SVL75-2 + Snowblower rookie

Hi all!

A few rookie questions about operating our SVL75-2 with a Kubota snowblower.

Firstly, I had the hydraulic lines disconnected (and had released the pressure before disconnecting by pushing in the connectors) and they leaked on the shop floor. Is there a standard practice to avoid this?




Secondly, the dealer has the lines tie wrapped together so I'm unable to use the hose routing guide on the load arm, and this puts the smallest line under a lot of tension. This seems wrong. Should I cut the tie wraps and route the lines better myself?





Thirdly, the snowblower has an adjustment to set the speed of the main auger. When I got the snowblower, the main auger was not turning at all. I found this was set at 0. The instructions state "Rotate knob to a higher number to decrease auger speed and to a lower number to increase auger speed". My experience (no auger movement at 0) seems to contradict the instructions. Moving it to about midway, as shown here, resulted in the auger moving and all functions working as expected including spout. What should this ultimately get set to, as a first try to be ready for the massive Lake Superior highlands snow season?






thanks everyone!
Patrick

I've never used a snowblower, so can't help you there. On the first two questions: I am assuming you have flat face hydraulic connections (skid steer standard). They shouldn't leak when you connect or disconnect them, as long as you do it fairly quickly. If you hold them pushed it, they will leak, that is how they are supposed to work. To disconnect, push them in to relieve pressure, then just pop them off similar to an air hose. On the hose routing, do what works for your machine. I had to add 90deg elbows to my grapple bucket to make it work well. I've also had to use bungee cords to hold the hoses out of the tires or tracks sometimes. Every make of machine is different and every implement is different. Just make sure your hoses are out of the way of the tilt radius and stay out of the tires or tracks.

Also set your auger to the speed that works for you. Don't go by instructions as gospel.

you should cut the zip ties and adjust everything as you see fit. That one hose connected at the top looks like it has stress in it; not good. You want flexibility in your hoses in all positions. It looks like your tracks might actually grab them.

Regarding adjusting the auger speed, I’ve never seen that on a snowblower, and I’ve been blowing for years. Speed has always been adjusted simply by the engine rpms, and you pretty much always want the blower to be running at top speed.

I have blown snow with a skid steer for decades, and I have never seen a snow blower set up like this. Interesting. I would set the auger as fast as it will go. I cant think of a situation when you would want it to run slower, and I am with seville009, I never seen a blower set up with ability. Kubota did a halfast job on the install of the blower. If you paid for it, take it back and make them lengthen that case drain line or whatever that is. It looks like a high school kid set that up. Another helpful hint is to use spray on graphite and line the chute area with it periodically. Really helps to keep snow moving through the chute.

by the way - yes it is normal to have drops of hydraulic fluid spill out when disconnecting the hose. Just wrap a rag around them to catch it if you want.

A couple of drops is normal, but if that mess was all from uncoupling, that is not normal. I would guess that the attachment coupler that is leaking is bad, that happens, there is an O ring on the inside ring that goes bad or maybe was damaged in manufacturing since the attachment is new.

Temperature change will cause the hoses to leak. If you disconnect in cold weather and the oil is cold too, as the outdoor temperature rises the oil will expand from the increase in temperature and create pressure in the lines. Too much will blow past the seals. It also makes it very difficult to connect the hoses if they're under pressure. I always run the attachment a bit before disconnecting to warm the oil to avoid this.

My blower doesn't have the auger speed adjustment but from my experience I'd say you're going to have to experiment. You don't want the auger to feed snow at a rate higher than the fan can evacuate it or you'll experience frequent clogging. I have to regulate that with travel speed in the snow. I think you should be able to adjust it so you don't get clogging.