# Trouble with slushy snow...



## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

The ground is so warm still the 8 inches on my deck was like 4 on the walks. I went up to Ouray and did the sidewalk in front of my buddies restaurant. There was about an inch of slush under a few inches of fluff, about 20*F. The snow was not getting to the impeller, it would fill the bucket and start spilling out. Every once in a while it would ingest the clog and send it. My friend confirmed the augers were running and the machine was cold, it had been in the back of the truck for almost 2 hrs. 

So is this just a conditions thing? I slowed down and that helped but it would still clog/purge, clog/purge with some normal processing. Lots of snow frozen around the impeller intake too. Suggestions? Machine worked, saved a ton of shovelling, just wonder if this was normal or could be improved upon. This is with my 1027


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

Brent Holm said:


> The ground is so warm still the 8 inches on my deck was like 4 on the walks. I went up to Ouray and did the sidewalk in front of my buddies restaurant. There was about an inch of slush under a few inches of fluff, about 20*F. The snow was not getting to the impeller, it would fill the bucket and start spilling out. Every once in a while it would ingest the clog and send it. My friend confirmed the augers were running and the machine was cold, it had been in the back of the truck for almost 2 hrs.
> 
> So is this just a conditions thing? I slowed down and that helped but it would still clog/purge, clog/purge with some normal processing. Lots of snow frozen around the impeller intake too. Suggestions? Machine worked, saved a ton of shovelling, just wonder if this was normal or could be improved upon. This is with my 1027


Man, that was disappointed for the first try out. You won't be so disappointed the next time. I know you have a good machine. It is normal (any snowblower will do that with slush. Try that with the shovel and you will know why it is hard on the machine). The impeller mod helps, but it is best to avoid slush by blowing early.

Unlike the water pump, snowblower have gaps every where. It won't pick up water and slush. It will just clog up.


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

Also apply non-stick products like car wax on the chute, impeller, auger and housing. Make them slippery.

I sprayed cooking oil on my lawn mower in the Spring (when grass is wet and grow thick). It is friendly for the environment and help a lot. same for snowblower.


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## badbmwbrad (Jul 30, 2019)

I've read that the very best non-stick product is old-fashioned floor wax (the kind that needs to be buffed after it's applied). Paint it on with a brush and let it harden to a thick coating that lasts a long time.


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

dman2 said:


> Man, that was disappointed for the first try out. You won't be so disappointed the next time. I know you have a good machine. It is normal (any snowblower will do that with slush. Try that with the shovel and you will know why it is hard on the machine). The impeller mod helps, but it is best to avoid slush by blowing early.
> 
> Unlike the water pump, snowblower have gaps every where. It won't pick up water and slush. It will just clog up.



the impeller mod doesnt help
it ends that issue
my backup blower st824 rust bucket looks like a fire hose with water hasnt clogged since 2009 with imp kit
was rated to throw snow 25 feet new it throws 40 feet now and slop 20 feet plus


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

You just hit some crappy conditions, and as you saw, while it didn't perform great, still beats shoveling.


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## Miles (Sep 16, 2016)

Really slushy stuff is difficult for any snowblower. Mine will throw out bricks of ice for awhile, then will clog. Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence around here-just once every year and a half. Make sure you have a broom handle or something to clear out the chute and don't use your hands.


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

A little trick with slush type snow I found works well for me is to drive into it at a high speed so it will get back to the impeller and then it will get thrown out the discharge chute.
If I went too slow it would just clog up, if I went fast, almost a jogging speed, it would clear itself out and did the job pretty well because it didn't have the time to pack up and melt in the auger housing, and I got the job done a bit faster that way.
Try it, it might work for you, I know it did for me and a lot of others who wrote on here about doing that with the wet slushy snow. You are kind of "Bulldozing" it when you do that. I don't have an impeller mod kit either and never had a problem when I went into it fast.


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## Aviator (Nov 17, 2018)

Welcome to Colorado early and late season slush. Water underneath powder is a difficult mix. It is a real problem since at your altitude you have a lot less power than your machine will produce at sea level. Only half the oxygen up at Ouray as down at sea level. Up where you live you essentially have the equivalent of a small motor turning a big auger. 

