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

I did a search and found a few references to this machine but no answers.  Any one have one of these?  15.5 snow max engine, heated hand grips, 30" wide.  I can't find a listing for auger diameter or impeller diameter.  I called John Deere and the guy that was suppose to be the snow thrower expert didn't know either. 

What is the Easy Steer drive system?  The literature says: 

Easy Steer® drive system giving continuous power to both wheels and auto speed adjustment

Is it similar to the Ariens auto differential? 

I've heard that the units are built by B&S which translates to Simplicity.  They do have cast iron gear cases like the Simplicity.  The chute control is different than the simplicity and so is the turning method so they are not exactly the same.  I'm trying to compare the Simplicity L1530E to the JD 1130SE.  Any help would be appreciated.

Rick

Today I was blowing about 4" of snow.  It was windy and snow was blowing back into the machine.  Here is a view of snow going up the chute with the plastic added to the lower chute.  When watching snow go up the chute it looks like a solid stream of snow and little snow drops out early.  This picture looks different as you only see a snapshot in time while in reality it looks like a solid stream, but it still gives you an idea of what is happening. 

I just changed the oil for the first time.  I replaced the original oil with Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W30.  The manual says it holds 26-28 ounces.  For those of you that don't know (I had to look it up myself) that is a hair over 8/10th of a quart bottle.  So just use about 3/4 of the bottle and then fine tune it the rest of the way by measuring with the dipstick. 

I'm thinking about adding a small red trailer light to the back of the machine.  I will probably mount it to the top of the cab facing backwards.  Sometimes at night when I blow at the end of my driveway, I turn around in the street.  With the roar of the engine and trying to focus on the machine, I get concerned about cars coming up behind me. 

I suppose I could always add reflective tape instead of the light.  If I did add a light, I wonder how I could make it blink?  I would most likely need some sort of a blinking mechanism. 

Another cool modification would be to add a very small light facing down on the dash.  Sometimes at night it is hard to see what gear I am selecting.  A tractor dash light like this would be perfect: URL for Light.

By the way, I made a maintenance record chart for all of the common things that need done for the 1130 so I can keep track of what I have done and when. 

I love the red light idea!  I'll probably do the same with mine. 

If we do end up mounting a light on the top of the cab, we can run the wires through the frame to hide them. 

I just looked at ebay.  They have 24 and 48 red LED brake lights that look interesting.

LED would probably be better.  I noticed that the headlight does dim a bit anyways when I turn up the heated grips.  Adding another light wouldn't help any.  It could probably use a LED headlight too to reduce the draw on the power as well. 

I just ordered the 24 light version.  It was $6.94 with shipping.

Can you post the link for the one you ordered?  I'm on eBay now.

Here's what I ordered.

http://cgi.ebay.com/24-LED-Car-Red-Third-Brake-Stop-Tail-Light-Lamp-12V_W0QQitemZ170419659112QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27adcda168