Hello JD crew! It’s been months since I last posted, as 2022 was a summer and fall of busy-ness, putting a pile of hours on my 318 with the 54” four-way blade - landscaping and seeding a new yard, among a zillion other things related to moving a household. I’d planned to have the 49 snow thrower mounted before winter started, but was delayed by a surgery and needing four new tires on the 318, which I just finished this past week after repainting the rims inside and out.
I‘ll attach a few pics of the 318/49… the 318 has been a project itself, having found it 18 months ago and making only the repairs necessary to put it to work. It has proven itself worthy of every dollar spent and hour of time needed. I’ll work on a few leaks and some new seals, plus cosmetics, in the coming year. My 54” blade was in decent shape and required only a new cutting edge to begin work. I’ll be redoing a leaky angle cylinder on it later.
I located the 49 online and drove 3.5 hours one-way to get it in Kansas, and then the same distance back home in Iowa. The blower appeared to have seen very little use and looks to be in great, original condition. It is a 1985 model year, same as my 318 (not planned).
After gleaning loads of advice from all of you sharing your wisdom and experience on this site, I’ve got the 49 prepped and mounted on the 318. I had to straighten the tensioner idler bracket to get clearance with the steel hydraulic lines and align the idler with the PTO and thrower drive pulleys. I also straightened the shield over the blower driveshaft coupler, and wiped the blower down with some windex and paper shop towels. I diligently cleaned the old grease out of the 49’s driveshaft gearbox without using any solvents, and went back in with fresh corn head grease and a new cover gasket. The gears were pristine and there is hardly any gear lash, and no sign of leaky seals. The auger spins freely, no noise or indication of bearing problems in the auger or driveshafts. All is quiet when the drive chain is removed and the auger spun by hand. All five original spare shear bolts are still in the storage bracket. The 318 bracket for the chute control handle came with the blower. I lubed the chute base and control cable spool, they work smooth enough to get me going this season and have time later to mod the base with thin plastics. It has the short chute, which may or may it change later, but will probably get better controls at some point. I’ll also be adding rubber flaps to the auger when I can locate the material and have the time.
The first time mounting the 49 to the 318 was educational, especially when figuring out the bent tensioner bracket problem and maintaining clearance for the idler. I had the blower on a furniture dolly, and that made it so easy to position. Raising the 49 a half inch to get the lower pins in the 318 front brackets was easy. A few pumps with a floor jack centered under the front axle raised the 318 just enough to engage the front locking pins. The hydraulics work perfectly and there are no oil leaks. In the future I might use the hydraulics to engage the front locking pins.
Even though the auger and driveshafts spin freely and are nearly noise-free, when the drive chain is reinstalled and set with 3/8-1/2 inch flex in the lower chain segment, it makes what I think is an unusual amount of noise with the engine running, PTO engaged and auger spinning. It’s not a grinding bearing or clunking noise, just louder than I expected. Is it just chain and sprocket noise? (I have no experience with big snow throwers like this) The sprockets and chain are not contacting the chain cover, and all set screws on pulleys and sprockets are verified tight. The chain had no rust or corrosion whenI took the cover off, but had a sticky lube applied to it. The chain was relatively clean, and I replaced the master link locking clip as it was bent a smidgen. I applied some light spray lube to the chain to try and loosen it up a bit, and it helped some. None of the chain links were stuck or seized, but it seemed tight and the original lube kind of tacky. I plan to pick up a can of no-drip chain lube tomorrow and redo the chain to see if it quiets down any or loosens up a bit more. Or, is it just me needing to get used to the sound the 49 makes when under power? Is there another procedure anyone would recommend on this chain? Based on the position of the tensioner sprocket (and the overall condition of the blower), I believe the chain has very little wear and might be a bit gummed up. The chain tensioner bearing itself sounded fine and had no side-play in it.
So, that’s it… until it snows again and I get to test this beast in real life. Thanks again to all of you for sharing and caring. Your willingness to steer the rest of us in the direction we need to go saves us untold amounts of time and money, and makes rescuing old green machines a lot of fun!
