Gravely snowblower broken

[oldmech]

Hi! Everybody. I am sad now. Last storm the cylinder of my snowblower hit a large stone under snow. (6 teets are missing on bevel gear). I think parts are hard to find.
I plan transform or modify the snowblower First add two steel plates one each side for make as a funnel at to blower. and add extensions 3-4 in. at the blower fan . So I will push snow and blow it ( If all run well). I would like have your advice. Thanks Oldmech

 

[js5020]

Sorry to hear the bad news about the blower oldmech. I pickup stones and rocks from time to time also since I don't have a paved/concrete driveway, so I keep my slip clutch adjusted a little on the light side. And in the late fall I do a rock/stone pick on the driveway to pickup the loose large ones. I also put casters on the blower, these helped deter rock pickup alot, I leave alittle snow but thats better than tearing up the blower. I have yet to take out the gears in the auger, but I have ripped up an impeller! Probably the best bet to locate the gears is to buy another blower as I don't think they are available and even if they are I'd bet the gears will cost more than what you could get 2 of those blowers for and if they are in decent condition you would have plenty of parts.

I thought about doing something similar to my blower, but here might be something to consider when adding wings, if you ever want to blow a big pile (something high and frozen, like the opening to the drive after a deep snow and the plow trucks do their thing) the wings may hit before the auger and the auger will not "chew" at the pile and you would be spinning the tires and possibly bending the wings just to reach the pile so you might want to be able to remove them just in case. My drive is about 8 feet wide so 2 rounds and it's done, if the blower was 6 inches wider I would still have to make 2 rounds even though the last pass would be 1 foot wide so I though what's the point, however if you have an area thats wider it would make sense. Not sure I understand the extensions on the impeller? But I am very interested in your ideas! Can you post some pics when your done?

 

[Squeak n Itch]

You may want to contact Richard's Lawn and Garden in West Virginia. I can dig out the number if you can't locate it on the internet. He is good to deal with and if he doesn't have the parts he may have a reference for you. They deal a lot with older Gravely tractors. Rebuilt my 30 year old engine last summer with their help and it is now back to "like new" condition.

 

[oldmech]

Hi and Happy New Year. The auger gear box broken.I want keep my snowblower working. I try this . On wet snow this new ones work not very well Snow block in the funnel. But i can push it. On dry snow I can blow the snow. The original Gravely snowblower is a lot BETTER. With my new system I can push the snow as a blade. The Gravely L with reductions wheels and chains( home made) is a very good and SUPERIOR two wheels tractor. Thanks! Oldmech

 

[js5020]

Glad to see you have gotten back up and running. I had seen that design for bigger machines ( 4 wheel rear mount ) and was wondering how well it would work in wet snow, thought the snow would tend to pack and not feed well. Well maybe another blower will turn up in your area and then you will have enough parts to have an original one again. Thanks for the pics.

 

[2manyrocks]

Anybody else besides me scared of that impeller? Don't run over the cat with that thing.

 

[js5020]

You should see what it looks like when it has the auger on it,,, they don't call that blower the dog eater for nothing!

 

[chrpmaster]

These things are definitely not OSHA compliant. My neighbor said that very thing when I blew off his drive with my old square shoot on my Gravely. Of course he said this after I was done and we were having hot toddies.

Andy

 

[oldmech]

Hi! Everybody. You Know! ALL Snowblowers are VERY DANGEROUS . Here! Two weeks ago A oldman was hit and go into a large rear snowblower (80 H.P farm tractor)Policemen and Firemen works 20 min. for remove the oldman (Near dead) in the auger of snowblower. Look my last pic with my new Gravely snowblower with NO auger I think MAY be Less dangerous than before. I always work alone. No body near. Projection as stone are dangerous also. Thanks Oldmech

 

[2manyrocks]

Always good to see a Gravely in operation. Admire your imagination for finding a way to use it in spite of the broken part.