Fabricating power shoot control for a BX5450 snowblower

[OC455]

Very nicely done sir. I want to do this myself, but winter is here and I won't be able to do this until the snow is gone.

 

[tcrote5516]

Finally! Got to use my new blower today and I wish I bought it years ago. We got very wet heavy snow and the blower was flawless. No clogging and my little 18hp (which I was a little concerned about) had plenty of juice.

No problems with the power chute I put together. I wish the up/down deflection moved a bit faster but I can easily fix that in the off season by changing the mounting points. Then again it's probably better to have it move slow and be dependable than to move fast and get hung up. The power window motor worked great for chute rotation, didn't miss a beat and I found it to be plenty fast.

Just thought I'd leave a follow-up because combined with a cab and a rear blade I really don't think home snow removal get's any better!

 

[torch]

Likewise: having copied your selection of power window motor, I have found it works well. One note: despite the layer of grease I applied to the worm gear and chute, the initial wet snow froze the chute in place and the motor stalled when I first hit the switch. It was fine after I broke the ice. I suggest keeping the mechanism clear of wet snow after use.

I also find the chute deflector a little slow, but it doesn't get used much anyway. Generally I can anticipate the need, otherwise, I just pause for the few seconds required.

Having run snowblowers for several decades, I will say that manual cranks and levers offer infinitely variable speed control. I could fill a barrel with snow as I drove past, almost without overshoot. But while these electric remotes are fixed at one speed, it sure is nice to be inside a nice dry cab -- and the HST is infinitely variable, so I'm sure the precision will come with a modicum of practice!

 

[tcrote5516]

I agree, I don't need to change the deflection angle very often. In fact, I really only need to change it once each time I clear the driveway and if I hit the button a bit early it's in the right position by the time I get there.

I didn't have a problem with the rotation freezing up after use this time. Could have been dumb luck or the gallon of grease I packed in and around the seat of the chute. Glad you got yours sorted and had a chance to use it. Did you end up making a shield to protect the window motor? I haven't yet but am thinking about it.

 

[torch]

Did you end up making a shield to protect the window motor? I haven't yet but am thinking about it.

Not yet. I'm thinking of a rubber shielding over the entire gear mechanism. But at the moment, I'm working on my front-mount blower rebuild.

 

[fatjay]

I can't get over the linear actuator. There has to be a simpler and more suitable applicstaion. I get it, it's what it does, but there should be no need to use strength required to life my mother in law to change the angle of a little piece of plastic.

I get they're not crazy expensive, I've come across them in the past looking for something to do this exact job. Just the part of my brain that sees it's for lifting heavy objects, I have a hard time believing there isn't something more suitable for this task out there.

 

[torch]

They come in different strengths, you don't need a 100kg unit, a 20kg one will probably do.

Unless of course the chute gets frozen in place. Then all bets are off.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

First time you pick up a rock and break a cheap weak actuator, you'll wish you bought bigger.
My snow blower has a hydraulic ram (factory set up) to control the deflector.

 

[NoJacketRequired]

First time you pick up a rock and break a cheap weak actuator, you'll wish you bought bigger.
My snow blower has a hydraulic ram (factory set up) to control the deflector.

Couldn't agree more with this statement. We like to think of snow as light, fluffy stuff, but that simply ain't so. I've picked up frozen chunks (you know the stuff you kick out of the wheel wells of your car? yeah, that stuff) and thought they were going to take the discharge chute completely off the blower. When it comes to this kind of implement, TOUGH has to be the by-word of systems design. "Light" and "cheap" are secondary considerations - "tough" is mandatory.

 

[fatjay]

First time you pick up a rock and break a cheap weak actuator, you'll wish you bought bigger.
My snow blower has a hydraulic ram (factory set up) to control the deflector.

I see your point. It's only $30, and would make it move even iced up. My concern is more along the lines of braking the chute than braking the actuator. An actuator is cheap/easy to replace, the chute not so much.

 

[tcrote5516]

I see your point. It's only $30, and would make it move even iced up. My concern is more along the lines of braking the chute than braking the actuator. An actuator is cheap/easy to replace, the chute not so much.

I had similar concerns so I made sure when mounting it to make the length of travel in the actuator not exceed the length of travel on the deflector. I also placed it as far out as possible to the forward edge of the chute to ensure it wasn't twisting or putting any awkward pressure on the chute.

My chute is all steel not plastic so worst case it would bend and not break. As others have said, more power is rarely a bad thing. Look at it this way, if you ever roll over the tractor you can use your power deflector to help roll it back over

 

[tcrote5516]

Here she is in all her glory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STw-OsZi4J8

 

[sheepfarmer]

Wow tcrote! Impressive!!!!!!!! Nice video too.

 

[asgard]

Nice video and install.

I am looking at doing the same but was going to use a seat motor with a longer shaft. I thought of the seat motor as carries a greater load than a window.
Any thought about that.

 

[tcrote5516]

Nice video and install.

I am looking at doing the same but was going to use a seat motor with a longer shaft. I thought of the seat motor as carries a greater load than a window.
Any thought about that.

Two concerns with a seat motor; is it able to deal with moisture? A window motor is designed to get wet since water always manages to get past the weatherstripping at the base of a window. If power seat motors get wet you generally have bigger issues lol.

Also, the power is all in the gearing. For a seat slider, you may have a 10 to 1 reduction in the motor gearbox but an additional 20 to 1 reduction may be coming from the cam style slide mechanism itself so the seat motor may be weaker than the window motor once removed from the whole assembly.

A window motor usually works the opposite way. It turns a large lever that lifts the window and has a opposite leveraging effect by amplifying load. The gearing in the window motor compensates for that with even higher gearing which equates to more torque.

 

[asgard]

Thanks for the insight, makes sense and the reason I asked. I intend to try and waterproof whatever I install. Quite happy with the crank but you need to have a project.

 

[Howling]

Nice video and install.

I am looking at doing the same but was going to use a seat motor with a longer shaft. I thought of the seat motor as carries a greater load than a window.
Any thought about that.

I used a seat motor for chute rotation on my blower.


Did seal it up to keep the weather out.
https://youtu.be/PcTDjefBwDY

 

[asgard]

I like the 4-way joystick controller. Can I ask if you run the 12 volt switched load directly or via relays.
If relayed do you use one for each activation or just 2 and loop across the switching wire.
I was looking at a long shaft 190 RPM seat motor encased for weather proofing . Is that what you used and if so what is the rotation speed like.
Thanks for another good idea.

 

[atechbh]

Where did you get the 4 way joystick? Would definitely like to get one of those for mine.

 

[Howling]

The joystick only gives 1 contact for each direction. So I mounted a box with relays on the blower. Box lined up with existing holes in blower.


Got motor from https://www.sciplus.com/p/CAR-SEAT-12VDC-GEAR-MOTOR_49248 it is 190 rpm. Speed is good. Easy to reverse the head to get shaft coming out other side.

Bought a pair of circular connector extension cables cut them in half. Connected the ends and wired power and joystick the blower. The connectors in the middle make it easy to disconnect the blower.