THAT will be so much fun after a heavy powder snowfall!! possibly add a skid plate with small steel wheels on the back of the snowblower frame so if you are backing up over a hump / unlevel section the sharp angles wont dig in ? In any case you are an awesome Enginner coming up with these things and then DOING them yourselves!
skid plate with up curved tips at each side would work, easier to fabricate. and you can make some counterweight to put in the back of the truck at the tailgate, which should give you better traction,
Excellent job guy’s, love ur content & genius. The skid steer with snow blower in the back would make a good counterweight, for extra traction and have a backup redundancy machine on board for some smaller areas, or in case of a breakdown, you could still finish a job &/or get home for parts, etc.
Great job, some others have pointed out some tips to improve your project. Add 8,000lbs in the back and winches front and rear. The weight should keep from getting stuck. The winches if you do. The front winch could be used to lift it rather then the hyd cyl. And give you float. Great job over all.
That has got to be one of the most “ambitious” off grid builds I have ever seen! Forget the off grid, who cares, that thing is a beast and I can’t believe you engineered the whole thing, Riley you’re a genius!
Good job on getting the snowblower attached and functional. Looks like you'll need to add a bunch of ballast weight in the truck bed to offset the weight of the snowblower on the front end of the truck. That should help with turning. One tip to snowblowing on gravel is to make sure the ground is good and frozen otherwise you will be peeling up your gravel and launching it through the snowblower.
Good observation. However they mentioned in the previous vid about this project they wanted to install a spreader and load a bunch of road salt in the back. Question is, would there be enough salt? Maybe make a drop in box made out of lead to hold the salt? Just thinking. Lol
Right. You must at least place the same weight over the rear axle as the weight of the entire blower-extension. Then you will definitely no longer have traction problems and the steerability of the truck will definitely improve in use. Good job, you can be proud of it!
Awesome job, I’ve been working for municipality for a number of winters and the only time our trucks don’t have good traction is when there empty so I’d encourage you to add some dirt in the back of the truck, oh and before I forget congratulations you two on the news of your first baby.
This is awesome to see this plan come together and work so well. If I might make a suggestion. Before next winter, put about 1 or 2 tons of gravel in the back. That will help offset some of the extra weight on the front axle and give you better traction on the rear. If you want to take it a step further, get yourself a sander unit to put in the bed. Then you can also sand the road after you blow the snow off of it. Usually in the spring ITD has a surplus equipment auction, down here in CDA.
Another suggestion is to lower the snowblower to a couple of inches off the ground when in use. It was much too high and it was only skimming the top surface, left too much snow under the wheels. Don't be afraid to get it down in the snow, it will handle it. Then if you have to back up, you shouldn't get stuck.
That’s actually really smart to have used the power steering pump as a repurposed hydraulic pump for the floating ram and solenoids. I’m an engineer by day and I have to give credit where credit is due - that’s ingenious!
That's how plow trucks have been doing it since the 70's or before. You can change the pulley size to get more pressure and change pumps with larger reservoirs too.
Riley this is absolutely brilliant! Beautiful welds too! What i think is amazing is that both of you are equally talented. You guys are a beautiful team together.
There needs to be an awards ceremony for TH-cam content creators. This would definitely take the "Most Inventive project done from an off grid channel" award.
I think their many years of experience with vehicle fabrication and the fact they own a $20000 plasma table disqualified them from contention. Their experience is OP.
You HAVE seen the guy that slapped 3 RC jet fans to his Tesla, then drove it on the freeway in Chicago, with flames coming out, right? That guy and Riley are cut from the same cloth. :) Here's the video: th-cam.com/video/6SYT0upjNac/w-d-xo.html
Just a suggestion, The way a snow plow blade works (which is what you have with a blower) is the hydraulic ram lifts an arm with a chain attached for floating ability, eliminating that float manifold. Also, put skid plates on the sides of the blower to prevent picking up a lot of gravel, which will also break the impeller's roller chain. Skids will slide over bumps instead of trying to shear them off breaking something. Go slow there is no spring mount. Team Ambition is doing Great, wish I was your neighbor.
Wait why are you so calm? This made me miss how CC's used to say a thing just once, they talked calmly, measured and deliberately. Everybody else just goes AUUW AUWW OFOFFFFF AAAUWUW UHUH AAAH. Lots of screaming and hollering, while you're as calm as can be! You even edited down the volume when you got excited for it working! 😊 Subbed!
Next is a super supremely strong winch to winch out the stuck truck? That was such a cool video!!! But can the next one be longer than 1 minute?? This one flew by...Amazing! Looking forward to seeing it clear the snow from your new road...What an incredible achievement. Seriously, Riley needs a skin tight lycra suit with a cape and a mask. He's a super hero.
As a retired engineer I must give Riley a massive pat on the back for his ingenious use of parts cobbled togeather to make what is a difficult thing to build. So much has to be right for it to work correctly. All I would say is you need atleast 1-2 tonnes of counter weight in the truck bed, over the rear axle, this will make the whole vehicle more balanced and much more driveable.
What an achievement. Very few would have even thought about building this snow blower, even fewer would have the ability to engineer such a project. You two are truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Congratulations on the coming next generation little engineer.
