# Building A 24" SHO Ariens Bucket.



## Shaw351

Hey guys....

Im building a 24" SHO bucket from a 32" bucket. I know Ariens built some of them over the years, but I enjoy fabricating my own equipment and thier modifications. I'll try to keep good pixx posted as I progress as that will help others if they want to build thier own. 

I believe they call it a SHO due to the fact it is a 14" impeller housing and the coveted 6 vaned impeller, rather than a 12" impeller with 3 or 4 vanes.
Guessing it should be a beast of a machine with an RPM of 1800 at the impeller and a 12HP Briggs ... on a 24" bucket.


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## 524SWE

I'm ready! I've got the popcorn machine fired up and the adult bevs on ice! Let the build begin!


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## YSHSfan

Hi Shaw351,

I'm getting ready to watch too....!

I enjoy working with snowblowers as well (though I do not have the equipment I need to get myself out of control :icon-hgtg. 

1800rpm for a 14" impeller may be a bit too much if you ask me (I'll search trough what I found a while ago to be ideal speed-less than 1400rpm for a 14" impeller if I remember right).

"SHO" means "Super High Output" (faster impeller, further throwing distance) but I believe it has nothing to do with the 14" 6 blade impeller (I think this is just the "924....?" series).

The one thing I'd suggest is changing the shape of the housing to the shape that they have on the current models (meaning if you look from the side it has a straight line from the upper part of the auger housing to the part where it starts to curve instead of having a "step"). You can make it a little bit taller at the same time... :blush:


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## 1132le

Shaw351 said:


> Hey guys....
> 
> Im building a 24" SHO bucket from a 32" bucket. I know Ariens built some of them over the years, but I enjoy fabricating my own equipment and thier modifications. I'll try to keep good pixx posted as I progress as that will help others if they want to build thier own.
> 
> I believe they call it a SHO due to the fact it is a 14" impeller housing and the coveted 6 vaned impeller, rather than a 12" impeller with 3 or 4 vanes.
> Guessing it should be a beast of a machine with an RPM of 1800 at the impeller and a 12HP Briggs ... on a 24" bucket.


Cant wait to see it What size upper and lower pulley gets you that high of and rpm??
Iam going through my 924128 1332le now top pulley measures 2.75 iam going to bump that up to 3.25
My fan speed stock was only 1085 or so 
stock specs say its [email protected] rpm the impeller bearing was toast so iam hoping thats why it was low i set fast idle at 3750
Iam hoping the 3.25 will get me to the 1350 rpm range
Stripping this thing for paint has been more work then i thought
1800 rpm you might blow snow 90 feet lol


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## AriensProMike

Wow. That's going to be sick. I am thinking of doing something similar with a back half of a st1336 and front of a st824 and a pro ci gear box set up. I can wait to see what you do to get some ideas.


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## Shaw351

Heres a link to my Franken Blower video, check out my garage for most of the build.






36" bucket off of an Ariens garden tractor, custom mated to a Troy Bilt tractor, 16 hp honda clone engine, and double belted for power transmission. Single belt couldn't handle the 1800 rpm load of the impeller. 
We had about 12" of powder snow that i was moving in the video. 

At 1800 rpm and double belts on a couple of my custom machines... ive found it to be the happy medium and have had no issues. My auger shafts have been machined to a 3" key engagement rather than the factory 7/8 woodruff key, gearboxes have been disassembled / inspected / 00 grease replaced the gear oil. 
My 32" machine has been flawless for years now. I've experimented with higher & lower rpm's, and settled on 1800 or so. Everybody has thier opinions and thats ok, this just happens to be mine. 

Im going to be keeping the single belt for now and see how it handles the snow. If it wears the 1/2" belt prematurely I'll update to double belts next year. 

To achieve the approximate 1800 rpm's at the impeller I have a 3" engine pulley and a 6" impeller pulley, engine running 3600 rpm.


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## Shaw351

I recently built an ariens 28" pro from a homeowner model for my son. I modified it to have a 7" impeller pulley and had to rework the brake. It's important to have that function for safety. Here are the pixx....




























