Heavy Wet Snow: The Snowblower Just Pushed It

[velvetfoot]

I think this is the worst I've seen my snowblower work. The snow just kind of piled up in front of it. Had to do multiple passes, poke at it with a stick, etc. The single stage snowblower worked a little better, but a lot of pushing and pulling with that too.

Anybody else have this problem today as well?

 

[begreen]

I think I would wait a couple days and just let it melt.

 

[learnin to burn]

Any chance you broke a sheer pin?

 

[btuser]

Sheer pin could be it. It was pretty nasty stuff. I've got tracks and was still sliding all over the place.

 

[remkel]

Don't think it was just you. I hardly ever have to clear my snow blower but today I had to shut it down 6 times to unclog the chute. Think for the next storm I am going to spray the chute with silicone spray and see how that helps.

 

[rustynut]

you might try a wax type spray furniture polish like lemon pledge.
I use it on my snow shovel and 4 wheeler blade and it eliminates
the snow from sticking. Works well for that.
Might work on the snow blowers as well ?
Dont forget to shut those things off if they do clog as i've seen themtake fingers off
rn

 

[velvetfoot]

Glad to know I'm not the only one.
I'll try the Pledge.
I carried a stick with me.
Shear pins were intact.

 

[pen]

I've used silicone spray or even PAM as well. Also, make sure the snowblower is wound right up and you are in the slowest gear.

pen

 

[kettensäge]

Same problem here, including 1 chute jam. When moving fresh snow it was OK, when I got to where I had to move fresh snow plus what I threw on top previously and it got dicey.

I use WD-40 in the chute, but I think I will try furniture polish.

 

[willworkforwood]

I've used silicone spray or even PAM as well. Also, make sure the snowblower is wound right up and you are in the slowest gear.pen

I've used PAM in the past, but didn't need it this time, which surprised me because we got around 2 feet of soaking wet snow - one of the worst for removal we've had here. My Husky 10530 works best on wet stuff by actually using a middle drive gear and hitting it using a rocking motion, taking in and spitting out just a chunk at a time and then letting it rebound off by not keeping up the forward pressure. But these machines are all different, so what works for mine may not be ok for others. Happy Halloween :vampire:

 

[Iembalm4aLiving]

I installed one of these impeller kits on my '82 Ariens and I've not had a single clog since..not even on the end of driveway sludge..really, the best investment you can make on your snowblower!


(broken link removed to http://smllengns.tripod.com/index.html)


It also increased the throwing distance by 2 times.

 

[mayhem]

I've heard nothing but good things about those clarence kits. Need to get me a couple sometime.

I got taken by surprise by this storm and I was not ready. The stuff was so heavy and slick (sluch on top of unfrozen ground is a slippery combination) that my truck went off the edge of my driveway and I got it stuck real good. Had to use the snowblower to do a big chunk of the driveway, Arients didn't want to turn over, even with the electric start...Simplicity fired on the first pull and ran better than it ever did last year...and the gas was a half tank of E10 thats been sitting in the tank since last March. I couldn't keep shear pins in the Simplicity last winter...it would go through 2-3 pins every time I used it, the Ariens is sitll running on the pins it came with in the 80's. The Simplicity just dug in though, I set the locking differential, dropped it into second gear and it walked rihgt through everything that was there. The snow was well over the top of the auger...like almost a foot higher than the auger sometimes, and the jet of snow coming out looked almost like a column of white water, it was just solid from the end of the chute till it landed in the lawn...it was actually really cool.

Heck of a storm.

 

[willworkforwood]

... Heck of a storm.

I recall yesterday hearing that Peru come in as the winning MA entry with 32". Congratulations :ahhh:

 

[raybonz]

I had this problem last year and posted what I found here.. Look at the pulley that pushes forward when you engage the auger and make sure the idler pulley is adjusted so it puts enough pressure on the belt so it doesn't slip.. It's an easy adjustment to make and works wonders.. Make sure that when you release the auger lever that it stops right away for safety..

Ray

 

[Swedishchef]

A little piece of advice from a guy who gets over 500cm of snow per winter: buy an Ariens, Honda or Yamaha snowblower You won't need grease, PAM, pledge or anything else no matter what snow conditions you have

If you do want to spray something inside the chute, I recommend the spray that you put under a lawn mower to prevent wet grass from sticking. That stuff is 10 times better than pledge and will last almost all winter.

Andrew

 

[MasterMech]

My reccomendation for a blower - Toro PowerMax Units. They have a unique impellor/housing design that won't clog and throw farther than anything I've seen. Bombproof gearboxes too. . Machines with Composite/Poly chutes will resist clogging far better than "all-steel" machines. I like the Honda's too but that's a heck of a price tag to swallow. If only Toro would do a PowerMax on tracks.....

I've also had great luck with a spray called Sno-Jet. It's purpose built for what we're doing. Trick to any of them is to treat and re-treat when the blower is dry and then keep it up. The more you keep it recoating the better it all works.

 

[nate379]

I did something like that to the one on my tractor, though I took the fan off, cut it apart and welded together a better design. I left about 1/8" clearance from the sides of drum to the end of the fan.

I installed one of these impeller kits on my '82 Ariens and I've not had a single clog since..not even on the end of driveway sludge..really, the best investment you can make on your snowblower!


(broken link removed to http://smllengns.tripod.com/index.html)


It also increased the throwing distance by 2 times.

 

[kettensäge]

I did a homemade version of an impeller kit with some scrap belting from work on my Toro Powershift. Helped a lot especially with light dry snow.
With wet snow it seemed about the same.

 

[mayhem]

If you do want to spray something inside the chute, I recommend the spray that you put under a lawn mower to prevent wet grass from sticking. That stuff is 10 times better than pledge and will last almost all winter.

Andrew

What stuff is that? I've never heard of doing this, but it sounds like a great idea.