1. Install an impeller seal kit. Closing the gap between the impeller and the housing is the best performing and cheapest snowblower upgrade you can make. Especially for moving slush. 

2. Waxing or spraying your chute and auger with Ariens Snow Jet spray or Fluid Film helps with slush, but must be re-applied every day in slushy conditions. Some people use pure silicone spray (not WD40) or simple cooking oil spray. 
Dry powder days require no spray. Just warm wet slushy days. Spray the day before a snow fall so the fluid can dry and last a bit longer.

3. Vary your speed and how wide of a path you cut. If snow is shallow not getting enough volume flowing thru the auger leads to clogs. When slush is deep, swallowing too much at once bogs your motor down and causes clogs. The sweet spot for throwing slush lies somewhere in between. 

You can never have enough horsepower when throwing slush. Run only full throttle.

Good luck.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

Thanks guys, just chalked it up to adjusting to the new machine. It doesn't lack power at altitude, it never bogged down, never completely clogged, I was just surprised the augers didn't feed the impeller better. As mentioned there is a lot of open space around the moving parts. The impeller kit sounds interesting and I had already considered waxing the area around the impeller bucket transition where I had the most ice build up. 

I did try the going fast and forcing into the back of the bucket but that just left trails... Almost water on the bottom layer the blower struggled at first to even push through and pick it up. Slower speed seemed to work and the blower still did the job in 10 minutes where that would have been an hour of shovel work for sure. 

Happy with the machine, thanks for the tips to make it better!


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

*Had another Go...*

We had another snow event where the ground was warm and had a couple inches of powder on top. Big sidewalks around a small town home complex. I had not made any changes since Monday's snow but my buddy tossed me a can of Pam cooking spray. I used it, seemed like it helped. I only had a couple spots were it was plowing not processing but it always caught right up. I was able to run in the machines fastest speed easily, it was tossing heavy snow 30+ feet. Snowblowing in the sun next to an open pond... Very pleased with the machine after using it again, still thinking of doing and impeller improvement kit.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Hello Brent,

Forgive me for asking but did you notice the cross shafts that support and carry the augers are sagging??? Its probably time to think about a new gearbox or repairing the current one with new bearings and seals.

About snow sticking, pam or the tall aerosol cans of cooking spray from bj's or sams club works well in a pinch.

The best thing I have found over the years is to use Fluid Film and coat everything that contacts snow spraying the chute and spout a couple of times while clearing works very well to keep everything free flowing. 

If you can get your snow mule in to a warm place to let everything melt off you can spray it with fluid film and let it dry and your snow mule will work very well and double your casting distance. If you have a salamander/torpedo space heater it will melt all the ice out of it and dry it out every time you use it. They work very well for preheating your snow mule too so it runs better.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

badbmwbrad said:


> I've read that the very best non-stick product is old-fashioned floor wax (the kind that needs to be buffed after it's applied). Paint it on with a brush and let it harden to a thick coating that lasts a long time.


have you tried this?


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

leonz said:


> Hello Brent,
> 
> Forgive me for asking but did you notice the cross shafts that support and carry the augers are sagging??? Its probably time to think about a new gearbox or repairing the current one with new bearings and seals.
> 
> ...



That is just an optical illusion in the picture. The machine is in excellent almost new condition. The previous owner recently spent $300 on preventative maintenance before I bought it. Works well, just getting used to it a little. 

My machine lives in my heated garage with my other snow toys, the truck plow and the snowmobile. No point in preheating it before use because I don't really use it at home. It gets started, warmed up a little and loaded into the plow truck where it rides around in the cold. It was below zero the other morning when I started using it. Starts on the first pull.:smile2:


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

orangputeh said:


> have you tried this?


I am going to wipe out the bucket today and apply some left over liquid Turtle wax that I wont use on my cars anyway. Might not snow again for a couple weeks but I will report back as to how that worked. Of course, I may be done with slushy snow until spring too, it is getting cold at night!


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## notabiker (Dec 14, 2018)

Don't think an impeller kit is going to do much as the snow doesn't even make it to the impeller.. I had the same issue this past week just East of colorado springs (7,200 feet elevation) and I have an impeller kit on. I ended up just going faster to force the snow to the impeller.


