# Video snowblowing in my '71 New Holland S-14



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBiFu3M8zPw[/ame]

Couple passes, then I accidently blew snow on the camera, so it's blacked out by snow for about 20 seconds. I get out and clean it off then do a walk around of the tractor.

My chute is turned by a car antenna motor, for those that wonder what that is.

Rebuilt the snowthrower last night, finally. The tension pulley disappeared, then the key for the shaft disappeared, about 2 weeks back. I had the plow on for a while until I had time to fix the blower.

When I first watched the video I thought the thrower was broke again because it appeared to be not moving, but as it turns out that was just a camera trick.

This is my new tension sprocket.


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## GTcollector (Dec 27, 2010)

great video, wish we would get two snowflakes so I could try out my two stage Ariens


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## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

I have the same thrower. I don't have a tension sprocket. The chain tension on mine is adjusted by rotating the end plates that hold the auger in. The shaft is off center and the rotation moves the auger slightly in and out to adjust the chain. My end plates have a sight hole that is used to keep both ends the same profile. Incidentally, I spent all day getting it back together, I lost a PTO belt, and apparently did not have the master link for the chain installed correctly, as the link came off and dropped the chain. Glad it's all put back together now.


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

Is yours an ariens or sperry rand? I found out that they are different only in the sense that one has a tension sprocket and one doesn't. I spent hours on hte phone with ariens looking for a replacement and they didn't have a clue, until the guy found an old book on the shelf that showed the model with tension sprocket. There's a hole that is 3/8" by 2" on the side, that allows you to adjust the tension sprocket up and down.

I broke my chain yesterday and had to buy and make a new one, same number of links but much tighter now.

I was looking to buy a 2 stage but now I'm not sure. THe single stage cuts and breaks up the heavy stuff, I'm not sure that a single would be able to do it. I had a mountain of hard stuff piled up by the snow plows that I was able to cut right through.


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## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

yea, mine is an Ariens and there isn't a tension sprocket. I've thought the same thing about eventually getting a 2 stage, but my single chugs through deep heavy snow like it is nothing. the more snow, the better it seems to move it. One thing I like about the single is the simplicity of the parts, there isn't that much to break, but a double stage has more pieces and parts that can wear out and break. I'm just guessing, but mostly I've heard the single stage one's aren't that good and don't throw snow that far, blah blah, but I'm learning it is maybe a little harder to get to work right, a little finickey in how fast you drive and how fast you get the auger spinning. I find mine throws the farthest, if I'm almost at full throttle, and I move fast enough just to hear the load of the snow in the auger drop the rpm's just a little; chucks heavy snow a good 30 feet like this. when I'm just trying to clean up the edges, it doesn't fill the auger up good, and it barely gets the snow 5 feet up onto the bank. I think if i had to do what I was doing with a 2 stage blower it might take twice as long; I get going a good 4mph to clear 6 inches of heavy snow. I make two, 250 foot passes, once down and once back up, and I get get my car out and be where I need to go. I take 10 minutes to warm up the tractor, and the job takes about 5 minutes, then I clean up good at the end of the day for another half hour or so. I do think the single stage is more dangerous though, I throttle down and turn the auger off if anyone is near the thing.

Incidentally, I popped the master link on my chain a couple days ago. found the chain sitting below the auger, I was lucky though, I just put a new link in and the chain seemed good. I think i put it together wrong last time; live and learn.


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

I do the same thing. I move just fast enough to where it slightly bogs the engine, and keep at that pace. Never skips a beat and takes no time at all, which is good because I've got quite a few driveways to do, as my neighborhood is all elderly.

The single stage doesn't have much to break but boy I've broken everything that could it seems. The chain, the key for the shaft, the tension pulley.

And most recently, I don't know what i broke. The starter spins but doens't engage. I don't think it's the starter because before I shut down, I tried to flip the front pto on and nothing happened, so I think there's a relay somewhere that controls both the starter motor and the front PTO that went bad on me.


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## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

ha, I've started to think of things in terms of a little broken (no fix required), sort of broke 
(not really working right, but doesn't prevent work being completed), partly broke (works sometimes and should be fixed eventually), mostly broke (can be made to work, but not correctly), actually broke (just leaves you dead in the water), might become broken (makes a weird noise or seems not right, requires fixing before it is a major problem).

I think the PTO switch runs through a fuse that is at the base of where the solenoid is attached to the metal post. Could be that?


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