Snowblower Mod

[Racinbob 11,045]

You saw it from the mirror of my truck first. Here it is in the bed. From the paperwork this looks to be a 2000 or 2001. I've been looking for a tall chute but I just couldn't find anything around here. This one was further away than I intended to drive but you rarely see these is this condition anymore. So I made the road trip to, of all places, Chambersburg, PA, and had the pleasure of meeting another member. @"Manic-Mechanic" Dave's a great guy and as you'd figure, frequently attends the big show. I would have liked to have had more time to chat as he's got some other cool toys.

I got back yesterday afternoon and just left it in the truck knowing that I wanted to do the usual routine service on it. There really isn't anything else it needs. I oiled up the chain and chute rotator and greased the two flange bearings. I also removed the pulley on the drive shaft, cleaned it up and reassembled with anti-seize. It wasn't util I loaded these pics on my puter that I noticed something that made me chuckle. I won't even tell you which pic. You tell me. 

 

Question for you guys. I often see these tall chutes with a deflector shield rising up about 6" from the bottom. Does this shield do much of anything? Obviously it would be a simple fabrication. 

 

 

 

[WHX?? 48,800]

Belt on wrong 1st pic.

[Racinbob 11,045]

It doesn't surprise me that it didn't take long. It's actually more obviously in the second picture. The belt is tied up in the first pic. I chuckled because all the time I was working on it I never noticed it. 

[Ed Kennell 38,043]

13 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

 I made the road trip to, of all places, Chambersburg, PA,

 

Well now,  I never thought I would see the day when  @Racinbob would resort to the tatics of some of his horse thiefing mid western mafia neighbors.     But, that is a good looking chucker and we really don't need them anymore here in the PeeAaa.

 

I did enclose the front of my tall chute and it did help to keept some snow from spilling out the front especially in light skimpy snows.

I don't think it increased the distance it could chuck it  and it didn't do much anything when blowing good heavy snow when the blower was kept full and working hard.

I did remove the wire guard in the chute.

 

[peter lena 8,588]

@Racinbob  looks good to me , a real rarity today , given its age . just something I  would add is the lubrication to that idler pulley frame , often neglected , but chassis grease in that solid rod to hole in frame  spot , lets that work easier and helps belt spin up . also recommend lubriplate  chain and cable lubricant on that auger chain . never let mine dry out , spray before and after use . chassis grease on the chute rotation gear ,  good luck with it , pete

[peter lena 8,588]

@Racinbob , easily added this chute rod round knob , makes use with mittens / gloves easier , pete

 

[squonk 41,040]

Mine doesn't have that deflector and under the right conditions I've hit the street light with the plume! 

[WHX?? 48,800]

I put the chute thingy on Bob just 'cause the other fellas did it. Piece of 6" stovepipe.  Didn't hurt but really didn't help either. In fact slush plugs it just makes it that much harder to clean. 

[Ed Kennell 38,043]

1 hour ago, Racinbob said:

I noticed something that made me chuckle

I find only about half of the blowers have the belt routed incorrectly.   But you have one of the rare blowers.  Around 95% of them have the side wings on up side down.

[Racinbob 11,045]

38 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

Well now,  I never thought I would see the day when  @Racinbob would resort to the tatics of some of his horse thiefing mid western mafia neighbors.     But, that is a good looking chucker and we really don't need them anymore here in the PeeAaa.

 

I did enclose the front of my tall chute and it did help to keept some snow from spilling out the front especially in light skimpy snows.

I don't think it increased the distance it could chuck it  and it didn't do much anything when blowing good heavy snow when the blower was kept full and working hard.

I did remove the wire guard in the chute.

 

 

I hate to admit it Ed, I've become a repeat offender. I hauled my 854 out of PA in 2018. I must have felt guilty on this one. I loaded the blower Saturday afternoon and drove to Bedford. Got up at 2:30 and was out of PA before daybreak. 

 

I going to make a shield and try it out. I noticed that on the slightly earlier (3900001+) used the wire guard. This one is a bit later (7900001+) and the wire was replaced with the solid guard. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, peter lena said:

@Racinbob , easily added this chute rod round knob , makes use with mittens / gloves easier , pete

 

Good info in that older thread. I don't understand all the fabricated lift assist springs though. I simply use the factory spring installed on the flag and it's a very easy lift. 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by Racinbob

[roadapples 6,983]

28 minutes ago, squonk said:

Mine doesn't have that deflector and under the right conditions I've hit the street light with the plume! 

