I've been too sick to work on my truck projects outdoors, and those hydronic heaters I sourced from Canada managed to get held up at customs during a chaotic week on the borders. It *has* given me the time to delve into the hydraulic systems in the manuals and such. Pre-heating the reservoirs from the hydronic unit, hmmm... first, I was thinking put some sort of heat exchanger inside the reservoirs w/ some bulkhead couplers, but now I'm thinking they should go under the reservoirs, with bypass valves to cut 'em in & out of the coolant circuit. The reservoirs will sit about 1" higher as a result.
Which got me to thinking about those reservoirs and everything else, to run the increased hydraulic power I'm after for the snowblower, brush hog, and UHP fire-suppression system, all of which I'd like to adapt to the SEE (which can't run any of 'em, stock). What I'm thinking, is replace the PTO-drive hydraulic pump with that Eaton unit I linked to before. Now I'm trying to identify what parts of the SEE's rear-hydraulic system aren't up to the increased PSI. So far, definitely the bulkhead couplers on the reservoir will need replacing. Not a big deal.
I'm back to thinking the snowblower will raise/lower and tilt, off the front hydraulics -- I'll be able to raise/lower while driving, to maneuver around obstacles, for one thing. But the hoses going to the quick-attach adapter, will be powered by the PTO to operate the fans & chute. The pressure will be reduced for the backhoe.
I was out straddling a small ditch to move some snow piles earlier, it's been warm so they were heavy slushy loads for the SEE. While it was fun driving my marshmallow around with heavy loads elevated up front, slipping sliding and spinning in & out of the ditch at too-radical of angles for any other backhoe to not just get stuck even with decent tires & chains... I was still picturing just driving along straight, and blowing all that crud over the fence into the deeper ditch next to the county road.
First-under in low range @ 2K RPM is crawling. Maybe in the future I'll decide to lower the gear or bump up the motor's HP. What I can't wait to see, is that snowblower's hydrostatic clutch taking all the power I'm not using to move the Mog, and put it into obliterating a heavy/chunky windrow. Being able to do that, no matter how slowly, would be faster, more efficient, with less wear & tear on the SEE than the work I asked of it this morning. I had fun doing that, waving at the neighbors and all, don't get me wrong! But I'd have been happier getting that done pushing the kind of monster 6' snowblower capable of doing that job, with a truck capable of actually getting it there! I can't picture a skid-steer pushing the same snowblower along that ditch.
In KISS terms, it makes more sense to upgrade the rear hydraulics, than it does to add another PTO to the truck. If anyone knows what other problems I'll run into aside from the bulkhead couplers, I'm all ears! I doubt I'll get it done in time to need the snowblower this season, but I'll have plenty of work for that brush hog this summer.