Snow blower power ratings

1 foot-pound is closely equal to:
  • 1.3558179483314 newton meters A newton metre is dimensionally equal to a joule

A joule is the energy exerted by a force of one newton acting to move an object through a distance of one metre

1 joule is equal to:
  • 1×107 ergs (exactly) * 6.24150974×1018 eV (electronvolts) * 0.2390 cal (thermochemical gram calories or small calories) * 2.3901×10-4 kcal (thermochemical kilocalories, kilogram calories, large calories or food calories) * 9.4782×10-4 BTU (British thermal unit) * 0.7376 ft·lbf (foot-pound force) * 23.7 ft·pdl (foot-poundals) * 2.7778×10-7 kilowatt-hour * 2.7778×10-4 watt-hour * 9.8692×10-3 liter-atmosphere * 1×10-44 Foe (exactly)

Units defined in terms of the joule include:

  • 1 thermochemical calorie = 4.184 J * 1 International Table calorie = 4.1868 J * 1 watt hour = 3600 J * 1 kilowatt hour = 3.6×106 J (or 3.6 MJ) * 1 ton TNT = 4.184 GJ * Hiroshima's "Little Boy" (12-15 kt TNT) = 50-63 TJ
Reply to
Van Chocstraw
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The difference between a side valve and overhead valve engine of any displacement in any application is generally considerable. It IS a factor, as anyone who is fammiliar with small engines will know.

Reply to
clare

The same machine was available with 3 different engines from Canadian Tire and anyone who sold the Noma line of blowers.

Same was true of Sears equipment of the same time period.

MTD built snow blowers about 5 miles from my home and a good friend was the Canadian parts manager. They built 3 differen blowers on the same "chassis" - with the same auger - as well as several variations with the same "chassis" and larger or smaller augers, each with different power options as well. This is going back a while, so the actual sizes and horsepower may not be 100% accurate - But my memory for this stuff is generally pretty good. Small frame 20, 22, and 24 blowers, medium frame 24, 26, and 28" blowers and large frame 28, 30, and 32 if I remember correctly. Something like that anyway, and the 22 was avaialble as 3, 4, and 5 hp, on the small frame. The 26 was available as 5, 8, and 10 on the medium frame. and the medium sized large frame was available as at least a 10 and a 12.

The current situation with the "big box" stores may well have changed (I'm talking Home Despot and WallMart and their ilk) but most lawn and garden equipment dealers and large hardware companies still have more options. At Canadian tire you still have the option of side valve or OHV engines on the same frame with the same auger - or at least did have for the 2008/2009 season. The lower priced unit had the old side-valve engine. If it wasn't a holiday up here tomorrow I'd go check out the displacement vs torque specs on the 2 different style engines and put this to rest.

Well, for those who don't believe there is a difference and can't understand why there is a difference, and have their minds already made up, I guess it woudn't change anything - so why should I waste the time or effort.

Reply to
clare

And I wouldn't buy major power equipment from the "despot" anyway. For virtually the same price you can buy DECENT equipment from someone who KNOWS the product and will be there to supply you with service and repair parts when needed.

The Ariens line is pretty top notch stuff (or at least it was when I was in the business) Worked for an Ariens dealer for several years back when I was a young feller. Back then Ariens, Hahn, and Jacobsen were the big players in the quality lawn mower and snow blower business up here.

Today Honda has a good hold on the business, with Toro and Ariens still definitely holding their fair share. Briggs and Stratton, having absorbed Murray pretty well own the lower middle end of the spectrum, with MTD/YardWorks taking up the slack below.

You generally can't go too far wrong buying Ariens, particularly from a reputable dealer with good service facilities.

Reply to
clare

Wow- you folks up north sure do have a lot more choices than we do down here, leastways if we don't want to take a weekday off to shop. I am curious, what price does a typical 24" 2-stage run up there?

BTW, I didn't buy mine at the Borg. I bought it off Craig'sList, essentially brand new, from a small-framed fellow who was pretty clearly scared of it. 100 bucks cheaper than new, which was around 600 at the time. I did do a lot of shopping around though, at least at the places that were open on Saturday around here. Only difference between brands seemed to be color and decals. The 'Fisher-Price' rubber-auger singles, the 24", and the 26", all had a single model available. I'm sure that if I was doing driveways for a living, it wouldn't hold up as well as a thousand-dollar machine, but for my little 20x60 driveway, it seems to be holding up fine. And my back feels a whole lot better in winter.

-- aem sends....

Reply to
aemeijers

Currently Canadian Tire has 2 24" blowers listed online. The Troybuilt is 1149.99 and the yardworks is 999.99 Both use the Powermore 208cc OHV engine. The Troy has"power steering."

They also have a Yarworks with single speed - down and dirty cheapest thing MTD could throw together, with the same engine for 769.95

Looks like with the death of Tecumseh the L-head engine option (the old snow-king) is gone. For the first time I also only see one HP per blower width - on 2 brands listed on their site.

Home harware has both a 26 and 28 inch TORO with 250cc Briggs. 24"

1599.99 and 28 inch with fingertip steering at 1899.99

Sears Canada has Craftsman 24" with 208cc Storm Force OHV (9 ft lb ) (6 HP) for 899.99 Also 24" 208cc Powermate engine for 999.99 Also for 1099.99 a 249cc 11.5 ft lb (8 HP) Briggs on the 24" blower.

Then they have both 27" and 30" with 305cc Briggs 14.5 ft lb (10 HP) for 1699.99 eachIn the 27 inch size they also have 249cc briggs for

1199.99 and 999.99, as well as Briggs OHV 13.5 ft lb (9 HP) for 1299.99 and a Poulan Pro 291cc 12.4 ft lb (8.5HP)

So it is obvious they are still building and selling the same machine with different engine options - both HP and valve configuration..

