Blower Chute Cover on Single Stage High Chute??

[Wyattrrp 59]

Would adding a chute "cover" (as called for in the 2 stage blower chute) around the front of the chute opening on a high chute single stage be a problem? I had a short chute blower for a few years and this year have a high chute but I noticed if the chute is facing forward some of the fine snow (10%?) blows pretty much straight upward out the front of the chute. Most snow hits the top chute deflector and creates a decent snow path to where ever the chute is aimed. However this snow that is thrown vetically out the front, just enough to miss the deflector, tends to blow back onto the tracotr (and driver). No cab yet! If the chute is almost 90 deg Rt or Lt, all the snow hits the inner sides of the chute and blows cleanly out the top with no blowback.

Would adding a curved sheet metal "cover" to close in the front of the chute opening for 7-8 inches high, like the 2 stage has, force that portion of the snow wanting to fly out the front, to hit the cover and continue upward to the curved part of the top of the chute, along with the rest of the snow, cause any other problem? I know when it was a slushy wet snow I had some clogging of the opening and perhaps that would be worse with a cover. So I was thinking of having a cover held by hitchclips for ease of removal. The high chute came with a V shaped wire in this same area I assume to help stop the driver from sticking hands into the chute. I would remove that and of course i would never leave the PTO running when dismounting the tractor to clean the chute. It shuts the power off anyway and I always blow alone.

ANyway just wondering if anyone has done this and knows the dimensions of the cover that would work or whether there is some other issue witth doing this.

Thanks

Wyatt

[can whlvr 993]

sounds like you have though of it pretty good,i think your right about being able to take it off,if you this mod let us know how it works and pics too

[smoreau 658]

I have that problem with my tall shoot also. You might be on the rite track.

[Workin_Horses 14]

I recently picked up a single stage with the exact setup you are talking about.... The blower I bought was model number 79263 for the 200 series tractors but I am just taking the tall chute off it an putting in on my short chute blower that I have mounted on my 520H.

I haven't had enough snow to try it out yet but I can get you some pictures tomorrow.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,131]

Perhaps a piece of truck mudflap or conveyor belt could be used as a test?

[Wyattrrp 59]

Thanks for the feed back. When I get some time I am going to try adding this mod. Not sure I can test it soon since it hit 53 F Tues and we got 1.5 inches of rain yesterday so there is only an icepack around my yard!

Interestingly, I was reading other posts in this forum and see Jachady posted a topic on Jan 22 called NEW MODIFICATION TO THE SNOWBLOWER and he has photos. He had a 2 stage blower that he had to sell. Surprisingly that photo shows his 2 stage did not have the cover I am talking about. In the FILES section on this site, there is a 2 stage blower manual OM 3319-675 that shows in Fig 6 a Disharge Chute Cover with no dimensions. Jachady liked the tall chute on the sold blower so he bought a cheap vertical shaft blower with a tall chute off CL and took the chute off and switched his other blower low chute with the tall chute. In his photo of the tall chute installation, there is the cover that I am discussing installed on that tall chute. Not sure if it came off a single stage but I assume it did if he bought the blower for only $100. Maybe this was installed on later model 2 stage blowers since the manual is dated 1999.

What makes me think this would be a welcome addition to stop that snow from shooting out upward in front and not satying within chute is that turning the chute about 75 deg either side, all the snow stays inside the chute and discharges cleanly out the top in that direction. That is because when turned, the side of the chute is actually in front of the circular opening at the base of the chute so the snow hits the side of the inside and travels up to the top.

The cover does not need to extend all the way up the chute. Only tall enough so the snow thrown forward by the spinning auger hits it and redirects it upward and not forward.

Thanks again.

[Kelly 1,029]

For a test I would try some roof flashing, comes in a roll (alum.) easy to work with, smooth, and you could use hose clamps/band clamps to hold it on, be worth a try, I havn't even hooked the blower up this year plowed 2 times, it's snowing like heck right now but only calling for 2" and high winds.

[Wyattrrp 59]

Kelly

They say great minds work alike. When you sent this note I was in the workshop and I found a roll of 12 inch aluminum flashing and was in the process of cutting a temp chute cover to get the dimensions right with this easy to use material. I note that because the chute leans forward, the bottom of the cover must be cut on an arc so this curved cover plate can sit on the rotating base of the chute and lean forward, edges at mid poit of the chute base sides and the middle of the cover bottom cut shorter to sit on the front of the rrotating base. So I cut the first curved bottom edge attempt then had to leave for the day. I will work on it in the AM. It is not as simple as a rectangle 8" high x 10" wide. This flashing can be a template to use for the thicker sheet metal that I have for the permanent fix. Trick will be bending it to make the chute cover round so as not to crimp the snow path as I am limited in metal shaping tools..