The way you guys make your ideas come to life is amazing. The amount of steps that you can look ahead to make sure you cover it all just blows my mind. Great job!
I can assure how satisfying is to get functional things made by our own hands. This could explain why your channel is growing fast all around the world. You know, even we who didn't do anything but watching you, can also get some serotonin shots, it means, you guys are addictive, all FIVE of you! 😁 Greetings from Poland
You stole my thunder M@. LOL A floater position on the hydraulics is critical. It allows the blower to freely move up and down depending on the terrain. I'm a heavy equipment operator and front end loaders allow you to float the bucket to smooth out surfaces as you drive backwards. Thomas Dutkiewicz
Riley: I have to give you major Kudos, I have watched your engineer & fab projects in the past, but this snow blower is your best. From mounting an car engine to the snow blower, the mounting frame & hydraulics, your engineering, fabbing and welding skills are top notch!
Awesome project! A couple of thoughts 1) protect the radiator, it looks vulnerable. 2) extra weight on the back of the truck. -- that will help with traction and balance. 3) provisions for when the hydraulics break -- attachment points for wheels to support the front of the blower. -- physical lock for the up position. -- redundant/parallel hydraulic lift system.
You folks are fantastic planners, engineers and fabricators. Your smiles are a signal that your efforts have paid great dividends. Blessings to both of you.
Also, as someone who drives a 1078 in the military a bunch, highly Recine you deflate the tires to either the cross country or sand settings in your deflator if you still have it installed. If not I would deflate until there’s about Reiger inches of bulge on either side of the sidewall. That’s about the psi level that cross country would give you in the tire system.
You may have some icing issues with the radiator. There is a mesh fabric for snowmobiles that may shed the snow and keep it from icing if it becomes an issue.
I like that idea about the mesh, and please think about how to keep blown snow out of your air filter. Perhaps just a little shroud over the top? Love the project overall, and so envious of your fab skills!!
That machine is insane! I hope it works well and you can move some serious snow with it. Also, thanks for always saying oh my gosh. Very refreshing for this devout Christian.
Outstanding! Just make sure to keep the dogs inside when you are using it. Small and large kids too. The snow blowers we had in the Air Force took no prisoners. Cheers Terry
Phenomenal build ! Getting that blower to float on skids mounted on each side will keep it above the road at a consistent height so you won't get stuck again....
When that bad boy came out of the shop door all I could think of was the movie 'Maximum Overdrive' plus a really recent green comet in the skies. Excellent work!
I use a box fan also to clear the air too a carbon filter works even better will reduce smells and since you live up stairs you wont be sleeping with the smells
Try one of the old school cruise controls set ups. They read drive shaft speeds and have an electric motor that modulates the throttle. You might be able to set this up to read pto speed...set the cruise control and it will regulate the engine speed based on pto rpm. Just a thought. Well done guys... this thing is AWESOME!
He likely could use the factory transmission sensor assuming it is a hall effect? and reads teeth on a wheel. He could put a sprocket or gear on the belt drive somewhere for the sensor to work.
Those kits from AuxBeam are so nice. I used the 8 switch kit on my Kubota and the 6 switch for my quad. It makes the wiring job so much quicker, simpler and cleaner. Well done with the fab work!
Great job. One experience comment. We had a 7 foot blower on a three point tractor. One day was blowing snow, it picked up apart brick and threw it through a barn wall. Not a good idea to stand anywhere near or in front of a snow blower. Be safe
Excellent work! Absolutely amazing what Riley can do. I'm wondering if a counter weight on rear of truck will offset the blower weight resulting in more rear tire traction?
Putting 1-2 tons of rock or sand in the bed will not only help with traction for the rear drives but will also help keep the truck level and help keep the blower farther off the ground while traveling. Awesome build
I think that it performed Rey well. The “snow” that you were blowing was mostly ice. When you sink it into fresh soft snow it is going to rock. In my opinion you have knocked it out of the park. Bravo. Your Pal Al
That was fun and the engine was more than enough to throw snow, well done and I hope for one more good snow so you can give it a good test with some fresh powder but from what I have seen this is a home run.
As a Snowbloweroperator in austria: you should blow the snow to the right side (drinkerside) so that you can see what you are doing, and mount adjustable wheels on each side of the blower to adjust the height of the blade/the whole blower. the rest looks pretty good
Awesome work guys. The only thing I might add is some counterweight in the bed of the truck, maybe one or two 55 gallon drums full of cement with a lift point?
That snowblower is awesome! Nice to see all your hard work and ingenuity paid off! That should really be handy for those massive snow storms! Thanks for the video!
Load the truck with some of the stone around the house' it's free and the only expense then is the fuel; and you'll have better traction, yes I realize this was practice and the old road, but as a navy vet the term "CYA" come to mind. Good luck and thankyou all for shareing!!!
You guys are amazing. This is a genius idea. There's nothing that you can't do. I'm so impressed. Congratulations on the coming birth of your baby Courtney. I pray that all goes well. God bless you both, and stay safe. 🤩🤗
Food for thought, during the snowplow season you could make a concrete block to weight down, evenly distributed on the vehicles flatbed, to provide further traction; but to exceed the vehicles gross weight restrictions.
