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

Guys,

I may get to go check out some SS's. One is a Yardman 21" 5hp 2-stroke. The other is a Toro CCR2000e 2-stroke.

I am leaning towards the Yardman, based on boratification possibilities. I'm guessing/hoping it has a 5hp Tecumseh, maybe the HSK850. The Toro would have a 4.5hp Suzuki engine, from what I understand. I don't care about electric start. Any reason to avoid the Yardman? I realize it's probably not as solid/durable a machine as the Toro. But if it could be ramped up more in the power department, I could live with that. Thanks for any feedback.

"How's that twine cable working out?  Does it work better with parafin wax , PAM spray, silicone grease, or peanut butter?   I heard the domestic twines aged with crisp Canadian winter air offers great feedback but they tend to break too easily. "

Bulky and notchy come to mind.  A total rip-off. 

Got a line on a guitar string from one of Ozzy Osborne's guitars on ebay.  Might be able to experiment a bit with secondary harmonics to reduce engine vibration and improve over all performance.  Hope nobody outbids me.

borat wrote:
I've heard people using guitar strings on cheese slicers, but this is the first application on a snowblower. 

You know me......

Envelope?  What envelope? 

The nice thing about having no conventional training is that you don't have conventions to restrict you.  Anything goes...

So we finally got some snow yesterday. Not a whole lot, about 4", but it was wet, heavy snow (mixed with rain during the day). Very packable, great for snowballs.

I started out with the Yardman, with HSK850, mildly boratified to 4500 RPM. It did quite well, I have to say. It was throwing reasonably far, I'd say, at least given the conditions, etc. It has quite a bit of power.

I did observe that when I'd 'overfill" the paddles (ground speed too high, not letting it process the snow), it would spray snow forwards along the ground. As that spread out, it would mess up the area I'd just cleared. The machine does have a non-stock paddle assembly apparently from a Toro, which is 1" narrow, and therefore not quite centered under the chute. That may have contributed, I don't know. I did have to stop once and shut it down to clear a glob of snow out of the paddles, as it was acting like it was clogged. Sometimes when finishing a particularly heavy pass, I'd seem to get a whiff of something hot. I don't think the belt is slipping. There was no smoke, no squealing, and I had tried to adjust the belt snugly. I presume the engine was just working hard. A few times I swore it was going to stall (in piles of the wet stuff), but I'd let off, and it would get back up to speed. I did find myself having to push more than I expected, when going up my driveway's incline (just raising the handles wasn't enough). With the snow being so wet and packable, it seemed somewhat difficult to push through.

I did try the Ariens with the HSK600 at 4600 RPM. That was having a lot more trouble, given the type of snow. I could probably have taken narrow passes, but I put it away. I'd just wanted to compare the 2 engines. The HSK850 was very noticeably more powerful

At the end, I was using the Yardman to try and clear areas where previously-blown snow had landed in the driveway. So I had the original 4", plus what did not reach the edge of the driveway on earlier passes. It started approaching a stalemate It was working hard, but wasn't making lots of progress. So I got out the ST824 2-stage. Boy, that's a different feel. From a 4500 RPM 2-stroke to a 3600 RPM 4-stroke. The 2-stage sounds like it's at idle, by comparison, and you don't get all the vibration in the handles. Used that to clear the rest of the extra-packed stuff, without incident. It would just pop the throttle open, bear down, and churn through. But it was putting a good load even on the 2-stage, in 2nd or 3rd gear, so it's not surprising that the SS was having trouble.

I'd call the evening a success. The Yardman performed well, and was reliable.

>>> I did try the Ariens with the HSK600 at 4600 RPM.

     I had the same problems here with 2 HSK600 machines running at varying speeds.  The load was just too much for them.  They either blugged up or slipped their belts.   The 4.5hp HSK850 did a little better but would only go a few feet before having problems.  

    Good that your modified paddle machine worked ok. 

Just curious, how could you tell the belts were slipping? Was it audible? Only asking because it's possible mine was slipping at times last night, and I just didn't know it. I tried to get the belt pretty tight, but it could still be slipping under heavier loads. Even when the engine was close to stalling, snow was still moving around, so the paddles certainly hadn't stopped turning, but it could have slipped periodically.

I was thinking that if you could put a smaller-diameter sheave on the engine, the extra revs on the HSK600's (or, frankly, the -850's) could be used to provide more torque to the paddles, at the expense of losing some of the extra throwing distance. More torque was really what was needed last night.

 

    Yep, very tough snow.  I also used a Toro 2450 and 3650 which also had big problems and were useless with clogging and belt slip.  Those machines are in good condition and I think the belts and tension ok but need re-checking after the very poor performance. 

 

    The Toro 421EZ did very well on the driveway area having no problem at all.  It out tossed the dual stages in the driveway area easily and was impressive.  Almost no sag in the Lincon 5.5hp 163cc engine.  

    The EOD was a problem though.  It got the edges of the EOD OK but the middle higher sections could not be handled.  It required lots of pushing and back and forth movement to take very small bites before stalling.  It was too much of a hassle to use so finished up with the two stage which also had a tough time but much easier to use.

 

     The 421 was so impressive it’s getting the pole position for storms.  There is a requirement here to have a machine that can lift snow up over stored machines which are tarp covered.  It requires something like a chip shot.  It’s tough for any dual stage in most conditions.  The single stages are better at it in good snow, even a 3hp Powerlite so I always start with them.  The 421 will be very good at that in most conditions.

    If the snow had ben a bit better the 421 would have been able to get the EOD.