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

Well I was finally able to get some video of my blower in action.  Went out to our family cottage and one of my neighbors was kind enough to operate the camera for me.
I'm pretty satisfied with the way it performs after the repower and other modifications to the impeller blades and housing. I had also increased the auger drive pulley size from
the stock 2 3/4" to 3 1/4". Powered chute controls work great.  I also came up with a way to use the old deflector control lever to operate the auger engage/ disengage.
So now I can pull on the lever engage the blower and not have to keep the right handle held down all the time.  It's so much easier to use the chute control joystick and hold on
to the blower.  I believe that it is also easier on the belt with fewer engage and disengage cycles.

I think it is still a little underpowered.  It could probably use a 13hp instead of the 11hp.  That 32" bucket takes in a lot of snow.  I'd also like to increase the auger drive pulley
to a 3 1/2" just to see what happens.  The one issue or component I still haven't come to a conclusion about is the impeller (14").  It has 6 blades, it's the only six bladed impeller I've
ever seen.  A lot of the newer blowers and the Honda's have only three blades.  I know how well the Honda's perform and I've watched a couple videos of the Ariens Compact 22
going through 14, 16" inches of light new snow without a problem.  So I've been wondering if six blades is just over kill and a lot of extra mass and weight to be turning. Once you get them
spinning I guess inertia is on your side.  But if three works well, and Honda first proved that they do.  Then what is the advantage of 4 or 6, just don't know.  One thing I do know is that.
The blade tip to housing clearance is a really important factor in blower performance. As is the impeller RPM.

Just a little information about the video.   In the first section the depth was about 18" deep in the plow roll of pile. And around 14 or 15" deep everywhere else. The snow was about three day old.
Had a bottom layer (2") of heavier stuff.  It had settled and was somewhat compacted and dense.  Not light power by any means but also not high in moisture and wet heavy.

>>>I'd also like to increase the auger drive pulley  to a 3 1/2" just to see what happens. 

Sorry, I read that as drive pulley, not auger drive pulley.. 

I think you once mentioned a change for the drive pulley for a slower forward would cause a slower reverse which was already slow.  

You could have put on a smaller drive pulley and cut another slot for an added reverse position or shifted the speed set making 2 first, changed the link rod length and sacraficed the top speed.  I'm sure you thought of these already.  Why did you eliminate them?

I think the only one around who would know about the tradeoffs for 4 vs 6 blades in big machines is Snowmann.  He can probalby walk over to a fililng cabinet and pull out old engineering docs on that.

trouts2

>>>You could have put on a smaller drive pulley and cut another slot for an added reverse position or shifted the speed set making 2 first, changed the link rod length and sacraficed the top speed.  I'm sure you thought of these already.  Why did you eliminate them?

I have actually cut the reverse slot longer.  And adjusted the link rod length. The friction disk can't slid any further into reverse without  the linkage arm hitting the side
of the housing.  I have thought about flipping the fiction disk over which would move it about 1/2 to 3/4" further into the reverse range. I have a spare tractor section that I try things on before making changes to the 1032 but haven't tried that out yet.  I've also thought about just finding a 28" blower housing and doing the same modification to it that I've done to the 32" housing. I wish Ariens made a 30" housing.  But I don't think they do.  That would be a perfect size.

That would be great if Snowmann had access to that type of information.  I'd really be interested to hear what he had to say.

I'm hoping to someday take what I've learned from messing with a walk behind and scale it up to design and build a front truck or 4wheel drive blower.
In the 5 to 6' width range. Taking two 32 or 36" blowers removing all of the drive train, handle bars etc. Mounting the blowers together side by side and mounting them
to a snowplow A Frame.  The weight of the two blowers including engines would be very close to the same weight of a 7 1/2" plow blade. Controlling them from the
cab would be quite a an interesting project to tackle. But what a great EOD machine you'd have. You'd pick up power by not having to drive the traction system. Have to beef up the housing a bit but I think it would be do able?? 

I saw a video of someone who did the same type of thing and hung the two blowers from the front of a Toro Groundsmaster I think it was.  Both of the blowers were powered by the tractor and both blowers were single stage tractor types. It did a great job in moving deep snow. And he was all over the place with the Toro.
Or how about mounting one on the front of a Zero Turn mower. I've seen that done, talk about maneuverability. I'm getting carried away.
It's probably more of one of those, maybe someday projects. 

"Since that post I have made a modification to the auger engage setup.  I reinstalled and shortened the old cable that used to move the deflector and was controlled by a handle on the left side of the dash.  I bent a hook on the end of the solid stainless wire inside the cable.  I then hooked the hook onto the chain above the spring that controls the auger engage levers.  Tightened up the fiction nut on the control lever on the dash.  So now I can pull back on the control lever to engage the blower and my left hand is free.  It works get, and I love having my left hand free to control the blower and operated the joystick for the chute."

How about some pictures of your setup for the controls. You can't see them up close in the video.  Does that mean that your unit didn't have the automatic locking of the auger lever when you hold down the drive lever? I think your setup may be better though since they now operate independently? Was it difficult to install?

Cheers

jrtrebor wrote:

Having used a 32" snowblower the last 3 years,  I wouldn't want to go any wider and heavier for a walkbehind snowblower in a typical residential setting.  Not that would deter you, but it just takes too much man handling to be enjoyable, unless you're training to be a sumo wrestler.  The wider bucket just seems to amplify all surface imperfections and snag on pavement cracks that makes me slow down ground speed so that I can keep it going straight. 

It would be an interesting project for sure.  I would anticipate you need a heavier tractor section behind the bucket and some kind of power assist in turning the beast.

There was a mistake in one of my post.
 
" It works get, and I love having my left hand free to control the blower and operated the joystick for the chute".

It should have said "my right hand free" not left.

aa335
Sorry about that, I was talking about so many different things.  I wasn't thinking about using two blowers for a walk behind.  They would be used on some type of garden tractor or on the front of a
4 wheel drive vehicle.
I agree, a 32" walk behind is more than enough to handle.  Sometimes I'm not sure who's in control, me or the blower.

GtWtNorth
I did/do have the "automatic locking of the auger lever when you hold down the drive lever" But it can be kind of a pain.  I got spoiled by the controls on the old Ariens I had.

jrtrebor wrote:
I saw the video.  You don't need to increase anything.  The last thing you need is more power.  I saw one tree that was already knocked over...it probably couldn't stand up to the force of the snow you were hitting it with. 

Put down your wrenches, back away from your snow cannon, and lets save some trees. lol.

Paul7 wrote:
I got a good laugh out of that. Thanks!

jrtrebor - thanks for the photos, nice job as usual. Since I don't have the chute control on mine to re-purpose,  I'll keep my eye open for one of the older style machines that I can get the controls from.Looking at the photos gave me another idea. Since you have a battery aboard, you may be able to use a 12V solenoid & switch to activate the arm of the auger clutch instead of using the lever & cable?

Anyway, I agree with Paul7, take it easy on mother nature.

Cheers