# Bob-Cat



## worm23 (Aug 22, 2011)

Hi everyone i just picked up an old Bob-cat snow thrower. 8hp and 28" wide(or 26) runs and moves great. The thing is i've never seen a snow throw with a paddel in the middle in stead of the spinning shute. Do anyone have any information on how good this will throw snow and if it is a reliable machine. Thanks, worm


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi worm23. Welcome to the group. Not familiar with your machine. Anyway you could post up some pictures of it?


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Those old bobcats and a lot of the older simplicities used that paddle wheel design. I have heard it works pretty well, but I have never used one myself. I think that style is no longer made because they required the machine to be quite a bit longer.

There are some bobcat and simplicity blowers on this page:
http://home.gwi.net/~spectrum/snowvintage.html


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## Wayne195 (Nov 16, 2010)

Welcome to the fhe group, worm23!

Bobcat is one of the brands that I really don't know much about, but from the few that I have seen they do appear to be very solid machines. It looks like the front end must be a bit heavy with long front end like that. I'd also like to see a few photos' of your machine if you can post a few for us.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

good morning all,

i have been looking for a bobcat snowblower just to have one. but what i can tell you is i have three moto mower snow sharks and they have the same paddle set up as the bob cat. they are old so they tend to be built very heavy, there is no front gearbox to go bad (and are very expensive to fix). i have a 10 horse 32 inch wide bolens i bought to fix and sell and my moto mowers with 5 or 6 horse engines far out throw it. another thing is since the paddle has less surface area than an impeller style the (or at least mine) paddle spins much faster and rarely if ever gets clogged. slush, ice and even standing water has pumped through. bobcat design is very long but mine are short like new ones would be. i will see if i can find some pictures. i have put them on the site before. they are here somewhere


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

they must be too expensive to make that way. only thing i have ever broken is a drive chain to the auger when i hit a buried log. chain was a couple feet long but 25 bucks got me 10 ft of chain and a few master links. no big deal.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

forgot to mention, only down side is if the bobcat is like mine it has an actual transmission, no friction disc/plate. my transmissions are pretty much obsolete---thats why i gathered up three. but i havent broken anything yet, even tried it against chunks of ice/packed snow. 

they are very reliable and cheap to fix but certain unique parts are irreplaceable. metal gets hammered back into shape if damaged. almost all bearings are generic not custom and can be ordered through places like grainger.


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## thestonecarver (Jan 22, 2013)

I have 4 Bobcat Snowthrowers so far. one 5 hp working and one 8 hp working. When I saw my neighbor using his he bought in the 60's new I new I had to have one of those. Best SB I have ever seen. Made like a tank. I managed to find another 8hp thats in almost perfect condition. Just a few head bolts that someone stripped. Should be an easy fix. I'm really surprised there is not a Bobcat Group anywhere. If you go on youtube theres a video of a guy using one. Nothing stops them.


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## thestonecarver (Jan 22, 2013)

Have you tried to find a v-belt for it? What a task that was for me. Finally found a company that has one that works. Ask for Melvin he knows his belts. The one he sold me is the SPZ 1375 a bit loose but works. Theres one 1/2" smaller (SPZ 1362) I will try. 
JayDee Enterprises Inc.
PH 800-989-0162 Ext 21


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## beriksson (Jan 5, 2013)

They are nice, my retired neighbor has one and I've used it a few times. 8hp, I think Briggs, it really runs smooth and fairly quiet, kind of a certain whine/hum. Maybe it's the impeller going 12,000 mph. Yea, it's a tank and can move snow a serious distance. Controls take some time to get used too but a solid machine!!


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