# Snow Thrower - Observation



## Deere (Sep 16, 2003)

I was sitting here today watching the football games when I heard the rumbling outside. We have about 4 inches of new snow since this morning. Someone that lives around here had a somewhat older small lawn tractor, chains, weights and a single stage snow blower. 

It does a great job of getting the snow off the sidewalk. I had an image of those snow throwers putting the snow about 10' out, but this one only dribbled it a foot or two past the side of the thrower. (which is far enough, just not what I expected).

It was underpowered for this job, so if snow takes that much power, kudo's to all of the lawn machines putting in the 20hp vtwins. This guy needs one.

This guy is going to park his tractor back in the garage as one big ball of snow and ice. Does it thaw out in the garage or is it a block of ice until the weather warms up. I can't imagine his garage is heated. What do you do after you park it to thaw it out?

I learned something. Get 2 stage, and don't worry about the motor being a little large. It could come in handy.

Kudo's to this guy, I know he did a lot of walks around here that weren't his. He didn't get mine, but he did save a lot of people a lot of shoveling. If you got the machinery and enjoy it, feel free to enjoy it a ways down the street. 

-Deere


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

I had the same results with my Case single stage blower. Never was able to throw it very far and I had an 18HP V-twin Onan. It's just a poor design in snowthrowers.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

was he going very fast or not revving the motor enough?


I have a 20 HP 2 stage for my prestige... It does a pretty good job throwing the snow... 

after i snowthrow and park it in my unheated shed.. it tends to be a ball of ice... 

When i start it the nexttime out, i make sure to back up an inch or so prior to trying to lift the snowthrower because it tends to be frozen solid to the floor.


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## jbetts13 (Dec 28, 2003)

*hey*

hey guys my snowthrower works great but when it is wet snow it teans to push it because it is not getting feed into the blower all in all it is a good tractor the tractor it 12 hp the thrower is a 38A thrower love it 

the pic was taken before the thrower


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## BradT (Sep 16, 2003)

He may not have had a very good blower, but likely as not, he was not moving fast enough. Single stage blowers will throw it out there just fine, but one has to adjust ground speed according to the depth of the snow as (unlike a two-stage) the velocity of the snow coming out the chute is dependent on the volume of snow going in the front. My single-stage will shoot it 20-30' with no problem, but if the snow is light, I have to go like [email protected]


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by BradT _
> *He may not have had a very good blower, but likely as not, he was not moving fast enough. Single stage blowers will throw it out there just fine, but one has to adjust ground speed according to the depth of the snow as (unlike a two-stage) the velocity of the snow coming out the chute is dependent on the volume of snow going in the front. My single-stage will shoot it 20-30' with no problem, but if the snow is light, I have to go like [email protected] *


 Maybe that's where I went wrong. When you think about it, that design requires you to keep the "hopper full" so to say, or it doesn't function properly. I never figured that out and switched to a blade.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

'better late than never argee' 

maybe next year you can try out that blower... but If you have a place to push the snow... a blade must not get you as covered with snow as a blower..


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by simple_john _
> *'better late than never argee'
> 
> maybe next year you can try out that blower... but If you have a place to push the snow... a blade must not get you as covered with snow as a blower.. *


No, I sold the tractor, blower and blade a couple of years ago. Now I have the 46" two stage like leolavs.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

SJ - speaking of blowers, does yours lift hydraulically or with the linkage that raises the mower deck?


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## DeereBob (Sep 16, 2003)

I have the same single-stage 46" snowthrower on both my 425 and now X485 that throws snow 15'-20' with dry snow 4" deep or more. The snow this weekend was packy wet so my chute plugged a couple of times. When it did I either unplugged it or simply pushed the snow with auger off. This is one of the very few times in the 8 years I have had the unit that the chute plugged this way. Having 20-25 HP also helps along with a 900 lb tractor with chains and suitcase weights. I believe the single stage unit was about $400 less than the two stage when I first bought mine and couldn't justify the additional cost. However, if the snow condition I encountered last Sunday was more typical, I would consider spending the extra money to keep the chute from plugging with the additional stage.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

argee, hydraulic lift.. but i am assuming its still connected to the same thing that lifts the deck... 

Does anybody wax their chutes? or spray wd40 or anything??


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## ducati996 (Dec 27, 2003)

SimpleJohn,

Is your shute out of a thermo plastic mold or metal? 

Just curious...

thermo plastic seems to be more common these days...I suppose because of the flexible properties, less likely to ice or clog...

based on my useage so far this year, I tend to agree with this idea...

I like the plastic over the metal ( my 125) ....

If you have plastic, I dont think you need Wd40 or other lube...

Duc


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

mine is metal and it already has a big dent in it where a rock must have banged going up the chute.. i would wonder how well plastic would hold up especially on a gravel driveway like i have

i seem to be shooting almost as many rocks as i do snow.


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## ducati996 (Dec 27, 2003)

Have you busted a shear bolt yet? a rock that size to dent your shoot could destroy your gear box I would think....make sure you shear bolt is the correct tensil strength better too light then to strong....my guess it should be 8 or under 5 seems about average.

I dont want to try that stunt on my machine thats for sure!! 
I nature of plastic has more give, but that could change if it was really cold ( more brittle then) and it could shatter...

How is your augers? bent at all?

Duc


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

augers seem to be fine.. have not lost a sheer pin or bolt as yet. They are strength 5. I have plenty of spares.. on the chute there is a metal cage that connects by metal hooking into holes in the chute... and that was actually pushed open one time.. (i am guessing its there to prevent someone putting their hand down the chute) i did not see what did it.. and i am careful, but the gravel driveway has a pitch to it so its tough not to pick up stuff.. even with the blower skids raised up an inch...


