sixtyfiveford Hey 65 love your videos! I have a question, my 8 hp MTD where you screw the rubber on, mine has an additional 90 degree angle, like a scoop, heavy steel. Do you think I could put this on the back side of the scope.
sixtyfiveford Great video. I'm looking to purchase a new Snow Blower, and recommendations and do you recommend a single stage or 2 stage for Michigan weather?
Hello 2018 ! Just found this thank god ! Inherited a crapsman 5/22. Has anyone done this mod on this particular model. Chute and box seem a bit different from the above video tutorial. After a few years of clogging anguish and several cans of pam( in which at this point I should have bought stock ) I am hoping someone has done this to the 5/22 or I’m going to take it to the demo range and blow it up ! Crapsman super sucks !
Bought this for my small back deck in the Eastern Sierra. ruclips.net/user/postUgkxoHYZbq5g9fkcAtinlTqstNlje-UQkCHN We get A LOT of HEAVY snow so I was a bit skeptical but it was worth it! After the first storm of the year this has exceeded expectations! It throws snow very well, even 10-12” + that said the more it piles up the harder it is to maneuver the machine. It is exceptionally light weight and overall exactly what I was looking for. If you have a large amount of snow and a lot of area to clear, you may consider something with a drive engine to help maneuverability, but for decks, second stories, roofs etc, you can’t beat the light weight to great snow throwing ratio. Side note, the chute rotator is a bit flimsy and it initially didn’t seem to work, after a few uses it seems to have loosened up.
hey, yesterday I cut out three paddles from a donut tire. I installed them as per your video but used stainless steel bolts with ss lock nuts. we had 3" of snow. My MTD 2 stage now shoots the snow 20' up from 5'. no clogging. My neighbor ( a jerk) is envious, I told him I'm using a special engine oil that enhances the throwing distance. lol
Never use stainless steel fasteners, especially with locknuts. They seize after first use. You will be unable to remove your paddles without cutting the fasteners.
@@karguy1720 stainless sieze, I don't think so, that's why I use stainless, because I've never had any problems taking any thing apart I used stainless on, has this actually happened to you or are you passing on untested ideas
I realllly hope you got rich off this vid. You have literally changed the world of snowblowing. so many have copied your vids..... I have done 3 machines....its the absolute Bomb. used a 10hpmtd 29" last winter and it blew threw all of it-slush-end of driveway slush...did about 20 drives...not 1 hiccup. one of the best things I have learned on the tube. just hammering this home. do some more snow thrower vids...people love them.
+Kelly Cronk You can make sure the paddles are touching or as close as possible to the impeller housing. The biggest downfall to the HS35 is it is 4 stroke so it doesn't have the speed to throw like the 2 stroke Toro. You can increase the RPM a little on the HS35 but it will still lag behind.
+sixtyfiveford I just wanted to write and thank you for the video. I seen this video this fall when I was looking up repair vids for my old Aries. The snow today is super wet and my snow blower plugged 3 times in a 30 foot stretch. I grabbed one of my replacement asphalt crack rubber squeegees "which are the perfect size, just trim for length" pre-drilled 4 holes because I only did 2 blades, and used the sealing sheet metal screws and did the rest of the sidewalk, the whole driveway, and the big sloppy pile of snow the plow pushed in without clogging. I plan on doing the other two blades now. Thank you! :)
I did this with my snowblower a few years ago and it does make quite a difference in distance the blower throws the snow. Wet or fluffy. I've never had issues with it clogging up either since then. Plus I apply car or ski wax to the chute and auger at the beginning of each snow season.
I just removed the 2nd stage impeller and drilled a bunch of sideways holes in 9 Ice cream scoops and slid them on the shaft. It spits out snowballs like a machine gun.
Hey Man! What a winter! I was considering getting rid of my Craftsman 5.5 hp machine for a bigger one UNTIL I watch your video! It's so simple, yet brilliant. I can'y wait to try it! You could have SOLD your idea, but didn't. You're a "Stand Up" guy. You helped a lot of people. THANK YOU!
This works amazingly well! I was using a friend's snowblower on several heavy wet snowfalls and it clogged so often it was just easier to use a shovel. After seeing this video I went looking for a heavy rubber mudflap and the local auto parts place had only stiff, lightweight plastic. I told the guy behind the counter I was looking for rubber to make this mod and it turns out he'd already done it to several snowblowers. And he found a heavy rubber mudflap in back. If you have a snowblower, make this mod. No matter how good it works now, it's gonna work a lot better.
I want to thank you for posting this video. I've owned a Toro 624 for 25 years and it hasn't worked well in years. Clogs a lot and doesn't throw far. I was going to buy a new $1,000 blower this year until I came across this fix. Did the modification about a month ago and today 9 inches of packing snow and NEVER CLOGGED. Threw the snow father then I can remember. This is the first time posting to a video, and well worth it. THANKS again!
Marty G You're very welcome. I'm glad you found the video and it earned your respect. Thanks for taking the time to let me know and for taking the initiative to try this on your machine. I hope you keep it for a long time to come.
Great hack works amazing! A little silly how excited i am about this, but I have an old 80’s Toro 521 that I keep running because it so narrow. Barely fits between cars and wall of my driveway. Always gets clogged with the wet stuff. But it fits so I deal.Yesterday using your recommendation I bought a mudflap from my local auto parts store, SS self tapping screws and drilled some pilot holes. Holes drilled rubber cut and mounted in about 20mins. This morning in N.E. We woke up to 10” of sleet snow mix, and boy does this work! Hard pack from the plows? No problem! Slush from the cars? No problem! Thank you for posting this video! Simple solution to a decades old problem.
I have same machine that I modified, and it is virtually unstoppable. It always a good working machine, but with this modification it is truely excellent at snow and slush removal, ..... no clogging.
I'll give you a wet snow follow up when we get one. But the paddles are a very noticeable improvement. No need to measure anything for a comparison. It is not a matter of 10% better. It is 10 horse better or more. I had to check to see if it was the same machine. I have a very talented handyman who really struggled to get those self taping screws in, but he would not give up. He did not know of any drill long enough to pilot hole for the screws. Whatever. I'm up and running. Blowing snow takes a lot less time. At age 70 and 9F, that is appreciated. Your tip is really gold. Sorry, make that platinum. 2015 Chicago.
This is what the internet should be about. People helping one another with the sharing of the knowledge thereby creating a real community.. You Sir rock!
Here we are in 2019, I made this modification to my ancient Jacobsen 8hp two stage snow blower and it made a huge difference for the better. The distance it throws the snow went from barely 10 ft to well over 20 ft. Fantastic mod!!
OMG!!! Just completed the mod to my thrower and boy does it work! It added 10-15 feet to the throwing range and can now handle wet snow. I was not able to get it to clog!!! What a day!!! If your ever in Massachusetts let me know cuz I owe you a beer or two!!!! AMAZING! Took me about 1.5 hours but would be half that if I did it again. First set of screws were to short.
That's great... I almost becomes a personal game to try to get them to clog. Thanks for taking the time to let me know and for actually do it. Take care. -Moe
Did this mod based on your video. My machine totally kicks ass now. Zero clogging and throws snow 30 feet. Even the heavy crap down at the apron. So simple and it makes it 10 times the machine. Thank you! MTD 8 horse, 26 inch.
Two major snow storms and multiple snowfalls into winter and this mod is still intact on my impeller - I haven't used the unclogging tool yet! I have cleared the snowplow hill at the foot of my driveway each time without any issues - this mod works amazingly. As a bonus, my neighbour was clearing his driveway across the street and I could see how short his throwing distance was compared to mine (approx. 20 ft far and 7-12 ft high where I was getting 35+ feet and about 15ft high). Thanks sixtyfiveford, I will do this mod to every snowblower I come in contact with!
Dan Bechan Wow, thanks for the feedback. I know I'm excited every time I use a snow blower I've done this to. It's amazing how such a simple modification can change the performance.
And it doesn't seem to stress the motor at all - i thought that maybe this mod would expose a weakness somewhere else on the machine but it didn't. One important fact to mention though: I had ice build up on the auger and since there is more direct contact with the housing I did end up chewing a belt ($20 fix but PITA in the cold) whereas before the ice may have broken a bit easier - just a theory though and lesson learned. I simply double check that the auger rotates freely before firing up
Dan Bechan I think you're onto something Dan regarding reduced strain on the machine. I just did the mod and my 5 hp didn't strain at all whereas the dump we had 2 days ago really strained it (you could hear the engine winding up, esp at the end of the driveway.
I had to come back at you and provide feedback. We had 26" plus this weekend. i wouldn't consider it wet snow, but it wasn't dry. The deepest I traveled through was probably 10 inches on a straight run, although I chewed through piles of compressed snow 4 or so feet high. The results were really amazing. I was kicking out snow a distance I never experienced before. I even broke a shearing bold somewhere along the line, not sure when, but the blower was still kicking out snow. I didn't even notice it until I was cleaning out 4 or so feet of condense snow from the road crew for my neighbor. He noticed that only the one side was turning. I had to have him hold the handle because it didn't appear possible. It was working that good. I highly recommend this alteration. On my Craftsman, it wasn't nearly as easy as the video, but every minute I spend getting the paddles installed on an ugly hot, miserable day, came back in spades this weekend.
@@richardlapera77 I doubt it, possibly the shear pin was slightly impared from previous encounter with something getting scooped up hidden in the snow.
Maybe the impeller can now get rid of snow faster than the auger is designed to feed snow to the impeller, so that previously you never put that much load on the auger.
Holy damn. I did this to our 11-year old snowblower (Husq 10527) today. The thing has had a rough life, doing 3 full driveways plus another couple driveways-worth of plow drifts and our back yard for all those years. Seemingly on its last legs, it could barely puke beyond the snowbank this morning. Some cut-up welcome mat paddles later, and it's chucking an avalanche of snow 25' away and going full-bore through plow bank better than the day it was new. Amazing. Thanks, man.
Did this mod after watching your video to my craftsman. There was close to a half inch of clearance between the second stage and the housing.clogged up with any slush. I used some commercial rubber flooring like stair treads took 15 min. Now throws 25 percent further and actually threw water yeah slush is no problem.cost me nothing thanks. Upstate ny real snow too lol..
