Impeller housing; Snowblower, now bare metal-paint?

[ve9aa]

I've had my brand new front mount snowblower on my BX out only 4 times (works great !) however the first couple times I chucked a lot of rocks on unfrozen ground.
The impeller housing is now virtually devoid of orange paint.

Besides telling me not to chuck rocks(lol), what do you guys do...spray bomb it with fresh orange paint at the end of each winter season?

The blower is parked in a heated garage after each session so it eventually dries out, but I always get a little bit of salty snow in there from the end of the driveway where it meets the road.

My concern is not looks, but snow sticking in there(rusty=rough), or worse yet, lotsa rust eventually creating holes.

 

[twomany]

my several blowers and blades get fogged with used engine oil (or some rust inhibitor like fluid film) in the off season. Chains,gears, blower housing, spout turret, the works!

I've got a small pump up garden sprayer just for the purpose.

OH! Wash that salt off with the garden hose!

 

[DeepWoods]

Did the same thing to my brand new snowblower a couple years ago, and what I did was nothing. Any rust that might have accumulated gets wiped clean the first time out each winter. I was going to paint or spray something to keep it from rusting but realized it would be a waste of time. I would find something else to worry about. It doesn’t seem to ever get any worse.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

take it back for a replacement ??? hehehe lol... gotta be a warranty issue !!!

seriously, when the white stuff finally disappears, tear down the blower ,then sand and finally POLISH the chute 'chamber' to a near mirror finish. Rust won't form after that. Figure on a 2-3 day ordeal and really,really sore arms !

 

[ItBmine]

I just spray Krown on mine come spring and put away. Same with mid mount mower. No point painting when they get constantly sand blasted.

 

[orange crusher]

Spray it with Fluid Film at the end of the season. Waste of paint since it is going to happen every time you use it

 

[Mlarv]

I would use this on the rust https://corroseal.com then I would hit it with http://www.plowslick.com. The first turns the rust to an inert black color that can be painted. The second is a paint used on plows to keep snow from freezing on them. I have used both of these on my mowers and a snowblower I bought in 2004 and sold in 2019. It looked great and worked great, I just moved to a place where we don't need snow blowers as much as lawn mowers.

 

[whitetiger]

With my walk behind, I let it dry after every use and spray with fluid film, then repaint in the spring. It's now about 30 years old and looks almost like new.

 

[Donystoy]

I clear a 4000 foot gravel driveway with mine. Blower housing is always shiny bare metal. Never even give it a second thought. Stored inside and has never developed any rust to be concerned about.

 

[Kurtee]

I just use mine. I store inside so no real concern of rust. Snapper, John Deere, Honda walk behinds, Honda front mount, Kubota front mount, 2 John Deere front mount. All have worked fine without special treatment. Only used them for 40 years.

 

[torch]

I would find something else to worry about. It doesn’t seem to ever get any worse.

This is what happens to a blower when you leave the salt on:

(This is how you fix it)

 

[DeepWoods]

This is what happens to a blower when you leave the salt on:

(This is how you fix it)

After rereading the OP, and the fact that he does encounter salt on his blower, I agree that I would take the appropriate action to make sure I neutralized the salt and prevented it from rusting.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

my 1st thought was that 'fine example' blower was from Ontario..
..yup. sad really, not as bad as a couple tractor rims I had to deal with though.
shame we have to kill lakes and soil just so idiots can drive123KPH 24/7/365.

Always wondered if 'bedliner' material would work IF it can go on babybutt smooooth ?
With the right prep maybe a 2 part epoxy ? Obviously done in June or July after a week long tear down superduper washing ,and the lick test.

 

[thebicman]

Mine was the same. Painted it the next summer with por15 and top coated with kubota orange. I lined the inside of the chute with ptfe after.

 

[lynnmor]

shame we have to kill lakes and soil just so idiots can drive123KPH 24/7/365.

I agree, road salt keeps me imprisoned much of the winter because I won't drive in it unless absolutely necessary.

That walk behind snowblower might be the victim of the owner applied salt. Small businesses dump the stuff all over the place to avoid the legal messes if someone falls.

 

[torch]

The snowblower I posted pictures of was a Kubota front-mount B2550 that came with my B7100. It was 20 years old. The PO (my uncle) never salted his own drive, the salt was from the plow row at the end of his drive.

Obviously, he never cleaned the salt off in the spring, just disconnected it, stored it outside on the ground and hooked up the mid-mount mower for the next 6 months.

He took great care of the tractor, stored it inside out of the weather, maintained the fluids, washed it off, etc. Too bad he didn't take equal interest in the blower.

 

[lynnmor]

The snowblower I posted pictures of was a Kubota front-mount B2550 that came with my B7100. It was 20 years old. The PO (my uncle) never salted his own drive, the salt was from the plow row at the end of his drive.

My mistake, I saw the thin metal parts and thought it must be a cheap snowblower.

It is no wonder that things rust away, today I observed an abundance of salt freshly dumped on the local roads with the temperature at 60 degrees. Right now the temperature is still in the fiftys and it is raining cats & dogs, washing the salt off. This salt craze is just plain crazy.

 

[torch]

My mistake, I saw the thin metal parts and thought it must be a cheap snowblower.

The sheet metal of the front mount blower is far thinner than the metal on my 3ph mounted blower, that's for sure. Half the metal for twice the price. The mounting system used a series of rods and levers to hoist the front blower via the rear 3ph arms; my guess is that the system couldn't handle more weight, especially if the blower was laden with wet heavy snow. And even if it could, there is that much more weight transfer to the front axle.

 

[RalphVa]

I've had my brand new front mount snowblower on my BX out only 4 times (works great !) however the first couple times I chucked a lot of rocks on unfrozen ground.
The impeller housing is now virtually devoid of orange paint.

Besides telling me not to chuck rocks(lol), what do you guys do...spray bomb it with fresh orange paint at the end of each winter season?

The blower is parked in a heated garage after each session so it eventually dries out, but I always get a little bit of salty snow in there from the end of the driveway where it meets the road.

My concern is not looks, but snow sticking in there(rusty=rough), or worse yet, lotsa rust eventually creating holes.

Get some Rustoleum Rust Reformer. I had a Gravely snow plow where the paint had worn off and sprayed it with the RRR. Never ever rusted. The stuff actually turns iron oxide into iron sulphide. This kind of stuff has been around since the 1970s. Somewhere along the line, Rustoleum started making it.

 

[orange crusher]

This is what happens to a blower when you leave the salt on:

(This is how you fix it)