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

Ariens mounts there motors behind the axle, moving weight of the scoop. It definitely makes it easy to handle; so far, it is the only 30" that doesn't scare my wife. However, not scaring my wife isn't the main criteria.

If the weight is on the nose it resists riding up. If the weight in on the rear wheels it aids traction. Going uphill, additional weight transfers to the wheels. Going downhill, it transfers to the scoop. Although that may or may not be significant.

So which is better? The most bias to the wheels as possible?

As a side bar, several snow blowers have optional weights to go on the scoop. These typically are on the top, a bit forward of the skid shoe. And rather small, 10#. More like an offset for a cab. Is higher overall weight better? Is it better to have 80# on the nose and 170# on the wheels or 150# on the nose and 170# on the wheels?

If you have a problem with traction, some units sell or come with wheel weights... I have also seen people strap weight to the units if they did not like the traction or front end being light.. (cinder bricks or such) --Friiy

My preference would be to have more "practical" weight on the front bucket to resist riding up, in addition to have sufficient leverage on the handles to tip up the bucket as needed.  From my experience, the Toro seems to have the most leverage, not sure if it's bucket is lighter than an Ariens.

aa335 wrote:

I haven't actually brought scales to the dealer, and no dealer has the 1128 OXE anyway, however, the 726 and 728 seem light on the nose and Toro specifies an additional weight is mandatory with a cab.

How much weight is enough.?  I refuse to pay $70+ for a piece of steel they call a weight kit.

bus708 wrote:

I can't comment on your finances (although I there is a discussion and inflation, relative prices and gold standard that I just left) however enough weight to keep it down before the tire spins. The the question becomes how much is that.

Let's assume there are 200 lbf on the wheels. That pretty much defines it. The ratio is 200:1, the radius 8". even a little motor could generate that. It would be 130-150 ft-lb lifting the nose. If the skid shoes are 2' in front of the axle, that is 65-75 lb it becomes weightless. So, a total weight of 100lb or so should keep it down and 125lb should give it some bite.

Note that pushing down on the handlebars or a cab on the handlebars also takes weight off the nose.

I think you're talking about drag cars or what it takes to pop a wheelie on a snowblower.

10 to 30 pounds is typical weight to put on the snowblower. 150 lbs weight is probably a wee bit too much, but maybe just right for rototilling. $50 - $70 for a 10 pound weight kit is expensive, I guess you can go to a hardware store, buy some iron bars, drill some holes, paint it for a whole lot less than that.

The weight on the nose depends on the traction at the wheels. You need enough to have a net force holding the nose down. The more traction, the more force holding it down. Which is what wheelie bars do.

Now that I think of it, it may be a practical solution. It wouldn't have to be much.

Tracked blowers don't need it because the tracks perform that function.

Well, sort of. It acts like a wheelie bar because the pivot point moves backwards as the bucket rises. The tracks also has a mechanism to shift the more weight forward or backwards as needed. I don't think 150 pounds on the bucket to stop the bucket from popping up is practical, but you can try it and report how it works.

aa335 wrote:

Wheelie bars don't move the pivot. They act like sticking out an arm to brace yourself has you are falling. As shown, the force raising the nose should be in the 75 pound range at the skid shoes, limited by rear wheel traction. If the nose is heavier, it will stay down.

I was referring to track on snowblower.

But whatever. You are the man. It is what it is.

If two snowblowers had the same weight on the rear wheels, say 185#, but one had 90# on the skid shoes centered 22" from the axle and the other had 50# centered on the skid shoes centered 20" from the axle, which would be preferable? What if the one with 90# up front had 16" tires and the other had 15" tires?

The shiny one that has more horsepower, bigger tires, and comes with a wheelie bar.

DavidNJ wrote:

Go ahead add 75-150 lbs.onto the front end of YOUR snowblower that would make turning fun. The bucket might support the weight but you'd be shaving the bottoms off the shoes of people living in China.

