Electric lift with snowblower question

[aHorseofCourse 261]

I just installed an electric lift on my 308.  Do I still need the helper spring from the manual lift?  I haven't tried it yet with the snowblower but I have to put it on tomorrow as they are calling for a good foot of snow here in PA.  Thanks.

[wildman 205]

I would use the assist spring thats some dead weight your lifting and the spring is cheaper than a new actuator  

[Ed Kennell 35,787]

                                                                     the springs can only help.

[aHorseofCourse 261]

Good point guys.  

[Reel Mower Freak 125]

I don't have the spring assist on mine and it works effortlessly. I do plan to add the spring as it can only help but don't think you need one by tomorrow.

[aHorseofCourse 261]

7 minutes ago, Reel Mower Freak said:

I don't have the spring assist on mine and it works effortlessly. I do plan to add the spring as it can only help but don't think you need one by tomorrow.

I have the spring from last year when I had to lift it the old fashioned way.  I'm going to try it before I put it on just to see what it does.  It will be a lot easier on the actuator with the spring like the guys said so I'll prolly end up using it.  Only problem is you lose down pressure with it on.

[moe1965 718]

Looking forward to snow  here in nothing east ohio as well

 I rebuilt  a raider 10 and a snowblower as well and we only had about 3 inches of snow this year where I live.     Bring it on

[aHorseofCourse 261]

6 hours ago, moe1965 said:

Looking forward to snow  here in nothing east ohio as well

 I rebuilt  a raider 10 and a snowblower as well and we only had about 3 inches of snow this year where I live.     Bring it on

Here too.  I finally got a snowblower the end of last year and haven't used it till now.  Forecast is up to 18-24" so it should be a good one.  Only problem is I only have 8hp ...for now!

 

I did put the spring on.  It does seem to lift the blower fine without it but I just don't want all the strain on the actuator.

[can whlvr 991]

you don't need it,sometimes the spring will pull the blower up a little,if so remove it

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

18 hours ago, aHorseofCourse said:

  Only problem is you lose down pressure with it on.

Why would one want "down pressure" on a snow thrower/blower? Especially if doesn't have the replaceable scrape/cutting bar and if you hit something hiding under the snow you want that extra little tension to help it float over that obstacle instead of flying over the steering wheel, after 17-18 years using a  thrower/blower on a 1/4 mile long dirt/stone driveway on my 520H I really appreciated the "floating" with the helper spring, the snow blower is harder on the frame/trans mount and lift mechanisms than the snow plow IMHO, Jeff.

[aHorseofCourse 261]

4 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

Why would one want "down pressure" on a snow thrower/blower? Especially if doesn't have the replaceable scrape/cutting bar and if you hit something hiding under the snow you want that extra little tension to help it float over that obstacle instead of flying over the steering wheel, after 17-18 years using a  thrower/blower on a 1/4 mile long dirt/stone driveway on my 520H I really appreciated the "floating" with the helper spring, the snow blower is harder on the frame/trans mount and lift mechanisms than the snow plow IMHO, Jeff.

Here in PA we get a lot of wet snow/ice and I often found myself lifting the back of my walk behind to try to get the front to scrape the driveway clean.  It tends to want to climb up over the nasty stuff.  I have only used the  blower once so I can't say I have any experience with that in particular.  My driveway is paved but if you are clearing a stone drive, you obviously wouldn't want any down pressure.  I clear a path in my lawn to get to my firewood pile so I usually just adjust the shoes all the way down to keep the cutting edge from giving my lawn a haircut.  My walk behind has tracks and I can put that in transport mode to lift the front up completely.  This is just my .  Just an example of our wacky weather here in PA, last night we were supposed to get 18-24" of snow.  I woke up to 6" of sleet.  The weathermen drive me nuts! 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

Even here in VA on asphalt I still run with 1/4" or more clearance at the scraper bar as if I get to it before late and nobody driving over it the sun will melt off any residual,better than wearing the bottom out of the thrower housing, and with the tractor mounted version one can go (ground speed) faster than a walk behind ,which in turn gathers up more snow in my experience, the single tall chute is heavy and the 2stage even heavier by their selves, even with the assist spring on, mine usually keep the skids planted fairly well.

[Ed Kennell 35,787]

When I had my thrower on my C-120 auto with MANUAL LIFT, I had 3 lift assist springs with a turnbuckle tensioning arrangement. 

I had it adjusted so the thrower  just floated and only required about 10 lb of pull to lift it  to max height.

I found as soon as the scraper hit the snow, it knifed down into the snow and the weight of the snow in the housing kept it down.

I could, if necessary, just push forward on the lift arm to release the assist springs,  although this was never required.

Now, I have hydo lifts on my blower and plow tractors so I don't need any springs.

 

[aHorseofCourse 261]

After using the big  for 6 hours clearing 8-9" of sleet (what a nightmare) I learned 3 things.  One I can't wait to get that 18 horse briggs in there, the little Kohler doesn't want to throw snow.  Two the lift and lights killed my battery (also corrected with the new engine).  Three it works fine with the spring as everyone said.  Had to push on the walk behind to scrape the driveway clean.  The horse had no trouble.  My blower does have a replaceable edge on it so I'm not worried about it wearing out

[wallfish 15,923]

41 minutes ago, aHorseofCourse said:

After using the big  for 6 hours clearing 8-9" of sleet (what a nightmare) I learned 3 things.  One I can't wait to get that 18 horse briggs in there, the little Kohler doesn't want to throw snow.  Two the lift and lights killed my battery (also corrected with the new engine).  Three it works fine with the spring as everyone said.  Had to push on the walk behind to scrape the driveway clean.  The horse had no trouble.  My blower does have a replaceable edge on it so I'm not worried about it wearing out

Yup, 8 Hp is kind'a small for using a blower. You'll be so much happier with that larger engine.