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## BradT (Sep 16, 2003)

I coated the inside of my chute with Slip Plate spray paint several years ago. I think it helped, but won't swear by it, as we haven't really had a good winter for snow in several years. Therefore not a lot of experience to form an opinion.


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## slipshod (Sep 19, 2003)

*Spray*

I think if you blow a lot of snow most any spray lube you try to use will get washed off before it does any good.I am with Brad a good smooth coat of any paint during the off season instead of rust will probably help more.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

mine is still shiney new... ill wait till next year.

Thanks Brad & Slip
sj


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## slipshod (Sep 19, 2003)

*John*

Those rocks from your driveway is changing that .Inside chute will look like a Yugo after a Hail storm by spring.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

John,
A simple trick of two for you when blowing a gravel driveway. For the first few snows (4-5" or less) do not blow it, instead just drive over it and pack it down. Secondly, adjust your skids down about an inch or so. On a clean, level and flat surface take a 1X and set the leading edge of the blower on it, then adjust the skid shoes down to the floor. This will help keep the stones out of your blower. Thirdly, I don't think you want grade 5 bolts as shear bolts, you need to use whatever was furnished with the machine and replenesh your stock with the same. I know a few people who replaced their shear bolt with a standard one and the order a new gear box because the auger jambed.


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## slipshod (Sep 19, 2003)

*argee*

I agree with you on the shear bolts. It seems to me grade 2 is as hard as you should use. I know that is what I use on my post hole auger.
As far as the gravel driveway goes your sugestions are good,but you still are going to pick up rocks to hurl.


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## ducati996 (Dec 27, 2003)

ok quick question which direction with shear bolts has more give to them or shears easier? since typical factory supplied bolts are 8 which is what compared to 5 ? 

} duc


How can you tell what you got now?


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

Hi Guys, FYI: I am usihg factory bolts and pins.. 
i double checked and the manual said to use grade 5 for the impeller sheer bolt. im not sure what grade the auger sheer pins are.. but they are factory..

good advice RG, our 1st storm was about 8-10"... your logic makes sense to get a good packing on top of the gravel.... 


it was sort of packed but still there were stray rocks... plus i had some fresh gravel/fill down and that was very soft...


sometime when im done with the back yard, ill get hot top...


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## bwiswell (Sep 18, 2003)

For my gravel driveway, I adjusted the shoes all the way up. Did that for the first couple of snowfalls and it clears snow but still leaves enough (aboutn and inch) to get packed down. By the third snowfall, I lowered the shoes to the lowest possible position and it worked great. Since the snow was so hard packed already, it was like blowing over a paved drive. And no left over dusting on top.

Now here is where I had my problem. After I had lowered the shoes to the lowest position, we got a heat wave and all the snow melted. Being lazy, I never raised them up again. So, the next snowfall was back to square one ... tossing snow and gravel. *sigh*

As for the fella at the start of this post not moving snow with the single stage blower, I can relate as I had that problem myself once upon a time. I had an older MTD tractor hooked up to an old 36" single stage craftman blower. There were a couple of reasons I could only move the snow to the next pass beside my tractor.
1) My 18hp briggs was down a cylinder. So I was pushing a heavy tractor and blower with 9hp (and somewhat sick at that). What really impressed me (congrats to briggs) is that it in spite of my sick engine, it still moved the tractor and the snow, albeit only a couple of feet.
2) Second problem was the craftsman blower itself. The auger did not ride on bearings, but rather a wooden type of "bearing". Don't know the proper term, but where I expected to see it a bearing, it was a rounded out piece of wood with a hole through the middle to support the auger shaft. And what was worse is that the wood was wearing out so there was a great deal of play in the shaft.

One thing to check when you see your neighbour throwing the snow (or having trouble) next time he is out. With the blower under no load and engaged, see if the engine revs right up to the normal 3600 rpm and auger blade spins at full speed. Then, when he starts blowing, see how badly the auger slows down. Could be he's got problems he's not aware of.

Sorry for being so long. Can't wait for the next big drop.

BW


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

hey Bwiswell, how cold is it up there in the great north?? :canada: 

It was -14 this am in southern maine


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## bwiswell (Sep 18, 2003)

Forgive me as I'm not real good with the celcius to farrenheit conversion. But I can tell you this.

Last night it is -31 celcius.
With windchill -44 celcius.

Mind you, after about -25, we just say it is REALLY cold! mg: 

However, you may have heard a few things about us Canucks, and I can confirm ... A bunch of us were out playing pond hockey last night.:beer: 

BW


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

i think the conversion is Celcuis * 1.8 + 32 so


-23 or -22.8 F really 
and w/your wind chill -47.2 F

man, thats cold...


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## Rusty_Nuts (Jan 11, 2004)

> _
> 
> One thing to check when you see your neighbour throwing the snow (or having trouble) next time he is out. With the blower under no load and engaged, see if the engine revs right up to the normal 3600 rpm and auger blade spins at full speed. Then, when he starts blowing, see how badly the auger slows down. Could be he's got problems he's not aware of.
> 
> BW [/B]_


_ 

Very well could be that the govenor is not set properly. It needs to be adjusted to the aplication. In the summer when just mowing, the spring needs to be set tighter (lower RPM), but when blowing snow or tilling where more power is needed it needs to be set looser so the engine can increase RPM quicker.
Take a look at the governor shaft there is a row of wholes for adjusting the spring. The smaller HP engines need to be running WIDE OPEN to get the 3600 RPM required for the snow blower.

This, as well as making sure the blower is CLEAN, free from rust, and a nice smooth coat of paint on it helps.

Also I would suggest using Pam non stick cooking spray on the auger and insides of the blower. The oil can damage your lawn and is not very animal freindly._


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