Snow blower thoughts

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kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

Some thoughts from recent snow storms.

- My driveway is too large for my snow blower. It doesn't throw snow far enough to make it to the edge at the big section in front of the garage. This causes me to have to go over it twice. The long narrow section out to the street is fine.

- It says 7.75 hp but I could see having like 11 or even 12 hp at a 26" swath. For a bigger machine like a 30" I think I'd want something really stout like 15 or 16 hp.

- I think I will try the rubber flap mod on the impeller for next season. It is supposed to dramatically improve the pumping efficiency of the impeller in slushy stuff.

Given my power observations, I wonder how well my 12.5 hp Simplicity tractor would do with the 36" single stage thrower. I'd love to find out and I am casually looking for them. Not that common to find. Plus I park it under the deck and just getting to the driveway after a big storm would require snow blowing a path first most likely.

- In searching for the thrower I came across many Simplicity walk behinds and a common one is a 24" model branded as a professional machine. 24" you say? Yeah, but it has 11 hp. Think sidewalks and stuff. 11 hp in a 24" machine sounds awesome if you are doing long, narrow areas.

- We were originally supposed to get 12-18" and that got cut, and cut again. We probably did get 6" but it turned to rain and just poured all afternoon. Stupidly, I thought it would be a great idea to go out before too much rain came down and try removing the snow that had fallen. I was out there fighting with slushy crap, getting absolutely SOAKED all the way through my heavy jacket. I did soak the chute and auger area with silicone spray before starting. The way I had to clear the driveway, I started at the outside and worked inside, which means the 5-20 feet the machine could throw slush eventually was just onto the driveway. So a large portion of the driveway had slush all over it when I was done. I burned through an entire tank before I was quite done. With the first round.

- I went out this evening after the rain stopped and went over it again to clean up the slush. And I was able to go on speed 4. It was also throwing it a good 20 feet. It made me do some interesting correlation. Each time I have struggled with a snow storm recently, I went out preemptively to take care of it before it froze or whatever people say they are doing. But twice now, going out the second time after waiting was always a much easier experience - the machine seems to work more efficiently with less clogging (or no clogging). Makes me really wonder - should I have just waited until the rain stopped before going out? In other cases, it would be the difference between going out that night, or waiting until the next morning. The data I have says I should just wait.

- The parking lot area in front of my garage is the real issue - any more narrow section is not a problem. But in the wide section, I need to be able to throw even slush like 50 feet. I don't know if any stock machines can even do that. Either that, or I need a machine with a shitload of power so when I do end up re-throwing snow that I threw only 10 feet, it has enough balls to pick it all up and move it over another 10 feet until I am done. Either way. I think the rubber mud flap impeller mod may be a big help.

- My machine is still running well as far as it was designed for. It runs best with the choke on one click and has since I got it. In light stuff I can run on no choke but if it starts bogging down, it will eventually stumble whereas with 1 click of choke, it seems to provide more power before stalling.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

Impeller mod stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLOCtrAYZc

A viewer comment:
12/12/2016 - Craftsman 24" 3 speed, 5.5HP Tecumseh with very sturdy plastic impellers. I purchased new in 2006 and unless the snow was fluffy and light, this thing absolutely sucked. I mean it was horrible and at times embarrassing having to unclog every couple of feet. After 10 years, I was ready to buy a new blower to rid myself of the incapable machine. Our first snowfall last weekend almost had me put this thing on the sidewalk with a "free" sign on it. Well, I came across a series of videos dealing with this mod and my old man and I went ahead and modded my machine on 12/8/2016, just a couple of days before our second snowfall this past weekend. Holy cow!!!!! Not only is the blower now throwing snow at distances I never thought it capable of, but the thick sludge (about 8" at one point this weekend) that the plows push onto the bottom of the driveway was absolutely not an issue. I am amazed at the results. Just as amazing as the results is the cost. We picked up a free throw-away tire from a tire shop and used the sidewall to cut out the pieces needed. I picked up some nuts/bolts along with some flat metal support brackets and made our own "kit". We used some threadlocker that I had on hand. Total cost was about $6 - $7. It took a couple of hours to complete but completely worth it!
Another vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7U8PBQed-c
bill25
Posts: 2583
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 2:20 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by bill25 »

I have to disagree with waiting for more weight (rain) to be added to go out. Everything I have read says to not kill your machine and take a large storm in pieces. You had an easier time the second time out because you already removed a lot of heavy snow. Also if you wait until it refreezes that would have been impossible with the amount of water that mixed. You may need a bigger machine, but you are still better off not killing it. If it was all light then yeah, wait till the end, this stuff was super heavy. I went out at 1200 and I am glad I did. I think it would have been much worse with all the extra rain that fell after that.

The rubber mod is supposed to work really well at least for a single stage.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

It would have been good if I had gone out at noon. As it was, I should have just waited for all the rain. In my experience, the day after works best. I will try next storm, which may not be until next year.

I have never really ever cleared snow in the middle of a storm before so I was more talking about clearing it right away after it finished or waiting until the next morning or whatever. It seems to throw much better after sitting all night.
bill25
Posts: 2583
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 2:20 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by bill25 »

I think the next day is fine, if it doesn't rain and re-freeze overnight. I am convinced I would have had 6 inches of solid ice if I had done nothing until tomorrow. This was not an average snow storm.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

Yeah I just don't know. I didn't clear my stairs and walkway until tonight. I did it with a shovel. There was probably 2 or at most 2.5" of slush by the time the rain had finished. Only the bottom inch was really water. What I didn't do was drive the snow blower around to see how it would do on that. I think it would have done better than the combo of mostly 6" of snow plus the rain that was falling. The rain basically melted a lot of the snow is my point.
bill25
Posts: 2583
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 2:20 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by bill25 »

Hey,

Check this out:

Simplicity 36″ Snow Thrower
Model # 1690547
Fits 5000 & 6000 Series Units
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

Here we go. Freight from Michigan must be cheap right?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Simplicity-6216-T ... Ciid%253A1
Part Number: 1690547
Based on the part #, this will fit the following models: 612, 613, 616, 1813, 1814, 1816, 1817, 4208, 4212, 512, 5210, 5212.5, 5216, 608LT, 6212.5, 6216, 6516, 6517, GTH, Regent, T-813, T-816, and others
Confirmed. Mine is a 5212.5.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

More rubber flap on impeller stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMAgb3QNEE8

Before/after: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLOCtrAYZc

I really think I need to do this to my walk behind. It might be enough to put off the thrower search for my Simplicity.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Snow blower thoughts

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:- My machine is still running well as far as it was designed for. It runs best with the choke on one click and has since I got it. In light stuff I can run on no choke but if it starts bogging down, it will eventually stumble whereas with 1 click of choke, it seems to provide more power before stalling.
Forgot to mention that the Marvel Mystery Oil treatments seemed to cure this. Last storm I used no choke and it was fine.
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