OLD SNOW BLOWER WORKING AGAIN

[doxford jim]

Hi Guys,

Thought I would mention what I have been working on through the year - on and off.

I bought a 1989 Farm King 73" snow blower that had seen a lot of work but had been fairly well maintained. However, the snow throwing was not as good as one would hope for when run at 540 PTO RPM. When used at 720 PTO RPM, the performance improved dramatically.

Anyway, over the course of the year I have done the following work:
Installed new auger shaft bearings.
Installed new chain tension sprocket.
Installed new chain.
Fitted new skids to front.
Made and installed wings to widen blower by four and half inches on each side, as blower turned out to be not wide enough.
Made and installed replaceable impeller blade tips for the not too efficient three blade impeller - excessive clearances and well rounded blade ends.
Cleaned out and checked oil filled gearbox and refilled with new oil.
Last but not least, gave the machine a quick coat of paint.

Well, I have to say that the work has certainly paid dividends. In heavy wet snow the blower will send snow some 30ft at 540 rpm and around 45ft at 720 rpm :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I am happy with the results. The machine runs quieter (better balance of impeller ?) and smoother than before - when I first got it. The new skid shoes I welded on are a marked improvement over the narrow original (one broken tip) skids. The blower wings make a big difference and I can now blow snow and leave a smooth wall behind me - instead of the rear wheels rubbing the clean cut. I just hope that the improvements continue and that nothing breaks on me (Murphy's law !!!).

I would really like a new 84" blower, but at $4,000 they come pretty expensive when living on a pesion and retirement money only. I might get one yet, but will wait and see how this old snow blower works for the rest of the winter. Incidently, the total cost so far is around $200 for the improvements. The rear wheel outside measurements for my tractor are 74" - duh , I shoulda known better

Just thought you guys might be interested and know that even the older machines can still work well. Have attached a few pics for you to look at.

Sure hope I haven't hexed myself by posting this !

Thanks

Jim

 

[wetstuff]

Jim, Looks like you better buy a book of coupons for the Chiropractor. ..or does your seat make a 1/2 turn?

As much as I would love to have a big blower, I think I am happier that it's the 3rd week of December and our temps are still holding 50+ (10c) out East by me. I still remember the COLD in Wisconsin back in the 50's.

Jim

 

[grsthegreat]

Nice job. I had an older farm king 60" blower on my old JD870. I too had to beef up the impeller and add some gussets on the auger but that thing worked great for many years,

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Good work. Looks like new again. And, you gained some performance. Nice job all the way around.:thumbsup:

 

[Craig Clayton]

The restoration looks top notch. But for the true test, how will it do in the snow.

Here is a piece of trivia.
How do test and rate real commerical snowblower?
The pictures I looked at stated and this model was on the front of a large articulated loader is to run them in a shallow pool of water. In this way the engineers can estimate that ie 3" of water blowen is equal to X tons of snow / minute.

Craig Clayton

 

[doxford jim]

Hi Guys,

Thx for your comments. Here is the only half decen photo of the blower in action. Snow was not very deep and was wet, when the shot was taken - a minute or two later the snow trail was quite a bit longer. At 540 rpm, I am happy with the results.

Thx

Jim

 

[SGFarm]

Looks good, do you have any more details on how you extended / fixed the impeller blades? My old George White blower has clearance issues and I am not sure about running rubber wear strips on a pto machine.

Thanks

Mike

 

[pat32rf]

I tackwelded pieces of 1" angle to the rear of my paddles (scoop effect), checked clearance then welded firmly. Also welded thin flatiron to the outer edge to reduce clearance. Big improvement..