OT: snowblowers

I have a 'Noma' snowblower with that rubber wheel to disk drive mechanism.8hp/26"cut. This thing is 12 years old. It is real important to clean the disk and rubber wheel at least twice a season. Some times a light film of oil coats the disk or wheel and you'll lose traction. I've used it more than I wanted to this season and it still runs well.

One thing about this drive system, it will 'slip' under too much stress unlike a gear drive system that might break a pin or gear.Though you have to wonder about that , being on snow and ice.....

hth

Jay

I have one with the friction wheel and one with a geared transmission. Both have served me very good. The nice thing about the friction wheel is all the speeds. My old Gilson with a geared drive is slow but will move very heavy snow

The vast majority of snowblowers over the years use a friction disc drive like that. It's really a fine design when done properly. Yours is either misadjusted, defective, or just plain crap. MTD probably made it for CT.

I'd go with either Ariens or Simplicity. They're not the same these days, but I have a 40-year-old Ariens that's like new.

The Hondas are very slick machines and very high quality overall, but you hear of issues with internal drive parts breaking and parts costing more than a new blower. Track drives are also hard to turn.

GTO(John)

I have a John Deere which has been a very good machine. And I live in Upper Michigan were we average 200+ inches of snow each winter. I have had to change my rubber wheel drive once, but that is a small price to pay. Machine runs great and always has. I grew up with a john deere snowblower and that machine is still running and is now more than 25 years old!! What ever you do, put chains on the wheels, even though the sales people will tell you you don't need them. If you want the machine to "pull" you through the snow, put chains on it.

I have a 24" 8hp Snow King(Canadian Tire brand) I purchased 8 years ago. Same style of drive. I have only done a couple of oil changes and adjusted up the cables for stretch. Never had any problems with slippage, or even a had a shear bolt go. I think you may have an alignment problem. If the rubber wheel isn't making enough contact, that could lead to the slippage, Is there any way to shim the shaft the drive wheel is on, or the disc? Never had to look at mine yet so I don't know for certain. Spent two hours yesterday getting rid of the 72cm of snow we received on Thursday. Still waiting for the snow plow to come by and fill it in again, only a goat path down the street. Hopefully the big snow blower will come by instead of the plow so I wouldn't have to dig out again :-)

habbi wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@bpla.com (Bruce) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

I have an old Lawnboy (Gilson) 26"/8hp. I put chains on it, which seems to have transferred the slip from the wheels to the friction drive, wearing it out. Putting a new rubber wheel in the drive is a major undertaking on these old beasts, but I did it. It didn't last a whole season (central Ontario - 200"+ of snow). I tried adding a second spring to increase the pressure at the friction wheel but I don't think it helped. Can anybody suggest a fix?

Rob

That design can work very well. I have a Snapper riding mower using that drive scheme that will climb any hill I have the courage to ride up or down. I do clean that disc with brake cleaner about once a season to make sure there is no oil on it. My Toro 521 snowblower uses that too, will climb a 4" square curb with a little help. The wheels don't stop turning but the chains don't quite grip the concrete steps quite enough to lift the whole machine.

The machines I describe, however, have the disc running at engine speed and all speed reduction (and torque multiplication) is after that. If yours has the disc speed-reduced by belts with the rubber wheel driving the axel directly, that is a very poor design!

I've got an old Noma 5/26 with the rubber wheel and a differential. It is well over 35 years old - and I've replaced the rubber wheel once. Should likely do it again - it slips when it gets wet, but otherwhize works well. I've replaced all the bearings once, and blew the engine about 6 years ago - got a replacement and kept right on blowing. It wore one set of tires off (after tearing the chains off) so I put on a set of "crap digger" tires that pull better than the turf tires and chains it came with.