All done ....


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## Dauntae

You always seem to amaze me with your projects, I'll be watching this one.


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## 524SWE

*Very Nice!*



Shaw351 said:


> Heres a link to my Franken Blower video, check out my garage for most of the build.
> 
> https://youtu.be/E2Ol_6qj0No
> 
> 36" bucket off of a garden tractor, custom mated to a Troy Bilt tractor, 16 hp honda clone engine, and double belted for power transmission. Single belt couldn't handle the 1800 rpm load of the impeller.
> We had about 12" of powder snow that i was moving in the video.
> 
> At 1800 rpm and double belts on a couple of my custom machines... ive found it to be the happy medium and have had no issues. My auger shafts have been machined to a 3" key engagement rather than the factory 7/8 woodruff key, gearboxes have been disassembled / inspected / 00 grease replaced the gear oil.
> My 32" machine has been flawless for years now. I've experimented with higher & lower rpm's, and settled on 1800 or so. Everybody has thier opinions and thats ok, this just happens to be mine.
> 
> Im going to be keeping the single belt for now and see how it handles the snow. If it wears the 1/2" belt prematurely I'll update to double belts next year.
> 
> To achieve the approximate 1800 rpm's at the impeller I have a 3" engine pulley and a 6" impeller pulley, engine running 3600 rpm.


Ya need to put that video to music, say "the william tell overture"


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## Shaw351

Dauntae said:


> You always seem to amaze me with your projects, I'll be watching this one.


Thanks !!

Ill keep updating as i go.


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## Shaw351

Ya need to put that video to music, say "the william tell overture"

Thanks... Thats Awesome!!!


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## Shaw351

Been busy with yard work, got the bucket cut up today. Will try to get more done and post up pixx for ya.


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## 524SWE

*"yard work"???*



Shaw351 said:


> Been busy with yard work, got the bucket cut up today. Will try to get more done and post up pixx for ya.


:huh: Yard Arbeit? Das ist ein schmutziges Wort in meinem Haus, du sprichst eine Fremdsprache! Darum habe ich eine junge Frau!

:signlol:


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## Shaw351

Got it welded up....


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## AriensProMike

If you need rakes let me know. I have a couple of the saraded kind. Just not sure if both are the same side.


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## Shaw351

AriensProMike said:


> If you need rakes let me know. I have a couple of the saraded kind. Just not sure if both are the same side.


Thanks for the offer Mike. Im going to modify these from the 32" bucket. 

Just FYI on rakes.... Usually....

Homeowner machines with aluminum gearboxes have 15" diameter rakes

Pro machines with cast iron gearboxes have 16" diameter rakes.


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## Shaw351

Got more fabrication done today on this project.....

Cut apart the rakes to get needed size.









Lined up on a temporary shaft to get measurements and alignments.









Materials removed from the rakes.









All welded up.


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## Shaw351

Took a 24" auger shaft from an aluminum gearbox, machined a long keyway and made a key. I do this to all my big cast iron gearboxes anyways, as the factory ariens 7/8" woodruff key is usually worn.


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## Shaw351

Just have to drill and tap new zerk fittings, and shear pin holes. As it turns out after fabricating the first rake it looked weird for some reason...... Ahhhhh... on 24" auger setups there is no middle support on each rake, just on the ends. It was more work to fabricate, but now my machine will be stronger than original. Of course the middle support landed right where the shear pin hole needs to be !! So i cut out the middle part and welded the center to the support.


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## Shaw351

Its about 95% complete now. Just final touches and I'll have to rework the brake to fit the new pulley.


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## Shaw351

524SWE said:


> :huh: Yard Arbeit? Das ist ein schmutziges Wort in meinem Haus, du sprichst eine Fremdsprache! Darum habe ich eine junge Frau!
> 
> :signlol:




Ein Guter !!


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## YSHSfan

Shaw351,

Beautiful work with the fabrication. :3tens:

What type of welding did you use on the auger "tubes"?


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## Shaw351

YSHSfan said:


> Shaw351,
> 
> Beautiful work with the fabrication. :3tens:
> 
> What type of welding did you use on the auger "tubes"?