I built a large garden tractor many years ago and had trouble keeping engine speed constant. I used a Cruze control , that used a magnet to trigger the control. I mounted the magnet to the flywheel. It worked great!
What a great accomplishment! You may want to add some weight over the back wheels to help your traction and counterbalance the weight of the snowblower on the front! Congrats on the baby. Blessing to you all! Question: How are the solar panels working with melting the snow? Do you have to clean the off much or does the reflecting from the back help?
Really appreciate that you two actually wear safety gear when doing fab work. So many channels, safety glasses and seatbelts are an afterthought, if they're used at all.
This is my favorite episode for this blower. The controls and mounting are the fun part! Plus Courtney is changing her demeanor! She is getting more of a mommy vibe already.
Great build! I love this channel! You both are so genuine, fearless and your ability to fabricate anything is amazing. Your creations are never backyard either. Welding is impeccable. You could have built the entire blower if you wanted to. I'll be disappointed if you buy the sander to go in the back next winter 🙈lol. Have a great week!
I love the fact that you have the brains to engineer a project and then grab the tools to drill, Tap, weld and completely put it all together. Love an engineer who gets his or her hands dirty. Cheers guys!!! 😀🍺🍻🥂😛
Awesome engineering analyses, designing, welding and testing. Suggest considering mounting wheels to the edges of the blower so you don't have to rely on metal skids. So how are you going to get the truck and snowblower unstuck?
Have you named this Frankenstein blower yet? Truly impressed with your tenacity and engineering skills. Congratulations. Wishing you both another blessed week, gentle seasonally appropriate weather and restful evenings. Peace
Wow Just awsome as you drove out of the shop for the first time! Not surprised but greatly impressed that it works. You seem to have the thought processes worked out so well. I cannot wait to see how you finish it off, and wish you a lot of snow so you can celebrate Congrats
Totally awesome dude. You da man Master Kacey. You are a credit to your school. Somebody needs to nominate you for your school's outstanding alumni award.
That is such an awesome & amazing accomplishment! You guys have come so far in the past year!! So looking forward to all your future builds! One thing tho? The past few videos you have posted, your audio is so low, I have to almost crank the volume, & then when the commercials come on it blasts out of the speakers! Can you please look into this?? Awesome content tho, keep it up!
Oh no, that’s very strange! We’re putting out videos at the same audio level we always have and don’t seem to have that issue on our end. I’ll have to investigate!
@@AmbitionStrikes no volume problem on my playback. I have noticed that some videos from other creators do have this audio problem, but it's not constant.
I don't know what the cause of it could be, I just notice that when I go to watch your videos I have to crank the volume, and honestly I've never had that problem with any other channels, & I watch alot of TH-cam lol.. I'm recovering from knee replacement surgery so I have alot of time on my butt! Lol.
Ice cream in the winter is a great choice! One of the neatest things about going to Germany in the winter was seeing the number of ice cream shops and people walking around snacking on ice cream.
The rear tyres are lifted up a little so then you need to add some weight in the back. But also i would offset blower so you can get the snow from the sides of the road. And then you dont drive in the ditch so fast.
Your mind boggles mine. From adding a car engine to an industrial snowblower, creating a mounting system to hold it, figuring out how to add the components needed to lift, level, and lower the blower past the level point to be in a negative direction, creating all the mounts using your plasma cutter. Your mind works like you have a master's and doctorate degree in mechanical engineering or that might be just too easy for you. Very, Very impressive as well as your talents used in making the Snowverlander. Well Done!!!!
That thing is AWESOME ! 👍👍 A little tip though. On the snowblower I drove, there was no stop for the angle of the snow throw, which resulted in a broken windshield and the cab full of snow... Stops were installed on both sides after that..😂
Someone likely already offered this advice, but you need to add about 2,000 lbs (big rocks?) in the rail end of the box of the truck, which would balance out the truck and give better traction to the rear wheels. But it is a really well thought out concept, just needs a little tweaking and it will be your best friend in the winter!
A really well done project...Completely self contained is a great feature. Here's a couple of possibilities I've come up with (yeah right, just what you need - more projects) : 1) How about a removable counter weight for the back of the truck to improve traction and balance? 2) I know you'd have no problem fabricating a quick-attach plate/mount so that you could also use the blower with your tracked loader (or perhaps a tractor?)
You guys got the machinery, You ought to use it. a tractor trailer gets its traction through the sheer weight of the vehicle in the load. I used to drive truck, everybody thinks driving a big truck is a scary ordeal. When you have 80,000 pounds keeping you glued to the road, the only thing you have to do just make sure you don't make a mistake and go off into the ditch. A 55-gal barrel of water is approximately 500 lb. if you added enough salt to the water it would not freeze, and you could have it in a plastic barrel for ballast. i always told my old bosses that if he had a couple 55 gallon barrels on the back of the truck when the truck is almost empty it would give the truck better traction than no weaght at all on the back of the truck. Your army truck may have room on the frame for hanging extra tanks like I was talking about. you could fill them up or you could empty them as needed. Fact is I don't know why more people don't do this.