A rough hp conversion for your altitude there in Ouray (drove through there on my way from vegas to the springs two weeks ago or so, very pretty but touristy).
That's if you're properly jetted for the altitude too, otherwise even more hp is lost as you're running rich.

6.5 hp = 5 hp
8 hp = 6.2 hp
11 hp = 8.5 hp
12 hp = 9.2 hp


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

I can tell you how it will work... It will work... Excellent. I started doing this at least 15 or so years ago. It is a bit of a job to wax the inside of the deflector, chute, bucket, augers impeller fan, shaft, gear box and what ever else you can get at. The most important area I think is... at least on my 1971 Ariens is the ring at the exit hole. If you keep that ring waxed, you will never have a blockage problem again. Weather it'd be lighter type snow or the wet heavy slushy snow. The snow will keep falling down through the hole when you stop taking snow in to the bucket. I have cut my hands and knuckles a number of times, but to me... it is well worth the pain and elbow grease. It really pays off after you are done clearing, there is really no snow to clean out from inside the bucket area. There is absolutely no... need to add the so called impeller kit to stop a machine from clogging up. Maybe for the extra distance, but before you take the time to add the rubber paddles, try the wax. You will be amazed 




Brent Holm said:


> I am going to wipe out the bucket today and apply some left over liquid Turtle wax that I wont use on my cars anyway. Might not snow again for a couple weeks but I will report back as to how that worked. Of course, I may be done with slushy snow until spring too, it is getting cold at night!


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

notabiker said:


> Don't think an impeller kit is going to do much as the snow doesn't even make it to the impeller.. I had the same issue this past week just East of colorado springs (7,200 feet elevation) and I have an impeller kit on. I ended up just going faster to force the snow to the impeller.
> 
> 
> A rough hp conversion for your altitude there in Ouray (drove through there on my way from vegas to the springs two weeks ago or so, very pretty but touristy).
> ...


Yes, tourists only LOL. We do have a working mine on the mtn providing jobs though. Just met a gal the other night bidding a plow job that was taking a full time good paying position with the mine. I do not live in town, I have lived in town, I prefer living out of town:smile2:

Hard to say if it has been re-jetted. It has always been a high altitude Colorado machine. It does not show any soot on the muffler and only smells rich on cold starts. I understand the power loss which is why I opted for the highest hp to width I could find and a 14" auger/impeller combo.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

Kielbasa said:


> I can tell you how it will work... It will work... Excellent. I started doing this at least 15 or so years ago. It is a bit of a job to wax the inside of the deflector, chute, bucket, augers impeller fan, shaft, gear box and what ever else you can get at. The most important area I think is... at least on my 1971 Ariens is the ring at the exit hole. If you keep that ring waxed, you will never have a blockage problem again. Weather it'd be lighter type snow or the wet heavy slushy snow. The snow will keep falling down in to the hole to exit hole when you stop taking snow in to the bucket. I have cut my hands and knuckles a number of times, but to me... it is well worth the pain and elbow grease. Where I think it really pays off is after you are done clearing, there is really no snow to clean out from inside the bucket area. There is absolutely no... need to add the so called impeller kit to stop a machine from clogging up. Maybe for the extra distance, but before you take the time to add the rubber paddles, try the wax. You will be amazed



Well, it is waxed up! I have a new bare spot in the impeller housing, must have taken up some gravel... I am not taking it apart and refinishing there until spring so hopefully it doesn't cause any build up issues. I suspect the wax will help that spot just as well.


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

Great... let us know how you make out. I have to touch up areas now and then but I use brush on paint so that I can get inside better. If you do not take in any road pieces, it will last a good while, but when that first road piece goes through the machine, next spring will be touch up time again. 

Good luck... even though I know how it will work out for you. 



Brent Holm said:


> Well, it is waxed up! I have a new bare spot in the impeller housing, must have taken up some gravel... I am not taking it apart and refinishing there until spring so hopefully it doesn't cause any build up issues. I suspect the wax will help that spot just as well.


