# King of Clogs



## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

Well, I broke out my new (to me) Snow Commander I picked up a few days ago. Was about an inch and a half or so and is still coming down but I was anxious. Started right up first pull, (chose not to use electric start), and went on my way. From all the rain we received yesterday and during the night the snow was hard, heavy and verrry slushy. Every 10 feet or so the chute would clog up bad, I had to unclog it using my homemade tool. Did both elderly neighbors on either side and they both came out and offered me a coffee. I accepted, John Wayne style (BLACK). 

Anyhow, is it clogging so bad due to the wet, slushy mixture or are these known for clogging this bad?


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

Slush is hard to run through a chute no matter the machine. You could try PAM before your outing.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Coby7 said:


> Slush is hard to run through a chute no matter the machine. You could try PAM before your outing.


+1 on the cooking spray. I fnally used up all in my last can and I forgot to buy a replacement. I may have to use sweet Bonny's butter spritzer cookimg spray today.


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## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

Coby7 said:


> Slush is hard to run through a chute no matter the machine. You could try PAM before your outing.




Pam it will be. Wife uses that stuff like an addict uses crack. Thanks.


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

joee5 said:


> Pam it will be. Wife uses that stuff like an addict uses crack. Thanks.


ooooh man...start dippin' into the wife's stash could be bad for one's health!


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## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

classiccat said:


> ooooh man...start dippin' into the wife's stash could be bad for one's health!




LOL. Then she'll have to resort to good old fashioned butter instead


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## loneraider (Oct 26, 2013)

I,ve used fluid film with good results but not the pan spray but when it comes to the slushy stuff man that crap is hard to move no matter what machine you have.


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## Koenig041 (Dec 18, 2013)

An impeller kit helps a lot. Go slow. Its also an augur belt killer. Where in central Jersey are you? I am next to Hackettstown.


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## time2time (Jan 8, 2015)

micah68kj said:


> +1 on the cooking spray. I fnally used up all in my last can and I forgot to buy a replacement. I may have to use sweet Bonny's butter spritzer cookimg spray today.


I think somebody should market a specialized product for this.. just rebadge a can of Pam and charge 4x the price.. You could even call it 

*"I Can't Believe It's Not Clogging"*


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

how are the paddles looking joe, we had the wet ice crusted snow a few days ago and my 2450E never clogged


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

If you don't happen to want to use Pam, my favorite is silicone spray, it doesn't leave any greay residue anywhere and snow slips right past it...use it on my snow shovel too when I'm doing the deck.

Edit. typo. GREASY ;-)


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

joee5 said:


> Well, I broke out my new (to me) Snow Commander I picked up a few days ago. Was about an inch and a half or so and is still coming down but I was anxious. Started right up first pull, (chose not to use electric start), and went on my way. From all the rain we received yesterday and during the night the snow was hard, heavy and verrry slushy. Every 10 feet or so the chute would clog up bad, I had to unclog it using my homemade tool. Did both elderly neighbors on either side and they both came out and offered me a coffee. I accepted, John Wayne style (BLACK).
> 
> Anyhow, is it clogging so bad due to the wet, slushy mixture or are these known for clogging this bad?


normal situation. a paddle kit may help, but there have been posts here of clogging even WITH a paddle kit. if the slush gets like heavy mud, it can bog down a low to mid-powered machine.


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## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

Koenig041 said:


> An impeller kit helps a lot. Go slow. Its also an augur belt killer. Where in central Jersey are you? I am next to Hackettstown.



Sayreville


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## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

detdrbuzzard said:


> how are the paddles looking joe, we had the wet ice crusted snow a few days ago and my 2450E never clogged



Paddles look brand new and performed as they should. Dude I bought it from said it saw very little use and it shows. He had a 2 stage in his garage and said this was his backup


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## 762mm (Dec 22, 2014)

time2time said:


> I think somebody should market a specialized product for this.. just rebadge a can of Pam and charge 4x the price.. You could even call it
> 
> *"I Can't Believe It's Not Clogging"*



Personally, I can't believe PAM is still in business. Wasn't there a study that showed this stuff was causing cancer or other serious health issues a long time ago, like in the 1990's? They put stuff in there that ain't just veggie oil and CO2.

