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

I would like to install a CLARENCE kit on two more snow blowers. One of them is a no-brainer since there's allot of clearance.I can easily get my finger between the impeller and housing (MTD). The other one, new to me is a snapper 1132 (2005 series). What would be the clearance to necessitate adding a kit.

Denis wrote:
Wouldn't even know where to start to answer this.  Except to say no not right, to everything that was said.

I think what Denis is trying to say is that the tighter clearance impeller will experience more load with wet snow.  i think we all agree to that.  His point about the Clarence kit putting more load on the gear box is more to do with the machine being required to force more snow through the system than it would be capable of without the kit installed.  Rather than bypassing some of the snow, the kit forces the impeller to move it all.   Kind of like a car with narrow tires spinning them easily but put on a set of slicks and the load to the entire drive system is increased substantially due to the available traction.  The Clarence kit gives the snow moving part of the machine  a similar effect by increasing load.   I'm not certain that the additional load would have that much of an effect on the gearbox unless the components therein were border line and ready to let go. 

If i could put on a simulation video of the thing, I could probaly be more precise on how wet snow could damage the gear with clarence kit installed, in a long term.

Denis wrote:
A person could also put on a simulation video.  Of how to damage a gear box and how to put excessive load on all of the blower components.  By by using to fast a forward speed for the
snow conditions.  Or by plunging into an EOD pile that has chunks of frozen snow and ice.
The impeller kit does one thing.  It improves the efficiency of the impeller.  It creates a smaller gap between the blades and the housing.  So that more of the snow that is in front of the blade is
expelled out the chute on the blades first pass by the chute opening.  Can that put more load on the engine and belt than the way it came from the factory, yes.  But would that load be any greater than than trying to blow 12" of wet snow in third gear instead of 2nd or first gear?  No I don't believe it would.  I guess my point is that with or without an impeller kit a person can damage blower components by using it incorrectly.  And you see people, or hear people doing it all the time.  As I said there is a small learning curve when using a blower with a kit installed.
A person can easily shorten the life of blower components by using it incorrectly. 

The gear box issue.
Putting an excessive load on the impeller has no effect on the gear box.
The impeller and gear box spin off the same shaft.  So when the impeller slows down due to a load so does the gear box.  You can't blow a gear box because of a heavy load on the impeller.
I would go so far as to say that if you have the correct OEM shear pins installed and the augers are free on the shaft.  You can't blow a gear box period.  All the gear box does is spin the augers
which moves the snow horizontally.  That is not a tough task for a screw auger.  What happens to often is that people get the idea that a snowblower is half snow plow and half snowblower.
Anytime you feed the blower housing more snow than is has the capacity to process.  Your putting an excessive load on it.  Just listen to the engine. 
Blowing deep wet snow is like cutting long wet grass. 

jrtrebor wrote:

+1

Have to agree as well regarding the gear box.  For some reason, I was thinking the additional impeller load would contribute additional gearbox strain.  I was putting the horse before the cart. 

I suspect that Denis' gearbox was likely ready to let go and just happened to do so after putting on the impeller kit. 

Is it possible to install the kit improperly balanced that could cause flexing of the impeller shaft that would lead to deflection of the worm gear inside the gear box?  

jrtrebor wrote:
Again,

I have to agree with Jetrebor 100%.  All of the additional load is put on the impeller, belts and blower housing bearing.  The torque is being passed through the impeller via the shaft to the gear box.  Overloading the impeller will either stall the engine or slow the engine making the auger either spin slower or stop completely.  If the impeller can not process the snow fast enough you are going to fast.  If the impeller is clogging then you would need to stop to clear it first.  In any case I have been clearancing my impellers for years using either steel plates welded in, or running a bead of weld on the edge of the impeller and then fitting it for 1/16" clearance on the blower housing and have never broken a gear box or anything for that matter.   I have blown slush, wet snow and dry snow with no problems and have never had the chute plug once. 

I wish i had video of my old large frame Snapper blowing slush more than 25' last year like a fire hose.

On my current machine which is an 11hp 26" mid 80's Cub Cadet the 14" impeller has less than 1/16" clearance on all four blades.

Carl

Ok guys, I'm probaly freaking on the gear case heheheh, like Borat mentionned the worm gear was a little bit old enough to strip, so here we go, let it snow, have an happy winter all

I have posted this many times on both forums.  I purchased my Ariens 1128dle new.

The first season we got his with heavy wet snow that quickly turned to rain. My Ariens turned into a sausage maker.  Slush would fall out of the chute like a Sweet Italian sausage and then plug.

  I was discusted with my machine and ready to sell it. I put the Clarence impeller kit in and it became a new machine.

 It goes through the wettest of snow, slush, and even throws water like a cannon.  Without this kit I would have sold my machine.

  My Honda's throw like that right out of the factory and no need for the kit.

 I have also installed them on many other machines and have never had any problems.

Can anyone tell me how thick the rubber is in the Clarence kit? I am going to try to make a homemade version of the kit. I have some 1/8" thick rubber sheet that I'm planning to use. If that's too thin, I can use 2 layers. That, plus some metal brackets (the flat ones with holes in them at the hardware store), and some bolts, and I should be in business. Do people typically install these, including the drilling,  with the impeller still in the machine? I assume you remove the chute, of course. It seems like it might be easier to do it in place, rather than removing the augers and impeller from the machine. This is for an Ariens ST824. Thanks.