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

Just the ones I use. 

Pictures from my backyard/pond.

 

For video (don't laugh too hard!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58015249@N02/5336719527/

MN_Runner wrote:

The video is ok but too much camera movement back and forth at the end. My wife does that sometimes too. Thanks for posting it.

Looks like you are riding up on that snowbank in the video, you might be going too fast, since you should be able to drive right into that and spit it out. Is there something under the snow there?

Agreed, slow down the ground speed.  The sharp serrated auger should take care of that mound easily.

There is a 5" ice layer so I could only go over it.  My video skills are pretty poor but hopefully it will get better. 

knee_Biter
Great post, love looking at photos.  I be curious as to what Areins sent you to correct the problem you described.  I've been toying with a couple of mods to the chute on my repowered
Ariens 1032.  One is to taper the deflector. To narrow it down from the back to the front.  Just a bit to put a little compression on the snow stream as it's leaving the chute.
 I've also have an issue with. I'll call it stray snow, when the chute is turned hard right.

iLikeOrange
 Love the idea of the handle braces.  I hate the slight deflection that is felt when pushing down on handles (Ariens 1032).  I was at first going to weld in a gusset at the bend, but after looking at things a little longer.  Decided that would stiffen things up, but on the downside would then put all the stress on the tube right behind the rear mounting bolt (my handles mount on the top of the tractor housing).  Not a good solution. 

But the braces are perfect .  I may just use a piece of 3/16 x 1" flat stock instead of the square tube.  That way I could just tap a hole in the
tractor housing. (Just re-did my blower housing and hate to grind a spot to weld on some ears.)  The angle probably won't be optimal but it would surely be better than the way it is.

I've wondered why on some or maybe all of the Honda 928s.  That they decided not to put on the square muffler housing / shield.

Not sure why Honda did not use a square exhaust type for HS928 and HS1132.  HS724 was really silent and HS928 does not come close in quietness.

knee_biter
Forgot to comment on your experience with Impeller kit.  I've also noticed a big difference in the way that the blower handles heavy wet or even slushy snow.  Three weeks ago we had rain then wet snow and ended up at least
3" of clear dense slush with about an inch of snow on top.  If it had been colored it would have looked like a slurppy everywhere.
 I was able to blow stuff without any problem.  And didn't even a single time have the chute clog.
Like you said, it used to come out of the chute like you were making a giant sausage.

 I didn't actually use and impeller kit.  Last summer I added weld and reground all the impeller blades to close the gap between the blade tip and the housing.  It's not tight like the impeller kit makes it.  But the gap is down to about 1/16. Personally I think that is about the single most beneficial and cheapest mod you can make to a blower. Not just to increase the throwing distance.  But more importantly, to increase the efficiency. And not waste any of the power behind it.   What ever goes in the front comes out the chute at it's first opportunity. Not after it's spun around in the housing for awhile. Just my opinion

MN_Runner wrote:

This is where a tracked model would shine as it could literally chew into ice like that. I figured something might be under the snow because you rode up so quickly. Normally it wouldn't do that.

 The key to good video is to frame the shot and don't move or pan the camera very much. My wife is still working on that. Here is an example of a party where my wife got a bit wild  with her Filipina friends. But the point is even tho I moved around the room, I tried to do it without a lot of panning. It's not a great example but it's also not on a tripod. It's off topic but I did circle the room to the left and right, it came out ok. This video is safe for work.... mostly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BczBVNWKZK8