Hi guys, I purchased the X595 this summer and got the quick hitch and snowblower with it. Today, I removed the mower deck and attached the snowblower for the first time. There was some trickiness to get through but I figured it out and I think it is functional but I have a few questions for you guys if you have some time to help me.
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1. There is a little wire hook which looks like it is for holding the driveshaft when not in use. However, now that the snowblower is attached, it seems to be hitting the lifting hydraulic cylinder when actuated upwards. Is it in the right spot? Is this normal? I think this thing was part of why it was so tricky getting the snowblower attached as I think it was hitting.
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2. Is there a standard for which pair of ports (I figured out that much) goes to which item? I didn't have any colored caps on the tractor itself so I wasn't sure where it is normally connected. I'm guessing it doesn't matter but I'm also guessing there is a typical installation.
Here I have all of the quick hitch hoses connected because I was trying to line up the angle cylinder to be point the snowblower straight. I assume that's what you guys do, then switch the hoses over to the chute rotation.
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3. Is there any way to keep the snowblower running while I get out and spray lube on the chain? It seems to shut down immediately once I go to actuate the parking brake.
4. I think I have some shut off valves that cut off hydraulic fluid to the other circuits. Should I be closing them when snowblowing?
4. Probably burying the most controversial question but do you guys still recommend I replace the gear and chain drive with the sealed unit? I've read a bunch of threads on here about it and people seem to like the lower maintenance. People also talked about how cheap it is. It isn't anymore. It looks like it has gone up about 50% in the past year or so. It is now up over $200. In fact it has gone up about $20 just in the last few months since I first read the threads about and looked it up. The question may be if my gears and chain are in good shape or not. I can't really say because I don't know what it is supposed to look like. It is very rusty and when I manually crank the blower by hand, it is noisy and there is a spot in the rotation where the chain tries to come up out of the grooves. I'm guessing that the chain is stiff in those links and maybe a little bit of lube and working it in will help it. I haven't touched the tension yet. I just wanted to run it a bit and see how it works. Any regrets from people who switched over? I read that it does slow down the rotation speed.
Thanks for any advice.
1. There is a little wire hook which looks like it is for holding the driveshaft when not in use. However, now that the snowblower is attached, it seems to be hitting the lifting hydraulic cylinder when actuated upwards. Is it in the right spot? Is this normal? I think this thing was part of why it was so tricky getting the snowblower attached as I think it was hitting.
2. Is there a standard for which pair of ports (I figured out that much) goes to which item? I didn't have any colored caps on the tractor itself so I wasn't sure where it is normally connected. I'm guessing it doesn't matter but I'm also guessing there is a typical installation.
Here I have all of the quick hitch hoses connected because I was trying to line up the angle cylinder to be point the snowblower straight. I assume that's what you guys do, then switch the hoses over to the chute rotation.
3. Is there any way to keep the snowblower running while I get out and spray lube on the chain? It seems to shut down immediately once I go to actuate the parking brake.
4. I think I have some shut off valves that cut off hydraulic fluid to the other circuits. Should I be closing them when snowblowing?
4. Probably burying the most controversial question but do you guys still recommend I replace the gear and chain drive with the sealed unit? I've read a bunch of threads on here about it and people seem to like the lower maintenance. People also talked about how cheap it is. It isn't anymore. It looks like it has gone up about 50% in the past year or so. It is now up over $200. In fact it has gone up about $20 just in the last few months since I first read the threads about and looked it up. The question may be if my gears and chain are in good shape or not. I can't really say because I don't know what it is supposed to look like. It is very rusty and when I manually crank the blower by hand, it is noisy and there is a spot in the rotation where the chain tries to come up out of the grooves. I'm guessing that the chain is stiff in those links and maybe a little bit of lube and working it in will help it. I haven't touched the tension yet. I just wanted to run it a bit and see how it works. Any regrets from people who switched over? I read that it does slow down the rotation speed.
Thanks for any advice.