Good video I'm going to try it out, even though we don't get very little wet snow up here in ND. It's always to friction cold until the winter over and it's ready to melt! THANKS A MILLION FOR THE VIDEO. P.K. UP HERE IN THE ICE COLD NORTH;
imagine NY I live in New Brunswick Canada near the border of MAINE so we do get our share and i'm happy he did share it now my Troy Built is realy doing what he was made to do
That's why I own a simplicity, I have never had this issue and I will be going on my 9th year with this snowblower. It is the best one I have ever owned
So I see this is 2012 now its 2019. Great update to the thrower, my dad had a True Value store and we had a number of customer missing fingers. The older units did not have a disengage auger lever up by the handles or the plastic unplug thing to clear chute so they would use their hands and chop go the fingers. I am Impressed with your modification. We just sold silicone spray for blowers and shovels when snow was wet. Keep it up, love people that Identify problem and offer a simple solution. Cute puppy in the circle.
Thanks. I've put many of these older minimal safety machines back into service. Always with a good warning to the new owner about not putting your fingers down the chute.
I have a old 1966 ariens blower did not blow wet snow if it did only about 3 feet from machine. Install a pedal kit about 5 years ago now blows wet snow 20 feet and never clogs. I used old truck mud flaps with 1/4" bolts and lock nuts with fender washers. Update 2024 still using the snowblower with conveyer belt rubber paddles. Blower still works awesome.
WHOOO HOOO!!!! Oh man! This is fantastic! I did my driveway and my neighbor's (they're awesome people). I have a 5 hp 22" MTD. The situation before the modification: I'm up in Kingston, Ontario Canada and this is our second 5"+ snowfall this week, so I have a good comparison. The previous snowfall, especially at the end of the driveway, I had at least 6 clogs and oozing slush that just dribbled out the chute in places. That was Thursday. The side banks on my driveway were creeping in b/c the blower couldn't get it over 5' high. I put two fins on the impeller. I used a piece of car mat I had lying around (about 1/8" thick) Since my impeller is plastic, I used #6 self tappers, 1/2" in length. The toughest part of doing the job was getting the chute off. MTD has pics on their website that explained it pretty good. The driveways and sidewalks were covered with about 6-8" of snow with some drifts over 12".They were cleared with no problem. What I also discovered that (I think) b/c the hopper gets cleaned out so fast now it cleared the snow deeper. First time this winter I was down to bare pavement on the first pass. Basic snow was thrown 15-20 feet. I was able to move my banks back 2'. AAND the crud dumped by the snowplow was tossed at least 5 feet, and in some spots even 10. The cruddy wet, packed stuff was gone man. GONE. NOT. ONE. CLOG. No oozing dribbles either. Thanks for such a great video man!
I did this mod’ six years ago, to my new Cub Cadet 524SWE, after watching this very video, and it’s still firing snow with a vengeance! I used pieces of a Toro single stage rubber auger paddle ($16 on sale), and stainless nuts, bolts, and lock washers. Thanks for the “how to” on an awesome mod’! Keep doing what you do.
That's awesome. It's too there point I just do it to every snowblower I service now. I stuck my finger in the gap of a brand new $1200 Craftsman the other day at Lowe's. The gap was nearly 3/4" . I guarantee the new owner of that will being looking for this solution next season.
I did this mod to my 5.5hp yardworks. It had almost 1" gap. Unbelievable difference. It blows snow further than my dads 10.5hp snowblower. Thanks for the help
I just made this mod to my Craftsman (Husqvarna) snowblower. It is now a Slush Pumper. Works Awsome! Thanks sixtyfiveford keep the videos coming. The tail end of yesterdays storm here in MA was rain and gave me a chance to check out the modification, very pleased. It did take me over an hour to add the 3 rubber paddles, best time spent now no clogging
This is friggin genius!!! I did this to my Briggs and Straton 9.5 HP two stage (Model 950). I used cheap mud guards from Crappy Tire on the three stage impeller. Lots of mixed precip here in Toronto today and although I was skeptical that this would work as show in the video I was very impressed! It threw the wettest slushiest crap that the snow plow left in my driveway at least 20'. I if you haven't done this to you snow blower then you are missing out. It made my $599 two stage snow thrower perform like a $1500 three stage blower.
Very nice! I've been a farm equipment tech fot 16 years now and I have rebuilt a bunch of forage blowers and harvester blowers. Farmers use forage blowers to blow corn, corn silage and haylage anywhere from 40' to 120 feet up a narrow pipe and into a silo. Its so critical to have the blower paddled square to the liner and as close as possible to the bottom of the liner. The term pick up a nickle and leave a dime comes from mechanics setting up blowers. The blower should be closeset at the bottom. Then the paddle should gradually get further away as it travels from the bottom to the discharge opening.
Came upon your video while looking for something else and thought this might be worthwhile to try. I have a husqvarna snowblower and it was doing the same thing as many have said, by clogging up. I finished the modification last night and we received heavy snow this morning. I tried it out on the new snow and wow!! I cannot believe the difference this has made! It throws snow twice as far!! Thanks for this video. Just amazing!!
Wow, can't believe how fast your channel has grown. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. You deserve it. I have seen this one before but wanted to re watch it again. This is what I plan to do to mine. Once I do I'll get back with you... Thanks again and always enjoyable.
Did the mod on my 5.5 horse 2-stage Craftsman. Last year I would not have gotten 2 feet without the chute clogging in today’s wet snow. The snow blower worked fantastic with the mod. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I love this mod. I used fender washers with the self tapping screws and what a difference. I have modified several others for friends. Works on any two stage snow blower. I found a truck mud flap in the street and am still cutting pieces from it. Don''t forget to bevel the leading edge to help the wear in. Thanks for a great description as to why as well has how.
Good idea! I just did this mod yesterday and used stainless steel fender washers to hold down the self tapping bolts. I bought the rubber paddle material from the link he supplied w the video which works GREAT! We got 3 inches of snow up here in CT early this morning that was light and fluffy. So I couldn't really tell if the mod made much of a difference. But man is it "cleaning" out that housing inside. The rubber paddles beveled out nicely in a matter of minutes. So I'm pretty sure this mod will work great when the slushy stuff comes, which we get a fair amount of in March. The only thing I might change is replacing the self tapping hex screws with stainless steel bolts, locking washers, and nuts. The screws are in there very tightly, but I'm not sure they'll stay that way over time, so using bolts and nuts is probably the better way to go.
Did this last year and it stopped snowing (!) so I couldn't test it until this year. Outstanding - throws way farther (didn't measure), doesn't clog in wet snow (used to all the time). I used surplus store mud flaps and the self-tapping screws. Thanks for bringing new life to a crappy old Snow King.
That's awesome. I have a big Husqvarna 30" with 414cc, 12.2hp engine. Never had a clog and it has no problem throwing the snow over the alley into the neighbors yard. That being said, I am going to try this just because more is better. Aim for the neighbors deck and back door, ya I'm an ass.
+John Goroff I would be happy to but, I found a 50ft extension cord in the snow this morning. I need to go buy some new shear pins and cut the cord out. Husqvarna pins are expensive and hard to find, and I never use generic or a regular bolt.
I've had a modification similar to this done on my blower for about 3 years now. Other than having a machine that is in good repair this is a must do modification. Just got done blowing out an entire neighborhood after a 36"+ snowfall and never had a real problem with the machine.
First thing I did when I got my Ariens snow blower and it goes through everything! What a damn good mod. Everyone I tell can't believe that it works as good as it does. Thanks
I use fernco plumbing connectors... You can get 2-4 out of a 2" connector... I back them with a small steel plate and 1/4" stainless steel bolts and locking nuts. I have a 1995 craftsman 26" 5hp track drive that I modified all the axles and drive shafts with pillow blocks and sealed bearings instead of the old pre-oiled bronze bushings. I had to make a new wider track axle to allow for the pillow blocks. Next update will be a bigger engine... It is like a tank. I also have a 2014 28" in Troy Bilt with joy stick chute and heated grips for my apartments. That one the bottom of the auger housing already rusted through and I had to re-weld new metal on the bottom. The craftsman auger housing is still in great shape. The just don't build stuff like they used to...
It's called planned obsolescence this way they can sell you a new one sooner more $$$ for the company less for you. Many new blowers use sealed transmissions no more simple drive disc that costs about $20 to replace if it wears out.
We have a Sears snow blower with a plastic impeller that never has been able to handle wet snow. We put the modification on this summer and today was the first chance I have had to use it in wet snow. It worked like a champ, even in the heavy snow pushed into the driveway by the snow plows. Thank you for sharing your idea and making a video. Like the other folks have said, you gave our machine new life!
I just wanted to say thank you for this tip. I have a 10 year old snow blower, that just wasn't doing it anymore. It wouldn't throw snow out of its own way, and I spent more time cleaning the chute out then cleaning my sidewalks. So, I decided it was time to get a new one. I ordered a new and it was delayed coming in due to bad weather. Needless, to say due to bad weather I needed a snow blower. I decided it couldn't hurt to try this with my old snow blower. Let me just say that it work way better then I ever would have expected!! The new blower is being returned as soon as it arrived!! For a mere couple of bucks, you just saved me over $700! Again, I say Thank You!!
Thank you for the great tip! I did this modification 2 winters ago with some used single stage rubber paddles on my 26" MTD and now I send the snow back up from where it came! I mentioned it to some friends and they want theirs souped up now too, so I'm thinking of offering this mod to a selected few. Thanks too to the guy who recommended riveting Crazy Carpet to the inside of the chute -- got to try that next. Cheers!
I would say #1 is liability. If your mod fails, flies out of the chute, and hits somebody in the eye, that's on you, if the factory does that and it fails, that's on them. You think they give away cleanout tools with new blowers just to be nice? it's to reduce liability. There are other reasons too. My old Ariens had about 1/8" of a gap, and it would sometimes freeze. You sometimes had to beak loose the impeller buy hand before you could blow. My new Ariens has 5/8" or so of a gap and has never frozen yet. Additionally, my new Ariens throws much further stock than my old one, and they are equivalent models, both the "Compact" model with is their lowest grade not counting their Sno Tek line. While my new one will fail to throw slush, I don't think I've had it actually plug yet, just has the power to eventually force it out and the slush just flops on the ground. So, I think from their point of view, the gains aren't worth the work or risks.