I prefer to scrape my driveway clean as possible with each pass too. Leaving any quickly turns it into a skating rink since it stays cold up here. Absolutely no worries about how much wear that scraper takes, it can always be fixed when it gets warm out.

[Ed Kennell 35,787]

1 hour ago, aHorseofCourse said:

After using the big  for 6 hours clearing 8-9" of sleet (what a nightmare) I learned 3 things.  One I can't wait to get that 18 horse briggs in there, the little Kohler doesn't want to throw snow.  Two the lift and lights killed my battery (also corrected with the new engine).  Three it works fine with the spring as everyone said.  Had to push on the walk behind to scrape the driveway clean.  The horse had no trouble.  My blower does have a replaceable edge on it so I'm not worried about it wearing out

This was a tough snow an any tractor.   I had same 8-9"s of the heaviest snow I ever tried to blow.  It had the 20 horse Onan in the governor the whole time.

Sounds like you'll have a winner with 10 more horses.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

On 3/14/2017 at 5:55 PM, WVHillbilly520H said:

Even here in VA on asphalt I still run with 1/4" or more clearance at the scraper bar as if I get to it before late and nobody driving over it the sun will melt off any residual,better than wearing the bottom out of the thrower housing, and with the tractor mounted version one can go (ground speed) faster than a walk behind ,which in turn gathers up more snow in my experience, the single tall chute is heavy and the 2stage even heavier by their selves, even with the assist spring on, mine usually keep the skids planted fairly well.

Up here near the border every remaining 1/4" packs and could accumulate ending up with a very slippery driveway!  Not so much with the warmer sun in late Feb or March but it's still very handy to scrape the drive as clean as possible.  I used to run my 74" blower on the back of my TC-35 with quite an angle to accomplish just that but now I tend to run my little C-85 with blade for final cleanup and I'm less aggressive with the big blower.  Should also note that I had to replace the blower cutting edge already...

[DennisThornton 4,769]

22 hours ago, aHorseofCourse said:

After using the big  for 6 hours clearing 8-9" of sleet (what a nightmare) I learned 3 things.  One I can't wait to get that 18 horse briggs in there, the little Kohler doesn't want to throw snow.  Two the lift and lights killed my battery (also corrected with the new engine).  Three it works fine with the spring as everyone said.  Had to push on the walk behind to scrape the driveway clean.  The horse had no trouble.  My blower does have a replaceable edge on it so I'm not worried about it wearing out

Little Wheel Horse with blade.  Big Horse with blower.  Big Win/Win.  An 8 hp WH with a 48" blade will push an amazing amount of snow while it just sips the petrol.  And, a blade pushes slush a heck of a lot better than a blower will blow it!

Edited March 15, 2017 by DennisThornton
"l"

[aHorseofCourse 261]

1 hour ago, DennisThornton said:

Little Wheel Horse with blade.  Big Horse with blower.  Big Win/Win.  An 8 hp WH with a 48" blade will push an amazing amount of snow while it just sips the petrol.  And, a blade pushes slush a heck of a lot better than a blower will blow it!

I agree, gotta clean every last bit off otherwise it turns into an icy mess.  My drive doesn't get much sun so melting is hard to come by.  The last snow we got was about 3" of slush.  I used the plow with that and it worked great, don't need many ponies to run that.  This last storm was really tuff.  I never saw that much ice accumulated.  You know how when snow sits for a few weeks and it gets like a solid block of ice from melting and refreezing?  That's how this was right away!  I could barely get the blower to bite into it at some spots.  The little engine that could did a heck of a job for being a lightweight tho.

[Reel Mower Freak 125]

On March 14, 2017 at 9:11 PM, aHorseofCourse said:

After using the big  for 6 hours clearing 8-9" of sleet (what a nightmare) I learned 3 things.  One I can't wait to get that 18 horse briggs in there, the little Kohler doesn't want to throw snow.  Two the lift and lights killed my battery (also corrected with the new engine).  Three it works fine with the spring as everyone said.  Had to push on the walk behind to scrape the driveway clean.  The horse had no trouble.  My blower does have a replaceable edge on it so I'm not worried about it wearing out

Why would the lift and light kill the battery if the machine is running the whole time? Mine seemed fine with the lift and running some halogen spot lights.

[pfrederi 17,147]

26 minutes ago, Reel Mower Freak said:

Why would the lift and light kill the battery if the machine is running the whole time? Mine seemed fine with the lift and running some halogen spot lights.

 

 Looking at the initial post I believe he has a 308.  Most years had 3 amp unregulated charging systems.  The light ran off an AC stator.  But only 3 amps recharging the battery and heavy electric use by a electric lift is a a sure battery killer.  This was not a good candidate for an electric lift.

[aHorseofCourse 261]

7 hours ago, Reel Mower Freak said:

Why would the lift and light kill the battery if the machine is running the whole time? Mine seemed fine with the lift and running some halogen spot lights.

I hardewired the lights to the battery so nothing is running off the stator in preparation for the engine swap.  Between the halogens and the lift the little engine couldn't keep up.

6 hours ago, pfrederi said:

 

 Looking at the initial post I believe he has a 308.  Most years had 3 amp unregulated charging systems.  The light ran off an AC stator.  But only 3 amps recharging the battery and heavy electric use by a electric lift is a a sure battery killer.  This was not a good candidate for an electric lift.

That's why the 8 horse Kohler is getting replaced.