54" snowblower observation?

[Dale1995]

I just upgraded to john deere's new 54 " front mount blower. I have only had one chance to use it in the last three weeks. Today I was out in the garage and was examining the new composite impeller (some call it plastic) I noticed that the impeller has a little bit of play on the shaft if I turn it clockwise and then counterclockwise. I call it the jiggle effect. I am assuming that there may be a keyway molded into the impeller and there is a little bit of sloppyness there. Have any others who now have this same snowblower noticed this also? I am wondering if this might be the way it is designed? I would appreciate anyone else out there who owns this blower to check this out and see if this is common all all these blowers.​

 

[Dutch445]

Dale,
I delivered one to a customer tuesday, and while showing
the customer where his shear bolts were, I grabbed that
impellar and noticed the same "chuck" on the shaft.
I'm thinking it could be designed that way.

??
anybody else?

 

[turbo36]

Yup, same thing.

 

[Kamik]

Mine has no play at all. I'll check it again this afternoon once it thaws out.

 

[joes_427_vette]

A key way molded into plastic with slack ? That is only asking for problems. One would think a steel insert would be incorporated into the impeller base to take the shock when hitting hard objects. Then again maybe not. The parts department wants to make a profit too.
If I saw that I would let others experiment first or get at least a three year guarantee from the dealer. Cost cutting is a major factor in design. Sometimes not in the customers best interest.

 

[MMagis]

A key way molded into plastic with slack ? That is only asking for problems. One would think a steel insert would be incorporated into the impeller base to take the shock when hitting hard objects. Then again maybe not. The parts department wants to make a profit too.
If I saw that I would let others experiment first or get at least a three year guarantee from the dealer. Cost cutting is a major factor in design. Sometimes not in the customers best interest.

You're reading too much into it. I doubt the keyway is plastic. Even if it was, products like that don't make it to the market without extensive, abusive testing. A little slop in the impellar is one thing. Designing a machine doomed to fail is another.

 

[Kamik]

Dale,

I checked again now that the temperature is above freezing and, yup, mine has the same jiggle factor.

Kamik

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Even if it was, products like that don't make it to the market without extensive, abusive testing.

I read this quote from another farming forum, and I think this thread is an EXCELLENT time for me to post it

You can put a lot of hours in a short time on a test tractor.. But out in the real world, where idiots can injure themselves with a rubber sword, will be the true test ..
-Author Unknown

 

[Kamik]

For what it's worth I have 11 hours on the new blower. In addition to my 150ft driveway I do 11 others along with 3/4 miles of sidewalk, misc. fire hydrants and storm drains.

The blower has ingested frozen poopsicles, smoked cow hooves (well chewed I might add) 3/4" gravel, one roller blade, a small christmas tree and what looked like a scarf or muffler someone would wear around their neck. In addition to simple snow blowing I also move the city-plowed snowbanks back, you know, that 4-5' high mixture of jagged ice, dirty snow and sand/salt.

The impeller (plastic) leading side edges are scored and very slightly frayed, whereas the impeller housing throat (metal) leading edge is dented and paint chipped. These two edges appear to take the abuse from foreign object ingestion and are in remarkably good shape, all things considered.

On a side note, I sprayed the entire blower and mount as well as the underside of the tractor with Fluid Film before moving any snow with the blower or driving on winter streets. All the accumulated snow and ice and all the other crap slides right off with a blast of hot water. It's great to see and reduces my worry about rusting. In fact, I bought a gallon of the stuff and this spring am planning to spray the entire tractor, painted surfaces, tires and hoses.

Funny observation:

After a few hours of use I sprayed Fluid Film on the drive chain to re-lube it and all the lube put on by the dealership at initial setup flew off during the next use! Wiped right off with a rag.

FF is a very interesting product and appears to have a wide variety of applications. My dogs (herding heritage) go crazy around the stuff, I guess because of the lanolin base.

 

[joes_427_vette]

Somebody has to agitate this bunch of " green bloods ", sometimes with a little humor. I know JD wouldn't put a complete plastic impeller on machines knowing they would go to very cold, abusive ice covered climates. If I worried about every little noise or clearance issues above .002 I would be a regular customer at the local health care center.
I should really leave this serious talk to men of knowledge. I have owned JD equipment for 38 years and have noticed there is a bit of quality in their products.