My Winter Hobby

[tpenfield]

Not sure why they don't advertise/publish HP ratings. A good rule of thumb is 32cc per HP.

 

[Scott Danforth]

YUP I understand about the l head Scott I was wondering why hp is not advertised anymore?

with some motors, the torque curve is fat down low where you want it, the overall hp is low since it drops off quickly. such a motor would have a lower rated HP yet is perfect for lugging it in the snow.... some motors the torque curve is lazy and comes in later, this would have a higher rated HP, however needs its RPM's kept at WOT to do anything.

in an advertising and marketing game, you couldn't sell the better motor

many of the China motors are not as efficient of motors, so they push the displacement up.... however they are dirt cheap and everyone associates bigger with better..... so they advertise displacement.... again, the better motor may be slightly smaller displacement.

a case in point, for the 2011 lineup, the little 5hp Sno-Tech 24" snow throw that was put together for black friday sales was a fantastic little machine. the 5HP LCT 136cc motor torque curve that more matched that of the 8hp 208cc up to about 2800 RPM, then started to fall on its face. long stroke, and small bore made it a nice little motor, it was a great machine that liked to run just off idle. I think the cost of the whole snowblower was $295 prior to shipping. from a marketing standpoint the little 136cc motor didnt have a chance....so we didnt advertise the HP or displacement.

 

[82rude]

Nice explanation..Bought my toro new in 2004 and plan on having it for another 20 years.

 

[tpenfield]

An interesting thing about the new EFI engines on snowblowers is that, we see a lot of trial and error diagnostics with the boat engines when things go wrong. . . I am wondering how those same sorts of issues will play out in the snowblower world when an EFI engine goes south. I can't see the traditional fix-it guys being able figure things out so easily. Not sure the dealers will be much better. Probably will end up with repair bills rivaling the cost of a new machine.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Not much to the EFI on small engines. More of a controlled dribble than a sophisticated FI setup

 

[Bondo]

YUP I understand about the l head Scott I was wondering why hp is not advertised anymore?

Ayuh,..... Lawyers,........

There was a lawsuit a few years back, beatin' up on the manufacturers for motors that didn't do the stated numbers,....

Cool thread, Thanks Ted,....

Near the top of my To Do list is rehabbin' an ole Ariens 24" blower in my yard, now that I have a use for it,....
A Bud left it, 'n a Honda motor to put on it years ago,.....
I plowed with a backhoe then,... no hoe now, here,...
I think it has a 7 hp on it, got a 6.5 hp honda, or a 10 hp Tecumseh,..
No doubt, it'll come down to whichever is easier,...

 

[Scott Danforth]

The 6.5 honda will be more than adequate

 

[82rude]

Mostly a harmless inexpensive hobby with the potential to make a few dollars.I remember a couple of smart fellas here in the blizzard of 95 bought every used blower they could get their hands on and took a transport load to Toronto.They parked in a shopping mall lot ,opened the doors and sold every one of them for premium dollars in hours.My back is buggered so a blower is a must as far as I'm concerned.If my driveway was bigger id put a blower or plow on my Polaris ace.You might of spured me on to a new winter hobby,lol.

 

[tpenfield]

There are some folks in my area who buy snowblowers to 'flip' them for a profit. I wouldn't mind doing that as a hobby . . . not sure you can make any kind of sustainable income, unless you become a dealer and sell both new and used equipment. Since many of these machines last for decades, the supply tends to keep prices down in the used market, except in extreme situations as 82rude mentioned. I've just done my first 'flip' of a 21" Toro . . . bought for $50, tossed an engine on it (worth about another $50) paint & new bearing. ($20) . . . sold for $160. There were 21 similar machines on the CL market at the time. Most of those machines are still for sale, even though we are now into snow season.

Bondo if the 10HP Tecumseh will fit on the Ariens 24, go for it. The Honda 6.5 is certainly adequate, as Scott said, but the 10 HP will be more 'fun'

Right now, I got a 9.5 HP Briggs engine on a 24" machine and a 6.5 HP Predator engine on a 21" machine . . . both have more power than they need. The 9.5 (305cc) Briggs/Troy-bilt machine is a bit scary if I run it at full throttle. So, I refer to the tachometer that I installed on it and typically run it at 3200 RPM vs. the WOT of 3600 RPM.

 

[tpenfield]

Also, I have been using my inspection camera(borescope/endoscope) on the Briggs engine to get a better idea of the oil burning issues. Now that I am running the machine in 'normal' load situations, less oil burning, but still looks like a valve stem seal issue. Last night I captured the valves in action on a little YouTube video.

One thing to note is the exhaust valve (more visible valve in the video) you can see it open slightly for a brief time during the compression stroke (using the pull start to rotate the engine) . . . then open fully on the exhaust stroke. this is the built-in compression release mechanism that the pull-start activates so you can actually start it. mid-sized outboard engines have a similar thing for pull-start.