Hi, somewhere down the line you announced that you are expecting a baby. Congratulations 🎊 In that piece you asked if you could what machinery would you buy. I have thought about this and my humble suggestion it a Timber mill. The reason is two fold. First the amount of good timber that is around, Second the amount of timber you are going to use in the coming years ahead, and the price of timber you buy, it will pay for itself especially when the raw materials are free. Keep going I am a bit envious of you as 40 years ago I would be there to help and enjoy every minute of it. Cheers Richard from the UK.
By adding ballast to the bed of the truck will help with the traction. Most snow plows on a pickup truck require some ballast to help maintain control of the truck and provide equal traction of all the tries.
Awesome job you two. I just came in from snow blowing with my Van Snow blower and now I get to see yours in action. For a first time out I'd say you guys did very well. I had to laugh, as I to managed to get stuck my first time out and the neighbor had to come over and pull me out. I now have off road knobby tires and chains and what a difference that made. I noticed your blower is a bit high off the ground judging from the snow under the truck as you are moving along. If the ground is frozen, get that cutting edge down to the ground, unless you have loose gravel then keep it up a bit. I hope you guys make another video of this, we need to see more of it. Congrats on the Blower Project....I think it's going to work great.
Awesome job, guys. Pretty darn respectable for a couple with mostly little experience with these huge projects you 2 have seriously knocked out of the park! Pro tip-- take a piece of 1/2" by 1/2" square stock (or equivalent) approximately 8" long. Set aside. Also cut 2 (two) 3/4" long buttons of similar stock. Make a capital F out of the 3 pieces to form a tool that can be slipped over the chain tensioner for extra leverage while donning or doffing big, heavy, wet, slippery tire chains. (Helps immensely to slightly notch the buttons so they don't slip sideways off the tensioner.) Also negates the need to remove big guy clunky gloves while working in puddles of sub-arctic slop in a snowstorm while tightening loose chains, should the need ever arise. Drive to Kalispell and show me how incredibly fast you can blow the snow out of my driveway. Stay for gourmet coffee and a delicious elk steak. (bring your own elk, and maybe a couple extra for me) 😁😁😁
Terrific engineering and build. I had a 6' blower with a 301 cubic inch, 59 horsepower engine. When the snow would be deeper than the first auger, the engine was lacking in power to blow the snow. Going to make a video on getting the truck out?
don't forget a few kill switches. One each side of the blower on the outside and one in the cab. With no easy way to shut it off there is a high risk of catastrophic results. Stay safe - good work!
I hope you remembered to use sheer pins in various places, so when the snow pile hides a large fallen branch, you snap a sheer oin instead of pretzeling the augurs or second stage impeller.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Neva Play (feat. RM) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TpYTyAaTRts/mqdefault.jpg)
The crazy part for me is this is all off grid! All the cutting, welding with solar and batteries. Awesome.
So awesome!! Engineer, electrical, mechanical, and fabricator all rolled into Riley. So enjoyable to see the smiles on your faces each week!
THAT will be so much fun after a heavy powder snowfall!! possibly add a skid plate with small steel wheels on the back of the snowblower frame so if you are backing up over a hump / unlevel section the sharp angles wont dig in ? In any case you are an awesome Enginner coming up with these things and then DOING them yourselves!
skid plate with up curved tips at each side would work, easier to fabricate. and you can make some counterweight to put in the back of the truck at the tailgate, which should give you better traction,
Excellent job guy’s, love ur content & genius. The skid steer with snow blower in the back would make a good counterweight, for extra traction and have a backup redundancy machine on board for some smaller areas, or in case of a breakdown, you could still finish a job &/or get home for parts, etc.
Great job, some others have pointed out some tips to improve your project. Add 8,000lbs in the back and winches front and rear. The weight should keep from getting stuck. The winches if you do. The front winch could be used to lift it rather then the hyd cyl. And give you float. Great job over all.
That has got to be one of the most “ambitious” off grid builds I have ever seen! Forget the off grid, who cares, that thing is a beast and I can’t believe you engineered the whole thing, Riley you’re a genius!
Good job on getting the snowblower attached and functional. Looks like you'll need to add a bunch of ballast weight in the truck bed to offset the weight of the snowblower on the front end of the truck. That should help with turning. One tip to snowblowing on gravel is to make sure the ground is good and frozen otherwise you will be peeling up your gravel and launching it through the snowblower.
Good observation. However they mentioned in the previous vid about this project they wanted to install a spreader and load a bunch of road salt in the back. Question is, would there be enough salt? Maybe make a drop in box made out of lead to hold the salt? Just thinking. Lol
Extra weight in the back will also help traction. Easiest way is one or two 1 ton water containers and fill them however much you need.
Use snow. It unloads it's self.
Right. You must at least place the same weight over the rear axle as the weight of the entire blower-extension.
Then you will definitely no longer have traction problems and the steerability of the truck will definitely improve in use.
Good job, you can be proud of it!