Anyway, despite lots of wet snow this year, I haven't had any clogging issue on my well used vintage 826 yet, but that's probably because my machine had been religiously "rust proofed" by the previous owner(s). Purpose-made rust proofing mineral oils are made not to come off easily with water, slush or snow, so it's probably a better choice than PAM. Also, all the edible oils such as PAM will go bad, thick and smelly in a relatively short time if left just sitting there in the open air, so perhaps it is not a good thing to spray it inside your machine.

Try to spray some DuraLube (or another purpose-made lubricant or liquid rust proof agent) in there instead... or install an impeller kit/mod.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

an impeller kit won't help its a single stage machine


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## Freezn (Mar 1, 2014)

joee5 said:


> Anyhow, is it clogging so bad due to the wet, slushy mixture or are these known for clogging this bad?


Not sure if any of this information helps, but back in 2002 I was in the market for a single stage snow blower. I went to my local Toro Dealer with all intentions of purchasing a Toro Snow Commander. I liked the idea of larger wider tires, large 24" bucket, and 7hp R-tek engine vs. the Toro 3650 which had smaller narrower tires, 20" cut, and 6.5hp R-tek. I lucked out big time that day for two reasons: 1) The salesman that helped me had been at the dealership for 15 years and was incredibly knowledgeable and very honest. 2) It had just snowed about 8" the day before. The salesman went through the features and benefits of both machines with incredible detail (torque differences, engine RPM's, snow clearing tonnage rates...etc) You name it, he covered it. At the very end, I asked him which machine he would choose and he said, "hands down... .. the 3650". I asked him why and he said "two reasons, "1) I prefer the crank chute on the 3650 vs the manual chute on the Snow Commander. 2) "More importantly the Toro 3650 outperforms the Snow Commander. I said how could that be??? The Toro 3650 has the 6.5 R-Tek vs the 7.0 R-tek in the Snow Commander. He goes, "I can't explain it... so let me show you". We went out to the back parking lot with both machines and proceeded to field test both machines in the 8" of wet snow from the day before. The 3650 had no problem discharging the snow 20'-25' without skipping a beat. The discharge was smooth and effortless with zero clogging. We put the Snow Commander to the same test. The snow discharge was only 15'-20' and the machine kept CONSTANTLY clogging up. I was speechless. He attributed the poor performance of the Snow Commander to the auger paddle design. He said, "The problem with the Snow Commander, in my opinion, is the extra paddle." The Snow Commander has 3 distinct paddles on the auger vs. the Toro 3650 or 2450 which have 2 paddles on the auger. He theorized the paddles are closer together and do not have air space around them because of the drum auger design (as opposed to the steel rod type as seen on the 2450/3650/221 ) In wet, super sticky/clumpy snow conditions this can cause clogging because the snow has nowhere else to go but up (or forward). I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I think he was spot on. The 3-paddle design in the Toro Snow Commander does not move snow as effectively or efficiently as the 3650 or 2450 with the "standard" 2-paddle auger design. I ended up buying the Toro 3650 and saving about $200 vs. the Snow Commander. My brother borrowed my 3650 back in 2005 and I haven't seen it since. It's given him years of trouble free performance. Just waiting for him to replace the paddles and scraper bar before I snag it back....


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

I use silicone spray on the impeller of my 824 because it's got rubber impeller kit in there, I would think silicone would work nice on rubber augers too. I also use it on the door seals in my SUV, and the rear hatch seal too. Prevents ice from sticking it shut. It's slipper stuff, I would think the snow/slush would fly right off it. I'll be trying it on my new-to-me 3650 when I get a chance, but since I did the rebuild we have had no snow :-(


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

Freezn said:


> Not sure if any of this information helps, but back in 2002 I was in the market for a single stage snow blower. I went to my local Toro Dealer with all intentions of purchasing a Toro Snow Commander. I liked the idea of larger wider tires tires, large 24" bucket, and 7hp R-tek engine vs. the Toro 3650 which had smaller narrower tires, 20" cut, and 6.5hp R-tek. I lucked out big time that day for two reasons: 1) The salesman that helped me had been at the dealership for 15 years and was incredibly knowledgeable and very honest. 2) It had just snowed about 8" the day before. The salesman went through the features and benefits of both machines with incredible detail (torque differences, engine RPM's, snow clearing tonnage rates...etc) You name it, he covered it. At the very end, I asked him which machine he would choose and he said, "hands down... .. the 3650". I asked him why and he said "two reasons, "1) I prefer the crank chute on the 3650 vs the manual chute on the Snow Commander. 2) "More importantly the Toro 3650 outperforms the Snow Commander. I said how could that be??? The Toro 3650 has the 6.5 R-Tek vs the 7.0 R-tek in the Snow Commander. He goes, "I can't explain it... so let me show you". We went out to the back parking lot with both machines and proceeded to field test both machines in the 8" of wet snow from the day before. The 3650 had no problem discharging the snow 20'-25' without skipping a beat. The discharge was smooth and effortless with zero clogging. We put the Snow Commander to the same test. The snow discharge was only 15'-20' and the machine kept CONSTANTLY clogging up. I was speechless. He attributed the poor performance of the Snow Commander to the auger paddle design. He said, "The problem with the Snow Commander, in my opinion, is the extra paddle." The Snow Commander has 3 distinct paddles on the auger vs. the Toro 3650 or 2450 which have 2 paddles on the auger. He theorized the paddles are closer together and do not have air space around them because of the drum auger design (as opposed to the steel rod type as seen on the 2450/3650/221 ) In wet, super sticky/clumpy snow conditions this can cause clogging because the snow has nowhere else to go but up (or forward). I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I think he was spot on. The drum auger design in the Toro Snow Commander does not move snow as effectively or efficiently as the 3650 or 2450 with the "standard" non-drum 2-paddle auger design. I ended up buying the Toro 3650 and saving about $200 vs. the Snow Commander. My brother borrowed my 3650 back in 2005 and I haven't seen it since. It's given him years of trouble free performance. Just waiting for him to replace the paddles and scraper bar before I snag it back....


Well written explanation .. thumbs up !


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## superbuick (Oct 27, 2010)

I was all ready to explain this then I read your post, so I'll just say DITTO. I had a 221qr and a snow commander one time at the peak of my interest in the hobby, and after one use I sold the snow commander. It was inferior in every way, unfortunately, other than it looked cool. I think that third paddle is what did it in. 



Freezn said:


> Not sure if any of this information helps, but back in 2002 I was in the market for a single stage snow blower. I went to my local Toro Dealer with all intentions of purchasing a Toro Snow Commander. I liked the idea of larger wider tires, large 24" bucket, and 7hp R-tek engine vs. the Toro 3650 which had smaller narrower tires, 20" cut, and 6.5hp R-tek. I lucked out big time that day for two reasons: 1) The salesman that helped me had been at the dealership for 15 years and was incredibly knowledgeable and very honest. 2) It had just snowed about 8" the day before. The salesman went through the features and benefits of both machines with incredible detail (torque differences, engine RPM's, snow clearing tonnage rates...etc) You name it, he covered it. At the very end, I asked him which machine he would choose and he said, "hands down... .. the 3650". I asked him why and he said "two reasons, "1) I prefer the crank chute on the 3650 vs the manual chute on the Snow Commander. 2) "More importantly the Toro 3650 outperforms the Snow Commander. I said how could that be??? The Toro 3650 has the 6.5 R-Tek vs the 7.0 R-tek in the Snow Commander. He goes, "I can't explain it... so let me show you". We went out to the back parking lot with both machines and proceeded to field test both machines in the 8" of wet snow from the day before. The 3650 had no problem discharging the snow 20'-25' without skipping a beat. The discharge was smooth and effortless with zero clogging. We put the Snow Commander to the same test. The snow discharge was only 15'-20' and the machine kept CONSTANTLY clogging up. I was speechless. He attributed the poor performance of the Snow Commander to the auger paddle design. He said, "The problem with the Snow Commander, in my opinion, is the extra paddle." The Snow Commander has 3 distinct paddles on the auger vs. the Toro 3650 or 2450 which have 2 paddles on the auger. He theorized the paddles are closer together and do not have air space around them because of the drum auger design (as opposed to the steel rod type as seen on the 2450/3650/221 ) In wet, super sticky/clumpy snow conditions this can cause clogging because the snow has nowhere else to go but up (or forward). I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I think he was spot on. The 3-paddle design in the Toro Snow Commander does not move snow as effectively or efficiently as the 3650 or 2450 with the "standard" 2-paddle auger design. I ended up buying the Toro 3650 and saving about $200 vs. the Snow Commander. My brother borrowed my 3650 back in 2005 and I haven't seen it since. It's given him years of trouble free performance. Just waiting for him to replace the paddles and scraper bar before I snag it back....


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