@Semper Fi Now they have to hire diversity and inclusion. You think the lawyers are gonna trust them to bolt something onto the end of an impeller like that? If they wanted a tight gap, they would just make them that way. I had an Ariens Compact 24 which, I believe, was from the early '80's. It had a 1/8" impeller gap. It would plug up on heavy snow. I never tried to close that 1/8" gap, but I did change the impeller pulley from a 9" to a 6" giving me about a 30% overdrive. It plugged a lot less(very rarely) and gained a lot of distance at the same time. Nevertheless, rust was taking its toll and I weighed the options of a rebuild or buying a new one. In this case the new ones had taller chutes, larger impellers, and a taller bucket. In my case, an even better help was the new Compact was 22" wide, which helped with a special narrow sidewalk I had. So, I got a brand new machine about 5+ years ago. This one had a 3/4" impeller gap. I was kinda sad about that. However, it threw further than my old one, even with the mods. And it almost never plugs up. (I can't remember the last time it did, but I remember cleaning out the old one a lot) So where is your god now? Also, with my old one, before I started it, I always had to move the impeller by hand to make sure some snow didn't melt and freeze the impeller in place. Otherwise the belt would get damaged on startup. Guess what doesn't happen with a 3/4" gap?
Did this to a 826 Canadiana Made in the late 70s,i cut out strips from an old tire and used, and holy shit what a difference, now it throws at least twice as far compared to what it did before the mod!
And now the impeller bearing is totally gone,haha. Don't use tyre sides guys,prabably to heavy if it's unbalanced. I'll see if i can't find something lighter after i have changed the bearing :)
The snow load is only on half the impeller at a time and the thing is constantly out of balance by upwards of a few pounds while spinning. Balancing makes no difference. Impeller bearings go out all the time and are a common repair item.
My Toro wasn't throwing snow as far as it use to & I remembered that a tech repair guy told me somtimes it's just the cable that needs to be tightened that engages the blower. Loosened up one nut tightened the other connected to the cable a good half inch or more & as soon as I did that it was back to throwing snow great again
I found that mine would not engage the wheel drive in all gears only 1 or 2 worked not 3 or reverse. I tightened the linkage up to take all the slop out of it and it now works fine. I have done this previously with the auger drive as well. This is an old machine (about 40 years old) and uses linkage rods rather than cables.
You are the man! I bought a 22" Craftsman snow blower for $50 on CL and thought I got the deal of the century until I used it and clogged after only a few minutes of use and continued to clog. Your video saved the day, seriously! I went to my local gas station and for free I picked up a car tire that was not repairable. I used the sidewall of the tire for the snow blower modification and could not believe the difference it made when I ran it down the driveway. Regards and thank you!
who is the morons that gave this a thumbs down this cool guy gives you free advice on something i know is a pain in the ass in the winter too cool thanks man!!! keep up the good work bro!
Each time I use my snow blower I spray all the snow throwing parts with silicone. I've never had a problem with clogging since I started doing this. I'll keep this in mind if I ever get a clog.
Used an old doormat on my Husqvarna. Worked real good. Put a set on my son's old 1979 Bolens and he said it was kicking butt. Thanks for your tutorial.
NIce job brother, out of the box thinking, TY for making the video, I'll try your method and put the rubber to the impellers even if I find I have a loose belt. I need to locate the belt first if you know. i got a 2stage 1997 Toro 724 Snow thrower, Model 38072. non stick cooking spray did not work even with all powdery snow fallen here in MA. One thing is a lot of rustiness inside the rotor housing if that's an issue which I suspect is not since rust would likely occur. If you got a minute any feedback would be appreciated. TY
Unbelievable it really works. I have a 42in Craftsman 2 stage blower. Constantly clogged, bad in soft snow, etc. Noticed about a 3/4 in gap on impeller.. so I did the Mod. It has 3 large blades so I used 1/4 bolts and fender washers. Tried some heavy rubber from pipe connectors first that worked but did not last. Then used the rubber blade he recommends from a single stage blower and it is great. Pretty noisy as it drags a bit since I adjusted to overlap just a small amount, but scrapes all the snow off. It throws any type of snow a so far I have to be careful of getting it over my neighbors driveway! Thanks the best tip from RUclips yet!
Thank you SOOOO much for this. I was about 30 seconds from buying a new snow blower because I had all the problems you mentioned. I have a fairly new 9hp Craftsman. I did the mod using a 4" x 4" compression joint sealer / hub donut from the local Ace ($8) and cut it into 3 squares for the three impeller blade. Holy crap! This thing was like a brand new snow blower. It blew snow easily twice as far as it ever has, even over the top of my pickup truck! Also when done my blower used to be full of snow around the impeller. It was clean as a whistle. I can't thank you enough! Here is the fitting I used: www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=28973546&cp=2568443.2568452.2631237.2631261.2631276
I just want to say Thank you for the information. This morning I followed your advice installing the rubber on my simplicity snow blower that I bought 23 years ago. For the last couple of years I was getting a distance of 10’ at best. Now I’m getting 25’ just like when it was new. Thanks again. Dave
I did this last year on my Yardman (MTD), and when early spring came with lots of wet snow here in MN, it worked like a charm. Never clogged, and threw snow much further (although not "twice as far" as some have stated in comments), and was well worth the time and effort.
you mean us "other guys" who don't have to look at the measuring tape and think "where the fuck do 3/eights come from", right? otherwise, nice mod! Makes you wonder how manufacturers haven't adapted these.
i was just wondering when u clear the snow and it sprays on the road is that aloud and what if u sprayed into the neighbors will that cause some tension
+jormot Just to answer your question about shooting snow over to the neighbors, Its about 30' to my neighbor and I don't shoot it over the fence but allow my neighbor to throw his snow over fence into my yard. He has a 10' walk walkway that he uses as a driveway and no place to throw snow except over fence to my yard. Putting in street not allowed.
If you REALY want to improve this and any other snow blower,..line the chute with a section of plastic like 'crazy carpet' and watch That performance,...you will get almost twice the snow throwing distance., AND the wet snow WILL NOT stick to the chute's inner walls. Fasten the plastic sheeting to the chute with pop rivetts,..from the inside out,.to keep the rivets flush with the inner surface. " No charge" for this tip ! Do this WITH what 'sixtyfiveford' has suggested here, and you might even ENJOY snow clearing.
Use a product called gas stabilizer, brand name...Stabil. Just add that to your gas cans whenever you refill one and then anything you fill up that runs on gas, will start just like it did when you put it away last year. No need to run it dry or drain the tank any longer. Been doing this for years and have never had a single problem starting anything, including my heavy duty hedge trimmer, that I only use once a year. I've ran that now on the same tank of gas for two years and it still started on the first pull after priming. I swear by it. Never a carburetor problem or any varnishing, what so ever! Jpol.
Your comment about not being able to do this on a Toro... yes you can. I drilled pilot holes first, a little smaller than the self tapping screw I used. That screw just needs to be a little longer, also. My 824 has a three blade impeller, so I just made three paddles. I didn't catch that comment the first time I watched. Huge improvement! Many thanks!
Finally had a chance to use my Cub Cadet 24" 2 stage snow blower with your impeller modification. Once with a foot of powder, and once with about 7 inches of wet snow. FANTASTIC results! Never clogged once! And throws the snow out with great force. In fact, because I have a gravel driveway, I have to be really careful where I aim the chute! Although I raised the front scoop housing up about 3/4", It will still pick up a few pebbles now and then, and shoot them out like a slingshot! Thanks again for sharing this! :)
My father did this modification last year. Hands down the best modification you can make on a 2 stage. That nasty slush at the end of the driveway was always a pain in the butt to get rid of. This simple mod clears it right away, no clogs and no dribble of slush onto the snow blower. He was actually stopped by the local police in his town about blowing snow into the street. When my father replied he wasn't blowing snow INTO the street, but in fact blowing it OVER the road onto the strips of grass across the street. The cop agreed and went on his way. My father used an old mud flap and some self tappers. I intend on doing the same modification to mine shortly. Thanks for posting you video.
I've been wanting to do this since last season. I have a driveway that is 100'x40'. In the mountains in CO the snow is usually pretty dry, but if you don't get it first thing in the morning, all bets are off. My 30" Craftsman was clogging constantly. Before I blew the thing up, I bought a giant mud flap, some self-tapping bolts, attached three pieces to each of the impeller blades by using an extension on my cordless drill. 20 minutes later I'm ready. Holy Moses! Out of the box this thing never had the rooster tail it does now. Plowed through 2' drifts, up and down the driveway, cleared the top of the drive where the plow guys seem to love to dump everything. NOT A SINGLE TIME DID I HAVE TO STOP TO CLEAR A CLOGGED/STUCK IMPELLER! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! Happy New Year!
once again i want to let everybody know this little 20 minute modify really works .... just tried it on our second good snow fall, my neighbor has the identical snowblower I have and he came over to ask me why I was throwing snow so much farther than he was so I showed him the modify and gave him the extra pieces of rubber I cut so he can modify his ... THANX AGAIN !!!
AMAZING!!! Retrofitted mine last night in prep for 5" snow today. The throw was so far I had to lower the chute. Cleared my driveway and six neighbors. Did not clog one time. Oh, by the way, I am a CPA, so my rank on the mechanical aptitude chart is not very high. I just made sure the rubber fins I was attaching were snug against the housing.
Got to try my new troy-bilt for the first time and was highly disappointed because it clogged at the slush at end of driveway. Seen your modification video and did it. Had 8 inch heavy wet snow couple days ago. And I am so glad I found your video. Snow blower works great now. Even at the gutter where snow plows do their usual thing to make you mad. Go ahead snow plows. I'm ready for you now. Thanks a lot. Great work.
Stephenj Jones The snow plows are going to come get you now... That's great that you tried it out. It's kind of a pain reaching down into the chute area, but overall a simple task. You'll be happy for the next decade with your machine.
sixtyfiveford , did this to a buddy's snowblower , his son no longer call's his snowblower a piece of junk , this simple modification makes cheap snowblowers work 100% better. Great job bud !!!! Fellas' like you are the true geniuses in this world .
I did this to my Cub Cadet a couple weeks ago and man! what a difference! I used a leftover piece of a rubber truck bed mat and fastened them with fine thread self drilling screws and fender washers. Really sends the snow now.
I literally just got in from splitting a Honda to remove the belts. Fantastic fix. You are to be knighted Sir and promoted over all mechanical wizards of the realm.
WOW, this was AWSOME. I woke up this morning to 4" of wet slop in NJ, did the hack (my machine is 23 years old and has 3 impeller blades, I put scrapers on all 3 blades). My machine is throwing 2x - 3x what it did when it was new, and I had exactly ONE clog. Thanks -- this was a GREAT hack!
