DIY Electric chute rotator

[KubotaSam]

1.25 diameter times 3.14 (pie) = 3.925 or I rounded to 4. So the drum pulls 4" per revolution. If the winch pulls 10 feet per minute which converts to 120 inches. Then divide the distance pulled by how many inches per revolution (120 / 4 = 30) it will take 30 revolutions to pull the ten feet (120"). The winch turns 30 revolutions per minute.

 

[John in the UP]

I'm not sure what's available, but you may want to check out this link on the Pronovost web site:

Machineries Pronovost inc.

Item #2504 (4th one down the page). Who knows, you might find what you're looking for...

-John

 

[moeh1]

I used one of the $40-50 HF winches. I mounted the winch near the manual crank and dissassembled and slid a sprocket on the manual crank shaft with a chain drive connecting back to a split sprocket on the original winch spool. I hope my description is clear, the sprocket is two halves that clamp around the winch spool ( had to bore the sprocket out to a few thousanths of an inch smaller than the spool diameter to provide some clamping action). The set screw for the split sprocket went into the cable hole of the winch spool for additional anti-rotation protection. Since the winch came with wiring and a two button control for in and out, all I had to do was connect it to the battery and I was in business. I made a plexi cover to keep most of the snow out. I am going on year 3 and it is working great. If it ever failed, you can freewheel the winch and still use the handcrank. Sorry I don't have pics to include here.

 

[PILOON]

I used one of the $40-50 HF winches. I mounted the winch near the manual crank and dissassembled and slid a sprocket on the manual crank shaft with a chain drive connecting back to a split sprocket on the original winch spool. I hope my description is clear, the sprocket is two halves that clamp around the winch spool ( had to bore the sprocket out to a few thousanths of an inch smaller than the spool diameter to provide some clamping action). The set screw for the split sprocket went into the cable hole of the winch spool for additional anti-rotation protection. Since the winch came with wiring and a two button control for in and out, all I had to do was connect it to the battery and I was in business. I made a plexi cover to keep most of the snow out. I am going on year 3 and it is working great. If it ever failed, you can freewheel the winch and still use the handcrank. Sorry I don't have pics to include here.

Marty, we think alike!

Those winches just 'scream' use me on a snow blower!

Torque-RPM's-cost-pre-wired reverser switch-etc.
How can you go wrong!

In fact I am supprised that a major blower manufacturer has not offered a factory kit adopting these 'winch kits'.
Sounds like a cool aftermarket opportunity to me.

 

[moeh1]

Bob,
my blower manufacturer already offers an electric kit option. While that kit is a bit more compact than what I rigged up, it was ~$350 ( without the reversing switch gear), and there is no way they could expect to charge that for an off the shelf $50 winch, 18" of chain, two sprockets and a bracket. To be fair, I spent an afternoon fabbing a bracket and having a friend bore the split sprocket to the correct diameter.

 

[PILOON]

Marty :

OK, now we have to do a shute angle control mod!

How about the ATV winch driving a threaded rod with a matching 'nut' swivilled at the top?
The winch would be at bottom of shute, coupled to the threaded rod with a simple 'U' joint. Acme thread would be best naturally.

Kinda a 'poor mans linear actuator'.
Would be real easy if the winch drum could be remouved and a Ujoint substituted, but as I recall the drum would not lend itself to remouval all while retaining the rotational stability, would kinda wobble or then again were not the reduction gearing part of the drum? Would need to have one apart on the bench to be sure.

But then I always blow snow 'wide open' as I want it as far away as possible, plus I don't have neighbors to worry about as I'm in the boonies.

 

[Wyld Bill]

I used one of the $40-50 HF winches. I mounted the winch near the manual crank and dissassembled and slid a sprocket on the manual crank shaft with a chain drive connecting back to a split sprocket on the original winch spool. I hope my description is clear, the sprocket is two halves that clamp around the winch spool ( had to bore the sprocket out to a few thousanths of an inch smaller than the spool diameter to provide some clamping action). The set screw for the split sprocket went into the cable hole of the winch spool for additional anti-rotation protection. Since the winch came with wiring and a two button control for in and out, all I had to do was connect it to the battery and I was in business. I made a plexi cover to keep most of the snow out. I am going on year 3 and it is working great. If it ever failed, you can freewheel the winch and still use the handcrank. Sorry I don't have pics to include here.

