# First Snow / Deluxe 28



## truder1400 (Oct 1, 2011)

We had our first real snow here Monday and I got to try out my new Deluxe 28. I did a bunch of adjusting and lubricating after buying it from HD for $900.

Snow was heavy and wet and about 8 to 10 inches fell. Blower started right up, first pull, and out I went to hit the snow. Blower did a good job, but no way did it throw the heavy wet stuff more than 20 feet, which is expected with this kind of snow. I have a very long driveway, about 1/2 mile, so I do have someone plow it, but I do a lot of clean up and around the house with the blower. When hitting the "piles" with the blower, it did certainly put some strain on the 8 hp engine, but never stalled it out. In retrospect, maybe a 10 HP (pro model) would have been appropriate for my use, but the Deluxe certainly did the job. I also "tied down" the auger lever with a "quick release" which made it much easier to operate. Since the blower must be stopped to reverse, this made it much faster to get the job done. The remote wheel release worked fine for turns but you've got to anticipate your moves since it takes a wheel turn for the release and re-engage to actually take effect.

I have some very uneven area's to blow, stone patio's etc.... Have adjusted the skids to maximum height. It was tough going on some of the surfaces and I might look into those supersized skids for the future. 

So first impressions are a machine that does the job, skid upgrades may be in order and next time maybe a more powerful engine, but hey, it sure beats shoveling!!


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## fronos4 (Jan 29, 2011)

Thanks for sharing... it's nice to hear that you had the opportunity to use your new snow blower; I'm still waiting patiently for the first real snow so I can use mine...


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## Buford (Nov 11, 2011)

*Welcome*

Good report, thank you. 

I am also a newbe. I just assembled my untested 30" Platinum for use in Pittsburgh PA but we have yet to get any snow> 2". I have a tall wall on one side of my driveway. It is mission critical to throw show past the wall so I went with the bigger motor. That may or may not have been a prudent investment.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Blowing snow*

Good to hear it did you proud with the first snow. That wet/heavy stuff is hard to move. Slushy is even worse after the city snowplows bury you with it. My back still remembers last year before I got my first 2 stage rebuilt and running.

I have a number of snowblowers currently so this is just my observations. Wet snow and very light snow is hard to blow with most 2 stages. If that is what you encounter, here's some thoughts/observations based on others comments.

If you have gaps between the impeller and the housing around 1/4" or more, I've heard and read some very good reports on the Clarence Impeller kit. It's some belting that's bolted onto the impeller vanes to fill in the gaps. Number of people give great reports on it.
Another is anything you can do to make the impeller housing and chute slicker can't hurt either. I've waxed one machine to see how that will work, others say to spray it with "Pam" type cooking spray.

This is my first winter where I'll have a large capacity machine for the entire winter, so I'm anticipating what will happen too.


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## kb0nly (Sep 22, 2011)

Thats dumb that you have to disengage the blower before backing up... Are all the newer ones like this now?


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## truder1400 (Oct 1, 2011)

*don't know about all*



kb0nly said:


> Thats dumb that you have to disengage the blower before backing up... Are all the newer ones like this now?


You don't HAVE to disengage the auger to disengage the friction disk, but the friction disk lever holds down the auger lever. When you dis-engage the friction disk lever the auger lever also dis-engages, which is a "safety feature", but IMHO is unnecessary and slows you down. You COULD keep holding down the auger lever, but it's a pain, in my opinion, and that's the hand I use to shift into reverse. I use a short piece of wire to hold down the auger lever, I can roll it off the lever in a second if necessary. 

I think that most SB'ers now a days have similar arrangements, but don't go to the bank on that.

cheers.


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## kb0nly (Sep 22, 2011)

Ahhhh... Ok i see!

I haven't operated one exactly like that. I have dealt with the ones with a engagement lever on each handlebar, one side is the drive one side is the auger.

Mine is old school... One engagement lever which pushes the friction disc back to shift and thats it, the auger is running whenever the engine is at high enough throttle to engage the centrifugal chain clutch.


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## tractornutmn (Nov 30, 2011)

truder1400 said:


> You don't HAVE to disengage the auger to disengage the friction disk, but the friction disk lever holds down the auger lever.


Glad mine isn't like that. I just got a free, well almost free, 8/26 Craftsman track drive that needs some work, it has to engagement levers, figuring i will wire or tie down the auger engagement on mine too cause that will be annoying when i get to use it.


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