Snow is coming!

[edale]

It's a little early in my area (north of Spokane WA.) but the weatherman is predicting snow for the end of the month. It probably won't amount to much but I'm kinda eager to try out my snow thrower. I got it in the middle of last winter not working right and by the time it was working the snow had stopped for the year.

What I'm interested to know is what kind of check list some of you use to get your throwers ready for the winter.

I have a 982 and a QA42. Any suggestions for me?

-everettDale

 

[kmcconaughey]

Everett, I just make sure that there's no rust inside the auger housing or discharge chute and I give these areas a coating of "brush on" graphite paint. Might not hurt to inspect the gear box if you have never had it open and replace the grease/oil. Be sure to pick up a new gasket for the cover plate BEFORE you open the gear box. There were two styles of covers a cast one with a fill plug, this one used a gear oil. The second style was a stamped steel cover without any fill plug, this style used a thin grease. Do a forum search using these three words: thrower gear box. Also change the Keyword option to "And" (Match all keywords), and you'll find info on the grease oil used in the gearboxes. If you're discharge chute rotator U-Joint is in poor condition you can upgrade it with one from McMaster-Carr. It's easy to see if the auger bearings are in need of replacing, they are a low cost item to replace and if not too rusty they are easy to change out. Make sure the chain does not have rusted links that can break when you try to use it. Grease up the drive shaft U-Joints, the slip joint and the needle bearings and you should be good to go.

BTW, are you sure that you have a QA42 on your 982? The QA42 was for a narrow frame Cub Cadet, the QA42A was for wide frame Cubs but it used the 3/8" narrow drive belt not the 5/8" drive belt that the 982 uses and the straight upper links will interfere with the lower grill frame. The QA36B had the wider drive belt and curved upper links to clear the grill frame. There was never a QA42B model made, though one could easily be created by changing the upper links and drive pulley.

 

[jbollis]

I had a QA42A on my 1806 for a while ,then tried on my 1211. I did'nt like it on either one of them . The 1806 had the power to run it, but was a real pain lifting and lowering it. The 1211 didn't have enough power to run it , but would lift and lower it real nice. I changed the pulley and had local shop with a cnc tourch( I think ) cut some curved upper arms .I now use a plow and will never go back to a thrower or blower.

 

[wmiller]

Everett, Definately check the gear box. Mine is the grease type and when I removed the cover the grease was total crud. The manual specifies "IH251H EP grease or #2 lithium grease. I have had trouble with the set screws coming loose on the drive shaft. I now use longer square headed set screws and thin lock nuts. The runners/skids at the ends of the housing as built are just a flat piece of steel which wear out fast and get into cracks in the concrete and dont work at all on gravel driveways. They can be modified into minature skis,Kraig probably has a picture. On a flat surface the housing should be held up slightly from the surface of the driveway,more if you are on gravel. If the discharge chute is rusty,clean and paint. If you don't get it nonslip coated,spray the inside with spray cooking oil occasionally. You will probably need extra weight and chains for rear wheel traction. If the seals are bad on the auger/rotor brgs (mine are)what I do is use a rubber tipped grease gun tip,like used on chain saw nose wheels, held against the gap in the bearing and it works pretty well.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Yep, QA style runner skids wear out quickly and can easily be modified with 1/8" thick x 1" wide bar stock into mini skis. I have a gravel driveway and have done this to two of my QA42 snowthrowers. Here's a photo showing one I had done back in the 80's mounted to the QA42 that my parents bought new in 1969 with their Cub Cadet 125, and a modified set done back in 2000 when I refurbished a complete QA42 I bought used:

 

[kmcconaughey]

Alternately, if you have a paved driveway and don't want to risk scratching it you could do as Brian Jordan did back in 2002 and attach some mower deck gauge wheels to the skids, not sure how well it worked out. Perhaps Brian is still a forum member and will update us on them.

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

By Brian Jordan /149 (Bjordan) on Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 01:44 pm:

The Grand Experiment! I added some wheels to my QA42A skids to see if I can eliminate the twin scrapes it leaves behind on my drive way. I had a couple of MTD 5" gauge wheels laying around so I drilled a hole centered in each skid and bolted them on. I had to add about 5 3/8's washers to each skid bolt to give clearance to the nut securing the wheel.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

I still get good vertical adjustment.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

...had to turn my nuts around too(you know how painful that can be).

A quick test on the ride back out to the shed and all seemed well. It even handles going up the concrete ramp better. A little snow here today continuing into tonight but so far not enough to use this on. Here's hoping.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

 

[aaytay]

Everette-
I hope you do NOT have a QA42 or a QA42A for your 982...

When I first bought my 1872 (same basic tractor as a 982, but yellow and white) I tried my QA42A thrower on the front of it. While it did fit the tractor, it wouldn't drop far enough to land on the ground because of the taller front tires, so I had to sell that and get a #450 (2-stage) blower.

I'm guessing the same thing is going to happen with yours unless you modified it somehow.

I have pictures of the blower lowered all of the way, but still not touching the ground on my other computer.

