wings on a snowblower?

[Groo]

I picked up a little 2 stage snowblower. I wanted something stong enough that I could possible move to a 300" a year area (thinking about moving to Marquette) and not NEED to buy another one, but for now I'm in Detroit were a big dump is 3".
I was thinking of making angled wings out of plywood or something similar to channel a wider path of snow into my little 24" blower and get done quicker.

anyone try this?

 

[ToadHill]

I think you'll find that if you make the wings too wide they will act more like a plow and won't funnel the snow into the blower. If you get too much snow going into the opening you'll bog down the impeller.

 

[irvingj]

Groo-- my Toro 8-hp 24" blower, not exactly a lightweight, frequently couldn't handle a full 24" of snow unless it was pretty dry... Often had to reduce swath to 10" or even 8" in order to keep impeller speed up, even in low gear. (That's why I got a tractor with a BIG blower!)

I think wings, unless the snow was fluffy, would only slow you down. I think you'd also find, unless your wings were highly polished & impermeable, that you'd get a lot of buildup on them and simply push the snow, as Toad Hill mentioned.

On the other hand, the blower did work for me on a 200' driveway for a number of years--- but it took several hours for each snowfall.

 

[aczlan]

Groo-- my Toro 8-hp 24" blower, not exactly a lightweight, frequently couldn't handle a full 24" of snow unless it was pretty dry... Often had to reduce swath to 10" or even 8" in order to keep impeller speed up, even in low gear. (That's why I got a tractor with a BIG blower!)

Interesting that your Toro is (was?) so weak, at the hotel where I work we have a old Ariens 724 (like the one below, but with more rust and without the thing in the chute) that we picked up for $200 with a 30" mower deck (works great, almost a bush hog) it will take a 24" cut of 8-10" snowdrift in second gear as long as the snow is not wet and slushy, it handles the wet snow better now that I adjusted the throttle linkage to up the RPMs, but it still clogs on occasion when I stop and try to start again.



Aaron Z

 

[Groo]

my idea was to use 1' or so wings at a 45 degree angle. I'd probably only use them for a 4" fall tops. (better than 90% here). its supose to be good for a 12" fall.

I know the same 5.5 hp (9 ft-lbs) engine is used on 26" and maybe some 28" machines.

 

[irvingj]

Aczlan-- I also wondered about that-- in all fairness, I know that some of the power was "robbed" by going up a rather steep slope in one direction, and the poor impeller often gets nicked by rocks early in the season (I live on a dirt road with a gravel driveway), even with the shoes lowered.... I ended up replacing the impeller altogether a few years back, after heating & pounding impeller blades back into shape a couple of times. Too bad Toro didn't have bolt-on (replaceable) impeller blade tips...hmmm..

The first pass was always a full 24", of course, and it would handle it, but I always had to go very slowly--first "creep" gear. Later passes were 2nd or perhaps 3rd gear @ 8" to 20" width, depending on snow depth & weight; however, it seems like the past few years we've had a LOT of snow/rain/snow storms so the snow was really heavy.

Anyway, though I still use the Toro for edge work, that's all in the past-- the GC2310 with the AGCO blower on its front end is a quantum leap in capacity and has cut total blowing time by at least 2/3!

 

[Scooby074]

My Honda 928 has nuts welded on the outside edge of the auger guard for wings to be added. Ive seen it in pictures on the Honda Japan website a few years ago, but i cant find the pics now and the dealer "never heard of them". Looks like ill be making them if i get motivated. I figure about 6" on each side would save me at least one pass out the drive. I already had to make drift cutters for it because the dealer didnt have them either.

 

[wowbw7]

i added 3" to each side of a 13hp/ 33" blower a couple years ago. i bent some 12 gage sheet metal bolted flat to edge of housing, 45 degree bend outwards, then 45 degrees back forward again. rounded the bottom corners so it wouldn't catch seams in the concrete. worked very well, just had to take a narrower partial cut when snow was heavy. they stuck out maybe 4-5 inches ahead of the stock housing. go for it

 

[Runner]

I think the fella that did this one was on this site. Sorry I don't know his name to give the credit. Anyway, I thought he did a dandy job fabbing up wings for this JD 47 blower:

 

[Scooby074]

getting to be that time of year again so ill post some pics of wing ideas for hondas (mostly so i wont lose them again)

if you look at the picture of the power shovel, you can see the extensions. Cant find that pic for the blower with wings again

Pic 3 : who says the japanese dont have a sense of humour? lol