>>>Just curious, how could you tell the belts were slipping? Was it audible?
There was squeeling. If the paddles are not turning and the engine running the belts have to be slipping. I also ran one machine with the belt cover off so could watch it slip.
The machines mostly just loaded too much to do anything other than plug up.
They can only do so much. The belts grab area is pretty small. I don’t think a pulley change would help.
>>><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.