This video saved me $$$$$$. I was so frustrated with my 45 year old Ariens that I was about to buy a brand new snowblower. This mod made all the difference. I used rubber from a mudflap and zip screws. It’s lasted for 3 winters now, with no sign of failure. Only issue I had was that the rubber was putting an extra load on the engine and causing it to stall out, which was the fault of a worn out carburetor. A new $12 carb from eBay fixed that instantly. Now my antique 8hp blower outperforms the new 13hp machine I use at my workplace, with the same 24” bucket size.
Thanks for the video, I did this to my White snow blower made by MTD this afternoon, about 45 minutes to put on 3 impeller extensions. Tried it out on old half melted wet snow and it worked great. Can't wait for more snow now. Thanks a lot.
Thanks I have never owned a snowblower. I bought a used one for $200 this fall. Yesterday first time I tried to use it, snow was very wet, after using it for 15 minutes it clogged up exactly as described! I took it back to the garage thinking it was a broken shear pin. I’m going to go put some rubber flaps on it today and wait for the next snow fall. Thanks for the tip, and the great video.
Mod now complete via re purposed car tire side wall.. Boy does it throw snow now. This was done on a troy built. The impeller had a 1/2 inch gap in relation to housing. The gap is now eliminated. Thank you sir!
Nice mod. Just bought a 2 stage craftsman like new for $50. Got it cheap cause the guy said all it ever did was clog when snow was wet. This one has plastic impellers.So instead of using self tapping screws for fear of them coming lose and wreaking havoc, I used all stainless hardware. For the flap I used 1/4" thick corded rubber off the head on an old floor squeeze I had laying around. It's only May here so it'll be awhile before I see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to make the video!
Just did this yesterday to my Honda HSS724, no problem, took my mechanic buddy 30 mins, we needed a 2x2 to block the impeller from freely rotating, but must importantly needed a 12", by 1/4" extended drill bit to reach the impeller ( $15.00). Worked perfectly my Honda dealer wants the details, he was "All ears" when I explained your fix to him and was very aware of this problem.
Amazing results! I have a low end 20yr old plus Murray 8 HP snow blower. I have not used it for about 5 years because of the chute clogging and not being able to throw snow. I had a big gap between impeller and housing, gravel driveway I suspect helped lead to this gap. I installed the rubber spacers per your instructions and this low end blower is now throwing the snow 20 plus feet, amazing. The self-tapping screws did not work for me, had to drill and use bolts to hold the rubber spacers in place. Not a bad job took about 2hrs from start to finish, worst part was drilling holes in the impeller with the 10” drill bit, but well worth the effort! THANK YOU! Did I say AMAZING; oh I did…Thanks for the video!
hi sff, you helped me out getting my snowblower back up and running and now i just made your modification to my impeller. it now throws 2-3 times farther and finally handles ice and slush without bogging down. living in new england this has saved my ass this year big time. thanks again.
Very interesting. I am tempted to modify my Kubota 2660 60" blower as the town is throwing increasingly larger rocks/cobbles from their sand casters again. The rocks are tearing up the impeller and surrounding drum of the impeller housing. If the rocks can't get trapped/pinched at the impeller edge, perhaps they will pass through more easily, causing less damage. What a great notion you have had., minimal disassembly required. Thumbs up! Rebuilds on the blower run between $1500 and $2000. It has had three since 1996, mostly related to rock damage caused by the adulterated sand the town uses. I think I have everything I need out in shop and barn to execute this upgrade. I would caution anyone to carefully cut the heavy rubber pieces to equal sizes, very precisely, so the impeller remains balanced at high rpms. Impeller shaft bearings are at the core of a two stage blower. Full disassembly is required to replace them. Ak me how I know.
I just did this to my p.o.s. 5.5hp 2 stage Craftsman. you saved the day. I was able to toss wet icy snow and Not 1 clog! I already had to modify the throttle to make it correctly hold "full throttle". much better blower now. Thank you!
Hi - Purchased in fall 2016, a used (8 year old) Craftsman 27" snowblower, made by Husqvarna. Following your straightforward easy to understand advice, and additional info. gathered from other similar how-to videos, I did this upgrade using 3/8" thick rubber from a discarded truck mudflap. At the start, the spacing between the 3 (yes, just 3 !) impeller blades and the housing was about 5/16 ". Since the auger housing was very easy to dismantle from the motor section (remove 2 bolts), the work was easier to perform and I could verify the friction between the rubber paddles and the housing by manually turning the impeller. Since I only used this snowblower after the modification I cannot compare snow throwing distance before and after. In any case, it does not go very far. But one thing is certain, the snow does not clog up the chute. In fact there is practically no snow accumulation in the auger housing and chute after operating the machine, either under cold or wet conditions. Thanks so much for your insight, it was very useful.
I Added the paddles on all three and it worked better than without them. Wet snow and close to the road. My Craftsman (Murray) has a rectangular shoot in the housing. It still cleared all the snow even though it got stuck a couple times. No chance at cleaning my driveway without the paddles. I am happy I saw your video. Thanks sixtyfiveford.
We got a little over a foot of wet snow. My blower clogged right away I saw the video and gave it a shot. I used an old tire. Wow what a difference. Mine was a Toro so I did predrill the holes. This is a must do. I never write reviews but with this big of a difference for no cost just a little labor.
Thank you 65, just had a small nor-easter come through upstate NY, hacked my snow blower a few weeks back, and I'll tell u, it worked like a champ. Thanks again.
I have a TroyBilt StormTracker 2690 that's 3 winters old. Generally I have been very happy with its performance. However, it has on occasion gummed up due to wet snow on the bottom 1/2-inch of multiple inches of snow. I watched this video. Then bought #14x1-inch gimlet screws, 2" steel backup strips, and truck mud flaps. I disassembled the chute volute, then made a thin cardboard template with bolt holes. I transferred template shape and hole locations to the flap and snipped with sheet metal shears. Added them to each of three impeller blades, drilled, and mounted the rubberized extensions. I used a razor blade to trim some obvious excess against the steel volute. Reassembled the machine. Started up & engaged the impeller, noisy for a little while till excess rubber wore off. Headed over to the snow. Wowy, wow! What a difference in throwing distance! Can't wait to try on slush! Thanks for the video! Engineer B'
Greetings from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia , Canada. Thank you sixty five ford ... Did this mod and the difference is amazing. Couldn't throw snow over my 5 foot high fence, now it's throwing 2to3 feet higher and at 8 feet further than before. Never had a chance to try it in wet slushy snow but I'm sure it should work fine. Thanks again.....
Yes, I did this to both my machines. An Ariens and a Toro. Both are about 22” models. The Toro is five hp and throws the snow way better than before. Now, the Ariens is 6.5 hp. Seems to blow the snow at least 50 feet and is now my go to machine. It will actually blow the snow on the house roof. It’s almost comical. The toro used to be my fave but after this mod, the Ariens puts the toro to shame. The Toro became my backup. Thanks for sharing.
Dude, today was the day. I looked up snow blowers last year when we got a deep snow and decided we needed a new blower. We bought a brand new Troy Bilt 2625 last year and never used it, never even put gas in it. Today I put gas in it and used it for the first time, it was almost like heaven on Earth. I appreciate your modification, but it sure doesn't look like I'm going to need it on the Troy Bilt.
Great idea..just installed my paddle extenders to my 3 year old Husqvarna. No snow to test but I can already tell by the amount of air flow. Can't wait to throw some slush. Thanks!
There is a link to Heavy Duty Rubber Paddles designed to handle this and stainless steel screws in the video description.
Kevin Bolusi
Yes, put it on all 3.
sixtyfiveford Hey 65 love your videos! I have a question, my 8 hp MTD where you screw the rubber on, mine has an additional 90 degree angle, like a scoop, heavy steel. Do you think I could put this on the back side of the scope.
sixtyfiveford Great video. I'm looking to purchase a new Snow Blower, and recommendations and do you recommend a single stage or 2 stage for Michigan weather?
Hello 2018 ! Just found this thank god ! Inherited a crapsman 5/22. Has anyone done this mod on this particular model. Chute and box seem a bit different from the above video tutorial. After a few years of clogging anguish and several cans of pam( in which at this point I should have bought stock ) I am hoping someone has done this to the 5/22 or I’m going to take it to the demo range and blow it up ! Crapsman super sucks !
The only thing I would add is use anti-seize on the screws, that way you can remove the screws if needed.
Bought this for my small back deck in the Eastern Sierra. ruclips.net/user/postUgkxoHYZbq5g9fkcAtinlTqstNlje-UQkCHN We get A LOT of HEAVY snow so I was a bit skeptical but it was worth it! After the first storm of the year this has exceeded expectations! It throws snow very well, even 10-12” + that said the more it piles up the harder it is to maneuver the machine. It is exceptionally light weight and overall exactly what I was looking for. If you have a large amount of snow and a lot of area to clear, you may consider something with a drive engine to help maneuverability, but for decks, second stories, roofs etc, you can’t beat the light weight to great snow throwing ratio. Side note, the chute rotator is a bit flimsy and it initially didn’t seem to work, after a few uses it seems to have loosened up.
hey,
yesterday I cut out three paddles from a donut tire. I installed them as per your video but used stainless steel bolts with ss lock nuts. we had 3" of snow. My MTD 2 stage now shoots the snow 20' up from 5'. no clogging. My neighbor ( a jerk) is envious, I told him I'm using a special engine oil that enhances the throwing distance. lol
That's awesome.
Dave D. Thats the best one I have seen yet.
Good one! You never want to give away a good trick to a jerk.
Never use stainless steel fasteners, especially with locknuts. They seize after first use. You will be unable to remove your paddles without cutting the fasteners.
@@karguy1720 stainless sieze, I don't think so, that's why I use stainless, because I've never had any problems taking any thing apart I used stainless on, has this actually happened to you or are you passing on untested ideas
I realllly hope you got rich off this vid. You have literally changed the world of snowblowing. so many have copied your vids.....
I have done 3 machines....its the absolute Bomb. used a 10hpmtd 29" last winter and it blew threw all of it-slush-end of driveway slush...did about 20 drives...not 1 hiccup.
one of the best things I have learned on the tube.
just hammering this home. do some more snow thrower vids...people love them.
Thanks for watching. Please thumbs UP if the video helped and or leave a comment below.
+sixtyfiveford Thank you , very useful. Any suggestions on improving the HS35 honda single stage? new paddles, still wont compare to the ccr 2000 toro
+Kelly Cronk You can make sure the paddles are touching or as close as possible to the impeller housing. The biggest downfall to the HS35 is it is 4 stroke so it doesn't have the speed to throw like the 2 stroke Toro. You can increase the RPM a little on the HS35 but it will still lag behind.
