Snowblower Snowthrower wings

   / Snowthrower wings #1  

Freds

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Joined
Apr 26, 2002
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1,507
Location
NW PA
Tractor
Kubota L3130HST & ZD326s
I'd like to make some wings up for my 3PH Blizzard snowthrower this year and have a few questions for those that have gone before me.

Is it possible to make them too wide, within reason?
I need 4-1/2" to meet the outside of my rear tire. I'd like to round that off to a foot :thumbsup: 12" extensions on either side angling out, or back in towards the thrower, depending on your point of view. I'm assuming one only needs to go slower for that first pass? 12" would not only cover my tire, it would allow me to clear the snow 12" on either side of my newly concreted driveway without the shoe dropping off the edge.

Bolt on or weld?
The thrower looks to be close to 1/4" plate. If my wings are similar thickness, that's some serious drilling for anyone without a proper garage or tools, plus bolts do loosen, but it would be nice to take the wings off if the need arose. Although I don't ever see the need arising...
And of course with bolts there would be some flex at the point of bolting if I only went with one vertical row, however, welding would eliminate that. Especially with some well placed stitches. Any preference?

And, if I make them out of similar thickness metal, 3/16 or so, would I need any gussets back to the thrower? I'm thinking I wouldn't, even with a 45* angle.

Any advice from some others who have modified their snowthrowers in this manner?
 
   / Snowthrower wings #2  
I have thought of doing that to my BX's front blower to give some wiggle room to be able to turn a little in deep snow. I was thinking more of 2 or 3" per side though. In your case, I think I would get some piano hinge and make them able to fold back flat against the side of the blower when not needed. You could make some struts to brace back from the front of the wings to the back of the blower to hold them in place. These could even be adjustable to vary the amount of wing extension. McMaster Carr would probably have heavy piano hinge. Our steel supplier here also has it. I would think bolting would be fine as long as there is other support to the wing such as a strut or brace back to the blower. As far as drilling the steel, get yourself some split point drill bits (Black and Decker Bullet is one brand I believe) of the appropriate size. Should make the drilling easy.

Kim
 
   / Snowthrower wings #3  
"would I need any gussets back to the thrower?"

Do you mean side of blower?
My only concern if the wing should hit something solid like ice etc. and could bend or break welds,also after time will side of blower joint become weak.
 
   / Snowthrower wings
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Hinges?! Don't get me making something too technical :laughing: I used to be a sheetmetal working specializing in industrial fabrication. Boy I wish you hadn't said adjustable... you've got my mind running away with the project already ;)
Let's see... I could get some telescopic tubing and drill it for some pins...

Seriously, thanks for the suggestion, Kim. I think I'll try to keep it more basic this time around though. Who know, maybe I'm getting into new territory here. Maybe no one has actually done this before. I thought it would be more common.
 
   / Snowthrower wings #5  
Do you mean side of blower?
My only concern if the wing should hit something solid like ice etc. and could bend or break welds,also after time will side of blower joint become weak.

What if you put a spring-trip brace back to the side of the blower? Then if you hit ice or other solid objects it wouldn't bend.
Just a thought. Haven't thought about how it would be set up.
 
   / Snowthrower wings
  • Thread Starter
#6  
"would I need any gussets back to the thrower?"

Do you mean side of blower?
My only concern if the wing should hit something solid like ice etc. and could bend or break welds,also after time will side of blower joint become weak.

Thanks for the reply, Thomas.

Yes, they would go back to the sides if I made the gussets. I had given some thought just reinforcing the top edge and taking the brace back to the top of the snowthrower. If they are 3/16 or 1/4" I'm not sure it would make much of a difference, seeing as how it's not that tall, but probably the sides. I like to keep things symetric.

Ice had crossed my mind as far as the wings hitting it, but since I got the snowthrower, I never hit any ice. Not like pushing up mounds of snow with the back blade. That's why I was wondering if gussets were even needed at all if I went with a wing the same thickness as the sidewalls. I guess they wouldn't hurt though. Thanks.
 
   / Snowthrower wings #7  
Not to throw water on the magnesium fred but if you add wings of any width beyond the working width it will become so bogged down the tractor will not move because the snow will not funnel into the blowers cross auger.

The blowers immediate advantage of being able to eliminate the snow weighing 21 pounds per cubic foot will be lost.

Dont forget the issue is the cross auger as it floods the housing and snow flow is unregulated due to the open auger configuration.


A wing will only win you the advantage when you are slicing to widen only with less than a full width of cut to remove snow at depth.


leon
 
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   / Snowthrower wings #8  
I'm guessing that a little bit of "straightness" (1-2 in.) in front of the flare will improve performance and lessen force on the flare as you move into drift...in fact extending that piece up some distance would give you useful "drift breaker" and let you see better where the edge of the blower is
 
   / Snowthrower wings #9  
I like the hinge idea, when I first read your post I was thinking 2 or 3 heavy duty pin type hinges so you would have adjustability and could remove the wings by pulling a long pin. Being adjustable would let you fine tune it if you find the width is too much for the weight/depth of the snow you have. As mentioned, bogging down could be an issue but that of course is dependent on the snow you currently need to move and how large your blower is. At some point you'll most likely have to move more snow than it can handle being extra wide.

If you are worried about ice hitting the bottom edge or sides you could add thick rubber as a cutting edge that has give, I did this on my ATV plow mainly because I have a gravel driveway. It does the job.
 
 
 
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