IMMike

  I can't speak to why they made the change, but I'd just like to point out that it could have been seen as an improvement because fewer blades means it's easier for the snow to get into the impeller in the first place.  Reducing the number of blades but increasing RPM a bit would allow for better snow ejection.

I.M.Mike

 There's nothing wrong with removing the whole pipe.  The reason the pipe is on there is to make it easier (oh, the bitter irony!) to drain the oil.  You can just turn on the 'nut' and whatever comes off comes off.  It might be a bit messier to remove the whole thing, but don't worry about it.  When you put it back in you should use either teflon tape or pipe dope.  Make sure the tape or dope stays two threads away from the end of the threads on the pipe.  You don't want dope or tape getting into the crank-case. If you remove the whole tube you should do your best to try to clean inside it, just on the far-off chance that some crud manages to migrate back into the crank-case.

I.M.Mike

  Those BCS jobbies are interesting, but they seem to be a 'system' where you buy a base unit then bolt on stuff to turn it into a wood chipper, roto-tiller, or whatever.  It's pretty large.  They push the notion that other units 'need' to use two stages because of belt slip.  Well, from what I can see in that video, their unit *is* a two stage unit, as is the big 3-point-hitch unit (no belts involved) for the tractor at the folks' farm.  So either I'm confused about what differentiates between a single and dual stage thrower, or they are confused.

 Anyway, along that same line, the single stage units aren't likely to be able to fling the snow high enough to get over the retaining wall drift, I wouldn't think.

  Actually, maybe I *am* the one who is confused.  I assume that a single stage unit is something like one of those electric Toro snow-shovels which fling show straight forward using rubber fins on a rotating drum, whereas a dual-stage uses an auger to collect snow to the center of the unit where an impeller flings it out a chute in whatever direction the chute is pointing.  Am I confused?

I.M.Mike

 The 'industry standard' for this task is acid brushes.  They're intended to be disposable, but they're also made to brush on plumber's acid flux, which is the consistency of vaseline, so they're stiff enough to push grease around.  Those artist's brushes probably work just fine, but I thought I'd put in my two cents.

I.M.Mike

  Use white lithium grease on the wheel shafts.  You can get white lithium in small-ish tubes that make it easier to deal with when you're not using a great deal of it.

I.M.Mike