Snow thrower conversion

[WHGuy413 2,683]

My dad works as a machinest in the big college locally. He was up at the scrap yard one day and found this almost brand new toro wheel horse snow thrower. I didn't really look at it cause he wanted to give it to my brother in law with his last wheel horse but then he bought a JD. Now he's gettin the 310 I picked up the other day. I went to my dad's to get the thrower and realized it wasn't ment for a 310 style tractor. I ran the serial number and it turns out it is ment for a 260 series toro. Well after doing some digging in my parts pile I have every piece I need to convert it to fit. So between my parts and my dad's fab skills we might have it up and running by this weekend storm so I can put it through its paces before I deliver it to him.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Shouldn't take too much for the conversion and those tall chute singles are just as good as the 2stage except for DOT plow banks and the wettest of snows good luck.

[peter lena 8,583]

great pick up on that, now is your chance to detail its revival, my own experience is alignment issues and lubrication at every contact friction point, when you get it ,the ease and speed of operation is very good. the spring tension pulley frame, between blower and pto drive , should be lubricated so it can easily follow the spring tension, I regularly spray down auger chain and gear drive  with  LUBRIPLATE  CHAIN AND CABLE SPRAY, BEFORE AND AFTER USE. IT STANDS UP AND IS MADE FOR EXTERME AREAS. I also get after the chute base lubrication for easy direction. just using it and watching how it works will leade you to making slight improvements on it, mine seamed to just shake off the sluggish operation with the detailing , an  now it works with total ease and speed. good luck on it , pete   

[WHGuy413 2,683]

1 hour ago, peter lena said:

great pick up on that, now is your chance to detail its revival, my own experience is alignment issues and lubrication at every contact friction point, when you get it ,the ease and speed of operation is very good. the spring tension pulley frame, between blower and pto drive , should be lubricated so it can easily follow the spring tension, I regularly spray down auger chain and gear drive  with  LUBRIPLATE  CHAIN AND CABLE SPRAY, BEFORE AND AFTER USE. IT STANDS UP AND IS MADE FOR EXTERME AREAS. I also get after the chute base lubrication for easy direction. just using it and watching how it works will leade you to making slight improvements on it, mine seamed to just shake off the sluggish operation with the detailing , an  now it works with total ease and speed. good luck on it , pete   

I don't believe alignment will be a problem with my dad in the mix. He won't let anything leave the shop til it's just perfect lol

[WHGuy413 2,683]

Hit a minor snag tonight working on the snow thrower. I have the drive rod that has the belt pulley on one end and gear for the drive chain on the other. On the old wheel horse shafts the gear had a keyway and set screws to hold it in place. The new style has been welded. Walked the shaft to my dad's house and he took a quick look at it and he quickly knew what he was gonna do. 

 

He also made me a pair if lift flags for my stash of parts. He is gonna make some pins for them. This picture was of them before he added the rod to them. My camera on my phone is busted so that's all I have right now.

 

I also noticed that the main drive shaft for this blower runs a lot lower then on the old wheel horse throwers. I'm hoping. A belt a little longer will solve this problem. I am also gonna go the lift assist spring to help my bil out.

[cleat 5,809]

Lift flags look great.

 

They should (and your original should) have the pins welded into place.

 

That holds everything more rigid to reduce wear on things.

 

Here are a couple of pics showing the orientation of the welded pins.

 

 

Cleat

[WHGuy413 2,683]

They will be. Dad made the pins today. I couldn't get a angle grinder into cut the bracket for the bearing and drive shafts so the mechanic at work hit it quick with the the plasma. Only cost me a 6 pack. Got the extended drive shaft and bearings assembled and welded it all back where it needs to be. Tomorrow after ice fishing I will work on determining where the idler needs to be mounted and figuring out if it's gonna need a different sized drive belt. 

[WHGuy413 2,683]

They will be. Dad made the pins today. I couldn't get a angle grinder into cut the bracket for the bearing and drive shafts so the mechanic at work hit it quick with the the plasma. Only cost me a 6 pack. Got the extended drive shaft and bearings assembled and welded it all back where it needs to be. Tomorrow after ice fishing I will work on determining where the idler needs to be mounted and figuring out if it's gonna need a different sized drive belt. 

[WHGuy413 2,683]

Had to make a trip to dad's shop to drill out the holes for the idler since this model didn't come with it. Here are a few pics. Headed out to dinner with the family then probably to get that all squared away and figure out a belt size.

 

Brought the my youngest. He loves building stuff. He fits right in with grampy.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Sweet shop, where I work is dirty not clean like that, I would be in "heaven" you are lucky to have a dad with all those "toys" , Jeff.

[WHGuy413 2,683]

I am very lucky. He has built or fixed many wheel horse parts for me over the years. He can build anything. He is gonna be lost when he retires. Me too!

[WHGuy413 2,683]

I ended up getting sick with a wicked cold this week and finally kicked it enough to play around with the blower. I found a drive belt that kinda fit drove it out lined it up on some snow and tried going. Found out it spins the wrong way. I never took In to account that this spins different since it came off of a vertical shaft wheel horse. Been trying to figure out how to make it work. Dad's on a mission to figure it out before I do lol. Good news is my brother in law finally saw the 310-8 this weekend and love's it. 

 

Any one ever covert a snow thrower meant for vertical shaft tractor to one for a horizontal one? I can't be the first person to do this.

[wallfish 16,985]

You're on the right track. The chain route around the auger is exactly how the correct one does it. You can pick up #40 idler sprockets and chain at Tractor Supply if you need them.

Never had a vert blower so have no idea what parts are already on there or not on there.

[cleat 5,809]

Roller chain routing is how the reverse direction happens.

 

Here is a couple of pics showing what you need to do.

 

 

Cleat

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

I believe you'll need one of these too ,the chute crank support, after you get it spinning the correct direction...

[WHGuy413 2,683]

3 hours ago, wallfish said:

You're on the right track. The chain route around the auger is exactly how the correct one does it. You can pick up #40 idler sprockets and chain at Tractor Supply if you need them.

Never had a vert blower so have no idea what parts are already on there or not on there.

Yeah I had to go out and look at the snow thrower for my wife's commando 8. It has 4 gears. The vert shaft thrower has only 3 and it is in a different location.

[WHGuy413 2,683]

2 hours ago, cleat said:

Roller chain routing is how the reverse direction happens.

 

Here is a couple of pics showing what you need to do.

 

 

Cleat

Thanks! Although I was able to get the correct routing off my wife's thrower for her commando 8.

[WHGuy413 2,683]

36 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

I believe you'll need one of these too ,the chute crank support, after you get it spinning the correct direction...

That part will be easy. Gotta make it spin correct first.