Awesome job, I’ve been working for municipality for a number of winters and the only time our trucks don’t have good traction is when there empty so I’d encourage you to add some dirt in the back of the truck, oh and before I forget congratulations you two on the news of your first baby.
This is awesome to see this plan come together and work so well. If I might make a suggestion. Before next winter, put about 1 or 2 tons of gravel in the back. That will help offset some of the extra weight on the front axle and give you better traction on the rear. If you want to take it a step further, get yourself a sander unit to put in the bed. Then you can also sand the road after you blow the snow off of it. Usually in the spring ITD has a surplus equipment auction, down here in CDA.
I agree, the truck will go better in snoeblowing and you wont go stuck then you are backing with the lifted snowblower.
Another suggestion is to lower the snowblower to a couple of inches off the ground when in use. It was much too high and it was only skimming the top surface, left too much snow under the wheels. Don't be afraid to get it down in the snow, it will handle it. Then if you have to back up, you shouldn't get stuck.
That’s actually really smart to have used the power steering pump as a repurposed hydraulic pump for the floating ram and solenoids. I’m an engineer by day and I have to give credit where credit is due - that’s ingenious!
When he said it I was thinking - that's a great idea! No messing with the truck. I really like that.
I use my powering steering pump to run my detach instead of a PTO wet kit
I mean power steering is literally a hydraulic circuit so it makes sense lol
That's how plow trucks have been doing it since the 70's or before. You can change the pulley size to get more pressure and change pumps with larger reservoirs too.
Guess you're not familiar with hydraulic systems.
Riley this is absolutely brilliant! Beautiful welds too! What i think is amazing is that both of you are equally talented. You guys are a beautiful team together.
There needs to be an awards ceremony for TH-cam content creators. This would definitely take the "Most Inventive project done from an off grid channel" award.
I watch farming and excavating channels that are as good if not better
Obviously you have never seen Donny dyi he built his own atv a log splitter a trailer with a grapple to pick up logs now he's building a sawmill.
I think their many years of experience with vehicle fabrication and the fact they own a $20000 plasma table disqualified them from contention. Their experience is OP.
Awesome Job guys, you are a very talented . Love seeing your guys videos.
You HAVE seen the guy that slapped 3 RC jet fans to his Tesla, then drove it on the freeway in Chicago, with flames coming out, right?
That guy and Riley are cut from the same cloth. :)
Here's the video:
th-cam.com/video/6SYT0upjNac/w-d-xo.html
Just a suggestion, The way a snow plow blade works (which is what you have with a blower) is the hydraulic ram lifts an arm with a chain attached for floating ability, eliminating that float manifold. Also, put skid plates on the sides of the blower to prevent picking up a lot of gravel, which will also break the impeller's roller chain. Skids will slide over bumps instead of trying to shear them off breaking something. Go slow there is no spring mount. Team Ambition is doing Great, wish I was your neighbor.
I just mentioned the same mount system. And adding weight.
My weekend is not complete without a video from you two!
Wait why are you so calm?
This made me miss how CC's used to say a thing just once, they talked calmly, measured and deliberately.
Everybody else just goes AUUW AUWW OFOFFFFF AAAUWUW UHUH AAAH.
Lots of screaming and hollering, while you're as calm as can be! You even edited down the volume when you got excited for it working! 😊
Subbed!
You made the massive amount of work attaching this to the truck look really easy. That is impressive.
Thanks Dexter! There's a reason this video took an extra week! Ha. All the little things are so time consuming.
@@AmbitionStrikes keep it up!!!
@@AmbitionStrikes 1:38 i think u need another snow blower here too 🙈
but we need full episode just for plasma cutter please 🙏🙏🙏🫶
What cad! Application are you using to make parts?? 😊
👍👍👍
We do the same box fan trick for pollen and smoke in the summer
A thicker filter, 3 or 4 inch will flow WAY better.
Next is a super supremely strong winch to winch out the stuck truck? That was such a cool video!!! But can the next one be longer than 1 minute?? This one flew by...Amazing! Looking forward to seeing it clear the snow from your new road...What an incredible achievement. Seriously, Riley needs a skin tight lycra suit with a cape and a mask. He's a super hero.
As a retired engineer I must give Riley a massive pat on the back for his ingenious use of parts cobbled togeather to make what is a difficult thing to build. So much has to be right for it to work correctly. All I would say is you need atleast 1-2 tonnes of counter weight in the truck bed, over the rear axle, this will make the whole vehicle more balanced and much more driveable.
And lower tire presser for more traction about 8 PSI
What an achievement. Very few would have even thought about building this snow blower, even fewer would have the ability to engineer such a project. You two are truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Congratulations on the coming next generation little engineer.
The way you guys make your ideas come to life is amazing. The amount of steps that you can look ahead to make sure you cover it all just blows my mind. Great job!
I can assure how satisfying is to get functional things made by our own hands.
This could explain why your channel is growing fast all around the world. You know, even we who didn't do anything but watching you, can also get some serotonin shots, it means, you guys are addictive, all FIVE of you! 😁
Greetings from Poland
You stole my thunder M@. LOL A floater position on the hydraulics is critical. It allows the blower to freely move up and down depending on the terrain. I'm a heavy equipment operator and front end loaders allow you to float the bucket to smooth out surfaces as you drive backwards.
