Front mount blower maintenance

[astor]

This is my first winter with my bx2750B front mount blower. I was wondering if anyone out there with similar blowers can clue me in on maintenance tips that will keep me out of trouble. I have read the manual that came with the blower, so should I just follow what it says or is there any other tricks I should know.

Thanks

 

[Pks]

One problem I have had is water getting into the nylon journal bearings that support the chute rotation worm gear.
Once the water freezes, the crank gets tough to turn. I spray mine with WD40 which seems to help.

If that doesn't help, taking the journal bearings appart and sanding all the surfaces (metal & nylon) works well. I had to do that because the person who assembled it at the factory put a huge gouge in the nylon. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Pks]

Oh, another thing you can do (in the off season) is to remove the drive chain and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees. Then quench it in 80W or similar gear oil. This trick will pull oil into the deep recesses of the chain bearings. The same thing happens when soldering copper water pipes: the solder goes where the heat is.

This comming summer, I will do this using chainsaw bar oil instead of regular 80W gear oil. My theory here is that the tackier oil will stick to the chain's internal surfaces better. Where-as 80W oil is usually used in an immerssion bath and tends to fall off the high speed chain.

 

[nick37]

Astor,

I have a FM-blower for my B7800. I'm assuming the set-up is similar (two-stage, drive chain off the pto, gear box) despite the size difference? If not, you can disregard much of what I write. Last winter was my first with both a tractor and a blower, so I made plenty of mistakes.

Check for loose bolts often, there's a lot of vibration going on.
I had one of my hydraulic hoses work itself loose and I barely got my tractor off the side of the driveway so I could squeak by to get more transmission fluid. Lesson learned.

Bar and chain oil (my manual says every 10 hours). I didn't reapply any last winter, and didn't have any problems, but will try to be more diligent this year.

Have shear bolts and a punch handy. I used to have trouble finding the sheared off part to punch it out, but now I know how to line up the hole and use a q-tip to clean out the grease so I can see. My two-stage has one size shear bolt for the throwing and a pair of bolts of a different size up front on the "grabbing" end. My guess is that if I had any prior experience with any kind of snow throwers, I wouldn't have had so much trouble last year.

I only have hydraulic up and down and the chute rotation is manual crank. The base where it rotates looks exposed and suspect, but remains a smooth and easy turn. All I do is spray it before winter with a silicone spray and try to keep the ice from building up on it.

With any luck, I won't learn any more "lessons" this winter.

 

[bitseeker]

If you have sticky snow conditions that cause snow to clog the auger or the chute, you can spray inside the auger case and the auger, as well as inside the chute with Pam (the cooking oil) and the snow will have a harder time sticking (works for satellite dishes too). Longer lasting is to melt paraffin and brush it on - hot waxing.