Snowblower Improving Snowblower performance

[MarcusCarr]

I spend the day reading through a variety of threads concerning the improvement of snowblower performance, especially in wet snow. This is a synopsis of what I learned and the processes and observations as I attempt to improve the performance of my snowblower...complete with pictures of course.

Key points of snowblower performance...

The equipment was designed to run at 540 PTO speed and should be.
The diameter size of the impeller will be critical to the throw distance.
The space between the end of the impeller blades and the drum should be close...1/16in.
The tractor should be run at a speed that allows the PTO to maintain 540, no bogging.
The chute should be smooth and as slick as possible.

There were a variety of tricks people use to "slick up" the chute. Plastic liners, gloss paint and sprays including WD-40, silicone based sprays and sprays that are designed for plow blades were all mentioned.

My snowblower would probably be fine in normal to dry snow, but we have three feet of slush right now, so that will be what I am trying to throw.

On to the testing!

 

[MarcusCarr]

I tested in 2ft of slush and found that I could only throw about 4' and the chute cylinder would clog within about 10ft. I did this 4 times, then tried the same with 12 inches of slush. I made it 15ft.

Since the hangup appears to be in the impeller/chute tansition...let pull the chute and take a look...pics.

 

[PILOON]

All true (and I possibly posted a few myself)

One I don't agree with---1/16" spacing
For sure you'll chew up the drum really fast with even basic sand, never mind pebbles and stones!

One you missed:
4 blade impeller vs 3 blade (empties faster and blows farther)
and a small 4 blade might be better than a large 3 blade?

Also:
Chain and sprocket drives better than central 'gear box' type (gear box=$$, chain is cheap to buy)
AND:
Be sure that blower is wider than tire width!

 

[MarcusCarr]

What do you think would be the best tolerance between the impeller blades and the drum? Mine currently appear to be 1/2-3/4in.

In the picture above the cylinder portion seem very tall compared to some pictures I have seen on other blowers. There is also surface rust that is catching and holding some snow.

Next test...run the blower in 24in of snow without the chute attached.

 

[MarcusCarr]

We learned a few things...

1. The blower will go through 24 inches of slush without slowing or clogging if there is no chute.

2. Snow, slush and ice will fly about 25ft straight up from a blower without a chute.

3. The same will comes straight down...until you raise the blower which effectively tilts the blower up and back and acts like a mortar.

4. A mortar shooting snow which accumulates at a rate of 12 cubic feet per linear foot travelled is a heck of a lot of snow. See pictures.

5. Snow coming from a blower packs down like ice, when you raise you legs to hit the clutch and brake you will find your boots pinned to the floorboard.

6. Snow and ice thrown from a blower without a chute will find it's way into your underwear even though you are wearing a Carhart suit...mysterious.

 

[MarcusCarr]

Another key point shown in the snowblower opening above is that the plastic sleeve is mostly missing. I may replace this with a section of 5 gallon bucket to get the slick surface area back.

So, do I try to sand, paint and lube the original chute or fabricate a better design.

It seems to me that cutting a trailer fender in half and mounting the cut half down on the chute would make a short and extremely smooth path to redirect the snow. Wonder if it would work.

 

[number two]

24" of slush is very unusual anywhere.Certainly hard to deal with.At this point a plow or end loader is required.Good luck!

 

[PILOON]

I had some commercial plastic (PVC) sheets that I cut and trimmed to make a liner for a shute once. Worked very well.
PVC is easy to fold and with heat of a plumber's torch can be moulded to fit inside the shute. Attachement need only be at the bottom of the shute as the blown snow will keep it erect.
One observation I made is that while considered cheap, the walk behind blowers with plastic shutes clog much less in wet snow than metal ones thus confirming the theory.

Another observation is the transition point from where the shute starts as round base (needed for rotation) and becomes a 'squarish' shute deflector is where the voids start the accumulation of wet sticky stuff thet simply builds up and clogs.
Like carb iceing!
What the PTO blower indusrty needs to do is mould a nice smoothe HD plastic shute to best handle the wet stuff. Probably won't happen.

Wonder if pickup truck liquid 'bedliner' might do the trick? Wish it was available in quart size as I'd be tempted to try that.

A freshly painted shute stick much less than worn 'sand blasted rusty' one, however a painted shute only lasts all of about 1/2 of the first snow event.

In northern Canada aircraft that operate on skiis always have a PVC liner rivitted to the ski bottoms to prevent sticking. Known as LDR bottoms. (low drag resisitance)
A later inovation was paint on or bond a urathane coating and oddly they discovered that rough brushed on was better than spray coated. (ever look at the bottoms of cross countyr skiis?)

 

[MarcusCarr]

Any idea where to buy PVC sheets? Wonder if Home Depot would have something like that.

Marcus

 

[PILOON]

Any idea where to buy PVC sheets? Wonder if Home Depot would have something like that.

Marcus

No, not big box stores, they only have (sometimes) Lexan or Plexiglass and maybe core foam all of which are not suitable.

Yellow pages is where I find that kind of stuff.

Often you can get 'cut offs' or reminents as many companies will order specific sizes or 'cut to measure stock'
The ideal material would be High Density poly. HDPE
In my area there are even surplus warehouses that specialize in either flat sheet stock or others that stock only tubing.

Good luck!