should find a 1/2" or 9/16" nut threaded on to a bolt in the middle of the spring. This is the tension adjustment. These often come loose and the spring is doing nothing. You can crank this clockwise to give you more lift from the spring, or counterclockwise to release the spring tension. I have set these so that all you have to do to lift the mower deck or snow blower is release the button on the lift lever, and the spring does all of the work. That is exactly the idea, hook up your attachment, adjust the spring so that it does most of the lifting, then all you have to do is push the button and guide the lift arm.

If the nut came off you may have to take the spring out of the tractor to try to fish the bolt back through the back of the spring, then put it all back together.

Hope this helps,
Bill

[Ritter107]

It's on there properly, and it's cranked down as far as it will go. The spring is clear at the back plate. The sping came off another CC and the mounts came from a CC dealer in Wisconsin. It's on there the correct way... so beats me.

[Paul B]

Ritter107
Something is not correct, because with a the bolt run all the way in, it should take more effort to push the lift arm forward(down) than to pull it back or up. Is the spring assist mounted on the right side of the tractor and connected to the lift bar of the rear hitch (a Brinly-Hardy spring assist) or is it an IH assist and on the left side of the tractor and connected to the rockshaft?

If it is a Brinly, there is a specified distance for the front spring mount from the rear of the lift bar(11-3/4" from spring mount hole to center of rear hole of lift bar).

If it is an IH, make sure the tab on the front spring mount is under the arm of the rockshaft so that the rock shaft will "pull" on the spring when raised - the "U" bolt only keeps it in place on the shaft, and does not 'clamp' it to provide lift. About the only other thing that could be wrong is the arm on the rockshaft is loose (broken weld), the spring is streched or not the correct spring, and or the bent rod that connects the front of the spring to the front bracket is not correct (narrow frame tractors and wide frame tractors do not use the same rod).

A spring assist will not make lifting all attachments effortless, but sure will make it a lot easier than it is without an assist.

[Ritter107]

It's IH, and it's on correctly, it helps alot, but not as much as some say it should. Believe me, wit the bolt turned in the whole way you can't push the arm forward without some implement on the tractor. the whole deal came off another NF, and it's back on the same way. I'm not really that concerned as it does help a lot, but curious why it doesn't pull more.


The only thing that I think may mess with it is i have the bolt running through my hitch that i use to pull my lawn vac (custom job)... there is a heavy steel plate that essentially replaces the right angle pice that the bolt would normally run through. It is possible that when i drilled the hole for the bolt in that plate i made it off a little bit. However... if that is causing my spring to pull funny, it's gonna stay that way. I use that lawn vac too much.