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## notabiker (Dec 14, 2018)

Brent Holm said:


> Yes, tourists only LOL. We do have a working mine on the mtn providing jobs though. Just met a gal the other night bidding a plow job that was taking a full time good paying position with the mine. I do not live in town, I have lived in town, I prefer living out of town:smile2:
> 
> Hard to say if it has been re-jetted. It has always been a high altitude Colorado machine. It does not show any soot on the muffler and only smells rich on cold starts. I understand the power loss which is why I opted for the highest hp to width I could find and a 14" auger/impeller combo.





Cripple creek area? Yea I hate city but we move every few years not by choice so we buy a house that is a compromise.


Just because it was bought here doesn't mean it was jetted for here, unless the dealer took it upon themselves to rejet, I'd bet it's set up just like every other machine they sell from sea level to 10,000 feet+ 



And the stupid emissions crap and the bean counters make it so that us silly idiots no longer get a fully adjustable carb to adjust for elevation without having to pull it apart and replace jets.


Same sort of folks is why there's a recall on our new VW atlas to make sure a little plastic plug is covering the headlight adjustment screw that moves it horizontally... I'm sure I removed it already to adjust the beams down and to the side because the company sets them way to high from new.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

notabiker said:


> Cripple creek area? Yea I hate city but we move every few years not by choice so we buy a house that is a compromise.
> 
> 
> Just because it was bought here doesn't mean it was jetted for here, unless the dealer took it upon themselves to rejet, I'd bet it's set up just like every other machine they sell from sea level to 10,000 feet+
> ...



Unless it is running really bad or noticeably rich I am not going to mess with it. My experience is that the gains would be minimal, not enough air is not enough air. The biggest risk IMO would be so rich it was washing the cylinder. When I first moved here 20 years ago I brought my built '71 Buick Gs455. In Minnesota it dyno'ed at 525 hp and ran low low 11 second QM times. In Grand Junction at 7000 ft I could never get it to run better than low 13's despite LOTs of jetting an timing combos being tried to bring some of that performance back. I lost 2.5 seconds in the QM with my baseline guess. After re-jetting dozens of times I was never able to regain more than half a second. Re-Jetting any carb can minimize losses but the losses are still great and in my experience not recoverable in the least by jetting changes. We used to re-jet out snowmobiles too and while they run better properly jetted they still suffer the power losses altitude brings. Nothing but forced induction fixes the loss.


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## notabiker (Dec 14, 2018)

Brent Holm said:


> Unless it is running really bad or noticeably rich I am not going to mess with it. My experience is that the gains would be minimal, not enough air is not enough air. The biggest risk IMO would be so rich it was washing the cylinder. When I first moved here 20 years ago I brought my built '71 Buick Gs455. In Minnesota it dyno'ed at 525 hp and ran low low 11 second QM times. In Grand Junction at 7000 ft I could never get it to run better than low 13's despite LOTs of jetting an timing combos being tried to bring some of that performance back. I lost 2.5 seconds in the QM with my baseline guess. After re-jetting dozens of times I was never able to regain more than half a second. Re-Jetting any carb can minimize losses but the losses are still great and in my experience not recoverable in the least by jetting changes. We used to re-jet out snowmobiles too and while they run better properly jetted they still suffer the power losses altitude brings. Nothing but forced induction fixes the loss.



Yup, rough estimate is 3%/1000 feet lost and that's properly jetted. Running rich is going to take a little more hp off that.


It's easy to change a main jet, just costs something like $10-$15 and some time but I'll agree that you have to decide if the small gain is worth it or not.


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## Brent Holm (Oct 22, 2019)

notabiker said:


> Yup, rough estimate is 3%/1000 feet lost and that's properly jetted. Running rich is going to take a little more hp off that.
> 
> 
> It's easy to change a main jet, just costs something like $10-$15 and some time but I'll agree that you have to decide if the small gain is worth it or not.


I know I can get it changed, I would just hate to order a new jet and find out that is what was in there already. I worked it pretty good on that big sidewalk. It was in the 20's, not super cold out. I have been thinking about jetting it but I have been wrapped up in another small engine project, trying to get an old neglected rammer compactor to run well. Thought I had it yesterday... no such luck, more carb parts coming.


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