Proper RPMs for Snow Blower Engine?

You're right, you can thank the attorneys for the lower speed of a lot of thing; less speed = less injury. Pull the cooling shroud off the motor and find a plastic paddle that rides close to the flywheel. Cut the plastic paddle back so the cooling fan doesn't blow it back as far and keep the rpm down, and your rpm will come up to where it should be. Ronnie
Ronnie

Thanks, but I won't let lawyers within 100 feet of my tools, and I doubt that surgery to the air vane is required, just resetting how hard the spring pulls against it should do it, or maybe even buying a new spring, but I'd rather not over rev the engine by going too far.
Jeff

I don't think the engine uses the plastic flap. Most Tehcumseh engines are governed inside the crank case. you need to adjust the arm that connects to the shaft that goes into the engine.

"as the "Widow Maker"* doesn't seem to be launching snow as far as I remember it could a while back"
I just went thru that with my gilson 5hp. When it threw snow it acted as if it were vomiting on itself. I shortened the governor spring until the rpms sounded more healthy but not screaming. Works ok now.

Most of these engines are rated at 3600 rpm but I don't recommend running them that fast all the time. I'd say that 3000 rpm should be enough but if it was me I'd just adjust it high enough to make it work the way you want it. Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

3600 RPM at no load.
Nate
--

Top rated speed for these engines is 3600 RPM. On snowblowers they're usually run in the 3400-3600 range, although on one as old as yours I'd keep it at the lower end. Do not adjust the speed by messing with the governor spring, that's the leading cause for problems with troubleshooting later on. There's a "U" shaped wire between the cable-controlled quadrant and a lever that tugs on the governor. You spread or pinch the U depending on which way you want to go.
Before you do this you also want to "zero" the main governor lever on the engine shaft. The procedure's outlined in all the manuals.
Those are great old machines. 1964 was the last year for the cat snatcher bucket. Until earlier this year I had a '63 6/24 with the optional removable side panels. The main safety difference that modern blowers have are deadmans for the auger and traction drive. Keep your wits about you and you're fine.
GTO(John)

Modern snowblower engines run just as fast or faster than older ones, so do the impellers. Lawn mowers are the ones limited by federal specs. 3200 RPM for residential machines last time I checked.
Tecumseh snow engines don't use vane governors, they use an internal flyweight type. If you do have a vane engine, there are legit ways for adjusting the speed without hacking at stuff.
GTO(John)

So the question for me is how do I speed up my lawnmower fast enough to work like a snowblower?
Regards, Joe Agro, Jr. V8013

Thanks John,
I hadn't looked at the governor setup yet, but I'm reasonably sure I can handle an adjustment if it needs it. I may have jumped the gun thinking it might have a sagged spring, and I didn't intend to shorten a coil spring or anything like that, just change the span between the effective end of the the Bowdoin cable and what it's pulling on, which is what it sounds like what closing or opening that "U" will do.
I just couldn't remember if the RPMs on that size engine had to be kept below 3,000 or what. I'll stick the tach near the plug wire tonite and see what the revs really are. The Ariens got used yesterday morning when for the first significant snow of the season, about 8" of dry stuff, here in Winchester, Taxachusetts.
My old Ariens does have mounting holes for those half round side panels and they are pictured in it's owner's booklet, but they weren't with the machine when I bought it about 30 years ago, cheap because the previous owner had stripped the spark plug threads. At that time a new head and gasket cost less than helicoiling it, so that's the way I fixed it. I prefer it without those side panels 'cause I can nibble chisel away packed snow by angling the front of the machine into it. Just don't ask me anything bout those curved scratches on the fender of SWMBOs car.
Mine also has those funky bidirectional overunning clutch gadgets in the drive wheel hubs which give it a pseudo differential action. They let the outside wheel overrun the drive axle in both forward and reverse. I hadda fix them up about ten years ago after the tangs on their friction bands broke off, I couldn't lower myself to just freeze 'em solid with a bolt through a drilled hole like some folks told me to do. They've worked fine since then.
Happy New Year,
Jeff

This i'd LOVE to see! I don't think it would work real well. A snowblower has to move fairly slowly to keep from melting and packing the snow. A lawnmower runs way to fast, in terms of surface speeds, to do it right. I suppose a lawnmower could actually clear an inch or two of light snow, but it would make a HUGE mess of a thick, wet snow, I'm afraid. Now, if you mounted it at right angles to the ground, and advanced it into the face of the snow pack, that might work a lot like an alpine snow blower. It would sure be a hazardous machine, too, until the engine fried from lack of lube. (Don't anybody actually DO this and then sue me, please!)
Jon

You'd have to get that mower pretty fast to clear a good couple feet.
GTO(John)

How much snow'd you guys get? Here on the MA north shore we must have had 12". Not quite the 4" they said on TV.
The tractors for these snowblowers came with three different drive setups. Solid axle, weirdo clutches, and an unlockable differential. I had the diff model. Easy to turn, lousy on slippery surfaces. It was still a couple years before they made them locking.
GTO(John)

I think we got spared in Winchester, even with my usual exageration I don't think I could say we got more than 8" and it was about the "dryest" I'd ever seen here, I was suprised at the amount of drifting and clearing down to the bare pavement we got from whatever wind was blowing.
Doubtless someone from the midwest will chime in asking why we we even need snowblowers for such a pissant little bit of snow. (But, were you around here for the "Blizzard of 78"?) Must have been useful only when ferrying them around on dry pavement.
I've got chains on mine 'cause We've got a 90 foot long driveway with a slope of about 1 in 10.
It was still a couple years I'm planning on keeping the Ariens I've got running.....until we finally make it to Florida and I swear I'm gonna ship it down there along with SWMBOs dishes and my tools, spray it with gold paint, and fasten it onto a concrete pad as a front lawn ornament.
Happy Holidays,
Jeff

Snow, ......Snow blower,.......... hmmmmmm, I must be missing something living in the deep south........na, I don't think so!............;-)

Got bugs?
R, Tom Q. Remove bogusinfo to reply.

The differential model was geared more towards year-round use with the trail mower and power sweep attachments. Mine came with turf tires and chains, but I switched to Sno-Hog knobbies. Looking back probably not the smartest idea.
GTO(John)

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Wwj2110) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m06.aol.com:
Something that helps my 8hp Gilson a lot is to sand a paint the chute so the snow slides through easily.
Rob

Measured engine speed tonite. Right around 3500 RPM according to my little wireless tachometer. My curiousity is satisfied and I was probably barking up the wrong tree thinking the engine speed had sagged.
A son gave me that wireless tach a few years ago. I probably wouldn't have sprung for it myself, given the price and the few times I've had need for it, but it sure is easy to use. It picks up the pulsing magnetic field from the spark plug lead and measures the repitition rate. Mine looks like this one:
Guess maybe yesterday's snow was so dry and powdery it was like trying to snowblow talcum powder. Not enough mass to volume ratio in the snowflakes to let them fly very far before air resistance slowed them down.
Happy New Year,
Jeff
GTO69RA4 wrote: