The result, ready for snow after lots of work and mods

[shameless 3]

Hey can whlvr:

Thanks for the response.

I take care of several driveways as well as the sidewalks connecting them.

I do this at no charge for my neighbors who are all retired and or widows.

The sidewalks will be no problem but, 3 of the driveways are sloped, not real steep.

I never had a problem with my walk behind spinning on the slope, but have never had a trctor blower combo before.

How steep is you drive?

[shameless 3]

Hey Mike:

I feel I should elaborate on the my rational.

I was always raised to question how things work.

Its one thing to see how something is built and simply duplicate it.

I ask why is it that way and is there a different or better way, and so............... :eusa-think:

With the current setup (tensioner on drive side of the belt) I used a fairly light spring on the tensioner

The first spring was so strong that it would keep the blower from lowering all the way down.

The lighter spring allowed the blower to go all the way down, but just barely.

It keeps the belt tight enough to continue spinning the auger as it is lifted.

You suggested that the belt may slip or burn as the auger is loaded with snow.

I am not seeing that happen(in my mind, cause we don't have any snow yet)

The pto pulley pulls the blower up towards the tractor as it spins.( counter clockwise rotation)

If I add any more spring tension to the idler set up the blower actually lifts the right corner up (corner of the auger pulley)

This was a worse problem with the tensioner on the slack side of the belt.

My foggy mind tells me that the belt can only slip it the blower starts to lift off the ground, up and towards the tractor.

In theory this can't happen when full of snow as the weight of the snow should keep the blower touching the ground.

I tweaked the lift bar to allow a little extra down pressure so the blower can go a touch past level at the bottom.

If I lift the front tires 1/4 inch off the floor I can still push the blower to the ground by pushing forward on the operator lift bar.

So my thought after this long explanation is that I can push forward of the bar if the belt starts to slip and keep the belt tight if my tensioner design does not work...............................

Your thoughts :ychain:

[ol550 827]

Only time or snow will tell the whole story. I just look at it this way a few

years back a cousin of mine who is in the education field were having a discussion

about how kids learn or have trouble learning. I gave him my thoughts that I

believe some kids learn by theory and some need facts. He had never thought that

way untill I gave him that fact. I have to go with an engineering fact and the fact

that Wheel Horse put their tensioners on the slack side of the belt are the facts.

And thats all I going to say about that. Mike

[shameless 3]

Thanks Mike:

I will continue to play around and buy an extra belt just in case

I will of course share with you guys how it plays out.

Thanks Again!

[shameless 3]

Hey Mike:

I managed to fab up a tensioner to run on the slack side of the belt.

It required reworking the entire setup, but after reading and re-reading all the posts regarding tensioners, well what can I say.

I sided with the facts and previous engineering, as you suggested.

I need a longer bolt for the idler wheel to be mounted which I will get today.

I will post pics after I am finished.

Thanks again!

[can whlvr 991]

hey shameless,my drive is not really steep but with the blower hanging off the front when you lift it it removes traction from the rear,so you can put alot of weight on the rear which is hard on the tranny,or use a respectable amount,somewhere around 100 lbs give or take,and chains and have no problem getting around,with alot of weight it is harder to push out if you get stuck

[shameless 3]

Hey can whlvr:

I am gonna try a cement and sand combo like I stated earlier.

I have one steep drive to do, not crazy steep maybe 10 degrees from level.

I can't use chains, I just replaced my drive and the other 4 I do are concrete.

Gonna have to wait for snow to see if I need any weight other than my fat butt... :)

[can whlvr 991]

if you dont do good without chains the rubber ones have a great reputation here

[shameless 3]

Thanks can whlvr:

I have seen the posts about rubber chains.

I really hope I don't need them.

I was thinking if the wheels spin I am probably trying to move forward too fast.

The blower turns at an insane speed, so unless the snow is over a foot deep or deeper or real wet and heavy I think I will be ok if I choose a lower gear and slow down.

I have done the neighborhood drives and sidewalks for 10 years with a walkbehind and the only time the wheels broke traction was clearing the plow remnants from the end of the drive.

I learned it was easier to step down a gear or two and keep going rather than kill my back trying to force the machine forward with the wheels spinning.

Oh and Merry Christmas :)