Looking at Briggs specs, the 205cc Intek OHV is 7.5HP compared to

249cc for the flathead 8HP.

The OHV Snow line has a 342cc, 20.85cu inch series at 16.5 and 15.5 ft lb (10.6 and 11.3HP) as well as a305cc (18.6 cu inch) at 13.5 and 14.5 ft lb (9.25 and 9.9 hp), the 249 at 11.5 and 11 ft lb, and the 205 at

8 and 9 ft lb (5.5 and 6HP)

THe engines referred to as "power mate" are COLEMAN engines.

The "Storm Force" engine is a Chinese LCT engine. The "Powermore" is also a cheap chinese engine - a cob-rough copy of a Honda, used by MTD on their "value lines"

So, More than you ever wanted to know about SnowBlowers and engines in Canada.

Reply to
clare

Absolutely not a consideration in a snowblower engine, which is run at two speeds. Stopped and Full Throttle.

Don't bother with a reply unless it actually applies to snowblower engines specifically. Hint: Snowblowers are not motorcycles.

Reply to
salty

The engines are NOT the same on the snow blowers. Some have Briggs and Stratton, some are Tecumseh and others are Honda powered. Finding the size that I need in measurements that I am not familiar with is the problem. Buying a size that is not up to what I require will inevitably result in the machine being inadequate for the job at hand.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

My old machine was a 26 inch with an 8 HP Tecumseh engine. It was barely adequate in heavy snow especially where the snow plough has filled in the end of the driveway. I don't want to repeat the experience.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

I will be buying from a dealership that does the authorized maintenance and repairs with genuine parts. I have bought power equipment from big box stores and from mom and pop stores and frankly, timely warranty services was a real hassle to get.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

For $600 Cdn you get a "power broom." A decent machine is going to cost $1600 or more. The toy machines are about $900 to $1100.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

More power may not always be the answer though. If you put a 20 HP engine on that machine, would it blow the packed snow or would it just break the shear pin, bend the auger and damage other parts? You may be asking the machine to do more than it is designed to do, no matter the engine size.

I certainly can't say because I did not see or feel the snow you had. My small machine takes a while with it though, you just have to take small bites.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Thanks to all who replied. Some of the information was quite useful and as usual some wasn't.

I will have to use my "gut instinct" on this one I think....nothing less than 11 foot lbs.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

See my later post. I have not been talking motorcycles. I've been talking lawn mowers and snow blowers.I have been a small engine mechanic. Worked for an Ariens dealer back before OHV small engines were available. Have also been an auto mechanic for many years. Have owned and worked on flatheads as well as OHV and OHC engines and I know the difference, and the advantages VERY well.

Reply to
clare

Given the machine WAS AVAILABLE with a 10 HP engine, it is pretty certain the 10 HP machine would have blown more snow. A 20 HP motor would also have blown more snow - up to the point where the excess power could have destroyed the machine. As long as the shear pins were not bypassed, the probability of actually damaging the machine from excessive power is pretty remote. I could take out the shear pins on my 5/26 without any problem if I got "stupid" with it.

Reply to
clare

I can tell you that putting tire chains on my snow blower was like doubling the power. What a difference! It's a decent but small machine. 24 inch Ariens with 7.5 HP Snow King engine. I used to have to seriously manhandle it to clear the packed berm at the end of the driveway from the city plows. Now I just put it in low - It digs in and it GOES. All I do is steer.

Reply to
salty

That will get you about 7 to 8 hp from what I've seen.

Look here

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Note the 11.5 ft lb. is right in with the 7.5 hp models.

The 14.5 ft. lb. are in with the 10 hp models

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The 15.5 are in with the 11 hp
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& Stratton Engine 15.50 Ft. Lbs. Torque Horizontal 1" x 2 29/32" Shaft,

342cc, Fuel Tank, Muffler, Snow Intek, EP
Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I'm lucky, I guess. My rural subdivision usually does not get plowed till mid-day, so I seldom have to deal with that. I plow halfway across the street, and 2-3 passes along the edge of the street 'upstream' to the way the plow comes, and 'downstream' past the mailbox. Only problem I have, at least with the guy that had the contract last couple of years, is that he uses the low spot in my front yard as a push-off area sometimes. (I'm halfway up a straight stretch.) Gee, I wonder why the grass keeps dying in that part of the yard. I need a boulder pretty bad, I think.

Although maybe the township hired somebody else this year- they had one inexperienced driver that plowed big divots out of a lot of front yards. The people who are turf-obsessed were mighty PO'd, and bitched loudly to the PTB.

Fingers crossed for a very mild winter. If I can ever afford to retire, I plan to sell the snowblower with the house, and move somewhere that has at most an inch or two a couple times a winter. And no more sloped driveways! :^(

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

7.5HP Snow King on a 24" machine IS adequate power (seeing a 24" machine could also be purchaced with a 4 HP engine, with 5 and 6 HP being the most common on 24" machines.

Is your ariens the Pro or the standard? All Ariens Pro machines have a lockable differnetial on the wheel drive, while the standards have a solid axle that you can either pin to both wheels or have drive only one.

Reply to
clare

It did not seem adequate until I added tire chains. Then it was a whole different machine. Until then, I was regretting that I hadn't bought a much bigger machine. At the time I just couldn't see buying a bigger snowblower that took up a lot more room in the garage. The models up from mine were substantially larger in all dimensions.

It's important to get a good quality machine. Even the cheaper ones last for 20 or more years. That's a long time to live with a mistake!

Better to spennd a few more dollars and cry once, then to cry every time you use it.

Reply to
salty

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