Any thoughts on chain noise reduction or lubing it differently?
Anyone else running front tire chains to help with steering on ice? My experience with a previous 318 pushing snow with a 54” four-way blade prompted me to want to try them this time around.
Tony
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I‘ll attach a few pics of the 318/49… the 318 has been a project itself, having found it 18 months ago and making only the repairs necessary to put it to work. It has proven itself worthy of every dollar spent and hour of time needed. I’ll work on a few leaks and some new seals, plus cosmetics, in the coming year. My 54” blade was in decent shape and required only a new cutting edge to begin work. I’ll be redoing a leaky angle cylinder on it later.
I located the 49 online and drove 3.5 hours one-way to get it in Kansas, and then the same distance back home in Iowa. The blower appeared to have seen very little use and looks to be in great, original condition. It is a 1985 model year, same as my 318 (not planned).
After gleaning loads of advice from all of you sharing your wisdom and experience on this site, I’ve got the 49 prepped and mounted on the 318. I had to straighten the tensioner idler bracket to get clearance with the steel hydraulic lines and align the idler with the PTO and thrower drive pulleys. I also straightened the shield over the blower driveshaft coupler, and wiped the blower down with some windex and paper shop towels. I diligently cleaned the old grease out of the 49’s driveshaft gearbox without using any solvents, and went back in with fresh corn head grease and a new cover gasket. The gears were pristine and there is hardly any gear lash, and no sign of leaky seals. The auger spins freely, no noise or indication of bearing problems in the auger or driveshafts. All is quiet when the drive chain is removed and the auger spun by hand. All five original spare shear bolts are still in the storage bracket. The 318 bracket for the chute control handle came with the blower. I lubed the chute base and control cable spool, they work smooth enough to get me going this season and have time later to mod the base with thin plastics. It has the short chute, which may or may it change later, but will probably get better controls at some point. I’ll also be adding rubber flaps to the auger when I can locate the material and have the time.
The first time mounting the 49 to the 318 was educational, especially when figuring out the bent tensioner bracket problem and maintaining clearance for the idler. I had the blower on a furniture dolly, and that made it so easy to position. Raising the 49 a half inch to get the lower pins in the 318 front brackets was easy. A few pumps with a floor jack centered under the front axle raised the 318 just enough to engage the front locking pins. The hydraulics work perfectly and there are no oil leaks. In the future I might use the hydraulics to engage the front locking pins.
Even though the auger and driveshafts spin freely and are nearly noise-free, when the drive chain is reinstalled and set with 3/8-1/2 inch flex in the lower chain segment, it makes what I think is an unusual amount of noise with the engine running, PTO engaged and auger spinning. It’s not a grinding bearing or clunking noise, just louder than I expected. Is it just chain and sprocket noise? (I have no experience with big snow throwers like this) The sprockets and chain are not contacting the chain cover, and all set screws on pulleys and sprockets are verified tight. The chain had no rust or corrosion whenI took the cover off, but had a sticky lube applied to it. The chain was relatively clean, and I replaced the master link locking clip as it was bent a smidgen. I applied some light spray lube to the chain to try and loosen it up a bit, and it helped some. None of the chain links were stuck or seized, but it seemed tight and the original lube kind of tacky. I plan to pick up a can of no-drip chain lube tomorrow and redo the chain to see if it quiets down any or loosens up a bit more. Or, is it just me needing to get used to the sound the 49 makes when under power? Is there another procedure anyone would recommend on this chain? Based on the position of the tensioner sprocket (and the overall condition of the blower), I believe the chain has very little wear and might be a bit gummed up. The chain tensioner bearing itself sounded fine and had no side-play in it.
So, that’s it… until it snows again and I get to test this beast in real life. Thanks again to all of you for sharing and caring. Your willingness to steer the rest of us in the direction we need to go saves us untold amounts of time and money, and makes rescuing old green machines a lot of fun!
Any thoughts on chain noise reduction or lubing it differently?
Anyone else running front tire chains to help with steering on ice? My experience with a previous 318 pushing snow with a 54” four-way blade prompted me to want to try them this time around.
Tony
