My Take On Remote Chute Rotation

[5picker]

Here are a few photos of my recently converted, hydraulic chute rotator on my 3pt rear mounted snow blower.

I realize there are many different ways that manufacturers rotate their chutes but I decided I didn't want to change anything with the design of how LuckNow accomplishes this on my particular blower, only the way it is driven. (hand-vs-hydraulically)

Pic # 1 shows the original hand crank laying on top of the new hydraulic set-up.
Pic # 2 shows the way LuckNow utilizes aircraft cable, wrapped in alternating directions around a hollow shaft, to rotate the chute.
Pic # 3 shows the shorter, straight replacement inner shaft connected to the hydraulic motor.
Pic # 4 shows the hydraulic lines running to my rear remote quick-connects.
Pic # 5 shows the entire shaft/motor assembly.
Pic # 6 shows the motor bracket I fabricated to bolt the hydraulic motor to the blower frame and the motor coupled to the shaft.
Pic # 7 shows the motor to shaft coupler.

I used a short piece of heavy wall poly tubing to connect the motor to the shaft.
I considered a LoveJoy coupler (and actually purchased one) before I decided I wanted something that would 'slip' if I accidentally ran the chute to the end limits. I didn't want to break the cable or bend anything as I'm sure the hydraulic motor has enough torque to do damage.

The poly tubing is 7/8" I.D. so I had to heat and stretch it considerably to fit the 1" O.D. of the motor shaft and it fits pretty tight. By removing the woodruff key from the shaft and exposing the sharp edges of key slot, it also provided some additional grip. The chute shaft is 3/4" O.D. so a small hose clamp was necessary there.

With the winter we've had, I haven't had an opportunity to use it in blowing action but when rotating it countless times while sitting in the garage, it works perfectly and I believe my 'clutch' mechanism will do what I want it to. I can always put a zip tie around the motor shaft if I think it will need some additional grip.

I am head of procurement & IT for a manufacturing facility so I drew up the bracket in CADD format, cut it on our plasma burn table and then bent the angles. The new shaft was scrap as were the hydraulic hose pieces so they were cheap enough. The hydraulic hose ends were a few bucks each and the hydraulic motor was just under $100.
All said, I have a grand total of about $125 in this and about 2 hours worth of time.

Hope you enjoy!
Next up... new, rotatable light brackets for my LED ROPS lights and a $79 golf cart enclosure into a soft tractor cab conversion.

 

[grsthegreat]

looks great. my old farmking ran with a cable and hydraulic cylinder for 5-6 seasons..worked great. How many seconds for a 180 revolution??

 

[5picker]

looks great. my old farmking ran with a cable and hydraulic cylinder for 5-6 seasons..worked great. How many seconds for a 180 revolution??

Depends on how far you pull the remote lever!

If you pull the lever just far enough to power the motor to simulate hand cranking... about 6 seconds or what would have been 6 hand cranks.

I imagine if I yanked the lever to full on position... in the blink of an eye!

 

[grsthegreat]

well you sure dont want to go too fast. thats a good way to wreck havoc. My old Unit took about 5-6 seconds, and the new one takes about the same time. Thats at max speed.

At least i can stop it fast if theres frozen ice or ??? in the way.

I had the chute freeze stiff a few times over the years. once it took some pounding and my weed torch to free it up. I put it away with snow all over it, the whether warmed up and the snow melted..then the freeze hit. There was 1" of ice on that thing. even the auger froze.

 

[drmac]

Nice Job. I trust you won't have freeze-up problems with everything out in the open. Maybe "global warming" will prevent that!

DrMac

 

[20 20]

nice job

 

[aczlan]

Depends on how far you pull the remote lever!
If you pull the lever just far enough to power the motor to simulate hand cranking... about 6 seconds or what would have been 6 hand cranks.
I imagine if I yanked the lever to full on position... in the blink of an eye!

I might add a flow restrictor and to one of the lines to slow it down... Make it easier on yourself when you are tired and not thinking quickly.

Aaron Z

 

[5picker]

Thanks for the comments.

I doubt 'freeze-up' will be any more of a problem than it was with the hand crank.
In the four years prior that I've owned and used this blower, I've never had the chute freeze up. But... I always clean it thoroughly and store the tractor/blower in the garage after use so it typically has a good chance to 'thaw' and dry. I also keep it well lubed.

I also sized the hydraulic motor with a pretty slow RPM so it's not as big a concern as I made it sound and with that, I have nice control of it. None the less, with no load on the chute, you could/can turn it quickly.

I already have a couple of port restrictors, sized and laying on the bench in case real world use calls for them. I have about a quarter mile of gravel drive I keep open and with an average winter snowfall total of 200+ inches, I hear you about getting 'tired!'
Of course this winter has certainly not been that!

 

[Stache]

5-Picker, are you still around? Your hand-crank original setup is pretty much what I have on my snowblower, so your conversion would be pretty easy for me to copy. Do you have any specs and source for the hydraulic motor you used?

 

[mangler]

I still can't believe the "aircraft cable wrapped around handle and chute" is the stock setup to turn the chute. I just saw an older meteor with that setup and laughed thinking the old man must have jabronied it ☺

Work drives too expensive? The handle on that Meteor was HARD to turn.