Tig welding. I like to tig whenever it is possible, but sadly as ive gotten older my eyesight and shaky hands affect my neatness. Tig welding done correctly will give you the best penetration on your welding of thin materials. I could of mig welded this project and been done hours sooner, but i try to keep up on my tig skills. Mig welding would of been perfectly fine, and I'd use gas mig instead of of flux core due to the welding splatter.
If you ever need help or advice just ask and I'll guide you as best as I can, been welding and fabricating over 30 years.


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## YSHSfan

Shaw351 said:


> Tig welding. I like to tig whenever it is possible, but sadly as ive gotten older my eyesight and shaky hands affect my neatness. Tig welding done correctly will give you the best penetration on your welding of thin materials. I could of mig welded this project and been done hours sooner, but i try to keep up on my tig skills. Mig welding would of been perfectly fine, and I'd use gas mig instead of of flux core due to the welding splatter.
> If you ever need help or advice just ask and I'll guide you as best as I can, been welding and fabricating over 30 years.


It looked like TIG weld (I just wanted to make sure). I have read that one of the best welds (including for car and light truck frames) is TIG.
I can weld stick-weld a little, weld a little better with MIG, but hardly know anything about TIG.
I'd likely be buying an inexpensive welder (that I believe can do stick, MIG and TIG) soon, I will take up on the offer of "help or advice" if I ever need it (I'll likely do... :blush


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## Shaw351

Got more completed today. Test fit the new bucket to the tractor body. Lined up perfect and pulley is good. Only issue so far is tires are too close to impeller housing, I'll make some axle spacers to correct this.


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## Shaw351

Started making the adapter spacer plates..


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## Shaw351

Shaw351 said:


> Started making the adapter spacer plates..


Are you guys seeing all 4 pictures in my last post ?? 
On my tablet it just shows first three pictures as generic thumbnail icon and the last picture of the steel plate im using for spacer material. 
But on my phone it shows all 4 pictures as I've loaded them. 

Weird...

Like this thumbnail......


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## Dauntae

My phone I'm only seeing one pic, lately on my desktop I run a pop up blocker and it's now stopping all pics from showing there so I think they may be doing a few changes on the forum causing all the pic issues, my guess anyway


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## YSHSfan

I can see all 4 pictures in standard form (no thumbnails).... on my laptop and also my phone, no issues at all.....


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## Hanky

YSHSfan said:


> I can see all 4 pictures in standard form (no thumbnails).... on my laptop and also my phone, no issues at all.....


All good to see here also.k:


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## 524SWE

all good here too on a laptop, nice work!


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## Shaw351

Thanks guys, must be my tablet or browser causing my issues. Just didn't want progress pictures to be not seen as they can help others if they ever have the need for such modifications or decide to build thier own.


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## Shaw351

Dauntae said:


> My phone I'm only seeing one pic, lately on my desktop I run a pop up blocker and it's now stopping all pics from showing there so I think they may be doing a few changes on the forum causing all the pic issues, my guess anyway


Hey Dauntae... I updated my tablet and browser software and now my postings are all viewable. Update your software and see if your devices correct themselves.


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## Shaw351

Finished the spacers.


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## Shaw351

I cut the angle of the chute because this model has it leaning forward to an angle i didn't like. 










I had to bend the rotation mount bracket to fit the new angle of the chute. 










Completed chute / ring welding.


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## Shaw351

All test fitting completed. 










Comparison between my modified chute in the foreground and the factory angle in the background.


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## Shaw351

When I went to install the spacer on the left side it didn't fit as I forgot about the axle locking knob. Had to enlarge the hole to 2 1/2" diameter. Little bit of machining and all fits well now.


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## YSHSfan

Shaw351 said:


> When I went to install the spacer on the left side it didn't fit as I forgot about the axle locking knob. Had to enlarge the hole to 2 1/2" diameter. Little bit of machining and all fits well now.


