# Leaves trail on clean side



## bobb441 (Mar 17, 2017)

Hi All, New member with a question. I have a 28" Troy-bilt and it's on it's 4th season. We just had a 16-18" snow storm. And after making the initial cut down the middle of the driveway, the next cuts I can only take about a 6" cut, and even after that it leaves a trail of snow 3-4" tall on the clean side that I have to clean up with an additional pass. The depth doesn't have a lot to do with it because this also happens with as little aas 4" to 6" storm. After reading through some threads, I have verified the augers are correct, and the skid plate and shoes are adjusted right. Any other thoughts? I'd attach a pic of the augers but don't see where to do it.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Welcome! 

I've had 3 blowers, I know I've had this issue on 2 of them at times, and I think on the third as well. 

(Edit- sorry, this was confusing. I mean they will sometimes leave some snow on the clean side. But that's with taking either a full-width cut, or close to full width. Not using just 6" of a 28" machine)

Check the easy stuff, make sure all your shear pins are intact. With the engine off, you should be unable to rotate the auger sections on the shaft. 

If that checks out, then I think it has to do with your ground speed, and how fast the blower can process the snow. 

Sometimes I have to slow down, or take narrower cuts, to avoid snow overflowing onto the area I've already cleared. 

Other times, I'll go at a quicker ground speed, allowing it to leave an overflowed trail of snow. Then I'll make a last set of passes in top gear, quickly going up & down the driveway to clear off the overflow trails. Sometimes this method is actually quicker, since 6th gear on my machine is pretty quick, and it lets me also clear faster during the first passes. It can also help get down to bare pavement, since the second pass gives it another chance to scrape lower. 

Can someone operate the machine while you watch the augers & bucket? Maybe that would help show something.


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

Have you verified that both augers are rotating?


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## bobb441 (Mar 17, 2017)

Yes they are both rotating, no sheared pins.
Another point, all this is at lowest forward speed (1).


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I would have someone in front of the machine looking at to see if both augers are turning at the same speed.


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## wow08816 (Feb 2, 2017)

Check to see if both augers are turning at same speed while under load (blowing snow). If they are not then you have a broken shear pin. I had that problem when one of the shear pins was broke but did not dislodge from auger. As a result both augers would turn when clear. But under load the auger with the broken shear pin did not turn.


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## bobb441 (Mar 17, 2017)

Appears they both turn under load.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Something is wrong if you can only be effective using 6 of 28 inches. I may drop to 2/3s of a bite to avoid spillover but like others will usually opt for a nearly full bite and a clean-up pass.

I had the first reaction of a slipping auger but you have confirmed that's OK over and again.

Do you get the same situation working either side? Are you running the engine at full throttle?


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

Leaving a small windrow is common on newer machines where the augers are set back from the front of the bucket. Augers extending out in front of the bucket are cutting and pulling the snow inward before reaching the bucket edge which provides a neater once only clearing pass.

I would suspect a slower than designed auger/impeller speed due to a slipping/misadjusted belt in the OP's case.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

i would check the impeller/blower to see if there is any play ( bearing ) and also check the belt for slipping.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

It's an MTD... I have lots of experience with them. Something about the flight design and rotation speed of the auger. The impeller is not very substantial, 12" diameter by 2" depth. I personally theorize that the closed flight augers are designed to limit snow intake as to not overload the impeller and potentially clog or stall the machine. I can use enough speed to form a pile of snow infront of my machine without stalling it.

Slowing down to where the snow doesn't spill out works, but is a waste of time since the machine will be lightly loaded. This is worse in dry snow, and not apparent in very wet snow.

I preferred loading the machine up heavily, let it work and make a second high speed pass to clean up the spillage. I found this to be more effective in regards to time spent snow blowing.

I wonder if the reason behind the development of their 3 stage system was the dificiencys in their 2 stage design. Unfortunately I have no first hand experience with the 3x machines. 

I bought my dad a 28" MTD gold with the 357cc power more back in 2011. Exhibits the same characteristics as my 2006 26" MTD gold with an 8hp Tecumseh. Wish I bought an Ariens or toro. That's enough whining for now.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

drmerdp, I've seen overflow on my MTD 640F (8hp 26"), Ariens ST824 (8hp 24"), and current Ariens 1024 Pro (10hp 24"). Ariens is not immune from it, at least, though I've never gotten to try a 2-stage Toro. 

I love my Ariens, and they have nice benefits over my MTD, but I can still get overflow. I find 2 sets of passes (first at medium speed, the second going fast) to be the quickest way to get all the snow.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

RedOctobyr said:


> drmerdp, I've seen overflow on my MTD 640F (8hp 26"), Ariens ST824 (8hp 24"), and current Ariens 1024 Pro (10hp 24"). Ariens is not immune from it, at least, though I've never gotten to try a 2-stage Toro.
> 
> I love my Ariens, and they have nice benefits over my MTD, but I can still get overflow. I find 2 sets of passes (first at medium speed, the second going fast) to be the quickest way to get all the snow.


Agreed, never immune, but how supseptable is another story. I try not to speak in absolutes, but sometimes slip up.


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

drmerdp said:


> It's an MTD... I have lots of experience with them. Something about the flight design and rotation speed of the auger. The impeller is not very substantial, 12" diameter by 2" depth. I personally theorize that the closed flight augers are designed to limit snow intake as to not overload the impeller and potentially clog or stall the machine. I can use enough speed to form a pile of snow infront of my machine without stalling it.


I had to look around and find what this closed auger was and found your picture from this thread.
http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/1116954-post26.html
Being noble and limiting intake preventing stalling of the engine for the consumer is not really a Corporate trait whereas doing something cheaper and increasing the bottom line is. Just from looking at the picture I would surmise there is no heft or weight to those augers hence the reinforced webbing required, stamped out junk so prevalent nowadays.



drmerdp said:


> I wonder if the reason behind the development of their 3 stage system was the dificiencys in their 2 stage design. Unfortunately I have no first hand experience with the 3x machines.


No need for 3 stage if a 2 stage is properly designed and constructed. By removing half of the auger ribbons on a 3 stage for a gimmicky spinner out front the manufacturer has reduced torque on the gear box by 50% allowing it to be made smaller and cheaper with fewer warranty claims.


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

four piece auger ? maybe one section has sheared its pin ? other than that, both my 2 stage machines spew snow out of the left side ( ....cant remeber left from roght !?) of the bucket in heavy going.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

I think it happens on many snow blowers from time to time. I've been thinking about adding side extension wings to mine - like those used on some plows and tractor snow blowers. This would solve the problem but would likely also make turns more difficult.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Tony P. said:


> I think it happens on many snow blowers from time to time. I've been thinking about adding side extension wings to mine - like those used on some plows and tractor snow blowers. This would solve the problem but would likely also make turns more difficult.


At one time in the 70s and 80s you could buy extensions also I remember seeing some pics of older machines having "built-in" extensions where the front half of the sides were flared out.


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