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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Snow Blower Handling

Some snow blowers have small compact tractor segments and engines. They are lower to the ground. How they are structured over the wheels to some extent ascertains how they will manage and dig into snow.
Width of handles and height of the handles tends to make a big difference.

How frequently will you turn the snow blower as you make passes up and down a drive way? If it's long and narrow then not many. If it's short and broad then many more. Think about all the areas you'll clear and how much turning you'll be performing and factor that into your concern. Making a moving turn is quite easy but making a U turn may demand raising up on the handles to move the wheels around. If you have difficulty raising the snow blower for this kind of turn then make a driving turn in a somewhat larger area to stay away from lifting. You might have clear a small area at the end of your first pass to make a rotating area for yourself. That's simple, quick to do and as soon as you learn to do a operating turn most devices are easy to manage.

Turning can be helped by wheel locks and differentials but frequently no matter how simple your snow blower is to turn what's to the edges usually restricts easy turning. For example if you start on one side of the driveway and make passes to the middle then turning into the middle is turning into snow, probably high snow. No matter what you have for functions turning into snow is not assisted by wheel features. For some places it might be extra suitable to have both wheels locked for more drive into drifts and EOD. If you have a wheel lock differential then you'll have to hand change the wheel locking pin every time you want to turn easy versus have both turning for more grasp. People with pin lock fixed it one way and never modify it.

Your area to clear will identify which setting is superior for you and most likely be left there compromising the easy of the other setting as it too undesirable to modify during clearing. Having both wheels turn together for greater traction is usually more helpful than having the wheels set for simple turning. Eventually it depends on your own physical situation and the circumstances for your clearing area.

Husqvarna 924HV 24-Inch 208cc SnowKing Gas Powered Two Stage Snow Thrower With Electric Start

This snow blower is enormous. Gets through anything you've put it through. No trouble cleaning up the end of the driveway right after the road plows have gone by. You can use this to do your whole road and more. The electric start operates well and the pull start is much simpler then most chainsaws. The settings take a little to get used to but once you are used to them they turn out to be like second nature.

Check current pricing discounts:

Snapper 1695880 SS822E 22-Inch 205cc OHV Briggs & Stratton Gas Powered Single Stage Snow Thrower with Electric Start

Overall a wonderful snow blower. Very simple to manuever, starts right up and takes care of large amounts of snow nicely. You can replace your older, larger, snow blower with this style and it is so simple to manage that I can finish the job faster with it.

It is Very strong, and well designed. The snow chute settings are very fluid and resilient. Nice big tires and very powerful engine.

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Poulan Pro PR624ES 24-Inch 208cc LCT Gas Powered Two-Stage Snow Thrower With Electric Start 961920037

This snow blower is a amazing and affordable professional class snow Blower. Everything about it is heavy duty and very well produced.
It is Very solid, and well constructed. The snow chute settings are very fluid and durable. Nice big tires and very strong engine.

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A Single Stage Or A 2 Stage Snow Blower?

Using a Snow Blower in winter is very good when it snows a lot. It is an optional personal choice to use a snow blower or not. Some individuals who shovel their drive ways each time it snows (they simply call it exercise) and I know others who swear by snow blowers. For me personally have done both.

Snow blowers are awesome and if you can manage to buy one I would recommend it. There are 2 unique kinds, a single stage and a 2 stage.

A single stage, take the snow and throws it. A 2 stage, takes it smashes it up, then throws it.

If you can afford it a 2 stage is the best choice. However they are a little larger and need a little more maintenance but they will power through even the toughest snow and ice.

A single stage may work extremely well as well as I believe your drive way is reasonably flat and smooth, but if we get anything like a foot of snow falling you will most likely have to "blow" it two times.

What I would stay clear of are those driven snow shovels or anything electric operated. My experience is that they simply don't have the "power" necessary.

As for speed... look at the self powered snow blowers (either single or 2 stage) but make certain the wheels are great enough to have grip on ice... I have had that issue before.

Single Stage Snow Blowers

A single stage has a thin metal auger only for attaching rubber auger tips. The auger on a single stage throws the snow directly out to the chute so an impeller is not needed. The shape near the center of the auger is flat for throwing the snow into the chute.

The auger speed on a single stage is faster than a two stage in order to get the momentum of the snow higher so it can be tossed without the need of for an impeller.

A single stage has no wheel drive. The rubber tips touch the ground and pull the snow blower along. They bounce around quite a bit on non-flat driveways from hitting high spots.
Single Stage: On a single stage the center part of the auger functions as the impeller.
Single sages have rubber auger blades and attach to a metal auger similar to two stage augers.
A single stage runs across the full intake housing and has a flattened section near the center under the chute which propels the snow up into the chute.
There is no separate impeller on a single stage like on a two stage.

