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Things that went wrong snow throwing with my tractor


davidmoll

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Here is a list of items I have had go south when snow throwing my driveway with my tractor over the years! (6216 with 36inch snow thrower)

  • Snow thrower belt came off pulley
  • Kids soccer ball hidden under the snow, jammed auger/Stalled tractor - walked to my front door, rang the bell and said I found your soccer ball and handed it to my kids.
  • Snow thrower belt burned up due to heavy snow clogging chute, disengaged belt but still burning up until I shut off tractor ( always have a spare belt now)
  • tractor just died, eventually figured out needed a new magneto - had to pay someone to plow (driveway is 200ft long with a foot of snow) $50 down the drain
  • wheel chain came off - broken link
  • pedal return spring broke - had to pull back manually to finish the job before repair
  • lost steering - That was a fun one getting on and off the trailer to point wheels in proper position a million times - believe it or not I found the steering key on the driveway the next day - miracle
  • And this week - Chute control rod came undone - cotter pin broke and rod fell out - thankfully I was 3/4 the way done and had to get on and off tractor to adjust chute to finish the job (14inches of snow). Thankfully pivot piece didn't come off!
  • What could be next!  

What kind of fun have you had?  Dave

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davidmoll; just this past week we had about 6 inches of snow. I had moved my enclosed trailer into the shop before the snow came. I forgot that the trailer jack had been resting on a piece of 2X4 about 8in. long that was frozen to the gravel driveway. Blower knocked it loose and ate it. Stopped it dead. Took 20 minutes to break up the wood and get it out from between the impeller and the edge of the chute opening in the blower housing. 

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Stephens brother found out blowers dont eat bricks very well either....

Windows and frozen vinyl siding dont like having gravel shot at them from out of a blower...

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Neighbors yule log left in the driveway near the garage stopped 'er dead.  Those plastic boat / sleds can be reduced to many little blue pieces.....it was kind like a rainbow......beautiful.

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6 hours ago, davidmoll said:

What could be next!  

I'm surprised you never had the snow blower driven pulley come loose.  I had that happened several times and since I did this mod:

Drv_Pul_Ins1.thumb.JPG.fee336e5bca68fed7357e00ecccdd715.JPG

Drv_Pul_Ins4.thumb.JPG.87bae93a8d83fbc74dcacebdac0015f2.JPG

I've never had a problem.  

 

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I had a Sovereign snowblower that I bought NEW and used for several years..   Mounted and spun it up night before an early December 10"-12" storm.  Next day, nothing.  No half moon key had ever been installed in the driven pulley and it was held on only by the set screw - for years.  Needless to say, I was amazed.

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I remember someone posting about how far a snowblower can throw a mouse. (his little legs waving wildly as he flies through the air) Still makes me chuckle.

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I have had the snowblower driven pulley come loose. Then the driven pulley slot for the key had expanded about half an inch. The 42 inch blower can wind up a hose and extension cord pretty quickly. Steering a tractor without key stock is no fun.

This past snow storm we got 18” of snow. The town was nice enough to plow snow into my driveway 36” high and 4 ft into the driveway. I used the Sovereign with my old trusty 42” blower and she just ate all that up. My neighbors with their walk behinds couldn’t get through it, so I made new friends this year. 
 
After seeing pictures of the factory single pulley hitch compared to mine, whomever converted my double pulley hitch to a single pulley did a fantastic job. I’m on my belt that was installed new by me in 2005, and she’s just starting to show some wear. I ended up snow blowing for 12 hours this past storm and she didn’t even squeal once. 

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Great stories to hear guys but not so funny when they happened.  Related but unrelated, a guy at work thought he would be nice and snow blow his neighbors driveway cause he broke his leg.  So he heads over and start to snow blow the driveway with a regular snow blower. Well he had no idea that the neighbors dog run cable was laying in the driveway until the snow blower auger got entangled and started to lift the snowblower off the ground as the other end of the cable was attached to a branch 6ft up in a tree.  What a mess with the snow blower lifted off the ground.  Wish he had taken a picture!  To funny!