+sixtyfiveford I just wanted to write and thank you for the video. I seen this video this fall when I was looking up repair vids for my old Aries. The snow today is super wet and my snow blower plugged 3 times in a 30 foot stretch. I grabbed one of my replacement asphalt crack rubber squeegees "which are the perfect size, just trim for length" pre-drilled 4 holes because I only did 2 blades, and used the sealing sheet metal screws and did the rest of the sidewalk, the whole driveway, and the big sloppy pile of snow the plow pushed in without clogging. I plan on doing the other two blades now. Thank you! :)
Odessious Jenkins
That's great. I'm glad you tried it.
+Odessious Jenkins How Thick is your ASPHALT RUBBER .... Will This Work on A 2 Stage Gilson
I did this with my snowblower a few years ago and it does make quite a difference in distance the blower throws the snow. Wet or fluffy. I've never had issues with it clogging up either since then. Plus I apply car or ski wax to the chute and auger at the beginning of each snow season.
I just removed the 2nd stage impeller and drilled a bunch of sideways holes in 9 Ice cream scoops and slid them on the shaft. It spits out snowballs like a machine gun.
Hey Man! What a winter! I was considering getting rid of my Craftsman 5.5 hp machine for a bigger one UNTIL I watch your video! It's so simple, yet brilliant. I can'y wait to try it! You could have SOLD your idea, but didn't. You're a "Stand Up" guy. You helped a lot of people. THANK YOU!
You're welcome. Let me know what you think we you try it.
Dude thank you so so much what a difference 🙏
sixtyfiveford powertrimedger was.
This works amazingly well! I was using a friend's snowblower on several heavy wet snowfalls and it clogged so often it was just easier to use a shovel. After seeing this video I went looking for a heavy rubber mudflap and the local auto parts place had only stiff, lightweight plastic. I told the guy behind the counter I was looking for rubber to make this mod and it turns out he'd already done it to several snowblowers. And he found a heavy rubber mudflap in back. If you have a snowblower, make this mod. No matter how good it works now, it's gonna work a lot better.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Best gas torch construction
Show me a good gas torch for heating steel for forging
I want to thank you for posting this video. I've owned a Toro 624 for 25 years and it hasn't worked well in years. Clogs a lot and doesn't throw far. I was going to buy a new $1,000 blower this year until I came across this fix. Did the modification about a month ago and today 9 inches of packing snow and NEVER CLOGGED. Threw the snow father then I can remember.
This is the first time posting to a video, and well worth it.
THANKS again!
Marty G You're very welcome. I'm glad you found the video and it earned your respect. Thanks for taking the time to let me know and for taking the initiative to try this on your machine. I hope you keep it for a long time to come.
Great hack works amazing! A little silly how excited i am about this, but I have an old 80’s Toro 521 that I keep running because it so narrow. Barely fits between cars and wall of my driveway. Always gets clogged with the wet stuff. But it fits so I deal.Yesterday using your recommendation I bought a mudflap from my local auto parts store, SS self tapping screws and drilled some pilot holes. Holes drilled rubber cut and mounted in about 20mins. This morning in N.E. We woke up to 10” of sleet snow mix, and boy does this work! Hard pack from the plows? No problem! Slush from the cars? No problem! Thank you for posting this video! Simple solution to a decades old problem.
I have same machine that I modified, and it is virtually unstoppable. It always a good working machine, but with this modification it is truely excellent at snow and slush removal, ..... no clogging.
I'll give you a wet snow follow up when we get one. But the paddles are a very noticeable improvement. No need to measure anything for a comparison. It is not a matter of 10% better. It is 10 horse better or more. I had to check to see if it was the same machine. I have a very talented handyman who really struggled to get those self taping screws in, but he would not give up. He did not know of any drill long enough to pilot hole for the screws. Whatever. I'm up and running. Blowing snow takes a lot less time. At age 70 and 9F, that is appreciated. Your tip is really gold. Sorry, make that platinum. 2015 Chicago.
This is what the internet should be about. People helping one another with the sharing of the knowledge thereby creating a real community.. You Sir rock!
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it. It makes a huge difference
Here we are in 2019, I made this modification to my ancient Jacobsen 8hp two stage snow blower and it made a huge difference for the better. The distance it throws the snow went from barely 10 ft to well over 20 ft. Fantastic mod!!
OMG!!! Just completed the mod to my thrower and boy does it work! It added 10-15 feet to the throwing range and can now handle wet snow. I was not able to get it to clog!!! What a day!!! If your ever in Massachusetts let me know cuz I owe you a beer or two!!!! AMAZING! Took me about 1.5 hours but would be half that if I did it again. First set of screws were to short.
That's great... I almost becomes a personal game to try to get them to clog. Thanks for taking the time to let me know and for actually do it. Take care. -Moe
Did this mod based on your video. My machine totally kicks ass now. Zero clogging and throws snow 30 feet.
Even the heavy crap down at the apron.
So simple and it makes it 10 times the machine. Thank you!
MTD 8 horse, 26 inch.
1075twist That's GREAT. I'm glad you took the initiative to try it out for yourself. Every machine I do, I still am amazed at the difference.
Two major snow storms and multiple snowfalls into winter and this mod is still intact on my impeller - I haven't used the unclogging tool yet! I have cleared the snowplow hill at the foot of my driveway each time without any issues - this mod works amazingly. As a bonus, my neighbour was clearing his driveway across the street and I could see how short his throwing distance was compared to mine (approx. 20 ft far and 7-12 ft high where I was getting 35+ feet and about 15ft high). Thanks sixtyfiveford, I will do this mod to every snowblower I come in contact with!
Dan Bechan Wow, thanks for the feedback. I know I'm excited every time I use a snow blower I've done this to. It's amazing how such a simple modification can change the performance.
And it doesn't seem to stress the motor at all - i thought that maybe this mod would expose a weakness somewhere else on the machine but it didn't. One important fact to mention though: I had ice build up on the auger and since there is more direct contact with the housing I did end up chewing a belt ($20 fix but PITA in the cold) whereas before the ice may have broken a bit easier - just a theory though and lesson learned. I simply double check that the auger rotates freely before firing up
Dan Bechan I think you're onto something Dan regarding reduced strain on the machine. I just did the mod and my 5 hp didn't strain at all whereas the dump we had 2 days ago really strained it (you could hear the engine winding up, esp at the end of the driveway.
Great idea, a couple slightly oversize steel washers would secure the rubber blades better
Dan Bechan My auger never rotates freely before firing up, it only rotates if I press the auger handle.
I had to come back at you and provide feedback. We had 26" plus this weekend. i wouldn't consider it wet snow, but it wasn't dry. The deepest I traveled through was probably 10 inches on a straight run, although I chewed through piles of compressed snow 4 or so feet high. The results were really amazing.
I was kicking out snow a distance I never experienced before. I even broke a shearing bold somewhere along the line, not sure when, but the blower was still kicking out snow. I didn't even notice it until I was cleaning out 4 or so feet of condense snow from the road crew for my neighbor. He noticed that only the one side was turning. I had to have him hold the handle because it didn't appear possible. It was working that good.
I highly recommend this alteration. On my Craftsman, it wasn't nearly as easy as the video, but every minute I spend getting the paddles installed on an ugly hot, miserable day, came back in spades this weekend.
+Jim Rothenberger That's great. I'm glad you did it in the summer.
I wonder if adding the extension put extra pressure on the unit and caused the shearpin to break?
@@richardlapera77 I doubt it, possibly the shear pin was slightly impared from previous encounter with something getting scooped up hidden in the snow.
Maybe the impeller can now get rid of snow faster than the auger is designed to feed snow to the impeller, so that previously you never put that much load on the auger.
Holy damn. I did this to our 11-year old snowblower (Husq 10527) today. The thing has had a rough life, doing 3 full driveways plus another couple driveways-worth of plow drifts and our back yard for all those years. Seemingly on its last legs, it could barely puke beyond the snowbank this morning. Some cut-up welcome mat paddles later, and it's chucking an avalanche of snow 25' away and going full-bore through plow bank better than the day it was new. Amazing. Thanks, man.
Nate Katz AWESOME.... With that much horsepower in your machine it will really take advantage of this modification. Thanks for the feedback.
Did this mod after watching your video to my craftsman. There was close to a half inch of clearance between the second stage and the housing.clogged up with any slush. I used some commercial rubber flooring like stair treads took 15 min.
Now throws 25 percent further and actually threw water yeah slush is no problem.cost me nothing thanks. Upstate ny real snow too lol..
Good video I'm going to try it out, even though we don't get very little wet snow up here in ND. It's always to friction cold until the winter over and it's ready to melt! THANKS A MILLION FOR THE VIDEO. P.K. UP HERE IN THE ICE COLD NORTH;
imagine NY I live in New Brunswick Canada near the border of MAINE so we do get our share and i'm happy he did share it now my Troy Built is realy doing what he was made to do
That's why I own a simplicity, I have never had this issue and I will be going on my 9th year with this snowblower. It is the best one I have ever owned
I have a simplicity two stage and clogs and squeals like a pig
So I see this is 2012 now its 2019. Great update to the thrower, my dad had a True Value store and we had a number of customer missing fingers. The older units did not have a disengage auger lever up by the handles or the plastic unplug thing to clear chute so they would use their hands and chop go the fingers. I am Impressed with your modification. We just sold silicone spray for blowers and shovels when snow was wet. Keep it up, love people that Identify problem and offer a simple solution. Cute puppy in the circle.
Thanks. I've put many of these older minimal safety machines back into service. Always with a good warning to the new owner about not putting your fingers down the chute.
I have a old 1966 ariens blower did not blow wet snow if it did only about 3 feet from machine. Install a pedal kit about 5 years ago now blows wet snow 20 feet and never clogs. I used old truck mud flaps with 1/4" bolts and lock nuts with fender washers. Update 2024 still using the snowblower with conveyer belt rubber paddles. Blower still works awesome.
Those Ariens are built like tanks.
WHOOO HOOO!!!!
Oh man! This is fantastic! I did my driveway and my neighbor's (they're awesome people). I have a 5 hp 22" MTD.
The situation before the modification:
I'm up in Kingston, Ontario Canada and this is our second 5"+ snowfall this week, so I have a good comparison. The previous snowfall, especially at the end of the driveway, I had at least 6 clogs and oozing slush that just dribbled out the chute in places. That was Thursday. The side banks on my driveway were creeping in b/c the blower couldn't get it over 5' high.
