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47" old style blower barely moving snow (part 2)

3K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  neil 
#1 · (Edited)
In a previous thread, I said my blower wasn't blowing snow. I had two problems... The angled "wings" on the outer edge of the fan blade were bent inward and the yolk collar was broken. shear bolt was gone and the shaft key was completely out of the channel. So, the only thing making the blower operate was simple friction. See photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6UjPCkjbXdCNM8dT6

I took the fan out and bent the wings back to 90deg and was able to heat up the yolk enough and with a mallet was able to bang it back into shape and put another bolt through it. While the auger was out, I swapped the bearings, changed the gear oil and lubed the shafts. Everything spins nicely now and when engaged it's like a wind turbine coming out of the shoot.

BUT... It still barely throws snow! The inside of the shoot is rusty as the previous owner had a gravel driveway but that should make that much difference. I mean, it's barely moving snow past the blower! I just got to thinking... is it possible that my PTO clutch is slipping under load? I haven't checked the clearance yet but do they ever slip? It engages and disengages fine but I've never adjusted it for as long as I've had the tractor which is about 10 years. There's about 1200 hours on the tractor.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xp8pKc4RaPYuyfVY9

I'm also considering adding rubber paddles on the three outside edges of the fan to fill the gap in the housing like everyone does on the single stage snow throwers. Has anyone done a mod like that on the 47 fan? Is it worth the effort?

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Some have done it, they even replaced the plastic fan on the newer 47 with the steel and added the rubber to the fan blades. I have the parts to do mine but had other issues to contend with, barely had time to get my new OTC cab installed. So I'm currently working on adding some lights to the cab for night work.
 
#3 ·
I had the same problem
just picked up a 47 for my 430 after hooking it up everything appeared to work fine but as soon as I stuck it in the snow it would barely clear the front of the blower
after taking it apart and finding nothing I checked my front PTO clutch which had too large of gap, so I reset the gap from about .03 to .018 like the manual says and now she blows awsome
 
#6 ·
I had the same problem
just picked up a 47 for my 430 after hooking it up everything appeared to work fine but as soon as I stuck it in the snow it would barely clear the front of the blower
after taking it apart and finding nothing I checked my front PTO clutch which had too large of gap, so I reset the gap from about .03 to .018 like the manual says and now she blows upawsome
. That's great news! Can't wait to pull it in the garage and adjust it!
 
#10 ·
The angel of the gear box does not matter. Earlier units were mounted vertical but due to increased wear of the ujoints and possibly some binding and clearance issues, mother Deere started mounting the gear boxes on an angle. I have rebuilt several, you can remount your gear box either way, the holes are available.

Also, as mentioned ,the 300 series 47 will not fit on a 400 series. What has happened before is someone swapping hitch assemblies to make it fit a particular model but the result is poor performance. Or someone used a donor 47 for a replacement reduction gear box but it was the wrong ratio. either way, the under performing blower is then sold to someone else who needs to diagnose the issue.

Somewhere in this section we discussed the number of turns input vs output of the 300 and 400 series gear boxes. Just search it, the hand turn the input shaft for one turn of the output shaft to determine which box you have. If I find the info soon, I will post it. I know I was involved in that threads discussion.

Can't remember, are you in a 3 or 400 series tractor?
 
#11 ·
Actually it is different between the 420 and 430, one being a 20 HP Onan with a WOT of 3450 RPM w/clutch down to shaft that runs though the front axle and the 430 being a 20 HP diesel with a WOT 3350 RPM with max torque/power developed around 3100 RPM. So the gearing is different in the 47" that is setup for the 430 to account for that differences in power/RPM. So you have to be careful when getting a unit for either, one way or the other can be a disappointment.
 
#12 ·
Do we know the tooth count on the blower for the 430? I looked up mine on jdparts which unhelpfully doesn't provide the counts, but a reseller muttonpower has photos (which may or may not be accurate) showing the following:

drive - AM141407 - 19 tooth
driven -
AM141408 - 40 tooth
 
#15 · (Edited)
KB posted in that thread that the two ratios are "It’s roughly 2.6:1 turns, or 3.1:1 so it’s fairly clear to tell". I just turned mine and got 2.25:1 and this is on a 430 with a later model 47 so I'm wondering if my sprockets aren't right. The blower is an M01471x141nnn and has a 13 driver and 29 driven sprocket set for a ratio of 2.23:1 and a resulting impeller speed of 896rpm at 2000rpm input. Doesn't feel like it launches the snow into space though so I'll check my impeller clearance.
Edit: checked jdparts, sprocket combination is correct. My serial # is 041599 so it has the correct sprockets, however if I changed up to the 19:40 combination I'd get 950rpm impeller speed so I might consider that.
 
#19 ·
Replaced the OEM galv steel cables with one 8' x 3/16 stainless cable. Wanted 1/8 but no-one had any locally. Used cable clamps where the OEM had ferrules - works fine. That OEM set only lasted about 5 years although to be fair, I had not cleaned out the junk underneath the cover since fitting them
 
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