# 2004 Gator HPX + snow blower



## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

Glad they started this forum.

Bought this Gator HPX a couple of years ago for the wife to use with her horses. It had less than 500 hours on it and came with the deluxe glass cab. I've found it handy for numerous jobs around the farm. The last two winters have been rather brutal so I've decided that a snowblower on the Gator would be a better snow moving solution than sitting on the big, cabless John Deere with a back blade. I've got a 72" Bercomac on order. Anybody familiar with it?


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

That will be so cool with a blower! Be sure to post pictures when it is installed.


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

*HPX winch install*

The Bercomac snow blower requires a winch to raise and lower it, which, as you can see from the picture, Sharon's Gator did not have. Since I'm not planning any off-road travel that would require winching myself out of bogs, I purchased a 2000 lb. winch from Promark on sale at $99.00 (Reg. $325.99) with a mounting plate for the Gator for $49.99 (Reg. $99.00). Check out PROMARK OFFROAD ATV Winch, Jeep Winch, and Truck Winch Products. Did a really neat installation. See pictures. All wires hidden and tied off nicely. Mounted relay box on back wall of cab between seats and remote control jack on left fender.

The Bercomac is being delivered today, so I will start installation as soon as it arrives.

Would anyone be interested in more details of installations? I could do either highlights or step by step.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

Yes please! This could be very important to someone later on, down the road. Plus we all love pictures. Bye


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

BelarusBulldog said:


> Yes please! This could be very important to someone later on, down the road. Plus we all love pictures. Bye




...............:ditto:......


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

*Bercomac snow blower now installed on Gator HPX*

I have finished the snowblower installation plus installed a pair of really bright Hella work lights in the front and a single light in the back. The original equipment lights for the Gator are single 55 watt halogen lamps. For about half the cost of the JD lights and wiring harness I installed three double work lights (two in front and one in back). I set them up with DPDT center off switches so that I can turn on only one lamp in each light (the inside ones) which really light up the area directly in front of the Gator, or turn on all four which gives a wider spread of light. Here's a pix of the completed job.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

Man what a machine, that thing looks KILLER!  Looks like you got it all there, in that rig. Snow will definitely NOT be one of your worries this winter.  Very professional looking install too. Like the way you wired up the extra lights, can never have too much lighting. Will be looking forward to some blowing pictures. Again, awesome rig. Bye


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

If anyone's interested, I'll post a wiring diagram for the lights. The last two winters we've had a lot of snow, but my investment in this monster will probably be insurance against another bad winter.

I took it for a test drive around the farm on unfrozen ground. The single dolly wheels do not provide enough flotation for soft South Jersey sand. The blower weighs over 700 pounds (it's well built) and when you raise it with the winch, all the weight is on those two narrow wheels. I think I'm going to try and rig duals or triples. I have a cyclone rake for my riding lawn mower that had the same problem. When the bag got a few hundred pounds of grass or lawn clippings, the single swivel dolly wheels sank in the sand and made steering difficult. Woodland Power Products, who make the Cyclone Rake, came out with a dual wheel kit that solved the problem. I'm suggesting the same thing to Berco.

The second potential problem for my use are the tiny (4" x 4") skid pads on the blower itself. I'm sure these are fine for asphalt or concrete but not nearly large enough for sand or gravel. Berco make larger skid plates for other models but not this one, so I'll need to rig something up to keep that six foot wide scoop from diving in the dirt.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

Yes please! The wiring, wheels, skid pads, and any other modifications you make for improvements. Please be sure to add pictures of what you do, and maybe some more pictures at different angles of blower. Thanks for this very interesting post. Bye


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

I see what you mean with the narrow tires on the unit digging in. Those look like wheelbarrow tires on there. They should have tires about the size of the ones on your Gator for proper flotation with those weights. If you have the means, or if you know any welding/fab shops in the area, I'd get some wheels and tires like are on your Gator and then build a new swivel for them. Should solve your floatation issues. If its done right, you probably won't need a double sided yolk either. You can have a steel bar with a stub axle and a hub on each side that you can bolt a wide trailer tire onto. That bar could be welded to a pin that would pivot in the same hole as your existing yolks, meaning no modifications to the unit itself. It would be similar to a tail wheel on a semi-mounted moldboard plow.


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

*Mounting HPX worklights - 1*

The HPX Custom cab is prepunched with four holes in the front of the roof for worklights and has brackets and single holes for the back. The first step in mounting new lights is dropping the interior panel that held only the windshield wiper switch and covered installed wiring. When I dropped this panel I was surprised to find that the wiper motor was fed by two #10 wires, much heavier than needed for just the wiper. This was great because it meant I didn't need to fish new wires up from the battery. The first picture shows the lights just after I got them mounted. In the close-up you can see that I put a grommet in the hole for the wire and covered the bare wires on the Hella lights with heat shrink tubing. Getting the nuts on the lights was really tricky. I had to undo the windshield hinges and drop the windshield in order to get the nuts on. That's why you see the orange baling twine tied to the gas pistons. One loop of twine on each side held the windshield safely while I struggled to get the nuts in place. Very little room and very big fingers made it tough to get a flat plastic washer and a spring washer on before the nut and then get it finger tight. I also put a large plastic washers (cut from the under hood storage compartments... more about that later) under the light brackets. I was careful to tighten the nuts so the lights were hard to move before reattaching the windshield. The wires run through grommets in the roof hole and then pass through a second hole in the cab frame to the interior. Stay tuned for Part 2 - wiring the lights.


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

*Mounting HPX worklights - 2*

Below I have posted the wiring diagram for the work lights. The over windshield panel in the HPX custom cab has four knockouts for switches set in adapters that also hold fuses. The first knockout was populated with he windshield wiper switch. Note that the switches used here are NOT the same size as those used in the dash. Overhead switches fit 22mm x 44mm holes. I purchased double pole double throw switches from Allied Electronics. They are Eaton 8004K40NiV1 and are sold for $6.30 each under Allied #757-2407. I had to purchase the housings from my JD dealer. They are part number M152116. The switches have "wings" that are a bit too large to fit the housings that had to be snipped off The other pictures show the snipped switch, the switch inserted in the housing and the open housing showing the fuse holder. Note that the fuse shown here is mini size since that's all I had at the time these will be replaced with properly sized fuses next time I go to Pep Boys. Next installment - "Finishing the lights"


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

Well thought out and professionally executed. Thanks for posting wiring diagram as well. Bye


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

Thought I'd bring the group up to date on the Bercomac. I've made some modifications for use in loose South Jersey sand, large skid shoes and triple caster wheels. They are shown in the attached pictures. The caster wheels will be upgraded. The original Berco wheel has only a 1/2" axle. I will be installing triple ball bearing wheels with a 3/4" axle. The problem now is that after two winters with hugh snowfalls, this last winter was so mild we got only a few flakes, so I didn't get a chance to even use it one time! I've told all my neighbors and friends that they should invest in this "snow insurance". I've taken the unit off the Gator and will be figuring out how to store it for the summer. On very nice design aspect is that the gas tank is actually a gas can, so after adding some Stabile and running it into the engine, I can pull the pickup tube and dump the gas in my lawmower!


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

Looks like you have all the bases covered. Great job with the upgrades to the blower.  Someone had a good idea when they used the gas jug for the tank!  Thanks for the update, got any action pictures? Bye


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## jejennings (Oct 11, 2011)

Unfortunately I have nogt action pictures because I've had no action here in New Jersey. We've had the mildest winter in years with only a dusting of snow two times. Maybe next winter?

Jack


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