Starter motor re-design

pat32rf · Nov 25, 2008

I'm tired of trying to crank my sno-blower chute back and forth to compensate for wind and terrain so I originally took a power seat motor and worm, wired it up with a reversing switch where my hand rests and everything seemed good. Until things turned cold and sticky. Not enough power.
I then took a small (old 4cylinder) Lucas 12v starter motor and brought the windings out so I can reverse it with a set of relays. Too much power and speed, gonna rip the cable off the chute swing shaft.
This starter motor armature has two sets of windings, (4 brushes, two windings in parallel) and its been 40 years since my trade school series motor theory class so I am wondering if I should/could slow things down by disconnecting one armature winding, or would this give me a bunch of dead spots where nothing would happen when I hit the switch???
Any ideas out there?
What I would like to do is find that hydraulic salt spinner motor that is SOMEWHERE in my barn, but that won't happen until next spring when I clean up out there....;-)

groundcover · Nov 25, 2008

Wonder if you could slow it down with lower voltage,some kind of rheostat or dimmer ?

Groo · Nov 25, 2008

try to recreate the double pull cable setup that new snowblowers use.

BobRip · Nov 25, 2008

Bring in a six volt battery, that will reduce torque and speed. Charge it through a resistor from the main battery. A series resistor will also help. You will have to try both to see what's best.

pat32rf · Nov 25, 2008

The motor turns a shaft with cable around it, which then goes to the chute to turn it.
If I use a resistor it would have to be large enough to carry starter motor amperage, but I could hook up an additional 6 volt battery in reverse polarity. This would give me 12v-6v=6 volts to the motor and the battery would never need to be charged. Used to do this with a portable 6v radio back when I had my first car.......
Will try it tomorrow....

Groo · Nov 26, 2008

what type of blower is this?

I think using just 1 set of windings would work.

a better option might be to use a cordless drill.

CCWKen · Nov 26, 2008

I routinely convert old 6v starters to 12v but never went the other way. Why not just clean the old grease out of the power seat gear box and put in some dry lube? White lead is extinct now but graphite or zinc talc would work. It won't get gummy in cold temps. You might check the motor bearings too. A good washing and re-lube with light oil should do the trick.

pat32rf · Nov 26, 2008

I bought it used ($300) and can't find a name tag. Its a 5' two stage that the previous owner had on a 60hp Massey. I rebuilt(?) and painted it as it had been over powered by the 60hp. I have seen similar units around but none where I could get a make, not that it matters....
The chute is adjusted by turning a crank which pulls a cable wrapped around the chute. Once the chute builds up with snow and ice it gets harder to turn and I have a hilly winding driveway that requires constant addjustment due to wind currents, flower beds, buildings and walk areas. The driveway has many places where you can only put snow on one side. (preferrable the downhill side).
The old crank system was rigid and rode up and down with the blower as it followed the ground contours and is hard to reach thru the ROPS.
The tractor sits outside all winter so when it snows, melts, freezes, the collar that the chute rotates in starts out all iced up.
The Lucas starter should work, I just want to slow it down a bit without adding a gearbox or chain reduction.(more moving parts to adjust, wear, lubricate) I want to direct couple the motor shaft to the crank shaft but the starting torque is too much.
A 12v cordless drill (powered by the tractor battery)might work but would be just as hard to reach as the old crank, plus would be outside in the weather all winter. I can't see it lasting long....

Groo · Nov 26, 2008

I was thinking more of having the drill motor switches remote mounted.

if you realy want to do it right you could do something with hydraulics or something like a boat stearing system.

like I said earlier; go look at the stick contoled systems on new walkbehind snowblowers.