Snow Stalling in snow

[chelydra]

Stalling in snow - air cleaner, wet/gelled fuel, something else?

New machine here is a Ditch Witch SK755 "compact tool carrier" that's used for digging/loading and snow removal. Has a number of advantages and limitations compared to both tractors and "normal" skid loaders. Be nice to have a forum here for mini-skids - how about it, Mr. Moderator?

The 755 does a fine job clearing snow with the FFC 48" blower. Only real issue is mushroom-skid drag from the FFC's 745 lb. weight, which seems to make floating the blower ineffective except on perfectly smooth paving. And with the blower raised even slightly above the ground, the machine gets a little light fore-and-aft (ROC is 800 lbs) and is prone to pitchin/bucking. Really chews through packed snow, though. Glad I got the turbo model, since it needs to run wide open to handle recent New England storms even at a slow walking pace.

Problem today: egnine near full speed, moderate load, suddenly blows black smoke and stalls. Even if load is immediately removed, engine usually dies. After it happened a few times, I garaged the machine and finished with the Ariens (which also offers handy heated grips).

Before calling the dealer, I'm hoping for an easy problem ID and fix. With only 14 hours on the clock and about 15 gallons of on-road diesel (with added PowerServe) down the pipe, wet or gelled fuel seems unlikely. There's no glass float bowl, but the first of two fuel filters is an in-line near the tank. It has a clear case, and no water shows. I added an ounce of KD100 to the tank, which (I'm told) would fix any gelling, and will try again in the morning.

Also wondered about the air cleaner, with fine powdery snow blowing all over. Other TBN threads mention this as an issue. So I opened the filter housing, and noticed some dampness - but not dripping wet.

The red "change filter" indicator ring isn't showing, so I doubt that the filter was clogged with snow. And at 20 degrees outside, with a hot turbocharger close by, the filter probably ought to stay above freezing anyway. Melt-water would just get sucked in and atomized without harm - yes? Or will a little inhaled mist shut down a diesel?

Any suggestions on these or other avenues welcome. And if someone points to the proper forum, I'll be happy to post some early/newbie comparisons between mini-skid, tractor and skid steer. TBN is great, and it's nice to share the learning.

UPDATE: everything seemed to work fine in the morning - 28F. Still don't know if it was gelled or wet fuel, a clogged air filter or something else. But glad it's working again.

 

[Jim Timber]

I wonder if you were getting icing in the intake?

 

[chelydra]

Wondered about that. A friend who was a light-aircraft CFI gave me a dramatic demo of carb icing. Cruising on a humid day, slightly above freezing, no carb heat. He had me watch the manifold pressure as he flipped on the carb de-ice switch. The pressure bounced hard, the engine sputtered and then it all smoothed out. He said that that was ice, probably obscuring about half the inlet, melting off and going down the pipe all at once. Took some self-confidence to know he wouldn't shut down our engine!

Anyway, inlet ice was certain a thought when the Ditch Witch quit, especially with the air full of snow. I'm just not sure where that would happen, with the air filter so near the turbocharger. But maybe that makes it worse, by melting snow that then refreezes further inside. That might explain why I never had the problem in even worse conditions with normally aspirated diesel machines.

Hope it stays gone, whatever it was!

 

[Jim Timber]

I get icing on my tahoe's throttle body that makes the butterfly stick. The heater hoses going through it are rusted shut and have been for about 70kmi (truck has 244k now).