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

I inherited a Montgomery Wards 21" 3 horsepower snow thrower.  The manual is dated Dec 7, 1985.  I believe it was made by MTD.

Snow throwing is new to me and so far I have learned the value of fresh and well mixed gasoline.  Also, I put a new shave plate on it and that helped it quite a bit.  My question at this point is' "is it supposed to be self-propelled?"   When I pull up on the handle the 'blades' contact the surface and propel it along very nicely but the snow clogs much quicker.  When I do not allow the 'blades' to actually touch the surface and propel the unit, it throws much much better, but is very hard to push that way.  I'm sure I probably need new rubber for the blades.  The rubber is about 1 and half inch  on the wearing surface.  Any other tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated, thanks,

You have a single stage snowblower that is not really a full blown self-propelled machine. It gets a forward movement “assist” sort of by the action of the impellers. Under the right conditions it will walk along by itself.
It’s a matter of a few things.
Right touch of the handle and presenting the auger just right to the ground.
Not real high snow.
Not real heavy snow
Good flat ground surface.
I’ve had a few of the paddle type and the auger type. The do well in light conditions and are fun to use. The flat paddle 3hp Toro’s will toss about 15 feet straight ahead. They have veins instead of a shoot so toss left and right at 30 degrees. The move along well give a good surface.
The rubber auger blower’s I have are pretty good also. They have moveable shoots and toss about 20-25 feet. They perform well in 1 to 5 inches of snow and a good surface. They will pull themselves along if things are right but need an assist on dirt and lawn.
If you have the handle a bit high they will “walk away” from you which I’m sure you have notices. My driveway is very bumpy and they are a bit tough to use but with care and sometimes pushing they do a good job. They work well enough that I can use them to clean up light snows and save the wear on the bigger two stage machines.
Last week I put new rubber augers on the little 3hp with a shoot. It was tossing 20 feet easily and walking itself along by itself most of the time on frozen grass.
Even if your augers are worn a bit the paddle or auger type should mostly be easy to push most of the time but will at some spots require pushing. The only place they work really well pulling themselves along is on the sidewalk which is very flat.
If you have a high snowfall then you’ll have to do a lot of pushing unless you get the snow in the middle of the storm before it gets too high. Say it snows in the morning and the sun comes out and the snow gets heavy then you’re also going to be in for a hard time.
You’ve just got to get used to what it will do and adjust your snowblowing to what it’s capable of. For bigger snows get out early and make a pass before it builds up.
Some of the single stages I have won’t toss to the sides well. They toss to the other side of the driveway compacting the on top of the existing snow. Instead I have to do the driveway in diagonal strips throwing straight ahead which they do well.
I have a older 4.5 Toro single stage with rubber augers which has a shoot and tosses to the side well in most conditions.
Overall the 2.5 to 3.5 single stages do ok on paths, walkways and smaller areas. For wider driveways they can be used but you’ve got to adjust your style. If you’ve got uneven surfaces then it’s going to require some pushing and you’re augers will be digging into the high spots.
Dawei

Got in a bit of a comparison test this morning.

Toro Powercurve 3hp rubber auger with a shoot versus a Toro 521 two stage in nasty slush and wet snow.

I’ve got a old tar drive and walkway with a very irregular and bumpy surface. The Powercurve would move the slush about 5 feet to the sides and 10 feet straight ahead. It pulled itself along with gently assist at times.

The sidewalk out front is very flat and out there the Powercurve pulled itself along easily and tossed well enough to the sides but better at about 10 or 15 degrees off forward.
It did a passable job on the driveway and did a very good job on the sidewalk. It has a new rubber auger which probably helped. On the rough driveway in some spots it would splash back slush under the machine to my feet which was not so nice.

The 521 is a nice machine but all it could do with the slush is clog it’s shoot.
Dawei

rdsatkaycee wrote:
Single-stage machines can be finicky, whether or not they can self-propel depends on snow and surface conditions. They do well with dry snow on smooth surfaces when the blades can contact the pavement but don't work so good on gravel or heavy snow , and definitely don't like ice. The trick is to keep the pavement or concrete clear at all times so use the machine even when there's very little accumulation and use salt when it's cold to keep ice at bay.

Gelid wrote:

Using salt in cold temperatures is counter productive.  The colder it gets the more salt is required to do the job.  One is best advised to limit the use of salt and if necessary, use when the weather is warmer to minimize the amount of salt needed to be effective:  In very cold conditions, salt is virtually useless.  Below is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Roads:

The surface temperature of a snow- or ice-covered road determines de- icing chemical amounts and melting rates. As temperatures go down, the amount of de-icer needed to melt a given quantity of ice increases significantly. The graph [below] shows that salt can melt five times as much ice at 30o F as at 20o F. The effectiveness of de-icing is sensitive to small differences in pavement temperatures.

 The longer a de-icing chemical has to react, the greater the amount of melting (see graph). At temperatures above 20o F both salt and calcium chloride can melt ice in a reasonable time. At lower temperatures salt takes much longer.

The graph on the left shows that salt melts more ice per pound at higher temperatures. The graph at right shows the comparative time for different compounds to melt 1/8" of glare ice.

Thanks to all for the helpful replies

borat wrote:
By cold I mean cold enough for ice to form, not necessarily polar conditions. If you use salt when it's moderately cold your pavement will remain clear and dry when it gets really frigid.