I put two fins on the impeller. I used a piece of car mat I had lying around (about 1/8" thick) Since my impeller is plastic, I used #6 self tappers, 1/2" in length. The toughest part of doing the job was getting the chute off. MTD has pics on their website that explained it pretty good.
The driveways and sidewalks were covered with about 6-8" of snow with some drifts over 12".They were cleared with no problem. What I also discovered that (I think) b/c the hopper gets cleaned out so fast now it cleared the snow deeper. First time this winter I was down to bare pavement on the first pass.
Basic snow was thrown 15-20 feet. I was able to move my banks back 2'.
AAND the crud dumped by the snowplow was tossed at least 5 feet, and in some spots even 10. The cruddy wet, packed stuff was gone man. GONE.
NOT. ONE. CLOG. No oozing dribbles either.
Thanks for such a great video man!
Jim M That's great to hear. It can be a bear to work down in the chute opening, so I'm glad you go it done.
awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did this mod’ six years ago, to my new Cub Cadet 524SWE, after watching this very video, and it’s still firing snow with a vengeance! I used pieces of a Toro single stage rubber auger paddle ($16 on sale), and stainless nuts, bolts, and lock washers. Thanks for the “how to” on an awesome mod’! Keep doing what you do.
That's awesome. It's too there point I just do it to every snowblower I service now. I stuck my finger in the gap of a brand new $1200 Craftsman the other day at Lowe's. The gap was nearly 3/4" . I guarantee the new owner of that will being looking for this solution next season.
I did this mod to my 5.5hp yardworks. It had almost 1" gap. Unbelievable difference. It blows snow further than my dads 10.5hp snowblower. Thanks for the help
AWESOME.... That is a huge gap. I'm glad you took the time to do this.
I just made this mod to my Craftsman (Husqvarna) snowblower. It is now a Slush Pumper. Works Awsome! Thanks sixtyfiveford keep the videos coming. The tail end of yesterdays storm here in MA was rain and gave me a chance to check out the modification, very pleased. It did take me over an hour to add the 3 rubber paddles, best time spent now no clogging
That's great a "Slush Pumper". Thanks for watching and commenting.
This is friggin genius!!! I did this to my Briggs and Straton 9.5 HP two stage (Model 950). I used cheap mud guards from Crappy Tire on the three stage impeller. Lots of mixed precip here in Toronto today and although I was skeptical that this would work as show in the video I was very impressed! It threw the wettest slushiest crap that the snow plow left in my driveway at least 20'. I if you haven't done this to you snow blower then you are missing out. It made my $599 two stage snow thrower perform like a $1500 three stage blower.
Not sure someone already said it, but Baler belt material is cheap at tractor supply and it works great
if 35 dollars is cheap
Very nice! I've been a farm equipment tech fot 16 years now and I have rebuilt a bunch of forage blowers and harvester blowers. Farmers use forage blowers to blow corn, corn silage and haylage anywhere from 40' to 120 feet up a narrow pipe and into a silo. Its so critical to have the blower paddled square to the liner and as close as possible to the bottom of the liner. The term pick up a nickle and leave a dime comes from mechanics setting up blowers. The blower should be closeset at the bottom. Then the paddle should gradually get further away as it travels from the bottom to the discharge opening.
+Chad Heistand Exactly.
Came upon your video while looking for something else and thought this might be worthwhile to try. I have a husqvarna snowblower and it was doing the same thing as many have said, by clogging up. I finished the modification last night and we received heavy snow this morning. I tried it out on the new snow and wow!! I cannot believe the difference this has made! It throws snow twice as far!! Thanks for this video. Just amazing!!
I'm glad you tried it out. I'm amazed every machine I do this to.
You, sir, are a genius! This is possibly one of the most useful things I've ever learned, and you rock for sharing. Stay well and safe!
Wow, can't believe how fast your channel has grown. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. You deserve it. I have seen this one before but wanted to re watch it again. This is what I plan to do to mine. Once I do I'll get back with you... Thanks again and always enjoyable.
Thanks Tom.
Did the mod on my 5.5 horse 2-stage Craftsman. Last year I would not have gotten 2 feet without the chute clogging in today’s wet snow. The snow blower worked fantastic with the mod. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
That's Awesome.
i also suggest fender washers to hold the rubber down good
I love this mod. I used fender washers with the self tapping screws and what a difference. I have modified several others for friends. Works on any two stage snow blower. I found a truck mud flap in the street and am still cutting pieces from it. Don''t forget to bevel the leading edge to help the wear in. Thanks for a great description as to why as well has how.
Good idea! I just did this mod yesterday and used stainless steel fender washers to hold down the self tapping bolts. I bought the rubber paddle material from the link he supplied w the video which works GREAT! We got 3 inches of snow up here in CT early this morning that was light and fluffy. So I couldn't really tell if the mod made much of a difference. But man is it "cleaning" out that housing inside. The rubber paddles beveled out nicely in a matter of minutes. So I'm pretty sure this mod will work great when the slushy stuff comes, which we get a fair amount of in March. The only thing I might change is replacing the self tapping hex screws with stainless steel bolts, locking washers, and nuts. The screws are in there very tightly, but I'm not sure they'll stay that way over time, so using bolts and nuts is probably the better way to go.
Did this last year and it stopped snowing (!) so I couldn't test it until this year. Outstanding - throws way farther (didn't measure), doesn't clog in wet snow (used to all the time). I used surplus store mud flaps and the self-tapping screws. Thanks for bringing new life to a crappy old Snow King.
Awesome.
Thanks for the tip, live in Stamford CT and as u know from the news we have been getting hammered this year. 2015. So I'll give it a try.
:-)
That's awesome. I have a big Husqvarna 30" with 414cc, 12.2hp engine. Never had a clog and it has no problem throwing the snow over the alley into the neighbors yard. That being said, I am going to try this just because more is better. Aim for the neighbors deck and back door, ya I'm an ass.
+EricNielsen187 You'll be glad you did. You must live really north where the snow never gets a chance to thaw and slush up really good during the day.
+John Goroff I would be happy to but, I found a 50ft extension cord in the snow this morning. I need to go buy some new shear pins and cut the cord out. Husqvarna pins are expensive and hard to find, and I never use generic or a regular bolt.
THATS FUCKIN AWESOME...aim and fire lol
EricNielsen187 make them grad 8 bolts i think and cut small slit and boom there the exact same
I've had a modification similar to this done on my blower for about 3 years now. Other than having a machine that is in good repair this is a must do modification. Just got done blowing out an entire neighborhood after a 36"+ snowfall and never had a real problem with the machine.
First thing I did when I got my Ariens snow blower and it goes through everything! What a damn good mod. Everyone I tell can't believe that it works as good as it does. Thanks
Thanks for posting. You're welcome.
I have an ariens as well. How did you fasten the flaps?
I use fernco plumbing connectors... You can get 2-4 out of a 2" connector... I back them with a small steel plate and 1/4" stainless steel bolts and locking nuts.
I have a 1995 craftsman 26" 5hp track drive that I modified all the axles and drive shafts with pillow blocks and sealed bearings instead of the old pre-oiled bronze bushings. I had to make a new wider track axle to allow for the pillow blocks. Next update will be a bigger engine... It is like a tank.
I also have a 2014 28" in Troy Bilt with joy stick chute and heated grips for my apartments. That one the bottom of the auger housing already rusted through and I had to re-weld new metal on the bottom. The craftsman auger housing is still in great shape. The just don't build stuff like they used to...
It's called planned obsolescence this way they can sell you a new one sooner more $$$ for the company less for you. Many new blowers use sealed transmissions no more simple drive disc that costs about $20 to replace if it wears out.
We have a Sears snow blower with a plastic impeller that never has been able to handle wet snow. We put the modification on this summer and today was the first chance I have had to use it in wet snow. It worked like a champ, even in the heavy snow pushed into the driveway by the snow plows. Thank you for sharing your idea and making a video. Like the other folks have said, you gave our machine new life!
Aaron Fineman That's great. At least you did it in the summer when the weather was nice.
also you can spray pam cooking oil on the inside...works wonders for lubricity...
I just wanted to say thank you for this tip. I have a 10 year old snow blower, that just wasn't doing it anymore. It wouldn't throw snow out of its own way, and I spent more time cleaning the chute out then cleaning my sidewalks. So, I decided it was time to get a new one. I ordered a new and it was delayed coming in due to bad weather. Needless, to say due to bad weather I needed a snow blower. I decided it couldn't hurt to try this with my old snow blower. Let me just say that it work way better then I ever would have expected!! The new blower is being returned as soon as it arrived!! For a mere couple of bucks, you just saved me over $700! Again, I say Thank You!!
Josh Boyce That's awesome. I'm glad you tried it out. I'm amazed on every machine I do it to.
Thank you for the great tip! I did this modification 2 winters ago with some used single stage rubber paddles on my 26" MTD and now I send the snow back up from where it came! I mentioned it to some friends and they want theirs souped up now too, so I'm thinking of offering this mod to a selected few. Thanks too to the guy who recommended riveting Crazy Carpet to the inside of the chute -- got to try that next. Cheers!
+Merv Keyes I'm glad you tried it out.
That's genius. It makes me so mad when my snow blower clogs. I have to try that
BTW- why the OEM cannot provide this with a new piece of equipment absolutely blows my mind
I would say #1 is liability. If your mod fails, flies out of the chute, and hits somebody in the eye, that's on you, if the factory does that and it fails, that's on them. You think they give away cleanout tools with new blowers just to be nice? it's to reduce liability.
There are other reasons too. My old Ariens had about 1/8" of a gap, and it would sometimes freeze. You sometimes had to beak loose the impeller buy hand before you could blow. My new Ariens has 5/8" or so of a gap and has never frozen yet. Additionally, my new Ariens throws much further stock than my old one, and they are equivalent models, both the "Compact" model with is their lowest grade not counting their Sno Tek line. While my new one will fail to throw slush, I don't think I've had it actually plug yet, just has the power to eventually force it out and the slush just flops on the ground.
So, I think from their point of view, the gains aren't worth the work or risks.
@Semper Fi Now they have to hire diversity and inclusion. You think the lawyers are gonna trust them to bolt something onto the end of an impeller like that?
If they wanted a tight gap, they would just make them that way.
I had an Ariens Compact 24 which, I believe, was from the early '80's. It had a 1/8" impeller gap. It would plug up on heavy snow. I never tried to close that 1/8" gap, but I did change the impeller pulley from a 9" to a 6" giving me about a 30% overdrive. It plugged a lot less(very rarely) and gained a lot of distance at the same time.