Thomas Dutkiewicz
Riley: I have to give you major Kudos, I have watched your engineer & fab projects in the past, but this snow blower is your best. From mounting an car engine to the snow blower, the mounting frame & hydraulics, your engineering, fabbing and welding skills are top notch!
Awesome project! A couple of thoughts 1) protect the radiator, it looks vulnerable. 2) extra weight on the back of the truck. -- that will help with traction and balance. 3) provisions for when the hydraulics break -- attachment points for wheels to support the front of the blower. -- physical lock for the up position. -- redundant/parallel hydraulic lift system.
You folks are fantastic planners, engineers and fabricators. Your smiles are a signal that your efforts have paid great dividends. Blessings to both of you.
Also, as someone who drives a 1078 in the military a bunch, highly Recine you deflate the tires to either the cross country or sand settings in your deflator if you still have it installed. If not I would deflate until there’s about Reiger inches of bulge on either side of the sidewall. That’s about the psi level that cross country would give you in the tire system.
Riley, Video this or maybe Courtney could show how easy she could get her truck up the hill with less air so much easier.
You may have some icing issues with the radiator. There is a mesh fabric for snowmobiles that may shed the snow and keep it from icing if it becomes an issue.
I like that idea about the mesh, and please think about how to keep blown snow out of your air filter. Perhaps just a little shroud over the top? Love the project overall, and so envious of your fab skills!!
Awesome! You may want a 3rd hydraulic cylinder for the spout deflector.
Riley, I have come to expect really professional design and fabrication skills from you. WOW!!
That machine is insane! I hope it works well and you can move some serious snow with it. Also, thanks for always saying oh my gosh. Very refreshing for this devout Christian.
Consider a flow control valve (slowdown) for the “down” function of the blower so you can fine tune how slow/fast it drops (if you haven’t already).
Don’t they make an orifice to control the maximum speed for dump boxes and tilt trailers?
Outstanding! Just make sure to keep the dogs inside when you are using it. Small and large kids too. The snow blowers we had in the Air Force took no prisoners.
Cheers
Terry
Phenomenal build !
Getting that blower to float on skids mounted on each side will keep it above the road at a consistent height so you won't get stuck again....
Not really. They are missing the arms of three point system here. It can not oscillate with that mounting system without the whole truck doing so.
When that bad boy came out of the shop door all I could think of was the movie 'Maximum Overdrive' plus a really recent green comet in the skies. Excellent work!
There are engineers, there are mechanical engineers, there are technicians. Riley is ALL of them combined. 👍🏻👍🏻
I use a box fan also to clear the air too a carbon filter works even better will reduce smells and since you live up stairs you wont be sleeping with the smells
Try one of the old school cruise controls set ups. They read drive shaft speeds and have an electric motor that modulates the throttle. You might be able to set this up to read pto speed...set the cruise control and it will regulate the engine speed based on pto rpm.
Just a thought.
Well done guys... this thing is AWESOME!
He likely could use the factory transmission sensor assuming it is a hall effect? and reads teeth on a wheel. He could put a sprocket or gear on the belt drive somewhere for the sensor to work.
The best part of your videos is your attitude. Very positive. Mature. Sensible. Keep making stuff! Excellent work!
Those kits from AuxBeam are so nice. I used the 8 switch kit on my Kubota and the 6 switch for my quad. It makes the wiring job so much quicker, simpler and cleaner. Well done with the fab work!
Great job. One experience comment. We had a 7 foot blower on a three point tractor. One day was blowing snow, it picked up apart brick and threw it through a barn wall. Not a good idea to stand anywhere near or in front of a snow blower. Be safe
Good job! I bet you've never wanted it to snow so bad like you do right now.
Yes! I knew the blower would work. I trust in you.
Excellent work! Absolutely amazing what Riley can do. I'm wondering if a counter weight on rear of truck will offset the blower weight resulting in more rear tire traction?
Behind every successful man stands a woman! You are blessed and fortunate to have Courtney to share all of your endeavors with 😁
Another successful project! One of reasons your channel is so much fun.
Putting 1-2 tons of rock or sand in the bed will not only help with traction for the rear drives but will also help keep the truck level and help keep the blower farther off the ground while traveling. Awesome build
The look on Courtney's face was a PRICELESS moment. Congratulations
I think that it performed Rey well. The “snow” that you were blowing was mostly ice. When you sink it into fresh soft snow it is going to rock. In my opinion you have knocked it out of the park. Bravo.
Your Pal Al
That was fun and the engine was more than enough to throw snow, well done and I hope for one more good snow so you can give it a good test with some fresh powder but from what I have seen this is a home run.
🤞🤞🤞❄️❄️❄️
Cortneys look was priceless
Those welds look really good.
As a Snowbloweroperator in austria: you should blow the snow to the right side (drinkerside) so that you can see what you are doing, and mount adjustable wheels on each side of the blower to adjust the height of the blade/the whole blower. the rest looks pretty good
Great job Riley
Awesome work guys. The only thing I might add is some counterweight in the bed of the truck, maybe one or two 55 gallon drums full of cement with a lift point?
