# New Accessory You Probably Haven't Seen



## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

My Friend George Sent this. Thought I'd Share with the Group.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

Seems pretty cool when there's just an few inches, maybe 6 inches or less. But if it gets heavy, I think they'll be less effective. (I had to watch with the sound off, so if they said that, sorry for the comment)

I see it mounts on the skids, do they make different mounting brackets for different models? If so, how many models? DO you know? 

Thanks for the video, cool product.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

"Old accessory that we have seen." 

Video is from 2012..
Discussion on this forum, from 2015:

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/other-snow-removal-equipment/64921-sno-jac-wings.html

No trace of them online today..looks like they quickly failed.

Scot


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

sscotsman said:


> "Old accessory that we have seen."
> 
> Video is from 2012..
> Discussion on this forum, from 2015:
> ...


 I never Saw it Before, and Thought the Group Might Find it Interesting. Thank You for the Update.


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

Looked like a good idea, BUT at what price? If too much it would only save maybe 1 or 2 passes up the driveway for most and wasn't worth the money to most thus a failed product. Kind of like the VHS vs Beta in the 80's Was Beta better quality? YES was beta more compact? Yes But was VHS already in most households when Beta came out? YES and the quality increase wasn't worth the price of switching over so Beta failed badly. There has to be a real need for a product like this and I guess there really wasn't.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

Dauntae said:


> Looked like a good idea, BUT at what price? If too much it would only save maybe 1 or 2 passes up the driveway for most and wasn't worth the money to most thus a failed product. Kind of like the VHS vs Beta in the 80's Was Beta better quality? YES was beta more compact? Yes But was VHS already in most households when Beta came out? YES and the quality increase wasn't worth the price of switching over so Beta failed badly. There has to be a real need for a product like this and I guess there really wasn't.


The old thread said they were $179. That's pricey, however they were Made in America so I guess it's OK. $50 from china would be over priced. A classic example of you can not sell something made in the USA, or sell something made in China and have a better chance staying in business....but I digress...... 

I see the big advantage in places, like here, that get small snowfalls of 4-6 inches. It helps keep the bucket full. Not a bad concept, I think the execution was a little weak. 

The tooling and such for the first few units is expensive. When I did some consulting for a high performance company that made heads and blocks, people would ask "can you make a Cleveland block" or whatever.... They'd get mad when I'd say "sure, the first one is $60,000, $4K each after that, who wants the first one? 

I think this company suffered from that kind of fate. They weren't capable of doing the quantities required to get the price where it needed to be to stay in business.

As far as VHS vs. Beta. The deciding factor was porn. Most of the porn was done on VHS, that's what put Beta out of business, even though it was a better standard. At least that's how the legend goes.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

This guy was way ahead of his time.......


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## solsun (Dec 27, 2017)

Spectrum said:


> This guy was way ahead of his time.......
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yif27jy0qtc




Ha. License plate was a nice touch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

jsup said:


> As far as VHS vs. Beta. The deciding factor was porn. Most of the porn was done on VHS, that's what put Beta out of business, even though it was a better standard. At least that's how the legend goes.



Had to put my thinking hat on, IIRC Sony developed both the beta and vhs format drives. Original format was 3/4" and used by news crews and production companies, which was later reduced to 1/2" for home sales. Sony though Beta being the better image sold the rights to VHS to JVC. Sony didn't license or sell rights to the Beta format so all you could get was Sony units. JVC on the other had licensed the VHS format to others so there became far more options to it. There were a lot more VHS format units with different price points and options than the Beta units has. Simple economics: Beta was 5-6 Hours max per cartridge while VHS was 6-8 hours. More sellers of VHS than Beta. VHS ultimate won out of Beta.


I had both units over the years. I preferred the Beta with the single wrap loading of the tape over the VHS' Omega wrap and the Beta image quality I felt was better but VHS won out over the Beta units.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

Let me ask you guys something. IF this was properly executed, easily added and removed, no modifications to the bucket, and under $30 would anyone buy it?


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

jsup said:


> As far as VHS vs. Beta. The deciding factor was porn. Most of the porn was done on VHS, that's what put Beta out of business, even though it was a better standard. At least that's how the legend goes.


The main area of competition was recording length and licensing. VHS tapes were physically larger and could hold more tape, so they could record more minutes of video, although the video quality was better with Beta. The other thing is that Sony was reluctant to license the Beta format to other companies, while JVC was willing to license VHS to anyone.


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## FullThrottle (Apr 7, 2017)

Not me,I don't think my HSS928 would be able to handle more snow than it's already designed to do.Even at $30.00 I'm out. lol



jsup said:


> Let me ask you guys something. IF this was properly executed, easily added and removed, no modifications to the bucket, and under $30 would anyone buy it?


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

FullThrottle said:


> Not me,I don't think my HHS928 would be able to handle more snow than it's already designed to do.Even at $30.00 I'm out. lol


I see this as a 6 inches or less product. Where you're not bringing in enough snow to be efficient. When "dust" comes out of the chute.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

guyl said:


> The main area of competition was recording length and licensing. VHS tapes were physically larger and could hold more tape, so they could record more minutes of video, although the video quality was better with Beta. The other thing is that Sony was reluctant to license the Beta format to other companies, while JVC was willing to license VHS to anyone.


I think the licensing deal had more to do with it than anything else. Just like Windows vs. Apple.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

jsup said:


> Let me ask you guys something. IF this was properly executed, easily added and removed, no modifications to the bucket, and under $30 would anyone buy it?


If *completely* removable, and easily removable, when not needed, and under $30. yes, I would buy it. Could be useful for those light fluffy snows under 4".

Of course, most of the time if less than 4", I dont use the blower at all..I just leave the snow alone.

(exception: unless it going to stay below freezing for the next week after the light snowfall, and more snow is on the way..I might then clear lighter snowfalls, just so they dont turn icy..but those exact conditions are rare..)

So I would have maybe one or two times per year where these wings could be useful..conditions have to be just right. For the other 8 to 10 snowblower uses per winter, I wouldnt want them installed. But if they were easy to install and *completely* remove, leaving no hardware behind on the side of the bucket, and under $30, then yes, I would buy them and try them out.

Scot


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

I don't remove snow under 4 inches, because most of the time it's gone in a day. But as you said, there are times, if it's staying cold for the next week, that it has to be removed. There are situations that would be useful.


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

jsup said:


> I don't remove snow under 4 inches, because most of the time it's gone in a day. But as you said, there are times, if it's staying cold for the next week, that it has to be removed. There are situations that would be useful.


sounds like NJ right now. 1.5 inches of ice/snow overnight more due sunday, cold air from canada overhead with deep wind chills. clean it up and salt it down or have a skating rink for walks and driveway


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Spectrum said:


> This guy was way ahead of his time.......
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yif27jy0qtc


Seeing that old Gilson sideways I can really appreciate how much the manufacturers have shortened the modern machines. 

I can only guess they did that so it would be easier for the ladies to move and/or to save money on raw materials? I find it hard to believe that it was an actual design advantage.

While I haven't felt the need to add any weight yet to the front end of my new blower I think I'll keep my eyes open for a suitable 15+ lbs bar stock.

I suspect the two biggest design improvements (on basic machines) since that Gilson are XTrac tires and ribbon augurs?


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## Dannoman (Jan 16, 2018)

This guy found a cheaper solution...


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