YES!!!!
This is what I am looking for!
Man I wish you had some pictures but that is a good description. Which blower is it mounted on? What is the time span for full rotation stop to stop?
Where did you get your sprockets?


Last night I modified my manual crank handle. I was looking at it & the biggest problem right now is that it is a reach to get to the handle whent he blower is down onte ground running. So I made the crank handle adjustable in length. Now it comes really close to the back of my seat.
I still want to do the electric chute rotator at some point though.

 

[Wyld Bill]

Marty :

OK, now we have to do a shute angle control mod!

How about the ATV winch driving a threaded rod with a matching 'nut' swivilled at the top?
The winch would be at bottom of shute, coupled to the threaded rod with a simple 'U' joint. Acme thread would be best naturally.

Kinda a 'poor mans linear actuator'.
Would be real easy if the winch drum could be remouved and a Ujoint substituted, but as I recall the drum would not lend itself to remouval all while retaining the rotational stability, would kinda wobble or then again were not the reduction gearing part of the drum? Would need to have one apart on the bench to be sure.

But then I always blow snow 'wide open' as I want it as far away as possible, plus I don't have neighbors to worry about as I'm in the boonies.

I keep reading about linear actuators for the chute angle/deflector control. Why?
If the winches work good why not just install a heavy torsion (like on a mouse trap but much larger) spring on the deflector that is trying to push it shooting snow towards the ground. Mount a winch somewhere on the chute wth the cable clipped onto the deflector (most deflectors already have a tab here for manual settings). Power the winch in & the deflector moves up shooting the snow more vertical. Power the winch out & the spring pulls the deflector downward. DONE! Another cool thing is of something solid hits the deflector like a big rock or something, with the torsion spring pushing down the deflector would "give" a lttle to absorb the blow.

Actually was just thinking why couldn't you just use a heavy duty control cable of some sort to control the deflector. Similar to some walk behind blowers. No motors needed.

 

[moeh1]

Wyld Bill,
I'll see if I can come up with some way to get some pictures, but every cheap winch and every snowblower is different. The sprocket were some heavy chain surplus I had laying around. Places that sell power transmission drive systems would be a good bet. I would think McMaster and or Grainger's also. My setup is on a loftness 5' unit. I think the hand crank was a standard 1" bore and the winch sprocket had to be bored to just over 2" to fit on the spool. Since I used sprockets I had lying around, I had to live with the speed I got. My blower will got 360 degree rotation, no stops. I would guess it is about 20-25 seconds to go from side to side (> 180 degrees), but if I had a different sprockets I could have sped it up. It is still quicker than getting turned around to do it by hand!
On the question of chute closure control, I also run basically wide open, I probably close mine down once or twice a year when it is really blowing. I still would go the surplus linear actuator unit route just to be as clean and compact as possible if I ever get to it. Probably would cost a little bit more, but they are getting more popular.

 

[Wyld Bill]

1.25 diameter times 3.14 (pie) = 3.925 or I rounded to 4. So the drum pulls 4" per revolution. If the winch pulls 10 feet per minute which converts to 120 inches. Then divide the distance pulled by how many inches per revolution (120 / 4 = 30) it will take 30 revolutions to pull the ten feet (120"). The winch turns 30 revolutions per minute.

Ok, thanks!
So that is 1/2 revelution per second right?
So if I want 1 RPS on the rotator crank shaft then I'd need a sprocket twice as big on the winch as the one on the rotator crank shaft. right??
I'm thinking 1-1/2" spocket on the shaft & 2-1/2" on the winch (if there is clearence for it)

 

[Wyld Bill]

Wyld Bill,
I'll see if I can come up with some way to get some pictures, but every cheap winch and every snowblower is different. The sprocket were some heavy chain surplus I had laying around. Places that sell power transmission drive systems would be a good bet. I would think McMaster and or Grainger's also. My setup is on a loftness 5' unit. I think the hand crank was a standard 1" bore and the winch sprocket had to be bored to just over 2" to fit on the spool. Since I used sprockets I had lying around, I had to live with the speed I got. My blower will got 360 degree rotation, no stops. I would guess it is about 20-25 seconds to go from side to side (> 180 degrees), but if I had a different sprockets I could have sped it up. It is still quicker than getting turned around to do it by hand!
On the question of chute closure control, I also run basically wide open, I probably close mine down once or twice a year when it is really blowing. I still would go the surplus linear actuator unit route just to be as clean and compact as possible if I ever get to it. Probably would cost a little bit more, but they are getting more popular.

