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

Iwas looking on You Tube and ran across a snowblower I've never seen before. I know nothing about putting links on here but if you go to your favorite search engine and type in Wisconsin Engineering SF 1330 you find this blower. It's a tank but expensive. Maybe you guys have seen it before. What do you think?  Glen from Minnesota

The Czech snow throwers remind me of their 1980s four wheel drive Skoda Arrow (I think that's what it was called).  It looked good and rugged and kind of had military like styling.  I had a friend who couldn't resist buying one.  All was good for the first six months then problems began to raise their ugly heads.   Being a manual transmission, it had a floor shift with a shift lever approx 20" long and at least 5/8" thick.  The truck began to stick in gear and he couldn't get it into neutral without a lot of jiggling.  One day, myself, he and another buddy were out hunting and decided to stop in at a rural tavern outside of town for a brew.  As we pulled into the parking lot, the transmission got stuck in fourth gear.  The owner had begun to develop rituals which he thought would help him get the transmission to shift.  Jiggle more to the left, then a bit to the right.  Let the transmission cool down and try it cold., jamb it hard to the left, then to the right. etc.   After stopping the vehicle, he tried the jiggle routine.  No effect.  We went in for a beer and after half an hour or so, he went out and tried the cool down trick.  No change.  Back in for a few more beers.  Now this guy is Irish, and normally easy going.  If however, he goes off the deep end, he's more than a handful.  By about beer six, he getting pretty upset and decides to go to stage three in his list of methods.  He leaves and is gone for maybe three minutes.  Upon his return he walks up to our table cross eyed mad and throws the shift rod onto the table.  He had snapped it right off.  Needless to say, his tirade on communist block manufacturing  was none too complimentary.   Later on, my buddy and I clipped a large pair of vice grips onto the stub of the shift lever protruding from the transmission and the three of us rocked the vehicle back and forth until the shifter went into neutral.  We made it home without further incident.  The owner immediately got rid of his Skoda.  Not saying all of the eastern block stuff is bad.  After all, they do make some very good guns. 

This snowblower has a lot features I'd put in my own monster if I could.

1.) true electric start.  Look where they tucked the battery, behind the chute so you don't clog to one side.  I like the bar going across for the controls, easy to use left or right, and you don't have to cross over to turn the chute or something. 

2.) Hydro transaxle: Can't touch/break it these babies.  This kind of a trans saves a ton of power, so the same size engine will do more work.. Also the easy lock/unlock for the differential.  This is a serious transmission.  I'm going to bet you'll see more like this coming.  It would be nice and maybe save their reputation if Ariens came out with this feature.

3.)  The chute looks pretty cheesy, but I can understand the needle bearings concept with a cable push/pull.  I have no doubt that it would freeze up however.

 I'm a little iffy on the chain drive,  but I guess it makes more sense than the loss of power through the gearbox.    I didn't see any shear pins on the auger.  It looks like one piece.  I also think SnowKing is a basic, loud, smelly and inefficient engine, and a true top end machine should at the very least have something with an oil filter on it.  Maybe a B+S Vanguard, or Kawa or Honda.  I'm a big fan of Honda engines, but the Vanguard is just a touch louder.  I've got a 16hp vtwin Kawasaki on my hydro mower and its LOUD AS HECK but could probably tow my car.

The pics don't show it throwing that much snow either.  It should have its own color (NOT ORANGE OR RED!) and adjustible height handles.  Maybe even a velke. 

A hydrostatic transmission actually has very high parasitic losses when compared to a mechanical drive. You'd have less available power for the blower head in that case. This particular transmission is scooped straight out of lawn and garden applications. No special accommodations for winter weather, not even 0W synthetic hydrostatic oil. It'll be a 'tank' if you only blow snow above 30 or 40 degrees.

I'm familiar with this unit and have operated them. Not impressed given what they're asking for it, and 30' throwing distance is dismal for such a machine. Needs an industrial stylist and more 'finished' engineering and manufacturing process (looks like it was manufactured with very basic means).

On the plus side, the electric clutch is smooth and silent. The intent of the ratcheting gear case overload protection is also good (no shear bolts), but I wonder how long it would hold up.

I believe this outfit started out in Sheboygan, WI, hence the name.

PK

nhmatt wrote:

It's the opposite, hydros robb engine power.  - Kris  

Hydrostatic or hydrodynamic?    Cars are hydrodynamic, and you lose a ton of power through the torque converter.  Hydro lawn equipment don't have this.  There may be loss from the hoses ect.  but I definately know that it won't slip like a wet belt, or the slip-o-matic in my Ariens snowblower.  Theres a ton of power loss coming on both ends of that beast.  Not easy to work on, that much is true.  But its real power, that's why heavy equipment (which is already running a pump so I guess it makes more sense) uses it, and its VERY reliable. 

I say we put in a pump for the auger as well, that way in the spring I can get double use from it as a wood chipper!

Short hoses hose would mean low loss, and a cold enviroment would mean less loss through fluid expansion.  Weight is not really an issue, its not like we're displacing freight in leiu of hydraulic fluid.  I think the loss in power would me more than made up in the direct transfer of power to wheels instead of a friction disc.  Smooth like butta.