# How I stopped my chute from rotating on it's own



## WingMan55 (Nov 24, 2014)

Here is a simple fix that I have used on two of my snowblowers. It's inexpensive (or free if you already have a bungee cord) and works great.


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow  I have a small thin bungee cord that will be just the ticket! Thank you for the idea I had planned to devise a way to stop this issue this weekend and actually forgot about it, just been busy. I am also going to take a couple flat washers and take up a little of the dead space between the worm gear and it's mount down at the chute end, to stop it from shifting back-and-forth quite as much because that was part of the problem as well. Between the two fixes it out to be just right . Thanks ! Two thumbs up


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Chute control*

Great idea there. I've actually tried to help a neighbor with a loose chute and though better it still didn't hold tight.

Got to remember this one. Thanks for sharing.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

the chute on a few of my machines moves around. I was thinking a bushing in the control crank rod would tighten it up, or even building it up with friction tape so there is resistance on the crank handle rod, so it can't turn so easily.

also going to try adjusting the sprocket teeth up higher into the chute slots, so it holds the setting.

we go through such efforts to grease all this stuff up, a chute is one place where I noticed, the rust actually does some good, by holding the adjustment steady


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

The easiest , quickest way I've found to tighten up chutes is to loosen the eyebolt and turn it so there is some tension on the chute adjusting rod. Instead of the eyebolt being positioned at 90° vertical it is positioned maybe at 75°. Works great and your machine looks better too, if looks are important to you.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

micah68kj said:


> The easiest , quickest way I've found to tighten up chutes is to loosen the eyebolt and turn it so there is some tension on the chute adjusting rod. Instead of the eyebolt being positioned at 90° vertical it is positioned maybe at 75°. Works great and your machine looks better too, if looks are important to you.


I just did this to my 521E


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## GMH (Dec 31, 2013)

This worked for me.


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## EddyCurr (Nov 18, 2013)

No one adds a weight to counter-balance the handle?

.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

EddyCurr said:


> No one adds a weight to counter-balance the handle?
> 
> .


Those are nylon blocks applying friction to the chute shaft and stopping unintended rotation.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

detdrbuzzard said:


> I just did this to my 521E


Like I said... Great minds....


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## EddyCurr (Nov 18, 2013)

Grunt said:


> EddyCurr said:
> 
> 
> > No one adds a weight to counter-balance the handle?
> ...


I understand.

All the examples in the thread involve adding friction devices of
one sort or another dealing with the symptom (handle rotating
up to 180º), rather than dealing with the problem.

When I am travelling in alternating directions and winding the chute
from left-to-right-to-left, the last thing I want is more friction. I
apply lithium grease to the base of the chute, the worm gear and
to the eye bolt that supports the handle shaft to make these parts
all turn as freely as possible. Ideally, I'd introduce a speed-handle
action to the chute mechanism in order to achieve maximum chute
travel from minimum hand motion.

I get the impression that some operators believe that the chute
is pushed out of position by the force of snow travelling through
it. I can't speak for all machines, but on the machines I have
used, this is not the case. It won't be the case for any machine
where there is a worm gear in the linkage - the driven gear can
not drive back through the worm gear.

Instead, on my machine(s) the chute moves because of the weight
of the offset handle, assisted by the vibration of the engine and
the jostling of uneven terrain. Provide a counter-weight for the
handle and, once set, the chute stays in place while the effort
for chute directional changes is minimized.

.


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## WingMan55 (Nov 24, 2014)

Nice GMH. The nylon blocks looks like another good solution. 

As far as rotating the eyebolt, you can see that I have already, and it did work for a short time until the bushing wore down again. 

Eddycur, yes with the bungee cord it adds more friction to stop the turning, however, the cloth on the outside of the cord provides just enough drag without making the chute much harder to turn than the original bushing. It's not noticable at all. I tried a bungee cord w/o the cloth and it bound up so much that it tried to wrap around the shaft of the handle. Plus this also worked on my 1978 Ariens that did not have the rubber bushing and relied on a worm gear (which after 20 + years also wore down too much).

(Actually I'm not sure the rubber bushing is supposed to act as a 'brake'. I think it is used more just to keep the handle shaft from rattling.)

On both machines I had/have it was/is a combination of the handle weight (as you said Eddycur) and the parts wearing out over time. The worm gear setup on the Ariens just vibrated enough to let the weight of the handle wiggle it down as you were going along.

The key is to find a cord that will stretch just enough to hold. I actually shortened the cord that you see in the photo until I got the correct 'grip'.

Glad to have given back to the forum!


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## GMH (Dec 31, 2013)

EddyCurr said:


> the chute moves because of the weight
> of the offset handle,
> 
> .


Yes, this is the problem. I used plastic blocks because I had them and it was convenient to mount them on my machine. Wood may work just as well. Mine still rotates effortlessly. It works so well that I am going to mount them permanently with bolts and nylock nuts instead of the hose clamps.


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## John the canadian (8 d ago)

WingMan55 said:


> Here is a simple fix that I have used on two of my snowblowers. It's inexpensive (or free if you already have a bungee cord) and works great.
> 
> View attachment 28217


Thank you for this idea. it's good for my Yardworks LH358 2006.


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