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How well does a single stage snowblower work?

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Bar Nuthin
20 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said:

If anyone has any insight, I would glad to hear it.

 

Can you post some pictures? I've seen some posts where people were addressing wear or deformation of the augers - where they meet in the center to launch the snow.

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lynnmor

Sounds like PTO slippage to me.

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Ed Kennell
2 hours ago, BuffaloD200 said:

The auger seizes and the PTO spins and melts the belt

I think you found the problem.  It for sure won't blow snow if the auger isn't turning.

  Now figure out why the auger seizes under load.   Does the rotating  auger spin freely and does it contact the housing.

 

 

 

 

 

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squonk

I almost hit the street lights with a SS tall shoot.

 

 

 

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BuffaloD200
On 1/17/2025 at 4:57 PM, Bar Nuthin said:

 

Can you post some pictures? I've seen some posts where people were addressing wear or deformation of the augers - where they meet in the center to launch the snow.

I can do that.  I'll snap some pictures later tonight.

On 1/17/2025 at 7:17 PM, lynnmor said:

Sounds like PTO slippage to me.

The PTO is spinning great.  Too well - that's what is melting the belt.

On 1/17/2025 at 7:32 PM, Ed Kennell said:

I think you found the problem.  It for sure won't blow snow if the auger isn't turning.

  Now figure out why the auger seizes under load.   Does the rotating  auger spin freely and does it contact the housing.

 

 

 

 

 

What appears to be happening is the chute can't keep up with the volume of snow the auger is chucking at it.  Once the chute packs up the auger packs the back of the blower and stops the auger.  

 

I hadn't thought of the auger being out of whack, but that would make sense why its not sending the snow far away.

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Ed Kennell
1 hour ago, BuffaloD200 said:

the chute can't keep up with the volume of snow the auger is chucking at it.

May be time to recondition and repaint that chute with some good glossy slippery paint.   Do you have excessive gaps on the impeller.  Several of us have added rubber flaps to close the gags.  Pictures might show us a problem.

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lynnmor
2 hours ago, BuffaloD200 said:

 

The PTO is spinning great.  Too well - that's what is melting the belt.

 

I bought a new 520H in 1991, and quickly learned something.  My mower deck was slowing down, the PTO was still turning and the belt was slipping.  I called the dealer since it was brand new and he came out and adjusted the PTO, problem solved.  What happens is that a blade or auger turning slow will take a lot of torque to operate and the PTO or belt cannot deliver it but it can deliver some.  Think of it this way; a certain amount of work needs done, you can divide that into smaller chunks as the RPM increases.

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Ed Kennell
2 hours ago, BuffaloD200 said:

The PTO is spinning great.  Too well - that's what is melting the belt.

Can you take a picture of the belt and the PTO pulley.    If your belt is bottomed out in the pulley, It will slip.  The belt has to grip on the sides .

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BuffaloD200

 

 

 

 

The auger looks straight to me, but you guys are the experts.  

Admittedly that first pass was a little fast, but it shouldn't clog that easily.  You can see at the end of the video that this is cold fluffy snow, nothing heavy here.

I walked alongside in that last video.  Looked strong at first, but you can see it doesn't shoot far, then it clogged again.  

Very simple 2 pulley belt routing.  No way to incorrectly install.

 

Any help is appreciated 

 

 

IMG_20250121_162540374_HDR.jpg

IMG_20250121_174441837.jpg

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wallfish

If that front belt is for the blower , it's TOO small. You need to get the correct belt as that small belt will just simply slip easily in the pulley. It's bottoming out instead of gripping to the side walls of the pulley. Change it to a 5/8 wide belt

IMG_20250121_174441837.jpg.d910d9cc7a116d868236b92897d3db19.jpg.50a783efd338241ab286dd04baf09537.jpg

 

 

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Ed Kennell
On 1/20/2025 at 4:41 PM, Ed Kennell said:

Can you take a picture of the belt and the PTO pulley.    If your belt is bottomed out in the pulley, It will slip.  The belt has to grip on the sides .

That was an easy fix.   

 

 

Is it my old eyes , or is that auger actually running backwards in the first video?

Edited by Ed Kennell
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Ed Kennell

Is that small belt driving the blower or is this a shaft driven blower thru a gear box?

 

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Bar Nuthin
2 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

That was an easy fix.   

 

 

Is it my old eyes , or is that auger actually running backwards in the first video?

 

Sure looks that way from the video, but capturing rotary motion on video can be tricky that way.  It should definitely be pulling snow toward the center, not the outside.

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Ed Kennell
12 hours ago, Bar Nuthin said:

but capturing rotary motion on video can be tricky that way. 

Yeah, slow camera speed had all the wagon wheels turning backwards on old western movies.

 

For now we will assume the auger is turning opposite from the video and that tiny 1/4" belt  is slipping in that 5/8" pulley causing the auger to stop as soon as it feels a load.

Edited by Ed Kennell
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Handy Don
15 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Is it my old eyes , or is that auger actually running backwards in the first video?

That was my first thought, too! Once I saw that snow was, indeed, coming out of the chute, however, I realized it was an artifact of the frame rate of the video!

