Gerald Shewchuk has gone into the snow harvesting business.
“I had a swather that I no longer used for our farming operation, so I decided rather than parking it way in the bush, I’d see if I could mount a three-point hitch snow blower in front of it,” said Shewchuk, who farms in the northern Alberta community of Whitelaw.
He said he appreciated the size and capacity of three-point hitch snow blowers, but recognized the downsides of those machines.
Rather than putting it behind a three-point hitch tractor and “getting a stiff neck backing up all the time blowing snow,” he mounted the blower in front of the old swather where the header would normally sit.
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The swather chassis is a Massey Ferguson model 775 powered by a Chrysler slant six, gasoline engine.
The seven foot snow blower with one foot side extensions creates a nine-foot-wide front end that yields a cut two inches wider than the swather wheels.
The snow header is raised and lowered using the original header hydraulic cylinders, lift springs and pedal control valve in the cab.
He used a larger-than-stock pulley mounted on a pivot-style tightening system to get the drive speed in the right range. A hydraulic cylinder operates the tightening unit to engage the driveline between the engine and snow blower.
From there a drive shaft puts power to a 2:1 ratio reversing gear box that is mounted on the blower, which achieves a 540 r.p.m. machine speed and proper rotation of feed auger and blower.
A pivot, controlled by a hydraulic cylinder and attached by a cable, determines position of the spout. The angle of the ejected snow is also controlled by a hydraulic cylinder, using the swather’s original pedal valve in the cab.
There is little point in having a dedicated snow machine without cab heat, which didn’t exist on older swathers. Shewchuk added an overhead heater with a front windshield wiper to keep off the snow.
Tire chains provide the added traction needed for the hydrostatic steering system.
“With a tractor there is always a lot of turning and jockeying around. Not with a swather, they can spin on the spot,” he said.
“Some of the engineering ideas are from my brother, Ed, in order to make this project work, and believe me it does work well.”
A custom paint job and abominable snowman mascot were added to complete the package.
“Because of the front mount, you can see everything, too. Snow hides stuff and with the high position over the blower, you get a lot better view than if you have a blower in front of tractor and without the sore muscles from sticking on the back of a tractor.”
