Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Can someone tell me  how old is this one stage is?

Age - Haven't got the faintest.

It looks like a two stage, the impeller is mounted on the left hand side on the same axle as the auger rakes. It probably shoots snow left or right equally well while straight ahead is "better".

Sort of challenges the definition of "2-stage" though as if this was a smaller walk-behind unit it would be considered single-stage since the only difference between it and most single-stage units is the placement of the impeller section of the auger at one extremity rather than in the middle. I see no indication that the impeller can be driven independently from the  remainder of the auger, it's a single piece.

In a "normal" two stage the impeller is NOT driven separately from the auger, its all part of the same transmission. The shaft that the impeller is on transmits power via a worm gear to the auger shaft, if the impeller turns the auger will and at a fixed ratio so its not independent. The traction and snow thrower systems are an example of independent since one being one does not imply that the other is.

In the case of the OP's ( Original Poster's ) picture it is a shared drive shaft but its not the auger rakes that are throwing the snow, there's a separate set up paddles It looks like the augers shove the snow to the left, feeding it into the impeller. You can argue that the little bit of snow that comes into the paddles from the front are being thrown in a one stage manner but the majority of the snow is coming from the augers, into the impeller and then goes somewhere else. Thats pretty well the definition of two stage.

nibbler wrote:
You're right, I shouldn't have used the word independent when what I meant was that the impeller in a two-stage machine is physically distinct from the auger and can be driven at a different speed, but is part of the same transmission system continuity.

As for a blower whose auger changes shape into an impeller-like device at some point along its length should be considered a two-stage I would like to bring your attention on the following picture of a typical single-stage configuration:



Looking at the picture you will notice that the auger rakes are configured to draw snow towards the middle part of the auger which is shaped like a paddle that feeds snow into the chute. The only difference between this single-stage blower and the attachment blower pictured on top of the thread, apart from size, is the location of the "paddles". Perhaps are you confusing single-stage with the so-called "power shovels" that have no chute at all but only a paddle shaped auger that throws snow straight ahead? In case you have any doubts the Eskimo snowblower pictured here is definitely a single-stage:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200337032_200337032

EDIT: sorry you'll have to copy and paste to follow the link, inserting links on this forum has never worked for me no matter what I try, but posting images works.




   

Interesting point.

If I understand you correctly the defining thing is that the auger either turns or could turn at a different RPM from the impeller. I suppose you could also argue that the impeller has to be in a separate, albeit connected housing as well. Point taken.

To post a link that you just "click" on you highlight the word or phrase that you want to represent the link, such as this, and then click on the button above the typing area that looks like a blue sphere with two links of a chain ( 5th button from right). A box will appear that allows you to insert the actual URL. You can even put in other URL types or protocols if you want such as e-mail, ftp, https even news. I've only used the URL, http option. If you change your mind you can remove the link by highlighting the word/phrase and clicking on the button to the right of the one you used previously. It has a broken chain at the bottom.

Just my opinion but the defining characteristics between single stage and two stage snow throwers is that there are either one or two stages of the snow moving process.  In a single stage, the high speed auger carries out both gathering and ejecting of the snow.  A two stage has a slower speed gathering process feeding snow into the second high speed  ejection stage.  I'd say that old piece of equipment is a serious single stage for sure and a clever design as well. 

nibbler wrote:
Yes, it seems that the commonly accepted definition of a 2-stage is the presence of an impeller that is physically distinct from the auger.

As for posting links I can't for the life of me figure what I'm doing wrong, I've been posting links in all forms and fashions on forums for almost 20 years but this is one of the very few where it just won't work. This forum doesn't seem to allow manual formatting with BBCode tags such as [url][/url] and when I use the box I have no problem pasting the url into it but it invariably yields a blank after I hit the OK button. I find this puzzling because the image box works flawlessly...

yeah in my opinion its a single stage because the impeller and the augar are moving at the same speed!

niper99 wrote:
Yeah, thats what I thought too in my opinion

Are you highlighting a word or phrase first? I tried posting a URL a couple of time without highlighting anything and it appeard that there was nothing there after I clicked on the "Ok" button on the URL dialogue box.

Here's and example:

1. No highlighted word or phrase;
2. Highlighted word here.

In the first case I had the cursor "between" characters, there's nothing to associate the URL with. In the second case I highlighted the word "here" and did the exact same operation. The URL that I pasted into the dialogue box is now associated with the word.