# Problem with 3X in heavy wet snow



## ReRide (Apr 16, 2018)

Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?


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## thefixer (Nov 19, 2017)

ReRide said:


> Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?


I would recommend a Honda HS series, a 9, 11 or 13 horse, with impeller flaps. The HS is the older model, but they can be found. We get an awful lot of wet, heavy snow- they call it sierra cement. The HS series are great without the flaps, with the flaps they are unbelievable. They will take a full box of water running through it snow, and blow it 20+ feet. I would say that around here, 9 out of 10 people have at least 1 Honda.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

ReRide said:


> Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?



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How far are you from the Canadian Border???? Either one of the larger Yamahas being the YS1028 or YS1332 track drive units will work well for you.


There are a large number of Yamaha snow blower videos on you tube. The you tube video with the 1332 model is very impressive and the snow pack in the video is very deep.:grin:


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome: to SBF ReRide

.


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## Dragonsm (Nov 24, 2015)

Welcome to the group and I appreciate your "honest story" about the cub cadet 3X

I have an long time friend of mine who didn't listen to me the first time when buying a snowblower....and has since destroyed the auger transmission this past winter and is now on the search for a new blower and is keen to the design of the 3X....I'll be sure to share your story.

Here in SD, most of our snow tends to have moisture to it and this past weekend got hit with 14" of wet/heavy crud after a day of rain.

All of my neighbors and myself were all out with our various machines attempting to remove the slop.....most of which were fighting/coughing/sputtering or killing the machine while pushing out big ol' "slop turds" out of the chute.

I currently have an older 24" version (mid 2000's) of the Signature "Pro" professional/commercial series (very stout machine)....and the thing ate and spit everything out and never bogged down or produced a slop turd. On Sunday when the plows came through...they cleared off all the slop/water and left a good 2-3 foot slop pile at the end of our driveways. Before it hardened, I got out and let it chug away and cleared it off. Again, other neighbors were out battling with their various cheaper brands. I've never test driven a Honda or a Yamaha. (always say some day I'm going to head north of the border and check Yamaha out as I am a huge fan of their other equipment) But I know if I were to look at those two, myself I'd also take a good look at the Simplicity's....just their dealer network is a lot less than other models. Mine currently doesn't have an impeller kit.....it's been a project I've been wanting to do for 2 years now and I keep procrastinating.

Best of luck in your search.


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

Dragonsm said:


> Welcome to the group and I appreciate your "honest story" about the cub cadet 3X
> 
> I have an long time friend of mine who didn't listen to me the first time when buying a snowblower....and has since destroyed the auger transmission this past winter and is now on the search for a new blower and is keen to the design of the 3X....I'll be sure to share your story.
> 
> ...


Besides the fact that the 3 stage id a gimmick that does not work better and works worse with less snow as reported
its a cheaply made blower
why on earth anybody would buy that instead of and ariens 28 sho for the same money or less is beyond me
Only reason i can think of is LACK OF KNOWLEDGE 


do the impeller kit its a 1 hr job you are not building the space shuttle


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Welcome to the forum! 

Opinions on blowers and brands can sometimes be interpreted as insulting, or brand-snobbery. Please forgive comments that may come across negatively. 

My opinion of the Cub Cadets isn't great, from what I've read about them. This includes the 3X models. 

A good 2-stage machine can definitely handle more than a few inches of snow. I have a 2000-year Ariens, 10hp (318cc OHV) 24" wide. It's handled wet snow without trouble, including a storm this year that was 12" of really wet snow. I had to slow down, of course. But no clogging, no problems. Another storm this year was 20", albeit that snow was drier. 

Now, 24" of really wet stuff, cleared all at once? That *is* a pretty exceptional storm, at least for around here. A big engine would help, of course. If needed, you can use only part of the machine's clearing width, to help avoid overloading the engine. Or slow down your ground speed. 

I would consider Ariens, who offers some pretty big engines on their SHO and Professional models, and good quality. As well as the Honda HS machines, as was suggested. Honda's HS machines have an outstanding reputation, though they use smaller engines than Ariens, for a given bucket width. I don't know as much about Simplicity & Toro's current offerings. 

If your snow is that deep and wet, you might have some traction issues driving forward into it. Tracks, instead of wheels, can help provide more grip. 

But many of these options are significantly more expensive than your current blower, so budget becomes a consideration.


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## zergarush (Feb 27, 2019)

New homeowner, I have a Toro 2 stage snowblower from 1980 (older than me) and it still runs well. It was a hand me down from my parents who use a tractor and plow to clear their driveway. It does not have any fancy features, but starts on the first pull without trouble. I use a bit of seafoam when I fill it up (ethanol free only) and it works for my long driveway. Gotta run with the throttle on full for it to not stall out, but still works.

Opportunity for a future upgrade in the summer, but I will keep using it if it works. I'm planning to do research by reading reviews about snowblowers and gather some forum feedback about which model to get as an upgrade, but currently, I'm thinking about to get this model, does anybody here tried it? Thank you


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

ReRide said:


> Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?