 You can not know what you'll run into until it is all done, that's the way I see it. :blush:
Excellent job on this project......! :icon-clapping-smile


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## Shaw351

YSHSfan said:


> You can not know what you'll run into until it is all done, that's the way I see it. :blush:
> Excellent job on this project......! :icon-clapping-smile


Thanks for the support, I enjoy doing my own work. Love rebuilding old equipment and modifications to make them unique. I don't mind the hiccups that arise, it's great to use your skills & imagination to resolve problems and get projects up and running.


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## YSHSfan

Shaw351 said:


> I don't mind the hiccups that arise, it's great to use your skills & imagination to resolve problems and get projects up and running.


That's part of the beauty and enjoyment of doing or building projects..... k:k:


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## cranman

You are one serious dude Shaw......


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## Shaw351

cranman said:


> You are one serious dude Shaw......


Thanks cranman !! 

My whole life I've been building / fabricating all my own creations, mostly because I didn't want to pay someone or was told " You can't do that " . 
Necessity is the mother of all inventions !!


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## RIT333

Shaw351 said:


> Thanks cranman !!
> 
> 
> Necessity is the mother of all inventions !!


So is Frank Zappa.


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## Shaw351

Started on chute deflector that had bad hinge...









I welded set screws to the hinge to make it flush when closed. 









Drilled holes to mount hinge on the deflector...


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## Shaw351

Welded deflector hinge to the chute.


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## Shaw351

After 4 hours of making brackets and tweaking the quick turn control ....
I could not get it to turn correctly no matter what I did. After measuring and staring it down with disgust I finally figured out what the issue was. The reason that the original chute angle was soo far forward is because the chute gear has to be near the center axis / discharge of the impeller to turn / rotate properly. My retrofitted setup had the gear 3" rearward which is centerlined to the edge of impeller discharge. There is no easy way to get a top mounted quick turn setup with a conventional straight up chute on this model in factory location . 

( Edit .... ) On newer model they raised location of control rod and also stepped up mounting on chute, which allows quick turn, but model has stupid cable lock setup for rotation. Going to stick with my current new setup I built.


So I custom built a regular control rod setup and made it fit up on the dashboard...


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## Shaw351

Now I have to cutoff this smooth ring gear and weld on one that has saw teeth for the gear to turn on. 
Will update when I get back to this project.


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## Fred9

Awesome creative work and skill!!


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## Shaw351

Fred9 said:


> Awesome creative work and skill!!


Thanks for the kind words Fred !!!


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## Shaw351

Continuing on........ in August! !!!


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## Shaw351

Got the ring gear completed...










All test fitting completed....











Now its disassembly, sanding, priming & por15 safety orange....,,

WAIT FOR SNOW 😆😆


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## Shaw351

Finished up auger assembly, drilled new shear pin holes, drilled and tapped grease fittings. Drained & inspected gearbox, refilled with 00 grease. Going to hand sand, wash with por-15 prep and paint. 
It's strange how the auger tips ended up almost parallel, not offset by 45 or 90 degrees like most augers, not planned as i just cut down the bigger aguers from the original 32" unit. Guessing it might kinda supercharge the snow into the impeller, will wait and see. If it seems to bog down I'll drill new shear pin hole on one auger 90 degrees from where it is now. The pin will be a little harder to change as it now is in between the auger center bracket. Just have to wait and see how it performs, guessing it won't be an issue with the higher rpm & 14" impeller.


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## YSHSfan

Shaw351, have you considered cutting serrations on the augers like later Ariens have, to help with hard packed snow and EOD...?


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## Shaw351

YSHSfan said:


> Shaw351, have you considered cutting serrations on the augers like later Ariens have, to help with hard packed snow and EOD...?


Was a brief thought, but I've had very little problems with that stuff. Lets see how this beast performs, i can easily cut those serrations later if needed.


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## Shaw351

Update: 12/27/2017
First test with 6" of New England Christmas snow....

Worked well, still have to modify chute a bit. Think this chute can't handle the volume, when angled down it shoots excess snow past the sides and also back through hinge area. I'm going to add some conveyor belting to help stop the bypassing.
Also damaged the new belt, took a chunk out of it. Belt looked fine except for the area it failed. Possibly got a defective belt, will see how the "New " New belt works in the next storm usage.
Threw it quite far for a small machine.