Keep us posted....

 

[edale]

I'll have to look, but I'm pretty sure it's just a QA42 not the A. The sub frame was for a narrow frame tractor and the previous owner cut it and extended it to fit the larger frame. He did such a good job I didn't even notice the modification until I was trying to get the thrower on a few months ago and noticed the welds. It seems to operate fine, in the lowered position it touches the ground on a flat surface and has a few more inches of travel. My biggest problem is my front wheel will hit the drive shaft if I turn too tightly to the right. But I'm lucky enough that most of my turns will be to the left.

Thanks for the suggestions. Then first snow here is expected this coming Wednesday, although the weatherman says it won't even stick I want to be ready. a similar prediction last year resulted in nearly 24 inches in 12 hours!

-everettDale

 

[kmcconaughey]

Everett, actually a modified QA42 would probably work better then a QA42A as the QA42 tilts as it is lifted/lowered, the QA42A lift vertically because of the parallel links and they would limit it's vertical travel resulting in the condition Art mentioned.

 

[aaytay]

Everette-
Here is what happened when I mounted my QA42A on the front of my 1872. This was with no lift rod attached, so the thrower was just hanging there on it's own linkage not touching the ground.

 

[edale]

Aaytay:

I don't have that trouble at all. Mine tilts as Kraig mentioned, so it must be a modified QA42. (I didn't know what the difference really was)I'm going out today to get the tractor ready for snow and I'll snap some photos of everything and post them.

I have a new question. My gravel driveway is pretty uneven, I was thinking of running my thrower with it just hanging a bit up off the skids so they wouldn't dig in on one side or the other, but that seems like it would be kinda rough on the whole system. Has anyone modified the skids into skis with springs to hold it even or would that just be a pain with no real gain? I once had a plow with that type of system for an older walk behind two wheeled tractor.

-everett

 

[kmcconaughey]

Everett, perhaps you need a QA42A, then you could let it set as in Art's photo.

With my QA42 and the modified runners set to keep the cutting bar about an inch off the gravel it'll still pick up some gravel on occasion if the runners dig in so I usually drive on the first few inches of snowfall to pack it. Doing this the snowthrower doesn't pick up gravel, UNLESS I spin the rear tires adn the chains pick gravel up into the snow. Alternately I have set the snowthrower so it doesn't drop all the way down for the first few snowfalls. Almost the same effect as driving on the snow to pack it but it doesn't work as well as packing the first few inches of snow. Problem with leaving the snow pack is that come spring the driveway can get a bit slick if it melts slightly and refreezes. When it really melts it can get sloppy and if that refreezes it can turn into a rutted bumpy mess. That usually doesn't last long thankfully. A paved drive would be nice but that brings a new set of issues.

 

[jbaker]

Everett I have a very uneven gravel drive also and a qa42 snowblower I made skis with multipal holes for adjustment and it worked good that way although i do like Brian Jordans wheel idea. I did post pics they are probaly archived

 

[edale]

Well here are some photos for any one interested

The first one is the back side of the sub-frame. you can see the drive pulley to the left. Notice the welds to the right. The previous owner made this sub-frame wider to fit the wide frame tractor.

these next two photos show the welds on the lifting frame.

Here is the ID plate

And here is the only real problem with this modification.

when the thrower is installed the left front wheel can't turn very far to the right. so I'm forced to make left turns only. Kind of a bummer but still better then shoveling snow.

-everett

 

[kmcconaughey]

Everett, it might be possible to extend the mount so that the auger housing sets farther forward, which would move the drive shaft forward. Just don't move it to much or the drive shaft U-joints will bind. One drawback, it'll make the snowthrower harder to lift.

 

[edale]

I was thinking along those same lines. I was planning on building a new lift frame that was longer like you suggested but would have an attachment point for a plow blade I have that came off some Montgomery Ward machine. If I did that I might have to make the linkage arm taller. This might aid in the lifting. Or maybe I should just use narrower front wheels and be done with it?

-everett

 

[kmcconaughey]

Everett, with hydraulic lift, I doubt the extra effort to raise the QA42 with the extended mounting frame would matter. It would for me with my manual lift 125 but not with hydraulic lift. I like the idea of a dual use mount.

 

[aaytay]

Everett-
Have you tried looking for the correct snowblower for your tractor?

Either an H-48 (single stage) or a #450 (2-stage) would work. Both of these units are fairly common, and should be not too difficult to find.

The benifit is that either will work correctly, because it seems once you MOD one thing, then another thing doesn't work, so you end up chasing your tail on the deal.

Just something to consider I guess....

 

[edale]

I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for the right blower for this machine. any suggestions would be great. As for mods. The thrower came with the tractor for free so a little work here and there isn't too annoying (yet)

-everett

 

[mcleveland]

This is just a quick job for this year. I picked up a 451 for my 782 and put a smaller pulley on it to compensate for the lower gear ratio. With a few other minor changes it is ready to go. I will clean it up before next season, but it will have to do as is for this winter. I am also going to have to find or build some wheel weights.