Enjoy.

As far as the Briggs engine, I will probably take a closer look at the valve seal issue when it is time to do a valve adjustment. Not a show-stopper at this point, just wish it had no issues.

 

[tpenfield]

Quick Update:

We got a decent snow storm last week, so I was able to get a snowblowing video. Wind was blowing 20-30mph, so the snow just went with the wind . . .

I loaned out my smaller machine to the neighbor across the street who were waiting on delivery of a new snowblower.

I am in search of a Toro PowerShift to add to my collection. They are rather unique machines, having a full transmission (rather than friction disks) and an axle assembly that moves back to increase the weight on the front of the machine,

 

[82rude]

Looks like she,s rockin! Do you know if the newer sears blowers have an easy change system for belts like my toro or do you have to split the body?

 

[82rude]

Found a vid ,not too hard ,its from the bottom.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, look for a gravely 20hp 2-wheel tractor with a 48" wide snow head.

 

[82rude]

Well I officially hate sears.Went to change the belt for my dad (auger) .After a model number lookup and taking the belt number out of his owners manual it shows a 38 inch belt.Double checked and triple checked everything ,well you can guess what.NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!! Those clowns must of changed suppliers of blowers and never updated anything ,the belt is a 36 not 38!

 

[tpenfield]

I usually replace belts by just taking the belt cover off. Only split the machines for bearing replacements.

 

[sam am I]

So question for you guys rebuilding/mod'ing these blowers...........

Avg. snow type here, as it falls naturally, is usually more towards wetter/heaver stuff and I hear tale the impeller mods (Link) helps prevent (not all 100% of time but...) clogs and throws the more mucky sticky snows better.

If this ^^^ is true, anyone have a personal compare and contrast of the Impeller mod, Worth it or not? The Amazon reviews sure seems to suggest doing it..........

With drier/lighter snow's as it appears in Ted's vid., I hear the mod isn't really needed per-se and although it still throws further I hear but, perhaps when it's 4' wind blown drifts, the mod is still worthy as well?

Also, anyone off hand know the stator's output current rating on a Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP?

 

[82rude]

I didn't have to spit that idiotic sears just take the bottom plate off and loosen a holding bracket.

 

[tpenfield]

So question for you guys rebuilding/mod'ing these blowers...........

Avg. snow type here, as it falls naturally, is usually more towards wetter/heaver stuff and I hear tale the impeller mods (Link) helps prevent (not all 100% of time but...) clogs and throws the more mucky sticky snows better.

If this ^^^ is true, anyone have a personal compare and contrast of the Impeller mod, Worth it or not? The Amazon reviews sure seems to suggest doing it..........

With drier/lighter snow's as it appears in Ted's vid., I hear the mod isn't really needed per-se and although it still throws further I hear but, perhaps when it's 4' wind blown drifts, the mod is still worthy as well?

Also, anyone off hand know the stator's output current rating on a Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP?

The impeller mod is well worth it, especially on the MTD family of machine (i.e. Troy-Bilt) there is about 5/8" clearance between the edge of the impeller blade and the housing on the Troy-bilt machines, which robs the ability to throw slush significantly, but also reduces the dry throwing distance.



By contrast, here is the gap on my Toro machine . . . barely 1/8"


When I first got my Troy-bilt 2410, it did not throw wet snow/slush very far at all . . . maybe about 4 feet. The dry throwing distance was about 20-25 feet.

The impeller modification essentially extends the impeller blade, thereby closing the gap between the blade and the housing, so snow/slush cannot escape.


On the Troy-Bilt (probably most MTD's) I also had to modify the plastic chute because there was a flange that protruded slightly into the arc of the housing and the now extended impeller blade (i.e. the rubber paddles) would hit the flange. ( I broke a set of paddles prior to discovering the issue)


Here is the area of the chute flange that was interferring and breaking the rubber paddles) I just ground it down so that it was flush with the impeller housing.


I replaced the solid rubber paddles that came with the 'kit' that I bought online with some fiber reinforced rubber ( used a piece of left over exhaust tube from my boat engine rebuild )

I contoured the 'new' paddles a bit better to the housing and impeller.


As far as throwing distances before/after. . .

Slush: about 4 ft before / 15 ft after

Dry: about 25 feet before / 35 feet after


So, I'd say it will be like a new machine with the impeller modification.

Not sure about the spec's on the charging system. My Briggs 305cc is rated at 60 watts, which would support up to a 5 amp load @ 12volts. Probably really can do only about 1/2 that with good performance, as the charging systems are not very sophisticated.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, maybe clean and paint your chute and impeller discharge..... that rusty mess isnt helping.

I had my blower head and chute flame applied plastic coated (similar to powder coat) on my old John Deere which helped keeping the snow from sticking in the chute and the impeller discharge area

conveyor belt material works great as paddle blade extensions

normally a gap of about an 1/8" is what you want between the impeller and the housing