That snowblower is awesome! Nice to see all your hard work and ingenuity paid off! That should really be handy for those massive snow storms! Thanks for the video!
awesome this blower. And, in summer, you can make a lot of big cotton candy ! HI from France
I’m totally amazed in your ability to create and put this together. I also noticed that you do an absolutely amazing welding job.
Load the truck with some of the stone around the house' it's free and the only expense then is the fuel; and you'll have better traction, yes I realize this was practice and the old road, but as a navy vet the term "CYA" come to mind. Good luck and thankyou all for shareing!!!
You guys are amazing. This is a genius idea. There's nothing that you can't do. I'm so impressed. Congratulations on the coming birth of your baby Courtney. I pray that all goes well. God bless you both, and stay safe. 🤩🤗
Food for thought, during the snowplow season you could make a concrete block to weight down, evenly distributed on the vehicles flatbed, to provide further traction; but to exceed the vehicles gross weight restrictions.
There's no doubt in my mind that this snow blower project of yours will work. Keep grinding guys!
I built a large garden tractor many years ago and had trouble keeping engine speed constant. I used a Cruze control , that used a magnet to trigger the control. I mounted the magnet to the flywheel. It worked great!
What a great accomplishment! You may want to add some weight over the back wheels to help your traction and counterbalance the weight of the snowblower on the front! Congrats on the baby. Blessing to you all! Question: How are the solar panels working with melting the snow? Do you have to clean the off much or does the reflecting from the back help?
We haven’t had to clear the panels off, they always self clear rather quickly!
Really appreciate that you two actually wear safety gear when doing fab work. So many channels, safety glasses and seatbelts are an afterthought, if they're used at all.
This is my favorite episode for this blower. The controls and mounting are the fun part! Plus Courtney is changing her demeanor! She is getting more of a mommy vibe already.
Cruzin into town for ice cream in a snowblower truck, classic!
That was soooo fun to watch! Riley is an engineering and fabricator master! Loved every minute! 👍
She says I don't think so: I'm going to clear the roads all the way to town just to get some ice-cream 🤣
Great build! I love this channel! You both are so genuine, fearless and your ability to fabricate anything is amazing. Your creations are never backyard either. Welding is impeccable. You could have built the entire blower if you wanted to. I'll be disappointed if you buy the sander to go in the back next winter 🙈lol. Have a great week!
I love the fact that you have the brains to engineer a project and then grab the tools to drill, Tap, weld and completely put it all together. Love an engineer who gets his or her hands dirty. Cheers guys!!! 😀🍺🍻🥂😛
Awesome engineering analyses, designing, welding and testing. Suggest considering mounting wheels to the edges of the blower so you don't have to rely on metal skids. So how are you going to get the truck and snowblower unstuck?
Bull dozer.
Have you named this Frankenstein blower yet? Truly impressed with your tenacity and engineering skills. Congratulations. Wishing you both another blessed week, gentle seasonally appropriate weather and restful evenings. Peace
Wow
Just awsome as you drove out of the shop for the first time!
Not surprised but greatly impressed that it works. You seem to have the thought processes worked out so well.
I cannot wait to see how you finish it off, and wish you a lot of snow so you can celebrate
Congrats
Totally awesome dude. You da man Master Kacey. You are a credit to your school. Somebody needs to nominate you for your school's outstanding alumni award.
You guys are doing a great job editing these videos. Getting better all the time.
Riley, I'm very impressed with your skill and tenacity
That is such an awesome & amazing accomplishment! You guys have come so far in the past year!! So looking forward to all your future builds!
One thing tho?
The past few videos you have posted, your audio is so low, I have to almost crank the volume, & then when the commercials come on it blasts out of the speakers! Can you please look into this??
Awesome content tho, keep it up!
Oh no, that’s very strange! We’re putting out videos at the same audio level we always have and don’t seem to have that issue on our end. I’ll have to investigate!
@@AmbitionStrikes no volume problem on my playback. I have noticed that some videos from other creators do have this audio problem, but it's not constant.
I don't know what the cause of it could be, I just notice that when I go to watch your videos I have to crank the volume, and honestly I've never had that problem with any other channels, & I watch alot of TH-cam lol.. I'm recovering from knee replacement surgery so I have alot of time on my butt! Lol.
There was nothing "reckless" about this idea and build by Riley. So many examples of top level skills!
Ice cream in the winter is a great choice!
One of the neatest things about going to Germany in the winter was seeing the number of ice cream shops and people walking around snacking on ice cream.
Chains. chains, chains, chains on LMTVs!
The rear tyres are lifted up a little so then you need to add some weight in the back. But also i would offset blower so you can get the snow from the sides of the road. And then you dont drive in the ditch so fast.
Your mind boggles mine. From adding a car engine to an industrial snowblower, creating a mounting system to hold it, figuring out how to add the components needed to lift, level, and lower the blower past the level point to be in a negative direction, creating all the mounts using your plasma cutter. Your mind works like you have a master's and doctorate degree in mechanical engineering or that might be just too easy for you. Very, Very impressive as well as your talents used in making the Snowverlander. Well Done!!!!
