Snowblower Improving Snowblower performance

PBinWA · Jan 9, 2009

That post about what you learned was great - hilarious!

I had the same problems with slush last year. I painted the inside of my chute with Graphite paint (Slip plate) last summer and then coated it with Fluid Film. It seemed to stay less clogged during the last storm but after 20 hours of blowing most of the high impact areas have worn off the paint. I guess blasting rock and gravel through will do that.

I have heard of people adding thick rubber fins to the impeller blades to get tighter clearances and better pressure.

However, in my experience it's best to just plow the slush. It doesn't blow easily.

Tig · Jan 9, 2009

PILOON said:
Wonder if pickup truck liquid 'bedliner' might do the trick? Wish it was available in quart size as I'd be tempted to try that.

Try "gravel guard" it comes in spray bombs and can be found in the automotive paint and body supplies section of your favourite store. It's used to protect the quarter panels of cars from stone chips. It dries to a hard finish with some ripple. You probably could wet sand the ripple out if you so desired. As a mater of fact the last time I bought some for a car it was the same colour at the chute on my Buhler.

Zephrant · Jan 9, 2009

McMaster-Carr is a decent source for plastics at reasonable sizes as well as bolts, etc... While I normally buy my acrylic from a local shop (Laird), McMaster delivers and carries the UHMW and other neat plastics I play with.

I'd consider UHMW or Delrin instead of PVC if you are going to line the chute- it's much slicker, but it is softer. Maybe try a little of each and see how it works.

I buy 1' squares of self-adhesive UHMW (Part no 1441T91) to be a glide point on my products. Great stuff to have around. I even convinced my Piano repair guy to use some on a sticky point on my Piano when he came out. He was sold in seconds, and I sent him off with a partial sheet and the part numbers.

Zeph

dqdave1 · Jan 9, 2009

I was on you tube watching big blowers in action. I did notice some of the big rigs had a bypass of some sort that allowed snow to fly out without going thru the directional chute. It seemed to give it more "throwing power". here is a link so you can see what I mean.
You may be on the right track to make chute shorter with a slight curve.
YouTube - snow blower working new holland tv 145

Ductape · Jan 10, 2009

There has been some heated debate here in years past about the best clearance between impeller and housing. I'm confident you'll find some reading on it by using the search function. My (unproven) theory is....... when the blower is full of snow, there is effectively zero clearance, since snow fills the gap between impeller and housing. Also.... adding anything to the impeller to create near zero clearance would probably have to balanced very well. I would think that the higher the impeller speed the better....... but i'm sure manufactureres try to find a cost/benefit balance since higher impeller speeds = higher manufacturing costs to get everything balance so it doesn't self destruct. I like the slick plastic chute liner idea, though i think a good smooth finish with fresh paint will work fine. I wouldn't get too crazy with coatings, since the amount of grit that goes through your blower (even if you can't see it) will have it back to bare metal in no time. Also, your blower will naturally throw better to one side than the other (allowing the snow to make its natural arc coming off the impeller). If you can, keeping the snow going in its natural direction will allow it to blow better. On my front blower (sitting in the tractor), having the chute turned so the snow exits to my left allows it to blow better, as my impeller is spinning counter-clockwise (looking at it from the seat).

I do think you have a couple improvements to make to your new blower, but don't drive yourself crazy. As was stated, heavy,wet,sticky slush just aren't the snowblowers strong suit. I'll never be perfect in that type of snow condition.

KubotainNH · Jan 10, 2009

When I used a walk behind snowblower I tried a couple things. One was sanding down the chute and putting a Teflon coating. That worked pretty well. What I would do is the same I did on my ATV plow. I took one one of those cheap roll-up sleds and attached it to the blade. It was like night and day for snow sticking to the blade. Later I added similar plastic to my plow truck, it is also much better. I agree with Ductape on the chute direction, I always tried to blow to the right or forward because it threw snow 5 to 10 feet farther than shooting to the left.

Good luck.

DrainPondDesign · Jan 10, 2009

If you are looking to fab a non-stick plastic chute you might try lining your existing chute with this first.

Strong and Slippery UHMW Polyethylene Tape

Provides a nonstick, low-friction surface similar to PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) tape but with higher abrasion and impact resistance. Ideal for chutes, packaging lines, slides, and anywhere high-pressure sliding contact occurs. Also eliminates squeaks and rattles caused by adjacent parts movement. Tape has a UHMW (ultra-high molecular weight) polyethylene film and 0.0015" of acrylic adhesive. Color is translucent. 0.0045" thick, 0.0065" thick, and 0.0115" thick tape has a temperature range of -40ｰ to +225ｰ F and includes a peel-off polyethylene liner. Temperature range for 0.0215" thick, 0.0325" thick, and 0.0615" thick tape is 0ｰ to 120ｰ F.
Tape 0.0045" thick tape has a 0.003" thick film. 0.0065" thick tape has a 0.005" thick film. 0.0115" thick tape has a 0.010" thick film. 0.0215" thick tape has a 0.02" thick film. 0.0325" thick tape has a 0.03" thick film. 0.0615" thick tape has a 0.06" thick film.

Go to McMaster Carr Supply McMaster-Carr and plug uhmw tape into the find product window. UHMW Poly should resist abrasion better than Teflon.

This sort of tape is also often available from woodworking supply company catalogs as a friction reducer for saw fences.

Just don't ask me how they get the adhesive to stick to the non-stick tape.

So was that tipping the chuteless blower back test planned?

Stay warm

Hooked_on_HP · Jan 10, 2009

On semi dump trailers we use a plastic liner so sand and stone doesn't stick in the winter. These liners are 1/4 thick and verry slick and verry long wearing. If anyone in your area installs liners they should have some scrap pieces left over you could try in your chute.
Bill

MarcusCarr · Jan 12, 2009

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I am throwing slush about 20ft!

I spent 30 bucks on 1/8in HDPE plastic and lined the inside of the cylinder chute, the inside arc of the deflector part of the chute and the drum.

I lined the drum that the impeller turns in, but found later that it didn't make any difference (by removing that plastic).

My clearance from impeller tip to drum is still about 5/8th inch, but it still seems to work great.