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Questions about the 52" snowblower


old_nodaker

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I have this on a 23 horse re powered 4041. I haven't used it a lot yet but have a couple questions. It doesn't throw snow very far, and a lot of the snow barely makes it past the edge of the blower. Is that the best I can expect? I've tried various engine speeds and ground speeds. So far the snow conditions are pretty fluffy snow so maybe that's the problem? Second problem is the chute rotator. At best it will barely rotate the chute, and in actual snow it won't rotate it at all. Do those GM window motors lose power when they get old? Another problem I have that isn't the blowers fault. The exhaust coming out the front of the tractor melts the snow on the back of the blower and creates a big ice cube. I'll need to come up with some sort of deflector I guess.
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Check where the shaft goes thru the rotator mounting. There is a bronze bushing & sometimes shaft corrodes putting extra load on the rotator motor. Full throttle & in the light snow probably 3rd gear keeping the blower full, that makes it happy. They will blow 8-10 inches of fluffy snow at about 10 mph. Give it a try. StanD
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52"s of snow is a serious load. I'd check the belt tention and condition. If the belt slips it won't perform at all. AS for the deflector, I'd remove it and inspect the ring on whitch the spout slides on. If it's rusty the motor will have a tough time moving the spout.
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Check the rollers that the chute rotates against. Lubricate them and the cable shaft. I used WD40. I had 1 that was stuck and it would only turn so far. Got it loose and now it works. On mine I have to tape the connections where it plugs into the tractor. Seems like they move and loose contact and with the tape they stay tight. Does your tractor sit in a warm garage? If it does you might have to let it sit outside so the iron gets cold or the snow sticks to the chute. Any rust in the chute? Loose drive belt? The ground speed has to correspond to how much snow you’re blowing. The more snow going in the better it works. This last snow is pretty light so you have to boogey pretty fast. Let us know if it started working. Hope you have a cab. It was nice blowing yesterday afternoon. -27 :YB)Chere this AM.
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Stan, Dave and Wayne hit on all the good points. I had the same problems when I started using mine. I tore into anything that moved and sanded the rust from the chute, cleaned and lightly greased the chute rollers. The thing sits most of the year so its good to go through it and give it the attention. It loves to eat snow. A little snow teases it, a lot, pleases it. When we get a light snow, it gets winrowed with the back-blade, then it eats the windrows. It takes some seat time to get to know just how much speed, but it will impress you when it all comes together. Good luck, KOA
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I just started to use my 52" blower and also noticed the same problem with blowing snow. I have a new (Simplicity) belt and a new tension spring adjusted per snow blower service manual. My engine sounds as if it running a little snow and this was my dad's tractor until this year so he probably set the maximum rpm to about 3400. My auger appears to be in good condition but does have some rust on it. The chute also has some rust and feels a little rough.




I have considered trying the rubber flaps on the paddles to tighten the clearance between the auger and the housing. Would this help? I have been using a 46" two stage blower on my Sunstar for the past few years, am I just spoiled or should the 52" single stage be similar in performance? Dan
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Thanks for the responses. Regarding the chute rotator, it seems to turn freely when disconnected from the motor, but I'm sure a bit of grease can't hurt. One of the things that seems to cause some binding is the way the cable wraps along the length of the shaft. Mr. Fish mentioned to lubricate it so maybe that well smooth them out. I keep this in a unheated shop so I don't think the snow is sticking to the chute. The chute itself is a bit rusty so I'll work at that. I do have a cab, but blowing snow at 10 mph????? That's going to be a sudden stop if I hit something ;) It's running 10 to 20 below here so it'll be a few days before I can try again.
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Okay, possible pictures attached. If not, I'll email them to you. This is an all metal cab, glass front and rear. The rear window slides open. The side windows are Plexiglas. I don't know if this is a factory cab or not, but it would certainly appear to be. It appears to be based on the canopy that the factory made, then enclosed. It's easy to get in and out of, my only complaint is I have to lean forward a bit to see out the windshield and then I breath on the windshield which can create a frost problem. I might hook up a fan to take care of that if it becomes a big problem. I'm also considering side curtains on the engine to feed the heat in but then might have to worry about carbon monoxide.