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I also would like a larger tractor but had this set up since 1995 and she has served me well.  I've done my fair share of repairs but she's a troopper.  Of cvourse with help from the guys on this site!

 

Thanks Dave

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There is an old post on here that discusses many mishaps & tragedies associated with snow bowing.  Josh using it to pre clean frozen dog feces from his yard before spring, the mouse story Dave is referring to & someone actually winding up a dog chain with the dog still attached.  If I were to have been that poor guy, it would have ended this hobby for me forever:(.

Found it!

https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/39185-funny-tractorsnow-blowing-stories/?tab=comments#comment-39188

https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/50445-what-did-your-tractor-eat/

 

Edited by ShaunE
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Couple of years ago my Chute broke off my 7116 42".

Even I could not figure out a way to rig it to finish the job. was at least 16" of snow. Was useless until I welded the broken part.

I had to get my old reliable 72 Ariens out to finish the job.

Ran over a 50 ft phone cord one time. That was awful. Coincidentally it was white.

My axle lock nut fell off my JD and I never found it. Was scared of running it through the blower until spring. Had no lock until I got another.

My father broke a shear pin on my 72 Ariens years ago, thought he would cheat and put a slit bolt. Well A hole in the engine block later, didn't work. I hope he learned something lmao

Edited by rockfangd
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Got a 12" snow around here that is a lot . At the time I had a 738 with a home made 36" blade on the front of it with wheel weights and chains. Was able to push my drive and sidewalk out with little effort. Now my neighbor was hard at trying to shovel his way out. He ask me if I could clear his drive. Now my neighbor was lets say  OCD about everything. I told him I would be happy to but my tractor chains could scratch his concrete. I don't think he had a clue what I meant and he said it would be okay. He was happy his drive was pushed out at the time. Weeks latter when the snow melted and the concrete was all dry he seen the scratches and had the nerve to complain to me about it I just told him I was sorry and smiled. That was over twenty years ago and now with my Sovereign with a blower I just stop at the property line and backup. Some times I'll drive out on the street and blow out the neighbor on the other side when he didn't have a snow blower it always made me laugh.

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I learned the hard way not to help a neighbor with cleaning out their drive without talking to them first. One time I did my next door neighbor's drive and stopped just short of a dog tie out cable. Something reminded me at the last minute and I just backed out. Another time I was clearing out the drive of the guy across the street. My blower was stopped dead in it's tracks but I was able to quickly shut off the PTO. His ferrel kids were playing with large rocks and left one in the driveway. About an 8" diameter rock.

I don't do favors for neighbors anymore unless I verify with them that I won't hit something. 

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Looking my Deere 47" blower over the other day, I had to laugh. I had bought it on-line from a dealer in Ohio. Noticed the shear bolt on one of the augers was sticking out a long ways. Looked again, someone had put in a carpenter TOGGLE BOLT!!! Guess whatever works when you need to keep going!
As for helping the neighbor:
My across-the-road (divorcee) neighbor has been fantastic for the 21 years we've known her. She keeps an eye on the house, chickens, & cockatiels when we are gone. Her grandparents had owned out house back in the day, and her family has adopted us.
In the last couple weeks we have gotten over 15" of snow. The county maintainer makes a pass to clear the roads but leaves 4' along the side. Our mailboxes are not cleared out as good. So today I'm clearing my driveway and go over to clear the mailbox approaches. No problem on mine, get to Molly's (where there is more like 7' width to move) and go under the box, next to the post. Raise the blower up and back up to take another bite. 
Her mailbox follows!! 
I had put a drift-cutter strip on the left side of the blower.
It caught her mailbox and split the (chinzy) post vertically, making the mailbox rather flimsy.
So after I was done with my driveway, I went over with a strip of plywood and reinforced the post to stabilize it. Nice & solid.
I called her and told her what happened and that I would replace the post in the spring. 
She later texted me and said it looked good, no need to replace it.Molly.jpg.8dbc122ae9dd6144c5afd74b76204639.jpg

Edited by Hick
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