Nevertheless, rust was taking its toll and I weighed the options of a rebuild or buying a new one.
In this case the new ones had taller chutes, larger impellers, and a taller bucket. In my case, an even better help was the new Compact was 22" wide, which helped with a special narrow sidewalk I had.
So, I got a brand new machine about 5+ years ago.
This one had a 3/4" impeller gap. I was kinda sad about that.
However, it threw further than my old one, even with the mods.
And it almost never plugs up. (I can't remember the last time it did, but I remember cleaning out the old one a lot)
So where is your god now?
Also, with my old one, before I started it, I always had to move the impeller by hand to make sure some snow didn't melt and freeze the impeller in place. Otherwise the belt would get damaged on startup.
Guess what doesn't happen with a 3/4" gap?
@Semper Fi your workmanship was poor.
Great upgrade, I have a blower with a 3 blade impeller so....I put the rubber blocks on all three blades. Tried it today two thumbs up
Awesome. I'm glad you tried it.
Did this to a 826 Canadiana Made in the late 70s,i cut out strips from an old tire and used, and holy shit what a difference, now it throws at least twice as far compared to what it did before the mod!
Awesome, I'm glad you tried it out.
And now the impeller bearing is totally gone,haha. Don't use tyre sides guys,prabably to heavy if it's unbalanced. I'll see if i can't find something lighter after i have changed the bearing :)
The snow load is only on half the impeller at a time and the thing is constantly out of balance by upwards of a few pounds while spinning. Balancing makes no difference. Impeller bearings go out all the time and are a common repair item.
@@sixtyfiveford Good point, which I hadn't previously pondered.
My Toro wasn't throwing snow as far as it use to & I remembered that a tech repair guy told me somtimes it's just the cable that needs to be tightened that engages the blower. Loosened up one nut tightened the other connected to the cable a good half inch or more & as soon as I did that it was back to throwing snow great again
I found that mine would not engage the wheel drive in all gears only 1 or 2 worked not 3 or reverse. I tightened the linkage up to take all the slop out of it and it now works fine. I have done this previously with the auger drive as well. This is an old machine (about 40 years old) and uses linkage rods rather than cables.
You are the man! I bought a 22" Craftsman snow blower for $50 on CL and thought I got the deal of the century until I used it and clogged after only a few minutes of use and continued to clog. Your video saved the day, seriously! I went to my local gas station and for free I picked up a car tire that was not repairable. I used the sidewall of the tire for the snow blower modification and could not believe the difference it made when I ran it down the driveway. Regards and thank you!
steven cook Awesome. Great work with the car tire.
who is the morons that gave this a thumbs down this cool guy gives you free advice on something i know is a pain in the ass in the winter too cool thanks man!!! keep up the good work bro!
+wrjstuka Thanks Man. I hope you try it out.
wrjstuka. It's pretty bad when u gotta dump on a beautifully simple bullet proof solution th such a common delemma. You're an idiot.
Ooops!!! Brainfart!!! I'm sorry. I meant that comment for the thumbs down guy.
all yOU thumbs down are idiots
GREAT VIDEO AND THANK YOU
wrjstuka l
Each time I use my snow blower I spray all the snow throwing parts with silicone. I've never had a problem with clogging since I started doing this. I'll keep this in mind if I ever get a clog.
Me too and the silicone works real good. I had one small clog in the worst conditions possible. When that happens it is time to respray the silicon.
the pb blaster garage door lube works good to.
WD-40?
I've used cooking spray its all its good for i do not want that chemical shit in my body
You're supposed to spray it on the snowblower, not your body.
Used an old doormat on my Husqvarna. Worked real good. Put a set on my son's old 1979 Bolens and he said it was kicking butt. Thanks for your tutorial.
Robert Weaver You're welcome. Great job with the door mat ingenuity.
Talk about mud flaps, My girl's got 'em.
Those are elephant ears, not mud flaps.
NIce job brother, out of the box thinking, TY for making the video, I'll try your method and put the rubber to the impellers even if I find I have a loose belt. I need to locate the belt first if you know. i got a 2stage 1997 Toro 724 Snow thrower, Model 38072. non stick cooking spray did not work even with all powdery snow fallen here in MA. One thing is a lot of rustiness inside the rotor housing if that's an issue which I suspect is not since rust would likely occur. If you got a minute any feedback would be appreciated. TY
Try spray wax, like mquires easy shine
Unbelievable it really works. I have a 42in Craftsman 2 stage blower. Constantly clogged, bad in soft snow, etc. Noticed about a 3/4 in gap on impeller.. so I did the Mod. It has 3 large blades so I used 1/4 bolts and fender washers. Tried some heavy rubber from pipe connectors first that worked but did not last. Then used the rubber blade he recommends from a single stage blower and it is great. Pretty noisy as it drags a bit since I adjusted to overlap just a small amount, but scrapes all the snow off. It throws any type of snow a so far I have to be careful of getting it over my neighbors driveway! Thanks the best tip from RUclips yet!
Thank you SOOOO much for this. I was about 30 seconds from buying a new snow blower because I had all the problems you mentioned. I have a fairly new 9hp Craftsman. I did the mod using a 4" x 4" compression joint sealer / hub donut from the local Ace ($8) and cut it into 3 squares for the three impeller blade. Holy crap! This thing was like a brand new snow blower. It blew snow easily twice as far as it ever has, even over the top of my pickup truck! Also when done my blower used to be full of snow around the impeller. It was clean as a whistle. I can't thank you enough! Here is the fitting I used: www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=28973546&cp=2568443.2568452.2631237.2631261.2631276
Rick Troiani That's great. Great ingenuity with the plumbing part.
I can't reach mine from there I have to remove and split the blower apart, It made a world of difference. Thanks
I just want to say Thank you for the information. This morning I followed your advice installing the rubber on my simplicity snow blower that I bought 23 years ago. For the last couple of years I was getting a distance of 10’ at best. Now I’m getting 25’ just like when it was new. Thanks again. Dave
I'm glad you tried it out. That's great!
this is the guy I want next to me on The Mission to Mars! Cool video.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Thanks for calling us the "other guys"
I did this last year on my Yardman (MTD), and when early spring came with lots of wet snow here in MN, it worked like a charm. Never clogged, and threw snow much further (although not "twice as far" as some have stated in comments), and was well worth the time and effort.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
you mean us "other guys" who don't have to look at the measuring tape and think "where the fuck do 3/eights come from", right? otherwise, nice mod! Makes you wonder how manufacturers haven't adapted these.
i was just wondering when u clear the snow and it sprays on the road is that aloud and what if u sprayed into the neighbors will that cause some tension
+Jasper Edwards Good question! I suggest you ask your neighbor.
+jormot Just to answer your question about shooting snow over to the neighbors, Its about 30' to my neighbor and I don't shoot it over the fence but allow my neighbor to throw his snow over fence into my yard. He has a 10' walk walkway that he uses as a driveway and no place to throw snow except over fence to my yard. Putting in street not allowed.
+Tony Johnson That's really nice of you. I'm sure he appreciates it.
In ontario its a fine if you put your snow on the street. Try n keep it in your yard as a rule.
Saw this vid. Bought the listed parts. Did the install in about 10 minutes. Like everyone else on this thread, it works as stated. Amazing.
If you REALY want to improve this and any other snow blower,..line the chute with a section of plastic like 'crazy carpet' and watch That performance,...you will get almost twice the snow throwing distance., AND the wet snow WILL NOT stick to the chute's inner walls.
Fasten the plastic sheeting to the chute with pop rivetts,..from the inside out,.to keep the rivets flush with the inner surface.
" No charge" for this tip !
Do this WITH what 'sixtyfiveford' has suggested here, and you might even ENJOY snow clearing.
Run your snowblower for 1 minute every month, summer, winter. It will start for sure when it will snow.
Use a product called gas stabilizer, brand name...Stabil. Just add that to your gas cans whenever you refill one and then anything you fill up that runs on gas, will start just like it did when you put it away last year. No need to run it dry or drain the tank any longer. Been doing this for years and have never had a single problem starting anything, including my heavy duty hedge trimmer, that I only use once a year. I've ran that now on the same tank of gas for two years and it still started on the first pull after priming. I swear by it. Never a carburetor problem or any varnishing, what so ever! Jpol.
Your comment about not being able to do this on a Toro... yes you can. I drilled pilot holes first, a little smaller than the self tapping screw I used. That screw just needs to be a little longer, also. My 824 has a three blade impeller, so I just made three paddles. I didn't catch that comment the first time I watched. Huge improvement! Many thanks!
I said you couldn't use self tapping screws on a Toro due to the thicker steel impellers. Predrilling does just fine as you found out.
There's no business like snow business.
Finally had a chance to use my Cub Cadet 24" 2 stage snow blower with your impeller modification. Once with a foot of powder, and once with about 7 inches of wet snow. FANTASTIC results! Never clogged once! And throws the snow out with great force. In fact, because I have a gravel driveway, I have to be really careful where I aim the chute! Although I raised the front scoop housing up about 3/4", It will still pick up a few pebbles now and then, and shoot them out like a slingshot!
Thanks again for sharing this! :)
+LOA1955 Awesome.. I'm glad you tried it out.
My father did this modification last year. Hands down the best modification you can make on a 2 stage. That nasty slush at the end of the driveway was always a pain in the butt to get rid of. This simple mod clears it right away, no clogs and no dribble of slush onto the snow blower. He was actually stopped by the local police in his town about blowing snow into the street. When my father replied he wasn't blowing snow INTO the street, but in fact blowing it OVER the road onto the strips of grass across the street. The cop agreed and went on his way. My father used an old mud flap and some self tappers. I intend on doing the same modification to mine shortly. Thanks for posting you video.
+William Fortier That's a great story. I'm glad he took the time to try this out.
I've been wanting to do this since last season. I have a driveway that is 100'x40'. In the mountains in CO the snow is usually pretty dry, but if you don't get it first thing in the morning, all bets are off. My 30" Craftsman was clogging constantly.
Before I blew the thing up, I bought a giant mud flap, some self-tapping bolts, attached three pieces to each of the impeller blades by using an extension on my cordless drill. 20 minutes later I'm ready.
Holy Moses! Out of the box this thing never had the rooster tail it does now. Plowed through 2' drifts, up and down the driveway, cleared the top of the drive where the plow guys seem to love to dump everything. NOT A SINGLE TIME DID I HAVE TO STOP TO CLEAR A CLOGGED/STUCK IMPELLER! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! Happy New Year!
once again i want to let everybody know this little 20 minute modify really works .... just tried it on our second good snow fall, my neighbor has the identical snowblower I have and he came over to ask me why I was throwing snow so much farther than he was so I showed him the modify and gave him the extra pieces of rubber I cut so he can modify his ... THANX AGAIN !!!
