[Hydro]

During the rebuild of my S-84 (the drive has been fixed to work with my 448), I flipped the "cutting edge" on my snowblower. Ever since then, I get snow buildup during removal ops. The snow doesn't get sucked into the housing to be thrown out the chute. When in float, the blower housing is resting on the skids and the lip is in VERY light contact with the ground (skids are holding the weight).

Also, I tried a 1/2 rubber lip under the worn side of the cutting edge, but that didn't do anything.

Does anyone have an idea as to why the snow is building up in front of the machine (so it acts more like a plow) and what the fix may be?

 

[Harry]

Hydro, I had the snow buildup problem when the snow was very wet and the caster can’t throw it if it won’t go in. Sometimes I’ve found that when the snow is very wet and build up in front of the caster. I rev up the engine to max rpm and slam into the pile. It makes the engine bog down a bit. If it stops going in I back up a bit them slam back into the pile. The build up doesn’t happen much but when it does it’s a PITA. There has been times I’ve had to just push the snow and use the caster like a plow. Most recently we had a few inches of snow then sleet with freezing rain. I expected a problem with moving the snow and ice mix. I drove slow at about half throttle and the snow ice mix was flying out the chute 20 to 30’. The caster performance really surprised me. ✌. Harry

 

[Hydro]

Thanks Harry.

On mine, when the snow gets in the chute, it flies ... a long way. The performance is nice, when it works. I am going to try and figure out why she does this "push the snow" thing. 6" isn't that much work for my 448 S84 combo, even with the 16 tooth gear. Ive gotten through 18"+ without a problem.

When I had the worn side of the cutting in use (before I flipped it), it did not do this, so I am thinking that extra 1.5" lift may have something to do with the snow accumulating in front of the housing. And you're right, it does it mostly when it is a heavier and wet snow. I'll be experimenting to find a solution.

 

[bhildret]

Extra 1.5" lift?

If properly installed it could only be the metal thickness different (assuming prior was worn thin). Sure you installed it right? Or you installed it with the trailing edge lip downward, instead of tucked up in the snowcaster body?

That said, under very certain conditions of minimal depth snow and an icy underlayer, these can do a fair amount of pushing before it will spill in and get gobbled up ...

Brian

 

[Jancoe]

Can you show us a pic of your setup? And a pic of the mule drive?

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[Hydro]

The leading edge of the cutting bar is point down. Is it installed wrong?

@Jancoe, here are pics of my set up:

 

[Lionel]

Something seems weird with that cutting edge, If I didn't know better, it seems upside down. See what a few others have to say,, but not sure how it could hug the ground that way,,,

 

[Hydro]

It does follow the contour of the underside of the blower housing.

 

[Jancoe]

Hydro... check your belt. It appears to be installed wrong. Look at the belt routing diagram. That should fix your issue. Your auger is spinning the wrong way.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[Hydro]

LOL! That was a good one Jancoe! I read this and ran down to the garage thinking "how could I miss that !!". Belt is run correctly, auger spins in the right direction.

 

[Harry]

I took a look at my caster when I was in the shop today. I’ve owned it for at lest 25 years and never removed it. Mine is pointed down also. Now that I looked at it, it needs some attention. ✌. Harry

 

[Jancoe]

Well I tried. Lol, I zoomed in more and now see you got it right. But first glance without zooming in on the pics, the belt looked routed wrong.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[Lionel]

The more I look at that bottom edge,, the more I'll say something is wrong.
There is no way that snow has to climb up into the caster. The cutting edge, should be horizontal and sitting flat on the ground. Now, perhaps it's the picture, but if you could take another picture, with caster in garage, sitting on the ground, the most that the shell would be sitting above the ground, would be the thickness of the cutting edge,, maybe 3/16", disregarding if the shoes are holding it up.
So, I'd loosen the shoes up, stick caster on ground, and cutting edge should be pointing straight forward and not downwards, which is what the current picture would tend to show., I think, it's upside down,,, Better pictures, would prove or disprove that.

 

[Lionel]

I also think, the curve of the edge in this picture,, should be facing upwards and not downwards. Anyone have a decent picture of the back of their caster?

In saying all of the above, this picture would tend to say the cutting edge is correctly orientated on your caster as well,

Looking at back of caster, and looking at the way the scraper bar faces, downwards in this picture

So maybe your picture shows an allusion that it's pointing down at the front.

 

[Harry]

The manual shows the edge facing down in the front.✌ Harry

 

[Hydro]

Lionel,

The edge in your picture is part of the housing itself, not part of the cutting edge. Mine has the same thing and when the cutting edge is installed properly, the unused edge fits snug in that curve of the housing.

 

[Gordy]

Lionel,

The edge in your picture is part of the housing itself, not part of the cutting edge. Mine has the same thing and when the cutting edge is installed properly, the unused edge fits snug in that curve of the housing.

Yep thats what I saw when I checked mine out today. I could not see the unused edge in your picture so had to look at mine.

Cheers,
Gordy