Homemade snowblower chute rotator and deflector

[Harrygoodwrench]

Bought a new 54" SB54 Meteor 3PH snowblower off season last spring. Was thinking about putting a hydraulic or electric chute rotator on it. After getting sticker shock at $1200. for the hydro motor and over $1000. for the electric motor and that didn't address the deflector issue. I decided there must be a reasonable way.
I decided on the winch system. I'm a Harbor Freight IT member and picked up a 2K Badlands winch for $38. Trouble is a winch only pulls in one direction. So it was either hook up a spring return system or make the winch pull both ways.
I removed the cable and redrilled the cable slot with a set screw to center the cable allowing it to be bidirectional pull.
Mounted on a fabricated plate, measure cable and secured both ends to the chute. Winch turns chute effortlessly and at a reasonable speed.
I bought a linear 12V motor on Amazon for $40. and put a bellows boot on it. Hooked up the electrics and as the deflector is a little slow it does the job.
We will see how well my new system works. Last year we got over 200" of snow so I'm hoping for the best.

 

[Cycledude]

What does your Meteor have for shoes ?
The shoes that came my 72 inch Meteor aren’t worth crap. Bought some aftermarket bolt on shoes last year but we didn’t get much snow so didn’t get to use the blower.
Mine came equipped with swivel and tilt.
Looks like you did a nice job rigging yours up hopefully it works out well for you.