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Need Snowblower Help


Yeoman627

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Maybe one of the PROs could help me. I got my 48" Kubota snowblower hooked to my 7012H. Performance is "adequate." It throws a large volume of snow but, "pulls the engine down" if ground speed is above 1-2 mph. Is that performance comparable to a Simplicity 42" blower with a 12hp engine? Also, while the volume is large, velocity (pressure) seems low. See my blower compared to Dave Christensen's. I understand Dave is using 16hp to drive a 42" blower. Is that the difference or, is it something else? The Kubota design is very similar to Simplicity's. The specs are: 12" diameter auger, 8" discharge, auger speed 1280 rpm @ 3600 engine rpm. How do these compare with Simplicity? http://home.att.net/~herb.niewender/snohitch/compare.jpg
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The auger on my 42" blower looks to be 12 to 14 inches in diameter. The discharge looks to be 6 or 6.5 inches. I didnt pull the cover off but the one drive sprocket is quite a bit larger than the other so it is turning less than engine speed. I make sure my blower is fully painted and I spray it down with cooking spray a couple times a year. I dont know how much difference that would make though. Snow doesnt seem to stick anywhere on the auger or chute.
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Herb, I think there's a lot of factors covered in these posts. I think it all boils down to RPM and volume of snow in the impeller. The specified RPM for the Simplicity is 1250 RPM at 3600 RPM (i.e. full throttle) on the engine. But they use about 6" smaller blowers for this HP rating. Do you think your engine is really turning 3600 RPM with the snowthrower engaged? Can the governor maintain anything close to this RPM when under load blowing 8" or more of snow? Note that you must keep the impeller housing full of snow for it to perform best -- too little snow and it barely throws it, too much and it starts bogging or clogging . . . Then, the impeller must be turning fast enough to fling it the 20-25 feet... I don't think yours is turning the 1200 RPM under load. Then the size of the chute is different on the Simplicity -- it's longer and looks to be a bit smaller in diameter. I think this may add to the velocity and "pattern" just like barrel length and choke impacts the pattern of a shot gun... My two cents! BTW, I copied your excellent page and will be adding it to Simple trACtors on the next update. Thanks for sharing! Kent
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Being computer literate, you know that garbage in means garbage out. In this case, Kubota in - garbage out. I am using a 42" Simplicity with a 12 hp Kohler(which doesnt have the guts of a Briggs) and I move snow just like Daves' picture. I never cease to be impressed by the quality of Simplicity engineering.
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Les, thanks for your thoughts. Can you help me with my questions? I know you have Simplicity blowers. What is the diameter of the auger? What is the diameter of the discharge? How fast does the auger turn relative to engine speed? I would really appreciate the info. Have a Happy New Year. Herb...........
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One thing is the snow a dry or wet snow?? If wet it will really pull the engine down and also it will not blow the snow anywhere near the distance as dry snow. The 48" blower is really in my opinion an over kill for the horse power that you are running as I have a 36" blower for my 10 hp Landlord that really throws the white stuff. When you compare the kubuta with the simplicity it just can't be done as the kubuta with its oil burning engine has alot more torque plus added horse power then the gas simpicity. Are you taking full-width cuts or are you taking or trying when possible to take a half width cut if not try this and see if this helps. Please let us know the snow condition wet or dry and see if others may have a anwser. Sorry I can't give any techical advise. Happy New Year, >>->happyjack<-<<
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I agree with happyjack that your engine/thrower size may be mismatched. Simplicity offered 36" and 42" throwers. If you do a HP per thrower width ratio you will see what I mean. Smaller (thrower) is sometimes better. Or for your next project you can shoehorn a Kubota disel in it - then you might have the best of both worlds! I think the taller chute design may also contribute to the "fire hose" performance. One thing about a manufacturer in the snow belt whose employees actually own and use the equipment it makes - you know they are going to make it well!
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Herb, If I'm not mistaken you are running the blower through the bevel gear box in which I have been told you loose 2 horsepwer from and with the amount of belts that you are now using you can perhaps loosing more horsepower there. Just my two cents worth. Jeff
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Hey guys, thanks for responding. Jack and Jeff, you're right the 48" Kubota blower is probably more than the 12hp can handle properly. But, I suspected it would be before I started this project. I don't live in "Simplicity Country" so factory attachments are difficult (and expensive) for me to acquire. I had the Kubota blower given to me so I figured I'd give it a try. Honestly, as it is it works better than I expected it would. The 10" of snow we just got was moderately wet, but the blower and hitch worked flawlessly on my 15' wide driveway. Only when I tried to clear a 50' wide area, and had to throw snow on top of snow did I experience clogging and insufficient power. I haven't modified the tractor at all, so if I find a Simplicity blower I can bolt it right up. Jeff, don't think swapping engines hasn't crossed my mind. But, right now I'm going to take your advise and think about modifying the chute. Les, thanks for the info. It sounds like the Simplicity auger is about the same diameter as the Kubota (12"). When my auger and chute started to clog I sprayed it with PAM. That didn't make any difference so I smeared on a coat of axle grease. That made a big difference. If I keep this contraption I'm going to take it apart, clean it up, and coat it with SLIP. I'll let you know how that works. Kent, thanks for the info. I haven't put a tach on the engine but at full throttle it sounds like about 3600rpm without a load. When I engage the auger, it sounds about the same. Of course when I start to throw snow the rpms drop (about the same as mowing heavy grass). Getting a steady throw on my driveway the engine sounds like it maintains about 3000rpm. I'll put a tach on it and let you know for sure. Most important was your 1250 auger rpm answer. That's about a 1:3 ratio. After calculating my pulleys and sprockets, I get 1280 auger rpm to 3600 engine rpm. That's about the same. Right now I think my biggest problem is the chute size and design. It seems to be ejecting a large enough volume even though I could definitely use more hp. I think your shotgun barrel analogy is right on point. I'm going to try adding a "choke" or venturi and see what happens. Before you add my page (which you're more than welcome to do), Al Eden just brought up an important issue in another post. I'm going to try and address Al's point but it may have a bearing on the validity of my hybrid hitch design (you be the judge, I don't want anyone mislead). Jef, I am going thru the BGB, and your absolutely right about hp loss. Every power transmission transition will absorb some power. Delivered power from my 12hp engine after going through belts and an arbor may not be enough to make the 48" auger perform like a factory setup. Everybody, thanks again for the all help and I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year.
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