Actually ever cheap 2000# winch I looked at on-line was made in China by the same company then relabeled in the US.
Boy that seems slow to me.
How many turns on the crank to rotate the chute 360 degrees??
Must be a cable rotator off the shaft huh?

 

[PILOON]

from WYLD BILL:

I keep reading about linear actuators for the chute angle/deflector control. Why?
If the winches work good why not just install a heavy torsion (like on a mouse trap but much larger) spring on the deflector that is trying to push it shooting snow towards the ground. Mount a winch somewhere on the chute wth the cable clipped onto the deflector (most deflectors already have a tab here for manual settings). Power the winch in & the deflector moves up shooting the snow more vertical. Power the winch out & the spring pulls the deflector downward. DONE! Another cool thing is of something solid hits the deflector like a big rock or something, with the torsion spring pushing down the deflector would "give" a lttle to absorb the blow.

Actually was just thinking why couldn't you just use a heavy duty control cable of some sort to control the deflector. Similar to some walk behind blowers. No motors needed.
__________________
Have been on same thought trend--

I came up with parking brake cables as a source.
but they only work in 'pull' mode, not stiff enough to push.
They need a guided rod to push.(maybe spring loading to 'open' might work)
Biggest push/pull 'bowden cable' I could find was truck PTO push/pull cables and that is still marginal enough that I did not try it.

Re shock absorbing the shute; other than blasting the paint even 4 inch rocks won't damage a shute. (I know!)

On my shute, presently I installed a large turn buckle for easy adjustement for the few times I need to adjust but generally run wide open.

WET SNOW trick:
Fab a plastic liner for the snow shute!
Heat PVC with a plumber torch, fold edges over wood plank to conform to shute dimensions and attach with small bolts/body washers at bottom of shute.
Sand gravel won't damage and snow/slush wont stick nearly as well as to cold steel.

I would think that truck paint on 'body liner' would also work.

 

[Bedlam]

I keep reading about linear actuators for the chute angle/deflector control. Why?
If the winches work good why not just install a heavy torsion (like on a mouse trap but much larger) spring on the deflector that is trying to push it shooting snow towards the ground. Mount a winch somewhere on the chute wth the cable clipped onto the deflector (most deflectors already have a tab here for manual settings). Power the winch in & the deflector moves up shooting the snow more vertical. Power the winch out & the spring pulls the deflector downward. DONE! Another cool thing is of something solid hits the deflector like a big rock or something, with the torsion spring pushing down the deflector would "give" a lttle to absorb the blow.

Actually was just thinking why couldn't you just use a heavy duty control cable of some sort to control the deflector. Similar to some walk behind blowers. No motors needed.

Interesting, I never thought of that I believe an old or new garage door spring would do well for the spring in this application.
I would further consider possible the winch to pull the chute rotation.in the same manner with a heavy spring to hold the chute in the opposite position.

 

[Wyld Bill]

from WYLD BILL:

I keep reading about linear actuators for the chute angle/deflector control. Why?
If the winches work good why not just install a heavy torsion (like on a mouse trap but much larger) spring on the deflector that is trying to push it shooting snow towards the ground. Mount a winch somewhere on the chute wth the cable clipped onto the deflector (most deflectors already have a tab here for manual settings). Power the winch in & the deflector moves up shooting the snow more vertical. Power the winch out & the spring pulls the deflector downward. DONE! Another cool thing is of something solid hits the deflector like a big rock or something, with the torsion spring pushing down the deflector would "give" a lttle to absorb the blow.

Actually was just thinking why couldn't you just use a heavy duty control cable of some sort to control the deflector. Similar to some walk behind blowers. No motors needed.
__________________
Have been on same thought trend--

I came up with parking brake cables as a source.
but they only work in 'pull' mode, not stiff enough to push.
They need a guided rod to push.(maybe spring loading to 'open' might work)
Biggest push/pull 'bowden cable' I could find was truck PTO push/pull cables and that is still marginal enough that I did not try it.

