Hydraulic chute rotator for a B2772 snowblower

[jasonf]

I have gone ahead and made my hydraulic Chute rotator for my BL2750 Snowblower for my B2710. I bought a hydraulic motor from Northern Tool for $157 and had hoses with couplings made up for another $130. $10 for scrap metal and I have completed it in about 5 hours. I have put it on this past week and it works just great. Attached are some pictures of it:

 

[jasonf]

Here is another look at the rotator that I made. Note the grease fitting at the base of the chute. This was a suggestion from RCH. Thanks for the Advice.

 

[jasonf]

OK Here is the last of the pictures. It shows the rotator just after the final paint job. Notice the Stainless hardware!!!!

 

[Dooze]

Jason, I have a front mount snowblower on my BX1800 and am interested in the rotator that you've made. Can you tell me which motor that you purchased from Northern Tool?

 

[hwp]

Nice job Jason. The chute deflector on the snowblower for my F2400 is much more primitive - a swing arm with a cable running from one end of the swing arm wraped around the chute and then to the other end of the swing arm, moved by a double acting hydraulic cylinder. The chute deflector on my snowblower also has a double acting hydraulic cylinder. So I don't have to get out of the cab except to clear the snow off the windows.

 

[jasonf]

OK, I had another post earlier that explained what I was looking to do and what I had found out, but I'll give a quick review. First I had to figure out how much torque was needed to 'spin' the chute. I took off the old hand crank shaft and adapted a 1/2 inch bolt to the wormscrew. I took my torque wrench and manually spun the chute and took the highest reading while rotating the chute from all the way right to all the way left positions. I got around 100 Inch/Pounds during the Fall before the first snow. I then tripled that reading figuring that there will be snow/ice on the chute during the winter. I went to NOTHERNTOOL.COM and looked at the Prince line of hydraulic motors that they carry. There are 5 motors listed and I went by the torque ratings. Item number 1001-C166 is rated at 787 Inch/Pounds of torque and is priced at $152. But being obsessive/compulsive I looked and saw that for only $7 more I could get the next bigger motor and get 1437 Inch/Pounds of torque (more power ARGHHHHH). That motor is item # 1003-C166. After I machined an adapter to go from the 1" motor shaft to the 1/2 inch wormscrew shaft on my lathe, I put a # 10 bolt as a shear pin in the adapter. It works great, however I do snap the shear bolt if I run the chute up against the stop at either end of the chute rotation. So I think that the smaller of the two motors I mentioned will work. If I had to do over again I would have gotten the hoses from Northern instead of locally. The hose that I got are very heavy duty but they were also much more expensive than the 3/8 hoses that Northern sells. I found that the hand crank is just terrible, and did not work well with my cab. After one season it bent where the 2 sections bolt together. It is sooooo nice to be able to use the joystick to move the chute. I find that I use the chute much more and it really helps to put the snow where it belongs. I just could not bring myself to pay the $800 plus tax for the Kubota kit. And I found that the kit has a tiny motor in it (1.6 Cu/Inch), much smaller that the smallest one that Northen sells (1001-C155 is 3.0 Cu/In and 1003-C166 is 6.07 Cu/In) . Let me know if there are any other questions you have.

 

[Dooze]

Thanks for your help. I was leaning toward the heavier duty motor but will look at the lighter one. Thanks again!

 

[hayden]

Excellent job! Any issues with the motor having enough power?

 

[markcg2000]

Howard,
You're setup sounds like the setup could be on my Meteor. The picture you posted is too small for me to make out. Any chance you could post a bigger picture, and maybe some closeups?

Jason,
That looks fantastic! I take it your chute rotator was the worm gear, but then went to a crank, right? Mines a crank with a cable that wraps around the chute.

 

[hwp]

This may give you a better view.