Looking on Toro Parts Viewer and the SmithFarmandGarden.com sites parts diagrams for many years from 1988 to 2005 and I didn't see any bl;owers with this chute cover. Not sure how Jachady's high chute had this cover unless someone else made it from scratch. Even the model 79361 44" 2 Stage Blower that the files section hast eh manual showing the cover, in the parts diagrams they show that bent wire hand protector instead.

Will let all knot what the final dimensions are for creating this cover once I have a decent final working part.

Wyatt

[TT-(Moderator) 1,131]

This should help

Deflector shield P/N 94-9787-01 (number 19 on the drawing)

You should definitely be able to make one for a lot less money than the OEM part.

[Wyattrrp 59]

Thanks Terry

I forgot I had a link to Parts Tree. This is a different view and shape of that cover than in the 2 stage manual. Shouldn't be hard to make this and it certainly wont cost $52 plus shipping. Just for an 8" x 10" bent piece of tin.

Wyatt

[Wyattrrp 59]

Kelly

Hope you survived the Storm today !

Because I have a 48" Plow on the C-125 and a 42" Blower on the 312-8, both parked in the garage facing out ready for some snow, I tend to plow anything less than 4 inches and leave a row of snow along the edge of paved driveway. Driveway is about 200 ft long circular varying 15 to 25 ft wide with another 40' x 20' segment to the garage. Also a grass path to my barn about 100 ft x 12 ft. For even a 2" storm it piles up along the edge in a decent windrow. Especially at the intersection of the garage side drive where it widens quite a bit. Instead of pushing small storms onto the lawn with the plow, I take the blower out and blow the windrow onto the lawn with a single pass of the blower. I would rather not peel the edge of grass back with the blade and the blower makes sure there is plenty of room for future storm by moving it back 15 ft with no lawn damage. Plowing and leaving it along the edge, if we actually get any snow this year, would keep making the driveway narrower when it creates a higher and deeper bank around the edge of grass. Less than 3 inches isn't worth blowing and above 4 inches is best to blow entirely.

That is my story and I'm sticking to it. Makes for more seat time and keeps the battery charged on both machines!!!

Wyatt

[Workin_Horses 14]

Here are a couple pictures of the shield on my single stage blower

[sorekiwi 761]

Interesting thread, I am eagerly waiting for you to try this out. I have the same issue with the snow blowing back on me when blowing straight ahead, and older I get, the more I hate it!!

The piece shown in Justins pic looks as though it is cut straight across the bottom, and sits vertically inside the stack. It appears to be postioned jut a little different to the one in Jachady's post

[Wyattrrp 59]

Thanks for the closeup photos of the chute cover. That helps a lot.

I was thinking it should not restrict the size of the chute, so as stated above, to keep the cover running parallel to the chute it had to lean forward like the chute does and to do so it needed a curved bottom. Instead it is clear on your cover they kept the bottom square which makes the cover vertical and it closes the opening about 1 1/2 inches at the top, thereby directing the snow straight up making it hit the back of the chute all the better. Also makes it easier to just cut a rectangle and bend it.

This site is great with all the shared ideas.

Thanks

[jachady 130]

After using the tall chute on my single stage, I was thinking about making a modification as well. I was going to make the chute cover taller, it still seems to lose some finer snow out the front of the chute. I was going to add a few inches to the top and cut it back as needed if it clogged.

[Wyattrrp 59]

I have made a thin aluminum flashing cover that matches what you and Justin seem to have, but I modified it so it will attach using the holes where my current Wire Guard mounts, so I won't have to remove the chute bolts to remove the cover. The Wire Guard has holes in front of the chute mount side bolts whereas the Toro cover uses the chute bolts to attach it.

If I use short bolts and wingnuts it will be easy to remove if the snow is really wet and slushy so it wont clog, but keep it in place for the fluffy snow where I get blowback when the chute is facing front.

Once I make a thicker metal functional copy I will post dimensions. FYI the front bottom has to be curved to else it sits so far into the chute it blocks half of the opening.

Wyatt

[Wyattrrp 59]

I made the final cover and it fits great and can be detached with wingnuts with no removal of he chute. .

I am trying to post dimensions and photos of the build but I guess I am not smart enought to upload photos from Flicker on Yahoo that I already had a membeship. Can someone give me a hint how to link those Flicker photos to this thread?

