Snowblower Snowblower plugged up - 51" meteor

[swedish-fish]

I finally got to try out my blower last night on about 5" of lake effect snow. Admittedly, I'm a little dissapointed with the results... It didn't throw very far (about 6-10 feet) and it plugged up after about 5 minutes. After that it plugged up again very easily. The rest of the driveway was cleaned by using the FEL.

The snow was wet and packable and the conditions were such that the ground is warm enough that after making a pass, the blacktop is wet and bare yet the air temperature was mid twenties. The blower is a 51" Meteor brand several years old. I bought it used on ebay. The picture attached is the ebay picture because I haven't taken a photo of it. I got it for $570 so I'm not really complaining. Perhaps it will work better on a drier mid winter type snow. (What a strange year this is!) My previous experience with snowblowers is a single stage on the front of the wheelhorse which I think would have handled yesterdays snow much better.

I'm curious, what is typical for the clearance from the impeller to the wall? Mine is about .200" which may explain some of the limited throwing distance. Also, I'm wondering if any of you have treated the blower inside surfaces with an antistick treatment. Pam spray or graphite paint? It's clear the former owner had a gravel drive and the inside is a bit rusty.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[Tig]

Someone mentioned waxing the blower. Like you would skis. That seems like a once per season solution.
Was your PTO running at 540 RPM? How many horse power is your PTO.
I was also looking at the Meteor, but I would have hoped for better performance.

 

[MadReferee]

If you are running at PTO speed that unit should be throwing 5" of snow at least 25-35 ft, if not more. Blowers are designed to run at PTO speed. Any speed less will give sub-par performance.

In addition, the design of the fan, the fan shroud, and the chute will also deterime performance. About 2 years ago we had a long discussion here regarding this and the general consensus was that the fan clearance between the shroud and the angles of the chute as it comes from the shroud can have a striking effect on performance. A 1/8" clearance between the fan and shroud is plenty. Any more and it will effect performance. At almost 1/4" you are approaching what I would consider maximum. But still you should be throwing farther at PTO speed.

In any case, if you blower cannot throw 5" of snow at PTO speed then something is not right.

 

[HEC]

If we have less than 6 or 8" of snow I use the plow which I mount on the three point hitch as well . The problem I find is the blower likes alot of snow to perform well and throw it any distance.The waxing idea will help as I have done that also ,wet snow is harder to move for sure. I think you will find when you have some deeper dry snow and the correct pto speed as already mentioned you will be fine.

Good Luck

 

[swedish-fish]

...waxing. That sounds interesting. I think I'll try sanding the rust smooth and waxing it. Last time I was in tractor supply I think I saw some graphite filled paint which got me thinking.

I think meteor is a good name. This one may be beat up a bit more than usuall. I have it on a Yanmar 155D 4 wheel drive. It's only 15 HP, but should be able to handle this. The engine never came close to bogging down. The PTO can run at 540 and 770 RPM. The blower is made for 540, but I also tried 770 thinking I could get the tip speed a little faster to throw farther.

The clearance from the shroud to the fan may be the problem. Has anyone shimmed it with a piece of sheet plastic (non-stick)? I don't know how to get it stay, maybe some 3M double sided tape adhesive?

MadReferee, I grew up in NH. Are you anywhere near Peterborough?
Craig

 

[AndyMA]

Getting rid of any rust first is imperative. I had a Ford blower with a little rust and everything stuck to it. I sanded it very smooth, painted it and then sprayed it with silicon wax and virtually nothing stuck to it.

Andy

 

[jimmy1]

Swedish-Fish, I have a situation much the same as yours. I had a Wheel Horse 20hp with a 44" front 2 stage blower and used it for years. This year I sent that unit to my son in law and I bought a new 22.5 hp 3 cylinder diesel tractor with a brand new Smyth 60" snow blower. Only had one chance to use it so far and with conditions likely the same as you mention with wet snow and the ground still warm making it very packable and I was also disapointed with the performance. It did blow further than 10 feet but the blower is new. I am of the opinion that the odd year and snow conditions are what will be having the most effect on the performance and once real winter conditions set in it will improve. Will get a chance to try again this evening, we only have had our second snowfall this year that can be blown.

However any thing you can do to remove old rust and keeping it tuned up should help.

Jim

 

[53gravely]

If you've got rust in your chute (sounds painful) you need to either paint it (Leave some rust and use "rust killer" like 3M "Rust Avenger" or "Rust Reformer") and then enamel paint

Since it's too cold to paint now you might just sand all the rust then wax with car stuff (turtle wax) and/or get a skier friend to give you some warm weather wax--usually pink or yellow and rub it on then heat it in with a propane torch or heat gun. Then spray some Pledge furniture wax on top of it. Wouldn't hurt to clean and spray wax the business side of the impeller paddles, too. It's all about velocity.

Running PTO speed you should shoot snow an EASY 25 feet

De-wax this summer and paint it.

 

[MadReferee]

I grew up in NH. Are you anywhere near Peterborough?
Craig

I live near the Milford/Wilton/Lyndeborough town line just off rte 101.