Also noticing:

- the pulley on the engine is looking kinda rough and will need a good dressing to prevent it from from chewing up the new belt

- a wider belt riding farther out on the pulley will speed up the auger action in addition to delivering adequate power

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Ed Kennell
3 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Once I saw that snow was, indeed, coming out of the chute, however

Centrifugal pumps will pump when rotating in the wrong direction.    At a very low efficiency of course.

 

He did state the auger is rotating CW viewed from the passenger side which would be opposite from the video.    So it appears to be turning in the correct direction but at a low speed or not at all due to the incorrect belt size that is slipping in the pulley.

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BuffaloD200
17 hours ago, wallfish said:

If that front belt is for the blower , it's TOO small. You need to get the correct belt as that small belt will just simply slip easily in the pulley. It's bottoming out instead of gripping to the side walls of the pulley. Change it to a 5/8 wide belt

IMG_20250121_174441837.jpg.d910d9cc7a116d868236b92897d3db19.jpg.50a783efd338241ab286dd04baf09537.jpg

 

 

I'm running the recommended 4L490W belt.  That pulley has two widths, a 5L & 4L.  I can try a 5L.  Maybe a 5L480W or 470 would fit kinda ok in there.  I'll bring one home tonight and test it.  Its not easy to get a view of the lower pulley, but I don't believe there's any space for a wider belt on it.

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BuffaloD200
15 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Is that small belt driving the blower or is this a shaft driven blower thru a gear box?

 

Belt to gearbox to shaft to chain.  Way too many connections.  

Snowthrower_48in_1973-74_6-7451.pdf

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Handy Don
8 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said:

I'm running the recommended 4L490W belt.  That pulley has two widths, a 5L & 4L.  I can try a 5L.  Maybe a 5L480W or 470 would fit kinda ok in there.  I'll bring one home tonight and test it.  Its not easy to get a view of the lower pulley, but I don't believe there's any space for a wider belt on it.

A dual-width pulley is a new thing for me. Interesting.

Yes, important to check the other pulleys in that drive to be sure the wider on will fit. I’m surprised that a 40+ inch blower would spec a 4L -- these are typically used to transfer less than 3 horsepower. That blower would need at least 8 (and probably 10 or 12) to really do its job.

Running a new belt farther out on the pulley means it’ll need to be LONGER than the 490, not shorter.

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BuffaloD200
42 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

That was my first thought, too! Once I saw that snow was, indeed, coming out of the chute, however, I realized it was an artifact of the frame rate of the video!

Also noticing:

- the pulley on the engine is looking kinda rough and will need a good dressing to prevent it from from chewing up the new belt

- a wider belt riding farther out on the pulley will speed up the auger action in addition to delivering adequate power

I could take a wire wheel or flap disc to that pulley and clean it up a bit

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BuffaloD200
1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

A dual-width pulley is a new thing for me. Interesting.

Yes, important to check the other pulleys in that drive to be sure the wider on will fit. I’m surprised that a 40+ inch blower would spec a 4L -- these are typically used to transfer less than 3 horsepower. That blower would need at least 8 (and probably 10 or 12) to really do its job.

Running a new belt farther out on the pulley means it’ll need to be LONGER than the 490, not shorter.

 

I'll throw a caliper on it and get measurements.  It certainly surprised me when I saw that in there.  Both of my D's have the same pulley.

Good call.  Wasn't thinking clearly there.  I'll grab a 500 & 510

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Handy Don
3 minutes ago, BuffaloD200 said:

I could take a wire wheel or flap disc to that pulley and clean it up a bit

I sometimes live on the wild side and have carefully used a strip of fine emory cloth wrapped around a piece of rope and “shoe shine" the sheave. Engine NOT running.

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BuffaloD200
On 1/21/2025 at 6:44 PM, wallfish said:

If that front belt is for the blower , it's TOO small. You need to get the correct belt as that small belt will just simply slip easily in the pulley. It's bottoming out instead of gripping to the side walls of the pulley. Change it to a 5/8 wide belt

IMG_20250121_174441837.jpg.d910d9cc7a116d868236b92897d3db19.jpg.50a783efd338241ab286dd04baf09537.jpg

 

 

I just installed a 5L500W.  I suppose it fits alright.  I did measure the width of the two pulleys - the one by the motor is about 21mm and the further is 17mm.

 

Tested it with the 5L and had the same results.

 

I just don't understand what could be the problem.

IMG_20250122_182336667.jpg

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wallfish

Is that thing spinning backwards?

Looking at the first video it can be deceiving sometimes but when you move to the side at about 12 seconds it looks more as though that chain on the sprocket is spinning it backwards. 

It should be spinning from the top to the bottom. Same direction as the tractor tires when moving forward.

Edit: Watched again and again. It's spinning backwards. It's forcing snow in the auger out to the ends instead of to the middle. Chain routing wrong? Again, I'm not familiar with the D series setup but no matter what it needs to spin the correct direction

Edited by wallfish
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TonyToro Jr.
13 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Is that thing spinning backwards?

Looking at the first video it can be deceiving sometimes but when you move to the side at about 12 seconds it looks more as though that chain on the sprocket is spinning it backwards. 

It should be spinning from the top to the bottom. Same direction as the tractor tires when moving forward.

Edit: Watched again and again. It's spinning backwards. It's forcing snow in the auger out to the ends instead of to the middle. Chain routing wrong? Again, I'm not familiar with the D series setup but no matter what it needs to spin the correct direction

:text-yeahthat:

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