I forgot the electrical engineering degree as well.
It not only works well, but it looks good, and like it was meant to be. Great job you two, thanks for sharing.
HUGE admiration for the skills involved in visualizing, designing, and building something like this!
Amazing! I love the old jeep grill hanging on the post, I have the same garage art!
That thing is AWESOME ! 👍👍
A little tip though. On the snowblower I drove, there was no stop for the angle of the snow throw, which resulted in a broken windshield and the cab full of snow...
Stops were installed on both sides after that..😂
He had a bit of crazy in his eyes when he started it, and she had a bit of terror in hers. Priceless!
Someone likely already offered this advice, but you need to add about 2,000 lbs (big rocks?) in the rail end of the box of the truck, which would balance out the truck and give better traction to the rear wheels. But it is a really well thought out concept, just needs a little tweaking and it will be your best friend in the winter!
A really well done project...Completely self contained is a great feature.
Here's a couple of possibilities I've come up with (yeah right, just what you need - more projects) :
1) How about a removable counter weight for the back of the truck to improve traction and balance?
2) I know you'd have no problem fabricating a quick-attach plate/mount so that you could also use the blower with your tracked loader (or perhaps a tractor?)
You guys got the machinery, You ought to use it. a tractor trailer gets its traction through the sheer weight of the vehicle in the load. I used to drive truck, everybody thinks driving a big truck is a scary ordeal. When you have 80,000 pounds keeping you glued to the road, the only thing you have to do just make sure you don't make a mistake and go off into the ditch. A 55-gal barrel of water is approximately 500 lb. if you added enough salt to the water it would not freeze, and you could have it in a plastic barrel for ballast. i always told my old bosses that if he had a couple 55 gallon barrels on the back of the truck when the truck is almost empty it would give the truck better traction than no weaght at all on the back of the truck. Your army truck may have room on the frame for hanging extra tanks like I was talking about. you could fill them up or you could empty them as needed. Fact is I don't know why more people don't do this.
Ice Creme in winter! I think that Courtney has the cravings of a polar bear😜🥰!
That is impressive. Your child will have a great teacher and learn a lot. 🙂
THAT WAT FRIGGIN AWESOME!!! I don't know what kind of mind or education you have but you make everything look so easy. Job well done sir!
Hi, somewhere down the line you announced that you are expecting a baby. Congratulations 🎊
In that piece you asked if you could what machinery would you buy. I have thought about this and my humble suggestion it a Timber mill.
The reason is two fold. First the amount of good timber that is around, Second the amount of timber you are going to use in the coming years ahead, and the price of timber you buy, it will pay for itself especially when the raw materials are free.
Keep going I am a bit envious of you as 40 years ago I would be there to help and enjoy every minute of it.
Cheers Richard from the UK.
By adding ballast to the bed of the truck will help with the traction. Most snow plows on a pickup truck require some ballast to help maintain control of the truck and provide equal traction of all the tries.
Awesome job you two. I just came in from snow blowing with my Van Snow blower and now I get to see yours in action. For a first time out I'd say you guys did very well. I had to laugh, as I to managed to get stuck my first time out and the neighbor had to come over and pull me out. I now have off road knobby tires and chains and what a difference that made. I noticed your blower is a bit high off the ground judging from the snow under the truck as you are moving along. If the ground is frozen, get that cutting edge down to the ground, unless you have loose gravel then keep it up a bit. I hope you guys make another video of this, we need to see more of it. Congrats on the Blower Project....I think it's going to work great.
Awesome job, guys.
Pretty darn respectable for a couple with mostly little experience with these huge projects you 2 have seriously knocked out of the park!
Pro tip-- take a piece of 1/2" by 1/2" square stock (or equivalent) approximately 8" long.
Set aside.
Also cut 2 (two) 3/4" long buttons of similar stock.
Make a capital F out of the 3 pieces to form a tool that can be slipped over the chain tensioner for extra leverage while donning or doffing big, heavy, wet, slippery tire chains.
(Helps immensely to slightly notch the buttons so they don't slip sideways off the tensioner.)
Also negates the need to remove big guy clunky gloves while working in puddles of sub-arctic slop in a snowstorm while tightening loose chains, should the need ever arise.
Drive to Kalispell and show me how incredibly fast you can blow the snow out of my driveway.
Stay for gourmet coffee and a delicious elk steak.
(bring your own elk, and maybe a couple extra for me)
😁😁😁
Actually very cool, add weight to the bed of the truck to assist with traction.
Terrific engineering and build. I had a 6' blower with a 301 cubic inch, 59 horsepower engine. When the snow would be deeper than the first auger, the engine was lacking in power to blow the snow. Going to make a video on getting the truck out?
don't forget a few kill switches. One each side of the blower on the outside and one in the cab. With no easy way to shut it off there is a high risk of catastrophic results. Stay safe - good work!
You are an amazing individual. Absolute brilliance.
I hope you remembered to use sheer pins in various places, so when the snow pile hides a large fallen branch, you snap a sheer oin instead of pretzeling the augurs or second stage impeller.
Great video Riley and Courtney