Just to clarify, make sure your engine RPMs are set to whatever speed is required to get 540 RPM at the PTO. This could be anywhere from 2200 to 2800 RPM. The tractor engine was designed to run at these high RPMs all day long so don't be afraid to rev it up.

 

[PILOON]

As mentioned, rust makes for lots of friction.
I always paint my shute to keep a slick surface.

Last year I obtained some thin poly sheet stock (kids plastic 'magic carpets' would do) and lined my shute, BIG IMPROVEMENT.

Here the snow was so sticky that it simply bunched up til the weight of the pile forced it into the augers. That was heavy stuff.

 

[swedish-fish]

This is great. I appreciate all the insights!
After double checking (and actually measuring) the clearance between the fan and the shroud, .200" is the best case. Because the wall has been dinged up, some areas are more like .250"-.375" clearance!

I just purchased from a local plastic supplier a .125" thick scrap of UHMW PE sheet. So as an experiment, I'm going to try lining the shroud housing with it which will close up the gap and provide a slippery surface. I also got enough to line the chute if I want. Any ideas on how to attach this stuff? It doesn't bond all that well so I'm thinking I'll drill some holes in the metal and countersink some stainless flat head bolts into the polyethylene with a nut on the backside of the steel.

While I've got the impeller off I think I'll clean it up, prime and paint it. Since it's small enough to take inside and can do it in the warmth.

I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to painting previously rusted surfaces... is it better to thoroughly clean off every speck of rust, prime and paint or use a rust converter? Someone mentioned good enamel paint. I've also heard of epoxy paints and powder coat paints.

Thanks!

 

[turnkey4099]

Never used a big blower so the following observations apply to the smaller walk-behinds. I would think they would also apply at least somewhat to the big ones.

I too was disappointed with mine the first time I used it.

I found that it has to be crowding the snow to get a decent plume. The closer I can keep it on the governor, the better the plume. I did my drive yesterday in about 4" and had to run in top gear (6 speed). Any slower and the plume wasn't going very far. Keep the auger full.

The wetter the snow, the shorter the throw (and of course the quicker it will plug up).

I am on a state highway and they plow my drive in with snow off about 20 feet of their property and just leave the berm for me. My dinky little blower doesn't like that stuff that at best is packed powder. If it was wet when plowed, it is almost ice. That stuff will just barely go 2 ft or less.

Harry K

 

[dillo99]

My experience is that blowers work great when moving lots of snow....with less snow they don't throw as far and there is "fallback" of snow into the chute. When the snow is wet/heavy this quickly forms a plug that can't be thrown out of the blower.

I would think 5"s of snow is 'enough', but it probably depends on the size of the blower and some of the other conditions that are being discussed here (fan clearance, rust/other build up, etc.). Try it after we get a more significant snowfall and see how it does.

 

[MadReferee]

My experience is that blowers work great when moving lots of snow....with less snow they don't throw as far and there is "fallback" of snow into the chute. When the snow is wet/heavy this quickly forms a plug that can't be thrown out of the blower.

I would think 5"s of snow is 'enough', but it probably depends on the size of the blower and some of the other conditions that are being discussed here (fan clearance, rust/other build up, etc.). Try it after we get a more significant snowfall and see how it does.

My 64" Puma blower on a Kubota B2710 will throw snow just as far whether it is 1" deep or 5" deep or 12" deep. Of course heavy wet snow doesn't go as far but it should go alot farther than the original poster experienced. As I said before, you have got to run the engine at whatever RPMs are necessary to get 540 RPM at the PTO. If the engine needs to run screaming at 2800 RPM then run it at that RPM to get optimum results. You will not be hurting the engine one bit.

 

[rbargeron]

I just purchased from a local plastic supplier a .125" thick scrap of UHMW PE sheet. So as an experiment, I'm going to try lining the shroud housing with it which will close up the gap and provide a slippery surface.

Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene is a terrific material, very slippery and abrasion-resistant. Screws would probably hold it in place better than 2-sided tape, especially when little stones are in the mix. Take care, DickB

 

[swedish-fish]

Here's an update on the blower tweaks...

I've lined the blower housing with some 1/8" UHMW polyethylene to reduce the clearance and to provide a non-stick, abrasion resistant surface. I've also lined the circular tube on which the chute pivots. This is where the snow plugged previously. What a difference! I scraped all 3" of fluffy lake effect snow we got today into a pile about 16" high and backed into it at full 2540 RPM which gives me 540 RPM at the PTO. The blower worked much better! The snow went a good 20 feet. Now I'm looking forward to a real snowfall of a foot or more!

I've already promised my daughter that if we got a foot or more I'd blow all the snow in the backyard into a giant pile for her to climb on.

Here are some before and after pictures. I should also mention that I knocked down some of the rust in the chute with 36 grit sandpaper and threw some turtle wax on the chute and fan. Next summer I'll strip the wax and paint it with POR-15.

Pray for snow!
Craig