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Just found this for a $19 spout motor. http://www.simpletractors.com/do_it/spout_motor.htm Another question, would a 12 volt drill have more or less torque than the window opener motor? I would guess less as the window opener would have a lot of mechanical advantage with the worm and spur gear drive.
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Here is the address of a site that has 12 volt heaters. Maybe this will be helpful. http://www.12vheaters.com/?gclid=CJDnu9Hqm5ACFQSOFQodKVkF7A
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I love the looks of the hard cab I have. It's a Safe-T-Cab so it's a little different than the one you have Gayland. My doors open from the front, the doors will lift off for summer and the front glass tilts outward from the bottom with a lock for added ventalation as well as the half sliding glass on the rear like yours. Mine has a 2 piece front window. he lower 1/3 of the front is hinged upward to allow the hood to lift so only the upper solid piece tilts outward for ventalation. It's also a ROPS canopy, although I've yet to see a hill I could hang on with the floatation tires yet.I really wish I had mine in place so I could show you some pics but I'm far from getting one on anything I have. I would almost settle for a soft sided cab for my summer worker and a dedicated hard cab tractor for winter work. It's true I don't get the weather or the cold that a lot of you do but I'm a wimp around the cold so I prefer to stay where it's warm and toasty. Great looking tractor. I hope to have one looking that good for Ron soon. Wish me luck on that one.lol:O:D
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Nice cab Gayland! Would it be possible to cut small opening in each side of the cab at a place where you could then install some small windows for the area just below the headlights for the area you need to see? Dan
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You could cut in the openings where you need them and use a windshield weatherstrip to hold the glass or plexiglas in place. Dan
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To repeat PeppyDan's question - would it help to put some belting on the auger thrower to close the gap between the two throwers and the housing? I have 1/2 to 3/4" gaps on them. I have the spout apart now, cleaning and lubricating the moving parts. I noticed that the cable wrapping around the shaft would bind. I don't like the setup where it is only fastened in the middle of the shaft instead of at each end so I think I'll try to redo that and see if it will work smoothly through the whole travel instead of binding up like it does now.. Wilm169 - that's a nice looking cab. The exhaust on that looks like it comes out the side, is that correct?
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The exhaust on the Simplicity models exits out the front grill. The exhaust on the Allis-Chalmers's models exits outthe side of the hood as seen in Levi's pic. Same tractor, same engine, same muffler, cept for the bend on the pipe.
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I added the rubber flaps to my blower and it increased the output a lot. I also PAM the blower chute, the Jewel foods PAM really works well and is cheaper. I have a gravel drive so painting is almost useless
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You might be able to engineer the geared chute rotator, the gears seem to operate much smoother than the cables did, post the diameter of the chute and I'll check to see if the gears will fit, check my post in tech tips.
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RBR - The diameter of the chute is 9 1/4 inches outside. The flange that runs around the bottom that ride in the three carriers is 7/16 inch wide. I'll go look in the tech tips to see what your setup is.
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If everything is right there is no reason why the original type setup will not work. It always worked well for me. If you think your motor is week give one of these a try, price is right. www.surpluscenter.com Item# 5-1566L or #5-1566R. One of these should work fine with very little mod or just to have a spare on hand. The 3 rollers may be your problem & are no longer available to the best of my knowledge. I have machined out the old bearings to a press fit with new electric motor bearings. Don,t recall the bearing # but am quite sure I still have the number if anyone would like to know. Guess I am a try it & see type when it comes to a press fit. I did one too tight & when pressed in it was too tight & actually compressed the bearing to the point that it would barely turn. Had to take an extra 1/2 thousand out. Guess this is just one of the challenges to keep these old girls doing their job. StanD
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