Troubleshoot SB-200 snowblower / AUX Hydraulics

[rownow]

I feel dumb. Should have checked out the snowblower before the first 10 inch dump of the season. Simply put it, it does not work at all.

With the engine off, I could spin both screw and impeller by hand. Hooked it up and started the engine, 1200 rpm. Nothing spins and no chute adjustments. Increase engine speed to 2000 rpm. It spins and chute moves up-down and rotation. Now try it on snow. Stops spinning in the first 2 seconds. Nothing works.

There was some ice on it, so I put it in a heated garage to thaw overnight. Thawing is always a good first move. Now I'm wondering what to do if it does not work when I try it in the morning.

I can hear the aux hydro-pump spin up when I turn the Aux hydro switch ON. I can see the hose to the snowblower jump when I turn on the blower so hydro pressure is getting into the hoses. The screw and impeller can be rotated by hand (engine off). Bucket hydraulics and dump hydraulics work fine.

Any ideas or similar experiences?

Questions:
1. I replaced hydraulic fluid last summer. Is there a chance of air in the aux hydra lines? How do I bleed out the air?

2. Do I need a good electrical connection for the main blower to operate? Does the electrical connection only control the chute, or does it somehow control the screw and the impeller too?

3. Does SB-200 have a "hydraullic bypass valve" that opens if the impeller jambs, like a shear pin on a PTO snowblower. If I have this valve, could it be stuck open? The impeller might have been jambed momentarily with frozen mud.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DEWFPO]

The 7 pin connector much be attached and have a good connection for the SB to work. Whether you have the 8.0 or the 9.6 motor pkg the 7 pin connector will tell the Toolcat to activate High Flow automatically. I'm sure you already know all this but I'll mention it anyway. You must activate the aux. hydraulics switch on the dash panel and pull the trigger on the joystick for all functions of the SB to work properly.

Having snow on the unit will not affect it unless there is ice physically locking the bottom of the fan. If that is a problem, a 150 watt silicone heating pad from Northern Tool placed at the bottom, back of the fan assembly solves the problem.

The Toolcat does have a bypass valve that dumps the pressure if rotating equipment jams thereby eliminating the need for shear pins.

DEWFPO

 

[rownow]

Thanks dewpro. Okay, if I need good electrical contact then I suspect the connector, especially since it didn't work / worked / didn't work / worked / didn't work. I will blow it out with compressed air and apply electrical contact grease (aka bulb grease) before I fire it up.

Is the bypass valve part of the toolcat, not part of the snowblower? If so, should I expect an error code if it is stuck open? Seems unlikely to stick open. Toolcat is 2006 Model C with 250 hours.

 

[DEWFPO]

The bypass valve is part of the Toolcat so it works if there is a problem with any attachment. Since it is mechanical/hydraulic I wouldn't think you'd get an error code. Seems unlikely it would stick open if other attachments work fine.

DEWFPO