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!

 Rob,

Nice going!!!!

             Fred    

I got stuck between a slush storm and a weekend, so I looked on Clarence's site and confered with someone who has the impeller kit to make my own. The concept works really well. As I found out the materials used are real important. I used what I had and they did not hold up. So now I am on version two, but have not had a chance to use it yet. That's why I say to just buy it if you want to use them. The PITA that is involved with the R&D is not worth the 30 bucks. Clarence already did the testing for you.

My MTD was real easy to do. In addition to taking off the chute, I could remove a portion of the impeller housing. The impeller on the MTD is made of a fly's wing so it was very easy to drill. And the modification does work very well in less than perfect conditions. Most anything can blow powder, even an MTD. Now my MTD can blow slush too. I hate to say, but better than some orange and red machines on my street. How long my machine will last is another question.

we have an ancient murry at work with one of those in ,might be different brand.

serviced the machine and took it outside to try ...boss thought i was crazy and even said why it cant work in this wet heavy snow.we has about 6 inches of real wet stuff almost slush.

it was unbeliveable.never saw anything blow that kind of snow as well as that.

im sure it would do good on a newer machine as well.

later chris

From what I have seen of the newer machines, they need it the most!  As manufacturing gets sloppier to keep the price down,  I have noticed that the gap between the impeller and the housing is getting larger all the time!  The need to make up for this  downward turn, is sadly becoming ever more important.  I have noticed that the impeller blades are getting smaller too.  How are they supposed to throw the snow, fed from the auger, with those tiny things?

I think that a common thread on this site, since I have been around, has been the ability to handle slush.  This kit will make up for that.  Powder just becomes a LOT more fun!

I knew there were a couple of guys here that had the kit too, but I couldn't remember who.  Glad to see you posted!

Ken

I installed clarence's kit last April on my  MTD 10.5 HP Blower.

I never got to try it on slush, but on heavy EOD and powder, I gained about 20% in throw distance!!

I just bought a new blower, and I am going to install the kit on it this summer ( late August ) because it really helps to blow snow!!!

                                                                   Fred    

I wonder how the kit wold work on the newer PowerMax Toros.  There is a plastic part on the top of the auger housing that (for lack of a better way to say it) holds snow that's waiting to hit the impeller, so the housing is not smooth and continuous except for the chute opening.  Also, the impeller itself is not solid and flat but has an open center (also for the lack of a better way to say it).

LL

lland wrote:

That's one that  I am curious about too.  Toro has been the only one to really change the design of the snowblower, in the last 30 years or so.  I have only seen one machine in use that has this new design, and it was doing a great job, under good conditions.

I am going to go an take a look at them and see.  I think I'll call Clarence and see if he has had any come in for the upgrade.

Ken

lland wrote:

Hi lland,

I was going to purchase the kit myself last week and decided to look over my Toro more carefully to see how it would be installed.  After doing this, I decided to pass on the kit.   The impeller tips are only 1/8" distance from the housing, which isn't much at all.  Also, the impeller tips are a little different on these new Toro's and are actually 4-1/4" wide.  From say, 3-3/4" to 4-1/4" the tips are tapered at a 45 degree angle to further aid in lift, similar to the tips on a mulching lawn mower.  Even if you used the 3" wide rubber paddles from the kit, a good part of the impeller would have to be left as is, especially due to the added bracing you may have noticed on the tip ends.  I'm not saying the kit would not make a difference on a Toro, merely that I don't believe it would yield some of the better results that have been mentioned due to the already optimized design on this particular snowblower. 

If you look on the inside top of the auger housing, as you mentioned, it makes it very obvious why this snowblower can throw snow so far even if the snow is only 1" deep and moving only in 1st gear.  The design is optimized already whether used for 1" or high amounts of snow.  Any snow that gets drawn in by the auger, that is more than the impeller can handle, it immediately gets drawn up into that large recess and metered back down when the impeller is able to discharge it.  I'd also have to say that those angled impeller blade tips definitely aid in throwing wet snow.  I still have not been able to clog the chute on this machine no matter what I do to it. 

That kit is a great idea, but I believe it would make more of a different on a snowblower that has something like 1/4" spacing between the impeller tips and the housing. 

Richie wrote:

Richie..........
Great review of the inner workings of the Toro impeller setup.  I agree with you, 1/8" clearance is fantastic!  You would not see any improvement in performance.  The whole idea is to move ALL snow in the impeller area OUT.  With that "cutout", you are correct in stating that any excess snow will be metered back in, so that the impeller is always fully loaded, making it more efficient.

Sadly, most machines made today have a spacing closer to 1"  leaving a LOT of snow in the impeller housing to just get clogged and tossed about.  Very inefficient.  But, cheaper to make.

Ken

  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