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

Well I was finally able to get some video of my blower in action.  Went out to our family cottage and one of my neighbors was kind enough to operate the camera for me.
I'm pretty satisfied with the way it performs after the repower and other modifications to the impeller blades and housing. I had also increased the auger drive pulley size from
the stock 2 3/4" to 3 1/4". Powered chute controls work great.  I also came up with a way to use the old deflector control lever to operate the auger engage/ disengage.
So now I can pull on the lever engage the blower and not have to keep the right handle held down all the time.  It's so much easier to use the chute control joystick and hold on
to the blower.  I believe that it is also easier on the belt with fewer engage and disengage cycles.

I think it is still a little underpowered.  It could probably use a 13hp instead of the 11hp.  That 32" bucket takes in a lot of snow.  I'd also like to increase the auger drive pulley
to a 3 1/2" just to see what happens.  The one issue or component I still haven't come to a conclusion about is the impeller (14").  It has 6 blades, it's the only six bladed impeller I've
ever seen.  A lot of the newer blowers and the Honda's have only three blades.  I know how well the Honda's perform and I've watched a couple videos of the Ariens Compact 22
going through 14, 16" inches of light new snow without a problem.  So I've been wondering if six blades is just over kill and a lot of extra mass and weight to be turning. Once you get them
spinning I guess inertia is on your side.  But if three works well, and Honda first proved that they do.  Then what is the advantage of 4 or 6, just don't know.  One thing I do know is that.
The blade tip to housing clearance is a really important factor in blower performance. As is the impeller RPM.

Just a little information about the video.   In the first section the depth was about 18" deep in the plow roll of pile. And around 14 or 15" deep everywhere else. The snow was about three day old.
Had a bottom layer (2") of heavier stuff.  It had settled and was somewhat compacted and dense.  Not light power by any means but also not high in moisture and wet heavy.

jrtrebor wrote:

Having used a 32" snowblower the last 3 years,  I wouldn't want to go any wider and heavier for a walkbehind snowblower in a typical residential setting.  Not that would deter you, but it just takes too much man handling to be enjoyable, unless you're training to be a sumo wrestler.  The wider bucket just seems to amplify all surface imperfections and snag on pavement cracks that makes me slow down ground speed so that I can keep it going straight. 

It would be an interesting project for sure.  I would anticipate you need a heavier tractor section behind the bucket and some kind of power assist in turning the beast.

There was a mistake in one of my post.
 
" It works get, and I love having my left hand free to control the blower and operated the joystick for the chute".

It should have said "my right hand free" not left.

aa335
Sorry about that, I was talking about so many different things.  I wasn't thinking about using two blowers for a walk behind.  They would be used on some type of garden tractor or on the front of a
4 wheel drive vehicle.
I agree, a 32" walk behind is more than enough to handle.  Sometimes I'm not sure who's in control, me or the blower.

GtWtNorth
I did/do have the "automatic locking of the auger lever when you hold down the drive lever" But it can be kind of a pain.  I got spoiled by the controls on the old Ariens I had.

jrtrebor wrote:
I saw the video.  You don't need to increase anything.  The last thing you need is more power.  I saw one tree that was already knocked over...it probably couldn't stand up to the force of the snow you were hitting it with. 

Put down your wrenches, back away from your snow cannon, and lets save some trees. lol.

Paul7 wrote:
I got a good laugh out of that. Thanks!

jrtrebor - thanks for the photos, nice job as usual. Since I don't have the chute control on mine to re-purpose,  I'll keep my eye open for one of the older style machines that I can get the controls from.Looking at the photos gave me another idea. Since you have a battery aboard, you may be able to use a 12V solenoid & switch to activate the arm of the auger clutch instead of using the lever & cable?

Anyway, I agree with Paul7, take it easy on mother nature.

Cheers