Just had our first 15" snow out here in years. Used my trusty M Wards 30 yr old 2 stage to clear 100' drive .All was OK except machine kept clogging . I tried white grease, silicone, soap in the past. Not to good. Any suggestions? Frank
a good wax job and plow in first gear, stopping often to let it clear out.
Yes, all of the above, you may also have some rust that is causing drag. Sometimes it is not the fault of the snow blower, sometimes you have heavy wet snow at exactly the freezing point, once the snow blower starts moving it around at high speeds the snow starts to stiffen up and semi freeze like a slushie. When this happens, all you can do is try not to load up the blower by taking smaller slices of the snow, and be prepared for lots of cleaning out.
It is sort of like the first grass mowing of the spring season, where the grass is long, wet, juicy and clogs the mower every few feet. Don't you wish!
Call around for a product called Slip Plate common at farm stores, its a teflon type spray that really works even on your mower to keep grass from sticking, and your snow shovel.
Open the throttle wide open to fling the snow out of it.
I bought a 32 yr old Bolens this summer. There was a little rust in the chute so I sandblasted it out with a $10 HF gravity feed blaster and some play sand. Then I mixed up some fiberglass & laid a little in the chute. Followed up with a couple coats until all the texture in the cloth was gone.
We haven't had enough snow to really abuse it this winter, but I managed a few hours of blowing, and the fiberglass is secure & doesn't hold any snow.
Then I made the impeller improvement that Clarence sells for $30- Here's the address and some reviews;
$30 seems like a fair price, but I had all the parts lying within reach and wanted to recycle the rubbers off an old Toro single stage that just got a new pair.
This 7hp, 26inch blower now throws soupy slush all of 10 feet, and dry powder shoots out like the commercials for new Toros.
The only downside I can see with the impeller kit is that it probably strains the belt a little bit more.
Also, the way I put mine in, until they wear down a bit, they keep the impeller from turning in reverse to remove a stick or stone. I picked up a split 1x3 a foot long which made it to the impeller & I needed to use a six foot bar to relieve the tension enough to pull it back out.
Jim
Just remembered- Before doing *anything* else, be sure your belt is in good condition and that it is properly adjusted.
It might just be a replaceable spring and idler pulley on that one- That was common on Bolens, Ariens & some others of that vintage.
Jim
Ya, go slower.
s
"Frank" wrote in news:bp6dnSoFo4ZK0z7anZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
If it was a heavy/wet snow we always cut thru the snow only using about 1/2 of the auger area. It allows more room for the snow to move around.
I've found with my little unit, helps if I bump it into the snow, and pull the machine back quickly. Lets the engine get back to full speed.
As the other person writes, cut half the width of the machine. That also works well, for me.
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