Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Since I had the auger assembly apart to replace bearings & bushings, I thought I would try my hand at fabbing an impeller kit. Already had all the materials laying around. I still have to put everything back together, but I can hardly wait till I can try it out. I used some 1/4 rubber sheet I had and hope it will last a while.

Don't know if will make any difference, but I thought it might be a good idea to bevel the leading edge to help shed the snow.

Why not mount the rubber below the impeller?  Then there would be no need to bevel the plate.

Nice work bud. 

The bevel is a nice touch.  Can't see doing anything but help.  I lined my chute with a piece of Krazy Karpet (the things kids use to slide down hills) and the deflector with a piece of thin stainless steel plate.  I did it to protect the chute & deflector from gravel & salt.  It hasn't hindered performance.  The plastic is so slick that I actually think it helps.    What kind of machine are you putting it in? 

Nice job on the impeller kit.  I have wondered why nobody mounts the rubber on the bottom vs the top. I realize most probably install through the chute, but with the impeller out would it have been better mounted on the bottom or is there a reason for this.

Borat that krazy karpet install looks great, noticed that in your snow cab pick, Also seems as though you painted your gear box.  Is the krazy karpet just mounted with the two bolts on the bottom or are there more that cannot be seen? Where did you find a black karpet? All I seen around is blue.

toolmantr wrote:

If he did that, the device would have the load supported by the screws only.   The way he as it set up, the load is distributed across the plate pressing against the impeller vane.  No sure how significant that is.  However, I'd probably do it the same way that he did. 

goofienewfie wrote:

Thanks for the compliment.  I didn't paint the gear box.  That's how the come from the factory.  Cast iron painted black. 

It's held in place by two small screws through the bottom of the chute and one screw at the top.  I didn't have to drill anything on the chute.  All three holes were already there.  The two at the bottom were vacant.  The hole at the top is the same hole used to attach the deflector mechanism.  I just used what was readily available and made the liner fit.   It was a bit of a job trimming the liner to get it just right but turned out OK.  If and when It's time to replace the liner, I'll have the old one to use as a template.  That will cut the job down by about 75%.  I found the black Krazy Karpet an Canadian Tire.  Cost around $7.00.  Handy stuff to have around.  I don't know how many times I've made friction washers with that stuff.  I actually had to make a friction washer out of it to go on the top screw that holds the deflector mechanism on.  It helps eliminate binding through the arc as the deflector is adjusted.      

ok...ok...

Now that you are all done shaking each other's hands...

I think the X-prize should go to the guy that builds a sweet handlebar heat system and posts ..

(Borat,  my money is on you..)

Friiy

Thanks for the comments, I'm doing a refurb on a 1988 Mastercraft (MTD) 5/24, with a Tecumseh motor. A buddy at work gave it to me 3 months ago and she was suffering from severe maintenance deprivation. Axel & auger bushings worn oval by at least 3/8, drive chains & other mechanisms almost seized up, and of course the usual steel bolts replacing the auger shear pins. Other than that she was pretty solid and the motor ran. I'm in the process of putting her back together now.
She's not big or powerful, but at the price it seemed like a good gamble and I can manoeuvre her around the cars, walkways etc.

The reason I installed the kit on the front is for none of the above reasons. I had a hard time figuring how to do it , because if you look  at the photo below, you can see the trailing edge of the impeller has a lip bent back away from the direction of rotation. I suppose I could have used some kind of spacer and installed it on the back any way. I also toyed with the idea of getting a torch & heating up that lip and straightening it out enough to eliminate most of the 3/8 gap, but this was easier to do.

Is this a standard auger shape or are most of them flat?



Borat, the crazy carpet liner is a great idea, but my chute is already made of plastic. But, I will steal your idea of adding the washers to the chute bolts if you don't mind.

I'm also working on an electric chute rotation system based on some others I've seen on the web.

Cheers

friiy wrote:

To quote Kim Jong Il, in the movie "Team America - World Police" when speaking to the leader of a middle east  terrorist group:   " Do you have any idea how f_____g busy I am????" 

I'm  presently restoring, rebuilding, modifying a 1974 Yamaha RD350.   I've taken the old electrics out of it and replaced them with state of the are electronic charging and ignition systems.  Maybe I can use the generator, rectifier and regulator from it to make handle bar heating system.   Won't help anyone on this forum unless they have access to the same parts. 

All kidding aside, If I recall correctly, I think the B&S and maybe even the Tecumseh engines have a spare wire that runs from its electrical generator.  One might be able to tap into that for an electrical source.  At the very least, the wire to the light could be used I suppose.   My biggest concern is whether the engines  on machines not equipped with handle bar heaters produce enough power to run a pair of handle bar heaters without depriving the ignition system of it's needs.   The heaters themselves are out there and readily available.  One can go to any snowmobile shop and buy a pair of handle bar heaters for around $20.00.  Not sure if the diameter would be big enough to fit a snow thrower.  Easy enough to find out though.   If the engine's electrics produce enough juice and the diameter of the heaters fit the snow thrower, it wouldn't be a difficult modification at all providing the engine's electrical output voltage is 12 volts.  Is that what these engines put out?  I've never measured the output on one.   

Most of the old engines that had a charging circut  also had a lead of un-rectified voltage to use for a headlight assy.  The voltage was about 15 max if i remember right..

I guess so you could run it through a bridge rectifier  and still have charging power for a 12 volt battery..

Hey  Borat,  I never worked on a thrower in the desert,   I noticed the impeller has a curve to it  (like a boat prop).  wouldn't it be better extend the wiper/ rubber the full length of the impeller? Or does that area extend intothe first stage and grab snow? (meaning it is not in contact with the housing of the second stage)

Friiy

friiy wrote:

I don't think that 15 volts would be too much for heaters.  They're not that sophisticated.  The rheostat that controls the heat might have problems with it.  One would have to check the voltage tolerances to be sure.

Not sure what you mean about extending the wiper the full length of the impeller.  Don't think that would be possible to extend into the auger side.  The curved ends of the impeller that face the auger appear to be designed to cut off/gather and pull in snow fed by the auger.  The critical swept area would be the span inside the impeller housing where snow is ejected through the hole to the chute.  The closer the tolerance on either end of the impeller vane  inside the impeller housing as well as a close fit to the circumference of the impeller housing will create the best seal.  From reading previous posts, about this modification, the results are quite impressive if done correctly.   From the pictures here, looks like he's done his home work.