What you have is a "Light Duty", "Home-owner" model. The 3 stage design was a marketing gimmick. It did not perform well under the conditions you just had. It worked o.k. with light powdery dry snow, but not the harder heavy wet snow.
You have to be careful if you run it into hard packed snow and ice chunks because you will destroy the auger paddles in a hurry, you will bend them or flatten them like a disc and they will not do their job of "Augering" or "Screwing" the snow into the center impeller stage to be blown away.
You have to be extra cautious when you come to the "End of Driveway" pile that gets piled up from the snow-plow truck. That usually freezes up like hard concrete or gets packed very heavily, and the 3 stage design is not really designed to bite into that and tear/break it up properly to send it into the impeller stage. Also with the "Brow" or shield over the back auger paddle before it gets to the impeller blade, they are known for clogging and getting "Choked off". The design blocks a lot of the snow from entering the final impeller stage.
The replaceable auger paddles were built very weak and did bend or flatten out rather easily, and clogging issues were common with them. The augers would get damages well before a shear bolt would break, that was just how they worked, it wasn't a good design. 
I do not mean to scare you away from it, but unfortunately that's how the machine performed.
If you ever get something jammed in the back auger paddle, like a newspaper, they are not easy to unclog, and to replace the shear bolt back there is difficult.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Cut the blades off, reciprocating saw, cutting torch.


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## jtw1979 (Mar 14, 2017)

ST1100A said:


> ReRide said:
> 
> 
> > Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?
> ...


I have a "light duty" 30" 3X version with the light duty 420CC engine and have zero problem with wet snow.


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## Kies2 (Sep 27, 2019)

I guess I also have the light duty model with 420cc engine and also have zero issues in any snow condition. Fuel mileage was raised as a concern with a bigger motor but honestly it does not use that much more fuel than the ariens compact 24 it has replaced.


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## jtw1979 (Mar 14, 2017)

Kies2 said:


> I guess I also have the light duty model with 420cc engine and also have zero issues in any snow condition. Fuel mileage was raised as a concern with a bigger motor but honestly it does not use that much more fuel than the ariens compact 24 it has replaced.


A tank usually lasts me a season. I find it isn't that hard on gas. These new OHV engines are pretty efficient being Honda clones.


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## Kies2 (Sep 27, 2019)

I have used it four to five times this year on three driveways that hold 3 to 5 cars each and have barely used a tank full. Topped it up the other day.


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

"You can see" What can we see... I do not see anything in this post. What am I missing? 



ReRide said:


> Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. I too have a Cub Cadet 3X snowblower, 357 cc. We got about 2 feet of wet snow all at once 2 days ago. You can see where the center impeller just hits the snow and its' like running into a brick wall, and forward motion stops. I modified the center impeller so that it reached out beyond the round shaft cover. That helped some. I think if a person rebuilt the impellers to be stronger and more aggressive, it might help it perform better. I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?


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## trellis (Mar 14, 2018)

“You can see” ...

I had a 3x in another life, and I understand what’s being described. The angle of the center auger (sometimes referred to as the accelerator) isn’t deep enough to cut into dense snow and instead stops you from moving forward.

Perfect lightly packed snow isn’t a problem. But if you were to push into a wall of condensed wet snow and back up you’d see a flat circle imprint of the center auger whereas traditional augers would slice into the snow. As a result the center auger blocks the snowblower from moving forward. It would need to be a more aggressive screw design to work.

The best advice is when the snow is dense and wet, reduce your path and only fill half the bucket so that the center has a better chance of working as it should.


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## RC20 (Dec 4, 2019)

> I agree, most snowblowers aren't made to handle much more than a few inches of snow. My real question is: What can I get that will handle a 24 inch wet snow, with possibly 36 inch drifts, like the snow storm we just had. I would rather not have to use a machine that was not designed to handle the demands of the snow I had to remove. Any suggestions for what I should consider?



I am stunned at that comment. Any blower should and they do handle up to chute height. 

Now 24 inches of wet snow is a serious challenge. 

So first up I have nothing against Cub, but I looked at the specs (former technician/engineer) and while they don't say what HP is, size wise they are running 2-3 more hp for the 3X. It doesn't throw or handle more snow for that. And you pay for that HP in cost and fuel use. What width machine? 



Notice you get the same size engine for the 26 and 28 inch width? That is a real clue. 



If you are in Canada then get a Yamaha, if not a Honda and get the more HP ratio for the width.


Now you can assist your machine as noted by taking smaller slices and put it in high speed and low gear. The impeller moves faster that higher the engine speeds as its a direct drive. You don't want to go fast, slow and easy and it may work.


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## Qwho (11 mo ago)

thefixer said:


> I had a good and bad stuff about the club cadet X.3 that was supposed to be designed for heavy snow I don’t know if you can modify the propeller and get a propeller kit that might help for a regular snow blowers a propeller kit is perfectly designed for slushy snow YouTubeMaybe you can get a double auger belt system
> I would recommend a Honda HS series, a 9, 11 or 13 horse, with impeller flaps. The HS is the older model, but they can be found. We get an awful lot of wet, heavy snow- they call it sierra cement. The HS series are great without the flaps, with the flaps they are unbelievable. They will take a full box of water running through it snow, and blow it 20+ feet. I would say that around here, 9 out of 10 people have at least 1 Honda.


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