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## Dauntae

You never fail to impress, Great work.


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## jsup

VERY IMPRESSIVE! Beautiful work. And it all works as planned.


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## Shaw351

Dauntae said:


> You never fail to impress, Great work.





jsup said:


> VERY IMPRESSIVE! Beautiful work. And it all works as planned.


Thanks guys !!
Glad to share my findings, problems, and final outcomes.


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## 69ariens

All I have to say is WOW. What an amazing job


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## paulm12

WOW is right. Not sure which is most impressive, your ingenuity, your fabrications skills or your get-r-done attitude. Love it all.


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## cranman

Nice work!


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## Shaw351

69ariens said:


> All I have to say is WOW. What an amazing job





paulm12 said:


> WOW is right. Not sure which is most impressive, your ingenuity, your fabrications skills or your get-r-done attitude. Love it all.





cranman said:


> Nice work!


Thanks for the kudos, hope my project with pictures help others with their machines. Possibly inspires some to undertake working their own projects.


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## cranman

You've given me so many ideas over the last two years, I don't know if I have enough life force to finish them all!


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## Shaw351

cranman said:


> You've given me so many ideas over the last two years, I don't know if I have enough life force to finish them all!


Sadly I'm just about done with rebuilding & selling used machines. After soo many the luster is gone and I'm tired of mother nature dictating my hobby. I have one more creation bouncing around in my head I want to build, just not sure if it will be a complete 32 or 36 Ariens or a combo setup like my Franken Blower. Going to use this 14HP Briggs v-twin engine from a generator, has 12v on-board starter and alternator. Will make final decision after I'm done with modifications to Franken Blower. 

Have had this idea for awhile, you can see the noma chute in the pixx that I mortised into my 32 Ariens.


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## guybb3

Shaw, how did you do with the snow we had last night?


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## Shaw351

guybb3 said:


> Shaw, how did you do with the snow we had last night?


Hey Guybb3, sorry i missed your posting. The machine was great with all the snow we got. The conveyor belting helped with most of the snow being forced out the hinge, but still had snow bypassing the sides when deflector was angled down. Going to put on a tall chute from a 36" bucket that I have, just need to make brackets for the deflector to be used with the cable setup. I'll post up pixx as I get it fabbed up.


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## guybb3

Well you're going to get to use it again tommorrow!!


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## Toro-8-2-4

Thanks for sharing all you have done it was a great study.......Sorry you are getting out of the work but I can certainly understand as I too am a slave to the weather. 

I am sure we will get one more monster storm this season so keep us posted as to how Frankenstien performs. 

That Vanguard may be a bit overkill on anything less than 34". I did see a joke photo going around of what appears to be a Chevy small block on a home made snowblower..... absurdly funny!


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## Shaw351

Got the taller Chute from the original 32 inch bucket mounted up. Tried it out during the last storm, but we did not get enough snow for a proper test. I was running in 5th gear just to get enough snow into the bucket. 
Guess I will have to wait for the next storm to give it a proper workout.


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## Sblg43

Great work! And boy are your neighbors boiling mad that your snow is ending up in their yard!


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## Shaw351

Sblg43 said:


> Great work! And boy are your neighbors boiling mad that your snow is ending up in their yard!


Thanks Sblg43, I don't have to worry about neighbors......
Since I'm the guy that helps them out no matter what the problem is. We all get along well. 

I enjoy sharing my hobby with others, I've learned a few things here on the board and hope that I've passed on some helpful information with my projects.


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## cranman

I know I've learned a few things from your projects Joe!


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## ChrisJ

Shaw351 said:


> Thanks Sblg43, I don't have to worry about neighbors......
> Since I'm the guy that helps them out no matter what the problem is. We all get along well.
> 
> I enjoy sharing my hobby with others, I've learned a few things here on the board and hope that I've passed on some helpful information with my projects.


Were you able to get that kind of distance with a single 1/2" belt or did you go with double belts eventually?