Thanks

[Wyattrrp 59]

I read the forum telling how to use Photobucket but if possible I'd rather us flicker if I dont need to join another of the many photo sites.

Thanks

Wyatt

[Wyattrrp 59]

Finally figured how to use flicker with photos so here goes.

Here is the finished High CHute Cover. It is made from 22 gauge sheet metal from TSC and final product is very sturdy, almost as stiff as the chute sides and fits pretty much like those shown on the photos in this thread. I opted for wingnuts with independent holes for easy removal, so it is dimensioned to bolt on using the holes already there for the Vee shaped wire guard. To attach it using the chute side bolts, just extend the sides another inch or 1 1/4". Note the left wingnut does clear above the gear drive.

The tall chute leans forward 1" for every 4" of height. If the cover has a square bottom it will be vertical and stick too far into the chute opening. I tried this with the square top down and it went deep into the chute. So it is my opinion the cover must lean forward about half as far as the chute shown here.

To make it lean forward the bottom of the cover needs to be trimmed to form an arc about 1/2" high in the middle. The curved bottom tips it when the entire bottom is sitting flat on the gear ring. I made a mockup first with thin aluminum flashing and by trial and error I came up with the dimensions shown on the dimensions diagram below. I used the tin as a template to mark the thicker sheet metal for final product. To get the large radius bottom arc I used a metal yardstick and bowed it sideways until the curve made the 1/2 inch rise in the middle of the bottom and touched the outer bottom corners..

I see this keeps coming up too small to read well so I included it as an attachment file as well. I hope you can then read it and print it ok.

Ignore the clipped corners. That was an interim cut.

Here is the finished template flattened out again. You can see the fold lines which should have a tight crease and the cliped lower corners to miss the side chute bolts.

Here you can see those side bolts and the 2 bolt heads that the bottom slots are cut to let the cover go over the bolts. I tried to keep it inside those two lower bolts but it would only work if you attach to the chute side bolts and nto the wire guard holes I am attaching to.

Looks like I need a little touch up paint?

Here are a couple views of the finished product.

Just need a coat of paint or two.......Then some snow to see how much better this functions. Mounted it looks to me to be about the same as the Toro covers. However Jachady mentiions he might like it taller as some snow still bypasses his after he swapped a tall chute with this cvoer onto his single stage. I am a bit leary this will clog mor if wet snow so I have a quick removal before starting to blow if it is wet. Because the sides are bolted so the bottom corners are snug to the baseplate and the front ttouches the plate as well, tugging on the front realy doesn't move it hardly at all so I am not afraid of snow damage to this 22 gauge metal. BTW I used pamn head bolts but hex bolts would not interfere with snow as the heads are actually outside of the base plate opening so that might be better in case need to get a wrentch on a rusted bolt to remove the wingnuts after wet conditions.

One last photo of my small herd of workers. Maybe not beauties but they pull their weight around here......

[Kelly 1,029]

Looks like it turned out very nice, now all you need is snow, we got about 5" in the last 48 hrs but today it was upper 30's tomorrow near 50 and 40's the rest of the week, never seen a winter like this.

[GerryW 0]

I have that shield on the tall chute I made for my Vermonster. As with Ray in Northern MI I have found it works great UNLESS your into wet, sticky snow, then it tends to increase the possibility of clogs within the chute assem.

Your mod looks great and I hope it works well for you.

Gerry

[sorekiwi 761]

Very nice, I'm eagerly waiting for results of your first test with it!

[Wyattrrp 59]

Yes, just need snow to give it a try. Big storm from Michigan heading for Mass tonight. Predicting from a dusting up to 1" for my area. Last year at this date I had to shovel the snow bank tops along my road frontage to lower them as I could not see to exit the driveway. Today? GREEN grass. Next few days high 40's too!

Looking into the uncovered chute opening you can see if the auger is spinning, centrifical force will shoot most snow up the chute but some snow can also fly out the front, so this cover should redirect most of that snow upward. There must have been some reason they added this cover to later year blowers!

[Wyattrrp 59]

Finally first test with the front chute cover. It worked well in the heavy damp snow last week. Not real slushy so not sure it will cause more chute blockage with crappy shlush. But for the heavy wet snow when chute turned 30% I could see it forced more snow up the chute and not vertical with blow back. We got 6 inch wet snow March 1. This was a positive Mod for reduced blowback factor. Well worth the small effort to make one for $10.

Wyatt

[Forest Road 594]

Hhhhm I removed mine after a couple clogs. Now you have me second guessing myself. Unfortunately we haven't had any snow to test. Hope it works out for you.