Snowblower-Electric chute rotator

meanjean · Jan 25, 2012

I am happy to be posting this mod.
I've been meaning to do it for awhile but finally built up the gumption to do so.

Motor was $6.99 at Princess Auto.
Switch was $15 at Piston Ring.
Add and in-line fuse for $3.

It took some time to figure out how to mount the motor.
I am a rookie with welding and metal fab.
Also, I am not good at visualizing things which slowed me down considerably.

The motor is mounted slightly off-center, I fill figure that out tonight.
I plan on mounting a battery right on the blower, charge after use.
I will add those pics when the time comes.

Bring on the snow!

meanjean · Jan 25, 2012

I found myself in the garage again tonight.

I drilled bigger holes at the motor and added some washers to act as spacers. The motor is sitting much straighter now.

I mounted the battery tray on the blower.
I had planned on running off the tractor battery but decided against it.
This means I will need to keep the battery charged between use.

Cutting and welding was a breeze although I won't be posting close up pictures of the welds.
My "stack of dimes" looks more like loose change.

The biggest challenge was drilling 2 holes thru some steel.
I broke 5 bits in the struggle.
Frustrating!

Tomorrow I hope to finish the battery tray, and run all the wiring.
More pics to come.

Wildfire · Jan 26, 2012

Very cool. I bet you feel pretty good about your mod and so you should. It's a good bit of fun seeing things work out well isn't it ?
Oh man I just love Princess Auto. If that place was around here when I got married that's where we would had went for our honeymoon

Nice job!

skeets · Jan 26, 2012

Princess Auto, hmmmm must be a canuck thing,,lol,, Ya done good MJ,,, don;t ya love it when a plan comes together,,,

meanjean · Jan 29, 2012

And done!

I hummed and hawwed for about 25 minutes when deciding where to put the switch.
I didn't want to have a rats nest of wires just waiting to get snarled up on something.

Also, I didn't want to add the switch box to the rear fender as the spinning tires/snow would likely rip out the wires exposed at the bottom of the fender.

The solution......put the switch right on the window motor!
I already had hardware in place making it very easy to do and I didn't need to run more than 18 inches of wire.

I did have to position the blower 1 spot closer to the rear of the tractor. This allows me to reach the switch much easier.

Rotating from 1 extreme to the other takes about 7 seconds.

Next up is an actuator for the snow deflector. Unfortunately an actuator is not cheap.

This may all be in vain this year as I have not had to snow blow yet this Winter.

Oh well, its build stuff or lay on the couch.

Kubota_Man · Jan 29, 2012

meanjean said:
Next up is an actuator for the snow deflector. Unfortunately an actuator is not cheap.

This may all be in vain this year as I have not had to snow blow yet this Winter.

Oh well, its build stuff or lay on the couch.

Check out this site that Snowgoer sent me https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp do a search for actuator and you find inexpencive ones as to the quality and or customer service I have not delt with then as of yet.

TGReaper · Jan 29, 2012

Looks good,I was a bit less talented and spent a bit more but it sure beats the crank.Got to love Princess Auto.

TGR

meanjean · Jan 29, 2012

I purchased a winch and was going to go that route.
I couldn't bring myself to pull the 50 feet off the spool.

Wildfire · Jan 29, 2012

meanjean said:
And done!

.

I don't think so

I've done a few like this. I've used the power window motor for the chute rotation and a linear actuator for the chute deflector and put the switch in the dash but you have a Hugh weekness in your design. You need to protect it from getting wet with snow.
I've done it by making a aluminum cover for it. You need to weatherproof it. Just say'en

meanjean · Jan 29, 2012

You are correct, I jumped the gun on the "mission accomplished" statement.
I do have a plan devised to make it water proof.
I will post when I get around to it.

Wildfire · Jan 29, 2012

meanjean said:
You are correct, I jumped the gun on the "mission accomplished" statement.
I do have a plan devised to make it water proof.
I will post when I get around to it.

Don't know if this will help you out. I'm not saying it the right way to do it. It's just MY way.

mendonsy · Nov 10, 2012

I saw this thread last winter and decided to make something similar to the setup TGReaper posted.
I have a 54" Meteor 3 pt blower on my B7500HST. I welded on a bracket to bolt the winch on to the frame and used a 2000# winch kit from Harborfreight.
Here's a couple pics of the result.

gpreuss · Nov 16, 2012

This is a bunch of GREAT ideas for a general pain in the butt problem! I'd never have thunk of a window motor...
And just by the way, I had a drill motor like that once!

("The biggest challenge was drilling 2 holes thru some steel.
I broke 5 bits in the struggle.
Frustrating!")

Wild and Free · Nov 16, 2012

I was going to do something along these lines myself on my Jinma blower. I like the winch setup.
Thanks to those who shared their ideas and to he who brought this thread back up.

South 40 · Nov 16, 2012

Hey Meanjean,

Have you considered mounting a weatherproof 12VDC outlet, (cigarette lighter) under the back of the seat, wire it to the tractor battery, and putting a male end on a couple of wires to the blower battery so you can keep the it charged from the tractor?

It would be a quick connect and the outlet would be usable for other things too, and the wires should be out of harms way.

Another idea would be to install a heavier duty connector on the tractor, again like under the back side of the seat, and then wire everything on the blower to the other half of the connector.

It would be a real bear to forget to charge the blower battery and then have it go dead in the middle of blowing snow, lol.

Best Regards

Paul

kubotasam · Nov 16, 2012

South 40 said:
It would be a real bear to forget to charge the blower battery and then have it go dead in the middle of blowing snow, lol.

Best Regards

Paul

What you need is called a duel battery isolator. It allows the tractor to charge the extra battery with no danger of running the main battery down.
http://www.amazon.com/WARN-28022-120-Amp-Battery-Isolator/dp/B00029XF4C
This one is kind of expensive. I am sure you can find one cheeper.

mendonsy · Jan 12, 2013

I added a new part to my chute rotator today. The rotate switch that came with my winch was nearly impossible to operate with gloves on. I found these joysticks on All Electronics website for $15 each. They are heavy duty four way joysticks with a 5 amp contact rating. Now the rotate operation is really easy!!

bearbait · Feb 6, 2013

mendonsy said:
I added a new part to my chute rotator today. The rotate switch that came with my winch was nearly impossible to operate with gloves on. I found these joysticks on All Electronics website for $15 each. They are heavy duty four way joysticks with a 5 amp contact rating. Now the rotate operation is really easy!!

First of I have to admit I suck at wiring. For the life of me I can't figure out how to wire this switch to the window motor. I sure would appreciate any advice.

meanjean · Feb 6, 2013

I am also poor at wiring.
Here's the cheat sheet I used for wiring:

bearbait · Feb 6, 2013

meanjean said:
I am also poor at wiring.
Here's the cheat sheet I used for wiring:

Thanks for the reply. I understand how to wire it with a normal switch however I just can't understand how to wire it to the joystick.

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