B2782 Snow Blower modifying

[FatTire]

Thanks for the info on tape. The cost of the tape is about 10 spray cans of Fluid Film. I would need the tape to last about 4 years or more to make it worthwhile, maybe tape isn't the way to go.

 

[bumperm]

Judgement call.

If one's tractor is parked in the cold, then there may well be less build up. When it's parked indoors, there's a tendency to melt/freeze and then build up to clog stuff. I know that even with spray, especially with slushy wet snow, I'd usually be out unclogging the chute a couple of times per storm. This winter I didn't have to unclog the chute at all. Throw distance is important to me as the apron in front of RV and house garage are wide. The blower easily launches the snow clear of the apron. With my previous Honda walk behind, I would be blowing the same snow two or three times. UHMW lining adds a good 20 to 30% distance, I'd estimate. Until I get my feed auger lined, I'll be spraying that. Nothing else clogs on my blower, with the slush under snow we've had, the auger loads up so it's just "bumps" going round and round and loses much of it's ability to feed as fast as the rest of the blower can handle.

 

[PILOON]

PILOON, what kind of tape?

It was an 8" wide probably 20 tho thick that an aircraft paint shop used to mask the windows when they applied paint stripper solution so as not to destroy the plexiglass windows. It was a freebee, left over from a job.
Has served me well on a variety of projects.
I once even applied to a snow sled but stones made for short life.

I know the best is UHMW poly as we used that on the bottom of aircraft skiis with a good life.*
They sell UHMW is sheets in a variety of thicknesses as well as rods, flats etc.

Some commercial snow contractors use UHMW as cutting edges on blowers and plows to prevent damage to the patio stone style driveways.
When a home owner spends big $$'s on his drive he does not want it all nicked and scratched by the snow contractor.

*while I never tried this technique I heard of a polyurathane product that some aircraft ski operators that painted a thick coating on their skis.

UHMW poly is a neat product, cuts with a saw, router can be molded with heat and vacuum shaped when heated all while being highly resistant to abrasion and as such not far below Teflon but less expensive .
Teflon is VERY slippery but snags and tears easily.

I machined some UHMW poly for my snow cute to rotate on and that works just great. (recently noticed a blower mfg. has added that feature on his product)

 

[bumperm]

The tape you want to use is UHMW PE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene). UHMW is the most abrasion resistant long chain polymer known. It is extremely shock resistant (1" will stop a 45 ACP round), is more abrasion resistant than carbon steel and is almost as slippery as Teflon. Snow does not normally stick to UHMW.

UHMW tape is available in different widths and thicknesses. Because of it's mechanical strength, it does not stick to compound curves where it would need to stretch - it doesn't stretch easily.

I guarantee no paist shop uses it for masking - too expensive!!

As tempting as it is to use as a chute liner, I tried that and it worked great, until I hit a bunch of sharp crushed gravel. The thin, .006" tape I was using was caught between the steel chute and the impact of the gravel, it got cut away as one would expect. I lined the chute with 1/8" thick UHMW and no more issues.

I apologise all the pictures have been taken down by our "friends" at photobucket. I'm sure not gonna give them $400 a year.

 

[dnw64]

I did consider using slotted UHMW paddle liners that would move to maintain contact with the housing wall face (and I may still do that - there would be zip for wear between the two surfaces and the moving paddle liners would help prevent any foreign object from getting between the paddle and housing/liner. It should also slightly increase efficiency over what I have already done.

Did you ever do this?

 

[bumperm]

I have had ice build up on the fan blades in slushy conditions, but it's not common and easy to clear. I'm still interested in experimenting with this but have other chores stacked up after over a year of down time. Back surgery last Feb has improved mobility a bunch!

 

[whatever1]

I lined my chute with 1/8" and recently had a some wet snow and slush to test it. I purposely went into the snow after the plow driver went by. It worked great, just threw the snow out. No clogging at all.
Thanks bumperm for your detailed posts. Looking forward to see how you will do the augers

 

[bumperm]

Still thinking about the augers, that's a toughie. 2nd picture in post one of this thread shows the chute ends of the blower housing liner. The housing liner was the most difficult part of the job. It failed the other day, tearing at the acute angle where it goes from chute to housing. It had been impacted by some stones or debris, hard enough to slightly dent the steel underneath. This area should have been protected by steel lip or?

When it came loose, impeller blades wrapped it up and sent the loose end up the chute. Snow then pushed in alongside it and bogged the machine down. I abandoned the idea, figuring making impeller blade liners would seal to the housing just as well, which improves throw distance - as does the failed liner. But the paddle liners would have some advantages. No more sticking snow building up on the blades and super easy to do (as compared to the liner)

After cutting out the liners, it took about an 1-1/2 hours to install. In the pic below, the holes have been drilled first in the liner, and then down through the blade. The black spots are the swarf from drilling. I was going to use 1/4-20 bolts, washers and nyloc nuts - I ended up using some 1/4" X 3/4" hex head sheet metal screws.

The pre-drilled liner is place on the blade, with the blade turned to the position where it has the least clearance from the housing. The blade is then pushed outward so it butts against housing and then clamped as shown. Not shown, the leading edge of the "wipe" has a slight 45* bevel. I chose only to line the "flat" of the blade, not the upturned edges. I figured if I bent the UHMW-PE to line the edge, debris would get jammed into the gap.

Ran it today for 4 hours - flawless!

 

[Michford]

Great idea, and thanks for posting your pictures. Also thank you for sharing both the good and bad with what you found wuth your liner on the different areas of your snowblower.

 

[bumperm]

You're welcome. Wish I could figure out a good way to line the auger faces with 1/8" UHMW also. Only way I can think of is to make an pattern of a section of the helix face, transfer that to the plastic sheet, and cut them out. They'd them be attached to the driving or inward side of the auger using either small bolts or self tapping screws every 6" or so. That way the steel edges would still get the brunt of ice impacts etc. Any failure or breakage would be limited to typically one section. It might work.

What I find now, is that when conditions are wrong, I can get build up from the OD of the auger all the way to the shaft at an angle, making it auger look like a section of a big screw. Lot's more friction, slower feed, and tends to push a pile ahead of the blower. Spraying the auger with silicone or Pam helps, though not for long.