My snowblower barely throws anymore. I have a roughly one inch gap between the edges of my Woods SS74 PTO driven snow blower impeller blades and the barrel. Getting ready to mount some conveyor belt "flaps" to close up that gap. To achieve the best performance and to prevent any form of clogging, any experience dictate which side of the impeller blade the flap should be mounted? Does it matter?
On another note, the SS74 is a fairly old beast, has anyone ever upgraded the impeller itself to a newer generation model; instead of putting flaps on?
Thanks in advance.
==========================================================================================
If the 2nd stage impeller paddles/impeller vanes are not bent back from impact damage the issue is moot as using conveyor belt to reduce the clearances will only work temporarily for you as the conveyor belt is not stiff enough to resist the impact damage.
The design of the American made and some Canadian made snow blowers is very poor in that the 2nd stage impeller paddles/impeller vanes do not have close clearances to the impeller housing and as a result the snow will build up and melt from the friction caused by the rotation of the impeller within the impeller housing and a ring of ice/slush forms and the end result is that the impeller is unable to clear the ice/slush ring.
You should check with your implement dealer to see if they offer an improved 2nd stage impeller with longer vanes/paddles to take up the space in the old impeller housing.
I would be more concerned with your being able to remove the impeller to install the wipers. The issue is going to be removing the impeller from the gearbox shaft extension as you will need to heat it for a long period of time to break the rust bonds on the impeller housings shaft bore and the shear key. It may be easier to rent an ice melting machine for water pipes to create the heat needed to break the rust bonds as smoke wrenches and old paint do not mix and the fumes are very toxic.
I will tell you that you need to either invest in a snow blower impeller kit for your 3 point hitch snow blower as it will be easier to mount the hard rubber flaps and the sheet metal plates that hold the hard rubber in place.
By using the softer rubber belting for round baling machines or old conveyor belt your going to see that it will not last as long and will be of little help over time as it is designed to bend and roll over large and small diameter conveyor pulleys and it will essentially become a weak snow broom.
You could purchase a small stall mat from tractor supply and do your own cutting using a very sharp carpet knife for the number of pieces you need for the impeller and then make use of a drill press to drill the mounting holes and a vise to drill the mounting holes in the impeller paddles; BUT, if you purchase an impeller kit for 3 point hitch snow blowers 90% of the work has all ready been done.
You just have to measure the inside diameter of the impeller housing and then you can measure and mark the mounting holes for the sheet metal plates that will hold the hard rubber pieces as the kits will have two sheet metal plates for each impeller paddle/impeller vane and also nylock nuts to hold the assembly in place on each impeller paddle/impeller vane.
If you decide to make your own impeller paddle/impeller vane wipers using a heavy cow stall mat you need to keep in mind that you will need 2 pieces of strap iron or heavy sheet metal(strap iron is preferred simply because you have a bigger 2 stage snow caster and you need either coarse thread nylock nuts and bolts or fine thread bolts and nylock nuts and flat washers for the nut side of each bolt.
The piece of hard rubber must be mounted on the top of the impeller paddle not the bottom.
When you look at the snow blower after you have the cross augers and the gearbox keep in mind that as you look inside the impeller housing you need to mark the top portion of the impeller paddle/impeller vane with a T before you remove it.
This is so you will be fully aware of where the rubber wiper must be located as the top portion of the paddle/vane is where the impact occurs before the snow is ejected through the chute and the steel or sheet metal plate holding the rubber mat prevents it from becoming torn from the impact AS LONG AS the bolts and nuts are properly torqued down. In saying that it is better to use fine threaded nuts and bolts as they have more gripping surface and ability to hold the rubber wiper and steel/sheet metal plate in place.
You could do this by removing the chute and spout but you will need long drill bits and lumber to hold the impeller in place while you do this but if you can remove it and put it in a vice you can clamp the sheet metal in place with vise grips and drill the holes using the dewalt 2 point metal bits which eliminates the need for a pilot hole as long as you have oil to lubricate the bits as they drill.
Be sure to wipe all the oil off or use alcohol to clean the metal completely as any leftover oil on the metal will cause issues with degrading the rubber.
