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

Well........finally getting around to starting a thread on this impeller mod for the snowblower.  Perhaps a little late in the season, but it will give us something to talk about!  In light of the recent thread about plastic liners, I thought I should get this started.

I have to admit that when I first heard of this, I was a little skeptical at first.  Sounded interesting but as with most mods, they are usually more hype than improvement.  Some had been telling me about it and said that it made a real improvement.  Yeah, right.  I checked out the web site and, have to admit, I was being drawn in.  Clarence lives in the same city as I do, so this gave me some more interest in checking it out.  Still back burner though.

So.........one day we are out doing driveways and this occasional client that lives across the street from my client sees that I am having a little trouble with the slush getting plugged up in the machine.  He tells me that he just got the kit installed on his machine and is going to give it a try.  Now I know how his machine performs usually, as I have seen him do his driveway  many times over the years, so this should be interesting.  Well, the next thing I know, is that I almost wet myself!   He was blowing that slush out of his machine like it was being shot from a cannon!  Now we all know that slush usually goes about 2 feet, so seeing  this stuff fly 20+ feet was nothing short of unbelievable.  We tried some snow with it and it was going 30-40 feet.  Normally his machine throws about 20-30 feet.  By the next day, I was over at Clarence's and getting it installed on one of my machines, to check it out for myself.  I have NEVER looked back.  Now, ALL of my machines have been fitted.  My favourite machine is an MTD Pro 13/33 (1986) , with the 13 hp B&S engine, and it will honestly throw snow 50-60 feet!    The Ariens and other MTDs have been fitted too.

ABSOLUTELY no snow or slush will slow down this kit! EVERYTHING that goes in, will come out!  EXCEPTIONS include: newspapers and extention cords!  Havn't picked up a squirrel yet!

Most kits now have roughly 2000 times on them now and the belting is holding up quite well. I see no need for any replacement yet.

Installation will require medium skill, I guess, as you will have to remove the chute and drill the impeller to install the kit.  You are working through the opening for the chute. 

For the first several times you use your machine, the sound will be quite different as the rubber will be dragging slightly on the housing until it gets worn in.  THAT MEANS THAT IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE PAINT COMING OFF OF THE IMPELLER HOUSING, THEN THIS KIT IS NOT FOR YOU!  It will make the metal quite shiny, I must say.  BUT, if that is not a big deal for you, then the perfoermance upgrade will be more than a fair trade off.  Other than the paint coming off, the metal is not being worn out.  With all the use that my machines get,  they are still in fine shape.  With typical homeowner use, you should still get 50 years out of your machine.

So........which machines are likely candidates?  I would say every 2 stage machine out there, with the exception of Hondas and Yamahas.  They already have a tight gap between the impeller and the housing and would not show any improvement.

Clarence is a super guy and I send all of my equipment to him now, (that I can't fix) for repairs.

Hope this helps.

Got any questions............fire away!

Ken

PS Thanks for the push.............Fred!

  Richie,

My new Husky only has 1/4 clearence from the impeller to the housing. I'm still going to install it.

For $30.00, if it only improves performance 10%, it is a cheap mod!!

But I l think the kit would improve the blowers performance more, even Toro's about 10% dry snow, and at least 25% in slush.

Can you think of a water pump being used with a 1/4 inche gap all the way around (total 1/2) on the diameter.

It would not pump crap!!!

Anything done to reduce that gap, has to improve performance.

Also the impeller rubber and metal are 3 1/2 inches long., which would do the Toro's flat area. 

                                                                                     Fred  

Is there a kit that I can use on one stage blower?

jubol wrote:

Exactly!  When I said 1" earlier, I ment 1" on one side! That's 2"  of space total!

When I looked at those new MTDs and Murrays, my honest opinion was that they were junk!

Ken

walbroman wrote:

No.  If the rubbers are worn, you will have to replace them.  On the Honda that I have, they actually wern't that much money.

Ken

Question on danger when installing these things.  I know everyone will have the plug out no gas etc etc.  But when you look on clarences site he was talking about finger loss.  In a hurry here so no time to direct quote.  Maybe he was talking about compression backlash or something maybe some type of tension backlash from a pulley system  or the auger break still holding back force, don know? .  When clearing snow from the chute  I won't reach in there to save my life, however i don't carry a cleanout either.   Just curious what to tell other users when they think it is safe say just the machine off naturally not engaged as they are going to have to walk around the front of the machine etc.  is there a chance if they reach in there to clean  it something could happen.  I always assume there is a chance so I don't do it,  however I get close.

Thx 

Ben07

SnowPro wrote:

Hi there Ken,

Thank you.   I also couldn't believe what I read in your post that some snowblowers have up to 1" of space between the impeller tips and the housing, holy cow, that is way, way too much  Those individuals should really thank Clarence for inovating such a great and practical component to improve one's snowblower.  I actually believed most other snowlblowers usually had about 1/4" spacing.  It really rubs me the wrong way how some manufacturers skimp on R&D.  Thanks for the information.

jubol wrote:

Hi there Fred,

I think you are making the correct choice since you have a 1/4" space.  If mine was that wide, I would have gone with it.   I would definitely install it and expect to make a noticable difference on your Husky.  It was also my understanding that the paddles come in two different widths, 3" and 4."  Yes, I'm sure the 4" wide version I'd be able to trim down to the actual size required for my Toro, but to make a modification like this just to add 1/8" to my impeller tips doesn't seem worth it to me.  If someone with a similar snowblower makes the modification and can notice a difference, I'd consider doing it.  I've never had a problem with this machine blowing any type of snow.  I think all this 828 LXE needs is a Briggs & Stratton Intek engine.  Then I'd feel like I have the ultimate snowblower. 

Richie,

Thanks...I didn't measure the impellers but figured the kit wound't work as well with the redesigned Toros.  As is, it does a decent job of throwing slushy stuff so I'll keep it the way it is.

LL

I saw this mod online and he wanted $30 plus $8.95 shipping. I went to my local Family Center (tractor/farming store) and purchased a foot of hay baler belt and the brackets and bolts for $6.41.

I had to replace the belt on my MTD 5/22 anyway so I took off the 6 bolts that hold the auger body to the body. I took off the chute and placed the whole unit on a bench. I used a long board to stick through the auger which held the impeller in place.

The whole process was quite easy and took about 40 minutes. The trick is sharp drill bits. I started with a small bit to get the two bolt holes lined up then used the larger one to finish the hole to the correct size for the bolts.

Fired up the blower and let the rubber wear to the size and shape needed.

Now I await the first snow. of course, none in the forcast. :)

Lannie

PS The gap on my impeller was over a half inch!! No wonder it plugs a lot. Cant wait to try it.

lschafroth

Ischafroth,

   >>hay baler belt<<, I don't know the stuff but it sounds perfect and strong.

   I've had a number of the MTD 522's around and they are nice.   Arm extenders on that machine would be interesting.  Please come back and update how it worked.