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

FrankMA wrote:
He walked into the Honda dealer, pointed to the corner in the opposite side of the showroom and said "I would like to see what it looks like over there."

I already have the furniture dolly so I hope that's not the solution.... Kind of hoping for some sort of revelation as far as moving my 928TA without the engine running.

You can disengage the transmission from the axle by sliding that little lever near the foot pedal to the side.  The tracks will roll. 

It's not a relevation, but it works if you only need to move it 10 feet.  Any further, I'd go with the dolly

drifter wrote:

I'd like to see this one. 

FrankMA,

I don't recall exactly which levers and handles the guy used, but basically aa335 covered it. Reaching down and sliding a lever at the back of the track-assembly, disengages the transmission, and the tracks roll freely. That was only a part of the salesmans' demo. He also "lifted the augers" somehow, then, by applying a small amount of lift under the handles, he's able to tilt the machine forward slightly. This puts all of the weight of the machine on the front-end of the tracks, and he was able to rotate the machine VERY EASILY. He said to me, "here, you try it,,,, using only 1 finger". I did, and it worked like a charm. This was on a smooth concrete floor in the showroom. I believe the transmission was engaged for that part of the demonstration, because the tracks weren't "free-rolling".

aa335 wrote:
Yeah, me too. 75 feet is a longggg way. Maybe downhill, when the wind is "just right". like this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE4Ke2OFg3E&feature=related

or this guy; with his 928;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc87ChvVF7A&feature=related

drifter wrote:
Thanks drifter and aa335: I know about the tranny disengagement lever to "freewheel" the tranny but the using one finger to move it thing has me puzzled. I'm in pretty good shape and there's no way I could move my 928 with one finger - the machine weighs about 250 lbs. as it is. Just curious as to what he did to be able to accomplish this task. aa335, are you able to pull this off somehow with your machine? 

FrankMA,

Have you tried lifting your augers? With the augers lifted, you just apply a small amount of pressure under the handles, This rocks the machine forward, and it's very easy to lift the back of the tracks off the ground. The tracks are on their "tip-toes" so-to-speak. The full length of the track is not contacting the floor,,,, only the forward tips of the tracks are touching the floor. Now, you simply rotate the machine, and there's very little resistance.

drifter wrote:
Don't forget the Ariens 2232 :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BahOwtQrvuo

I can't do it with one finger.  Even with the transmission disengaged, it still require considerable force to push or pull on the handles.  You can get it turn easier by putting all your weight on the handlebars to lift the bucket off the ground.  Then just pirouette around the back end of the tracks, instead of the full length.

I guess you can pivot around the bucket, but that puts a lot of weight on the skids.  You would risk scratching your floor.  Never used this technique though.

I have a dolly if I want to move it around a lot.  I can get the snowblower on the dolly without using the engine and tracks to crawl up.  :)  It's easier than you think, but requires some creative work.  It's all leverage and technique.  If you muscle against a 250lb tracked snowblower, well, u get a good workout.