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

I have a 10 year old single stage snowblower that's undergoing a full restoration this winter. I got the snowblower bucket disassembled from the chassis and engine. The bucket has been completely stripped down to bare metal. I want good adhesion and abrasion resistance and I'm willing to put in the time and money to get the best paint job that I can do myself without sending out.

What do you guys recommend for primer and paint? Any preparation techniques in addition to stripping down to bare metal and roughing up the surface?

chefwong wrote:

Somehow I suspect these sandpaper are expensive and are made in Europe. Never heard of Nikklens before but it sure sounds expensive.

aa335
The other poster is correct.  It gives me a visual reference on how far up the deflector can go.
Here is a link to the video that I made last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbfkLuhdhw

GtWtNorth
I drilled 1/4 " holes in the blower housing. And then Plugged welded the stainless to the housing from the back side.  That way I didn't have to use stainless wire or do any sanding on the stainless to smooth out any welds. Plug welding it also allowed me to get the sheet welded in place good and tight against the housing.  The heat did discolor the stainless at all the weld points.  So I had to use some 400 grit paper to remove them.  After that I bead blasted the entire piece.  Before I welded it in place I primed the steel behind it real well with Red Oxide primer and ran a bead of seam sealer along the edges of the hole cut out and the sides of the sheet.  I didn't want any water getting between the two pieces of metal.  Not only because of rust forming, but I was concerned that if enough water got trapped and froze it could, (I thought) possibly cause the stainless to bulge or pucker out in places. That would not be good.

I don't know what kind of car they came out of.  I found a seat laying in the bed of a pick up which had the two motors in it.  Someone did all the heavy work taking the seats out of something.  I just had to remove the motors and wiring.  I think the speed they turn is just about right. Not to slow and not to fast.

aa335....are you planning to adapt a skid shoe on it ?

I am debating whether to drill into the stock sides, add a skid shoe, bolt, fender washer and nut on it....

I can't say for all the Toro models, but on my 1800 I had about 10 year ago, they even employed a skid shoe of some variant so that that would take the wear and not the bottom housing.

???????
I may just buy the wheeled ones from Snowblowers Direct and Adapt it to the HS520.

Chefwong,

I'm not planning to put skid shoes on the single stage snowblower.   I have to dig real hard to find reasons to go through all that trouble.  I prefer no skids if possible to get that nice and straight wall of snow.

I have the side heavy duty skid shoes on the 2 stage snowblower.  It was installed last year, had to drill holes and installed reinforcing plate that came with the kit.  Since you have a 624, your skid shoes may be L-shaped and attached behind the bucket.  This arrangement makes it easier to steer.  Try it out before you put on the side skids though.  I will see if I can find my old posting on my experience with it.

I'm not sure if you will gain anything with side skids since your snowblower bucket is as wide as the sides of the wheels. 

jrtrebor wrote:
Great video, thanks for taking time to record that.  I would have done it differently for the marking.  I would make it visible only when you have approached the limits.

Actually the has 724 both the rear and side skids.

On the SS, the bottom of the bucket just rests on the floor/scrapes.
Similar to a scraper bar, I was thinking to adapt a skid shoe on it.
This would be my replaceable wear item......in theory, the metal on the bucket would never scrape.

The metal bar that is right behind the bucket, under the engine.
I assume used for *lift support* if one needed to lift it for transport .
I used my good 'ole standby Scoth 35 and wrapped it a couple of times. I then lined it with 3/8 Armaflex insulation.
This is another part I know wears/scrapes easily due to design of location

-----

A thought came to me. Let me swing it to my tuning guy....and just have him weld a small piece of SS bar to it.
Problem Solved.

chefwong wrote:
That metal bar is sort of like a kick stand.  It's for tipping the snowblower back and draining the oil from the engine.  I also use it to keep the bucket off the ground after snowblowing.

aa335
Actually the only reason I use the triangle marking is to give me a heads up as to how close I'm getting to the stop point.
I blow some city sidewalks for a merchant.  It's an L shaped walk at an intersection with two cross walk ramps. So there are a lot of places I can't blow snow when clearing the walks. Like into the streets. You aren't allowed to do that. I can only put it in a pile on the grass between the walk and the street.  Or in piles at the corners.
 I'm constantly moving and never stop to make chute or deflector adjustments.  Sometimes I may be tuning
the blower around while blowing snow.  So the triangle helps me know in advance where I'm at. 
While I'm watching the pavement then moving the chute direction then the snow angle.  So I'm not blowing into the street or over a pile into the street.  Or on to a parked car or knocking down some sweet old lady and covering up her dog.  With the joy stick I sometimes have a lot of things going on at once.

Vac type oil container for me for OPE equipment. For most of my cars, depending on application or frequency of use, I still do the pan bolt method...
But yes, the vac drains get 99% and it's no MESS. Just even looking at my 724 and they made a overhand drip edge (metal bent 90 degrees), I yesterday did a oil change on that via the vac method.
Not a drip on the floor...

Definately something worth investing