I constantly battle packed slush and keep trying to see what route I should take to improve things. I also need a lot more distance with wet snow. But the single belt has me concerned.


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## Big Ed

ChrisJ said:


> Were you able to get that kind of distance with a single 1/2" belt or did you go with double belts eventually?
> 
> I constantly battle packed slush and keep trying to see what route I should take to improve things. I also need a lot more distance with wet snow. But the single belt has me concerned.


Do an impeller mod? 
Some swear by it for tossing wet snow.


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## ChrisJ

Big Ed said:


> Do an impeller mod?
> Some swear by it for tossing wet snow.


I will be, without a doubt.
But I'm betting I need a lot more.


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## Big Ed

This might have worked on yours,








SOLD - 4 vane impeller seal kit - new, never installed


SOLD I purchased this for my older Ariens ST824 at the end of 2019 and never got around to installing it before I sold the machine (guy who bought it did not want the impeller kit). I purchased the kit on eBay for $50 including shipping and they are still being sold today for the same price...




www.snowblowerforum.com


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## ChrisJ

Big Ed said:


> This might have worked on yours,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SOLD - 4 vane impeller seal kit - new, never installed
> 
> 
> SOLD I purchased this for my older Ariens ST824 at the end of 2019 and never got around to installing it before I sold the machine (guy who bought it did not want the impeller kit). I purchased the kit on eBay for $50 including shipping and they are still being sold today for the same price...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.snowblowerforum.com


That's alright, I'm planning on making my own out of things I have already.


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## harry398

Shaw351 said:


> I recently built an ariens 28" pro from a homeowner model for my son. I modified it to have a 7" impeller pulley and had to rework the brake. It's important to have that function for safety. Here are the pixx....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All done ....



how did this work out for your son?


Shaw351 said:


> Sadly I'm just about done with rebuilding & selling used machines. After soo many the luster is gone and I'm tired of mother nature dictating my hobby. I have one more creation bouncing around in my head I want to build, just not sure if it will be a complete 32 or 36 Ariens or a combo setup like my Franken Blower. Going to use this 14HP Briggs v-twin engine from a generator, has 12v on-board starter and alternator. Will make final decision after I'm done with modifications to Franken Blower.
> 
> Have had this idea for awhile, you can see the noma chute in the pixx that I mortised into my 32 Ariens.


I really enjoyed this. 
brought me back to my 20's and 30's drag racing days....

I really like that 6 vane 14" impeller........


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## Shaw351

harry398 said:


> how did this work out for your son?
> 
> 
> I really enjoyed this.
> brought me back to my 20's and 30's drag racing days....
> 
> I really like that 6 vane 14" impeller........


Hey Harry398, that machine has worked flawlessly for years now. Was a fun project to.

Drag racing.... my other hobby. Had several 65 & 66 mustangs, but my 66 with the 351 Cleveland was my favorite. Nothing in my stable currently, but I do turn wrenches & fabricate on several nitro funny cars, the nor'easter.


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## ChrisJ

I'd love to see some closeups of your belt setups.

I'm hoping my BX belt works well but I am nervous.
I did stay with the woodruff key, but swapped in a much harder steel one than the one Ariens had. The slot wasn't worn at all, was very tight in fact and the new pulley has the set screw right against the key.


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## harry398

Shaw351 said:


> Hey Harry398, that machine has worked flawlessly for years now. Was a fun project to.
> 
> Drag racing.... my other hobby. Had several 65 & 66 mustangs, but my 66 with the 351 Cleveland was my favorite. Nothing in my stable currently, but I do turn wrenches & fabricate on several nitro funny cars, the nor'easter.


thats great. I learned alot racing....had numerous cars..all mustangs...fastest were the clevelands. Built a 398 with those canted valve alum motorsport heads back in the 90's....ran 9.7 @140 @3200lbs all motor. I had alot of help from my engine guy...master at fabrication odd ball stuff.

still have a "street" stang.....but im much calmer these days.lol

I loved the 24 "sho build...Im waiting for the "right" broken machine to slap a honda gx390 on...I particularly liked that 6 blade impeller you used.

cool stuff


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