All the guy needs to do is buy a 25 lb. weight plate at Dicks Sporting Goods or Sports Authority and use a bunch of wire ties to hold it on the front of the bucket if he actually needs even that much weight. Dicks charges .89 cents a lb. for grip plates and if you go to a place that sells bodybuilding equipment you can buy a rubber coated weight plate for about $2 per lb.

75 lbs.of extra weight on the bucket is looney!

DavidNJ wrote:
Can you draw a free body diagram showing where the flux decapitator is in relation to center of rotation of the nut behind the handlebars?

Are the skid shoes plastic or metal?  What's the torque on the nut behind the handlebars?  How many times was that nut overtorqued? 

Are those tires all season tires?  mounted on alloy rims or steel rims?

aa335 wrote:
I think the nut was under torqued and vibrated loose while reversing with the auger engaged.

Other factors to consider: What time of day was the snowblower purchased? Were the stars aligned in retrograde to the atmospheric conductivity? Is the air in the tires standard or metric and is said air rated for winter or summer use? etc, etc, etc.... The list is endless but must be compiled completely in order to determine which snowblower is best at this particular moment in time!

No worries mate, all we need is a binary decision diagram.  Anyone seen one of these?

Shryp wrote:
I bet it was an out-of-round nut tightened using a metric crescent wrench.

I think we all agree that doing your homework prior to a large purchase is prudent but DavidNJ takes it to a whole different level - YIKES!

I applaud him for  "pioneering" spirit and relentless devotion to eradicate mis-information and propaganda on this forum to set us straight. 

And not to mention the relentless drive to point out the "not-so-obvious" things that most of us just say "who cares" or "what's the f*&* difference?"

The answer is, do you want to move snow or spend lots of intimate time with your snow blower?

aa335 wrote:

Most of us don't give a damn about most of these inane ramblings of his since they serve no purpose other that to boost up his post count.

DavidNJ wrote:

Well it's apparant from sucha strong Democrat and Obama lover such as yourself that you'd rather work out irrelevant figures on napkins and annoy most people with useless info than actually blow any snow. It seems to me that all you want to blow is Hot Air! Perhaps you should forget snowblowers and take up hot air ballooning or politics.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
You should really tell us what you think.  :)

DavidNJ wrote:
You should ask yourself the same question....

FrankMA wrote:

I think DavidNJ spends too much intimate time with his snowblower. :)

Will it still respects him in the morning?  Is he a blower man or tractor man?

The issue may not be nose weigh as much as handle bar design. On a 24" Husqvarna Crown, 50#, I could sink my weight into the handlebar grips without lifting the nose; on a Toro 28" the nose flew off the ground. If that is the case, the advantage would go so some BASCO models (Deere, Simplicity, Snapper) and Husqvarna.

Time for a recap!

OK, the John Deere machine is bad because there is not enough leverage at the handlebars to pick the scoop up and turn.

The Toro is great because it is effortless to pick up and turn.

The Husqvarna Crown is great because he can put his full weight on the handles without the front coming off the ground.

The Toro sucks because any little bit of pressure on the handles cause the front to come off the ground super easy.

OK, where were we?

Shryp wrote:
You forgot to mention (incessantly) that anything Honda is terrible and overpriced.

You also need to include that  "The Husqvarna Crown is great because no one on this forum has used it and I can't figure out how the auger works."

You're like a train wreck.  It's a tragedy but everyone keeps looking.

aa335 wrote:

Lets not forget that anyone who disagrees with him has to be a democrat (I don't get that reference)

This guy is trolling he's posting nonsense and asking nonsensical questions.

Oh and that Husqvarna looks like it will bite off more than it can throw. Time weighs heavy on his hands if he's weighing the air in the tires.

Yeah, that's a pretty darn tall bucket on that Husqvarna, with an itty bitty 12" auger.

I see an issue for David.  It's going to crawl cause it can't chew all that snow.  Time for a binary decision tree.