+Bruce Micheels That's Great... Let it snow.
AMAZING!!! Retrofitted mine last night in prep for 5" snow today. The throw was so far I had to lower the chute. Cleared my driveway and six neighbors. Did not clog one time. Oh, by the way, I am a CPA, so my rank on the mechanical aptitude chart is not very high. I just made sure the rubber fins I was attaching were snug against the housing.
Carl Styers Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you tried it out. Great job!
Got to try my new troy-bilt for the first time and was highly disappointed because it clogged at the slush at end of driveway. Seen your modification video and did it. Had 8 inch heavy wet snow couple days ago. And I am so glad I found your video. Snow blower works great now. Even at the gutter where snow plows do their usual thing to make you mad. Go ahead snow plows. I'm ready for you now. Thanks a lot. Great work.
Stephenj Jones The snow plows are going to come get you now... That's great that you tried it out. It's kind of a pain reaching down into the chute area, but overall a simple task. You'll be happy for the next decade with your machine.
sixtyfiveford , did this to a buddy's snowblower , his son no longer call's his snowblower a piece of junk , this simple modification makes cheap snowblowers work 100% better. Great job bud !!!! Fellas' like you are the true geniuses in this world .
+Sean Dacey I'm glad you tried it out. Thanks
I did this to my Cub Cadet a couple weeks ago and man! what a difference! I used a leftover piece of a rubber truck bed mat and fastened them with fine thread self drilling screws and fender washers. Really sends the snow now.
Awesome. I'm glad you tried it out.
I literally just got in from splitting a Honda to remove the belts. Fantastic fix. You are to be knighted Sir and promoted over all mechanical wizards of the realm.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
WOW, this was AWSOME. I woke up this morning to 4" of wet slop in NJ, did the hack (my machine is 23 years old and has 3 impeller blades, I put scrapers on all 3 blades). My machine is throwing 2x - 3x what it did when it was new, and I had exactly ONE clog. Thanks -- this was a GREAT hack!
Michael Simon You're welcome. Thanks for trying it out.
This video saved me $$$$$$. I was so frustrated with my 45 year old Ariens that I was about to buy a brand new snowblower. This mod made all the difference. I used rubber from a mudflap and zip screws. It’s lasted for 3 winters now, with no sign of failure. Only issue I had was that the rubber was putting an extra load on the engine and causing it to stall out, which was the fault of a worn out carburetor. A new $12 carb from eBay fixed that instantly. Now my antique 8hp blower outperforms the new 13hp machine I use at my workplace, with the same 24” bucket size.
AWESOME. I'm glad you tried it out.
Thanks for the video, I did this to my White snow blower made by MTD this afternoon, about 45 minutes to put on 3 impeller extensions. Tried it out on old half melted wet snow and it worked great. Can't wait for more snow now. Thanks a lot.
+Dennis Hutsell Awesome... LET IT SNOW!
Thanks I have never owned a snowblower. I bought a used one for $200 this fall. Yesterday first time I tried to use it, snow was very wet, after using it for 15 minutes it clogged up exactly as described! I took it back to the garage thinking it was a broken shear pin.
I’m going to go put some rubber flaps on it today and wait for the next snow fall.
Thanks for the tip, and the great video.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Mod now complete via re purposed car tire side wall.. Boy does it throw snow now. This was done on a troy built. The impeller had a 1/2 inch gap in relation to housing. The gap is now eliminated. Thank you sir!
Commandermike wheelin That's a big gap. It's amazing such a little modification can make such a difference. GREAT use of the old tire.
Nice mod. Just bought a 2 stage craftsman like new for $50. Got it cheap cause the guy said all it ever did was clog when snow was wet. This one has plastic impellers.So instead of using self tapping screws for fear of them coming lose and wreaking havoc, I used all stainless hardware. For the flap I used 1/4" thick corded rubber off the head on an old floor squeeze I had laying around. It's only May here so it'll be awhile before I see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to make the video!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Just did this yesterday to my Honda HSS724, no problem, took my mechanic buddy 30 mins, we needed a 2x2 to block the impeller from freely rotating, but must importantly needed a 12", by 1/4" extended drill bit to reach the impeller ( $15.00). Worked perfectly my Honda dealer wants the details, he was "All ears" when I explained your fix to him and was very aware of this problem.
I'm glad you tried it out.
Amazing results! I have a low end 20yr old plus Murray 8 HP snow blower. I have not used it for about 5 years because of the chute clogging and not being able to throw snow. I had a big gap between impeller and housing, gravel driveway I suspect helped lead to this gap. I installed the rubber spacers per your instructions and this low end blower is now throwing the snow 20 plus feet, amazing. The self-tapping screws did not work for me, had to drill and use bolts to hold the rubber spacers in place. Not a bad job took about 2hrs from start to finish, worst part was drilling holes in the impeller with the 10” drill bit, but well worth the effort! THANK YOU! Did I say AMAZING; oh I did…Thanks for the video!
David Mahoney Yeah, reaching down in the chute can be a pain. I'm glad you tried this. Looks like the Murray will see a good remaining life.
hi sff, you helped me out getting my snowblower back up and running and now i just made your modification to my impeller. it now throws 2-3 times farther and finally handles ice and slush without bogging down. living in new england this has saved my ass this year big time. thanks again.
grdnsetr Awesome. Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you found my videos and that they helped.
Very interesting. I am tempted to modify my Kubota 2660 60" blower as the town is throwing increasingly larger rocks/cobbles from their sand casters again. The rocks are tearing up the impeller and surrounding drum of the impeller housing. If the rocks can't get trapped/pinched at the impeller edge, perhaps they will pass through more easily, causing less damage. What a great notion you have had., minimal disassembly required. Thumbs up! Rebuilds on the blower run between $1500 and $2000. It has had three since 1996, mostly related to rock damage caused by the adulterated sand the town uses. I think I have everything I need out in shop and barn to execute this upgrade.
I would caution anyone to carefully cut the heavy rubber pieces to equal sizes, very precisely, so the impeller remains balanced at high rpms. Impeller shaft bearings are at the core of a two stage blower. Full disassembly is required to replace them. Ak me how I know.
I did this 6 years ago and it works great! I did it to 3 snowblowers and saw improvement in all of them. Thanks!
Nice work!
I just did this to my p.o.s. 5.5hp 2 stage Craftsman. you saved the day. I was able to toss wet icy snow and Not 1 clog! I already had to modify the throttle to make it correctly hold "full throttle". much better blower now. Thank you!
+Will C. Awesome.. I'm glad the video was a help and glad you tried it.
Hi - Purchased in fall 2016, a used (8 year old) Craftsman 27" snowblower, made by Husqvarna. Following your straightforward easy to understand advice, and additional info. gathered from other similar how-to videos, I did this upgrade using 3/8" thick rubber from a discarded truck mudflap. At the start, the spacing between the 3 (yes, just 3 !) impeller blades and the housing was about 5/16 ". Since the auger housing was very easy to dismantle from the motor section (remove 2 bolts), the work was easier to perform and I could verify the friction between the rubber paddles and the housing by manually turning the impeller. Since I only used this snowblower after the modification I cannot compare snow throwing distance before and after. In any case, it does not go very far. But one thing is certain, the snow does not clog up the chute. In fact there is practically no snow accumulation in the auger housing and chute after operating the machine, either under cold or wet conditions. Thanks so much for your insight, it was very useful.
Nicely done. I'm glad you tried it out.
I Added the paddles on all three and it worked better than without them. Wet snow and close to the road. My Craftsman (Murray) has a rectangular shoot in the housing. It still cleared all the snow even though it got stuck a couple times. No chance at cleaning my driveway without the paddles. I am happy I saw your video. Thanks sixtyfiveford.
That's fantastic. I'm glad you tried it out. Those old Murray Craftsmans were good machines.
We got a little over a foot of wet snow. My blower clogged right away I saw the video and gave it a shot. I used an old tire. Wow what a difference. Mine was a Toro so I did predrill the holes. This is a must do. I never write reviews but with this big of a difference for no cost just a little labor.
Awesome, I'm glad you tried it out. It's a life saver.
Thank you 65,
just had a small nor-easter come through upstate NY, hacked my snow blower a few weeks back, and I'll tell u, it worked like a champ. Thanks again.
That's great.
I have a TroyBilt StormTracker 2690 that's 3 winters old. Generally I have been very happy with its performance. However, it has on occasion gummed up due to wet snow on the bottom 1/2-inch of multiple inches of snow. I watched this video. Then bought #14x1-inch gimlet screws, 2" steel backup strips, and truck mud flaps. I disassembled the chute volute, then made a thin cardboard template with bolt holes. I transferred template shape and hole locations to the flap and snipped with sheet metal shears. Added them to each of three impeller blades, drilled, and mounted the rubberized extensions. I used a razor blade to trim some obvious excess against the steel volute. Reassembled the machine. Started up & engaged the impeller, noisy for a little while till excess rubber wore off. Headed over to the snow. Wowy, wow! What a difference in throwing distance! Can't wait to try on slush!
Thanks for the video! Engineer B'
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Greetings from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia , Canada. Thank you sixty five ford ... Did this mod and the difference is amazing. Couldn't throw snow over my 5 foot high fence, now it's throwing 2to3 feet higher and at 8 feet further than before. Never had a chance to try it in wet slushy snow but I'm sure it should work fine. Thanks again.....
Thanks, I'm glad you tried it out.
Yes, I did this to both my machines. An Ariens and a Toro. Both are about 22” models. The Toro is five hp and throws the snow way better than before. Now, the Ariens is 6.5 hp. Seems to blow the snow at least 50 feet and is now my go to machine. It will actually blow the snow on the house roof. It’s almost comical. The toro used to be my fave but after this mod, the Ariens puts the toro to shame. The Toro became my backup. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome!
Dude, today was the day. I looked up snow blowers last year when we got a deep snow and decided we needed a new blower. We bought a brand new Troy Bilt 2625 last year and never used it, never even put gas in it. Today I put gas in it and used it for the first time, it was almost like heaven on Earth. I appreciate your modification, but it sure doesn't look like I'm going to need it on the Troy Bilt.
Great idea..just installed my paddle extenders to my 3 year old Husqvarna. No snow to test but I can already tell by the amount of air flow. Can't wait to throw some slush. Thanks!