Poulan Pro PR624ES - Quality Snow Blowers

Poulan Pro PR624ES 24-Inch 208cc LCT Two-Stage With Electric Start

Toro 38381 18-Inch 15 Amp Electric 1800 Power Curve Snow Blower

Poulan Pro PR521 21-Inch 136cc Single Stage Snow Thrower

2 Stage Snow Blowers

The impeller consists of blades around the auger drive shaft. The snow gets pushed into the impeller by the augers. The impellers rotate at about 1200 rpm. They usually have 3 to 4 blades of varying shapes. The diameter of the impeller varies from 10 to14 inches.
There are usually 3 to 4 blades and of various shapes. Some are like flat paddles and others are long strips.
In general there is no advantage to shape or number of blades. Each company designs to maximum efficiency for their shape of blade versus number of impeller blades and diameter. There is usually an advantage to having a larger diameter impeller.
Larger horsepower snowblowers have larger diameter impellers with three to four blades. Very large blowers generally have 4 blades.

Snapper 1696000 24-Inch 205cc OHV Briggs & Stratton Gas-Powered Two-Stage, Electric Start

Murray 1695978 24-Inch 205cc Briggs & Stratton 800 Snow Series Gas Powered Two Stage..

Yard-Man 31AM63KE701 - Quality Snow Blowers

Yard-Man 31AM63KE701 30-Inch Two Stage-With Electric Start & Power Steering

Areas To Snow Clearing

Size of Snow Blower - Quality Snow Blowers

What Size of Snow Blower you need?

A long slim drive way does not need a snow blower capable of great range. You'll be blowing from the middle to the edges which is a very short range. For a three car large drive way with no throw areas on the sides you would want a bigger machine to toss up into range areas or throw up the driveway demanding a double throw. A double throw is challenging but not because it's twice as much. It's challenging because it's condensed.

Where will that snow go when you blow?. Blowing snow to a corner of the property or between the house and garage may be ok for a few storms but following three or four snow falls it's full, frozen and may become an unexpected obstacle. You may need a bigger device to get around blowing limitations.

How long and wide is each area to clear? It makes a big difference how far you will require to blow the snow and the power need of the snow blower.

Is your area smooth, a hilly, or have many well-defined bumps and crevasses? What is your drive way surface: soil, tar, concrete, small stones, cobblestones, bricks?

How much turning will you have to do for your area? A long thin drive way is simple to clear. It's up and back with few spins or backing up. A complicated drive way with spaces or side areas needs much more chute turning, backing up and turning.

Here are some different sizes Snow Blowers for you:

18 - 21 inch Snow Blowers...

Snow Joe SJ620 18-Inch 13.5-Amp Electric Snow Thrower

WORX WG650 18-Inch 13 Amp Electric orange Snow Thrower

Power Smart DB5011 18-Inch 13 Amp Electric Snow Thrower

Greenworks 26032 20-Inch 12 Amp Electric Snow Thrower

Poulan Pro PR621 21-Inch 208cc LCT Gas -Single Stage Snow..

Yard Machines 21-Inch 3.5 HP Single-Stage Snow Thrower 31A240-800

22 inch Snow Blowers...

Power Smart DB7659 22-Inch 208CC LCT Compact Gas Powered

Yard Machines 31A 32AD700 22-Inch 179cc HV 4-Cycle Gas Powered

Murray 1695885 800 Snow Series 22-Inch 4-Cycle OHV Briggs

27 inch or more Snow Blowers...

Snapper 1696001 27-Inch 250cc OHV Briggs & Stratton Gas Powered Two Stage -with Electric Start

Poulan Pro PR291E30 30-Inch 291cc LCT Gas Powered Two Stage Snow Thrower With Electric Start

Husqvarna 1830HV 30-Inch 414cc SnowKing Gas - Two Stage-With Electric Start & Power Steering Husqvarna 1830HV 30

Sizing A Snow Blower

Snow blowers range in horse power, intake chute size, intake height, low and high center of gravity, small and large spread wheels, big and small diameter wheels, large and lean wheels.
Typical options:

Regular to a little bit larger driveway.

5hp 20 to 24 inch intake width 12 to 18 inch intake height.

6hp 20 to 24 inch intake width, 12 to 18 inch intake height.

7hp 22 to 26 inch intake width, 14 to 20 inch intake height.

8hp 24 to 32 inch intake width, 16 to 22 inch intake height.

Fairly big drive way or two drive-ways with both staying regular to larger.

9hp 26 to 36 inch intake width, 20 to 24 inch intake height.

>hp 26 to 36 inch intake width 20 to 24 inch intake height

Things About Snow Blowers

How To Choose Snow Blowers ?

Most of us have an idea or two about snow blowers, but do we know how to choose one ? I will cover many aspects about snow blowers and using them that will be helpful if you were in the stage of buying one.