A little but there is a u-tube video of  a guy throwing snow over his garage roof into the back yard. May be someone on here...

[WHX?? 48,800]

On the wire guard thing Bob mine saw a chuck of ice and got tossed in the yard. The missus then wrapped it around a mower blade in the spring.... just sayin... 

[WHX?? 48,800]

9 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

I hauled my 854 out of PA in 2018 but I was in disguise....  

 

[Racinbob 11,045]

Nancy thinks it's an improvement. 

[midpack 862]

Must be tall chute week!

I just got this last Saturday. Only had to drive 10 miles though. 

[rjg854 11,353]

The only thing I noticed was the deflector plates are put on the back side of the framework instead of in front.

[Racinbob 11,045]

51 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

The only thing I noticed was the deflector plates are put on the back side of the framework instead of in front.

Nah, Jim got it in post #2. The plates are supposed to be mounted on the outside per Toro/Wheelhorse. I don't see why it really matters though. 

[WHX?? 48,800]

2 hours ago, rjg854 said:

The only thing I noticed was the deflector plates are put on the back side of the framework instead of in front.

 

1 hour ago, Racinbob said:

Nah, Jim got it in post #2. 

  RJG

 

Gotta tell ya tho Bob after further review looks like you got a real nice one. Paint not even worn off... very little if any rust and auger has no dings and looks to be very good shape. Guessing you checked the idler sprockets and the chain. That's the wear points on these. Seems the small drive sprocket on the topside likes to contract hook teeth syndrome more so than the idlers or the auger sprocket so keep an eye on that. Most of mine have  the plastic cover busted off so no a problem. Petes got you covered on lubing. 

Edited March 1, 2022 by WHX??

[Cee245 818]

6 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

I did enclose the front of my tall chute and it did help to keept some snow from spilling out the front especially in light skimpy snows.

Yes he did.  Here is a pic of it... Lol

 

I actually like my tall chute more than my 2 stage.

It's mostly because of the extra weight of the 2 stage. The tall chute is easier to control and does well.

 

[briankd 817]

has anyone when replacing the chain sprockets run different sizes than stock to make the auger spin faster ?  maybe would do better throwing snow ? or waist of time ?

[pfrederi 17,683]

56 minutes ago, briankd said:

has anyone when replacing the chain sprockets run different sizes than stock to make the auger spin faster ?  maybe would do better throwing snow ? or waist of time ?

Before that just move the belt to the inner pulley see if it makes a difference

[Ed Kennell 38,043]

2 hours ago, briankd said:

has anyone when replacing the chain sprockets run different sizes than stock to make the auger spin faster ?  maybe would do better throwing snow ? or waist of time ?

Not the chain sprockets, but I did put a smaller drive pulley on the jack shaft .  Two things, the auger turns faster and you can remove/replace the belt without loosening the shaft bearings.

[Racinbob 11,045]

7 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Not the chain sprockets, but I did put a smaller drive pulley on the jack shaft .  Two things, the auger turns faster and you can remove/replace the belt without loosening the shaft bearings.

 

What size pulley Ed? Could you really notice the difference? 

[Ed Kennell 38,043]

53 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

 

What size pulley Ed? Could you really notice the difference? 

 

I don't have the blower to check Bob, @Cee245 owns it, but I think the factory is 5" and I went to 4.5".     My main reasons were one, to gain enough clearance to the housing to change the belt without looseninjg the jack shaft bearings.   And two, I run my P220 at 3200 because it just sounds so much better than at 3600.  So my smaller blower drive pulley  simply brings the auger  back up to factory design speed.      I don't have any evidence, but higher auger RPM should increase the performance of a single stage blower as it would for any  centrifigal  pump.

 

[rjg854 11,353]

14 hours ago, Racinbob said:

 The plates are supposed to be mounted on the outside per Toro/Wheelhorse. I don't see why it really matters though. 

I was told that not to long ago here on the forum, guess you can't believe everything you hear.