Re shock absorbing the shute; other than blasting the paint even 4 inch rocks won't damage a shute. (I know!)

On my shute, presently I installed a large turn buckle for easy adjustement for the few times I need to adjust but generally run wide open.

WET SNOW trick:
Fab a plastic liner for the snow shute!
Heat PVC with a plumber torch, fold edges over wood plank to conform to shute dimensions and attach with small bolts/body washers at bottom of shute.
Sand gravel won't damage and snow/slush wont stick nearly as well as to cold steel.

I would think that truck paint on 'body liner' would also work.

I was thinking something like a cable off an old plow system like a Fisher. Yeah a parking brake would work great. The cogs would hold it in place against a spring pushing it down. Hard to make quick to disconnect for the year though.

 

[WayneB]

When I decided to add rotation and chute elevation to my Woods snowblower I went the Winch route and ended up buying it off from Ebay for around $30.00 inlcuding shipping.

You can see the connection to the Woods chute rotator.

This winch had a hole in the outside end that I could mill down a 1 1/4" aluminum pipe to fit into. Then I drilled a hole through the winch and pipe to secure it in place.

I used the winch control and wired it so I could mount it on the plexiglas I have mounted across the back of the ROPS (used tie wraps so it is easy to take off in the spring) The yellow one controls the chute rotation and then there is a black box above that controls the linear actuator that is conected to the chute deflector.

This year I picked up a 51/4" stroke 12 VDC linear actuator off from EBAY and it is what I use for the deflector. Works just fine.

 

[Wyld Bill]

Oh Iike that. Looks very factory! What supports the other end of the winch drum though? Did you loose the freespool feature of the winch? Did the snowblower chute rotator already have a U-joint or did you add that yourself?

MORE PICTURES! (With less snow blocking view)

 

[joe48]

I've been thinking about the winch cable setup to rotate my chute and do it like bluecon did.
I'm going to have to get the winch at HF next time its on sale.
The other thing I've thought about is using the 12v scissorsjack at HF and modify it to make a linear actuator for the spout. Then I just found another thread about this and someone found a regular 7" actuator for around $30. Gotta find that one on ebay ,thats less than the HF jack and no mods needed.
I also like the plexi on the ROPS, keep some of the stuff of you.

 

[WayneB]

Oh Iike that. Looks very factory! What supports the other end of the winch drum though? Did you loose the freespool feature of the winch? Did the snowblower chute rotator already have a U-joint or did you add that yourself?

MORE PICTURES! (With less snow blocking view)

I have a Woods SS-60 snowblower and the u-joint was already on the chute rotator. So what I did was add a plate to hold the winch and then adapted the aluminum pipe to fit inside the drum on the winch and the other end to fit into the u-joint.

Last year I purchased the first winch off from Ebay and adapted it to work with the chute. It worked okay, but the winch was really cheap and it wasn稚 easy to connect up to. I ended up using it but this past summer I found another winch, again on Ebay that someone had taken off from his 4-wheeler and it had the opening on the end where that was much easier to modify.

This is the first winch I purchased and used the yellow controller:

eBay Motors: WINCH KUBOTA RTV 500 900 RTV900 1100 JOHN DEERE GATOR (item 300285168656 end time Jan-12-09 22:41:23 PST)

These are manufactured in China, really a piece of junk! But, when I bought it I paid like $35 plus shipping for it, so it was cheap. The second one was much better and about the same price, but it had been used!

Wayne

 

[PILOON]

One source for cheap linear actuator is the actuators that were used on the 8 and 12 ft satilite dishes, while actually 24 volts they work fine at 12 volts, just slower.
However they are usually 24" long and would need cutting, but the basic mechanism is there!
A bonus is they were made for operation out in the elements!

 

[WayneB]

One source for cheap linear actuator is the actuators that were used on the 8 and 12 ft satilite dishes, while actually 24 volts they work fine at 12 volts, just slower.
However they are usually 24" long and would need cutting, but the basic mechanism is there!
A bonus is they were made for operation out in the elements!

Wow that is interesting, have any idea where to look for these items? Wayne