Ariens 'walk-behind' snowblower - with a DIESEL

[BILLYGEE]

That's a Cool-Hot Holeshot SnowTrower You Got!

Just don't straight pipe 'er or you'll upset the neighbors when yur out dere blowin da snow at 4AM.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

The new (never used 2004 model) Yanmar engine smokes pretty good, even with nothing hooked to it.

That's interesting. My dieselized push mower runs clean after it warms up a couple minutes (provided the weather is above 70F). That's my 4. 5hp carbureted spark-ignition mower I burn diesel in that some of you have read about. I moved the coil on it to retard the timing to about 3* BTDC and now it has noticeably more torque and can churn through pretty deep grass without any rattle or smoke. But lug it too hard and it'll rattle good and lose some power, blowing gray & blue smoke in the process.



Vaughn

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Just don't straight pipe 'er or you'll upset the neighbors when yur out dere blowin da snow at 4AM.

We ran it with the muffler off, it blows flames...



This motor came from me, I was going to put into a go-cart, just never had the time. Matt was back east a few months back and you could not seperate him and that motor... :-laf :-laf



I figured he would put it to good use, I guess I was right. :-laf



If any of you are interested in a small diesel, look on e-bay, they are pretty cheap. Try searching under Yanmar...

 

[justinp20012500]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kubota-Diesel-E...537292679QQcategoryZ11754QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



The only part I don't like "It does not smoke" I wonder how I could fix that???





Hey Mark,



Do you have to stabilize diesel fuel? Or would I be safe letting it sit in it over summer? :-laf



Justin





Found another one...



http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-10-HP-COMME...706528490QQcategoryZ79670QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Choco Milk is not a good stabilizer...

 

[Duluth Diesel]

Now THAT'S cool!

And I thought that my Ariens 11528 was a nice blower.

 

[justinp20012500]

Choco Milk is not a good stabilizer...

:-laf I read that thread...



Did your truck make you drink the power service to get back at you?

 

[DennyDay]

"What are the neighbors three houses down gonna think when your snow lands in their yard?"



covered with black exhaust smoke!

 

[JJuday]

Thats exactly what I need this winter!

 

[nickleinonen]

i'd rather have one of these little diesels... might be a little big for a snow blower, but that little engine makes some serious torque... [only 6. 5hp, but makes more torque than most little gasser 4 cylinders]

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Thanks for the comments, dudes.



I didn't have to do much to bolt it on. I used some 1/4" plate to make a bracket and used my flux-core wire feeder welder to glue it together. Trying to get the right sized belts was the biggest PITA... but it's all good in the end. The engine is significantly bigger than the old 7hp Tecumseh gasser... if you look closely at the pictures... you can see that the engine is wider than the snowblower 'chassis'.



I'll try to get a video/pics of it blowing smoke - and it blows quite a bit of smoke.



BTW, the engine block is aluminum - a magnetic block heater might not work too well.



Matt

 

[JasonCzerak]

Thanks for the comments, dudes.



I didn't have to do much to bolt it on. I used some 1/4" plate to make a bracket and used my flux-core wire feeder welder to glue it together. Trying to get the right sized belts was the biggest PITA... but it's all good in the end. The engine is significantly bigger than the old 7hp Tecumseh gasser... if you look closely at the pictures... you can see that the engine is wider than the snowblower 'chassis'.



I'll try to get a video/pics of it blowing smoke - and it blows quite a bit of smoke.



BTW, the engine block is aluminum - a magnetic block heater might not work too well.



Matt

I'm pondering, just for hte heck of it. convert my lawnmower to diesel why not? any light weght diesles out there for a push mower?

 

[TurboTweaker]

jason are you comeing to the event on september 18th? hope to see you there.



Matt i forgot it was AL sorry dude... ... . it was just a tought what about a dipstick heater?



The Fat Kid

Andy

 

[JoshPeters]

The Magnetic heater may not work magnetically... . what if you used a long hose clamp?



Matt I think you may have to patent your idea... then sell it! I'd be there would be half the TDR members in the great white north that would buy one for their next snowblower!





I should try to find a 12hp horizontal shaft for my John Deere 212!



Josh

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I'm thinking that a little propane fired forced air garage heater strategically aimed will heat up the block just fine for it to fire off in the winter. Plus, the garage will be warm for working in there too... I didn't do any work out there last winter.



Since nobody that I know of has tried to start one of these things below about 40°F... who knows how it'll run? I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised.



Hatz makes a vertical shaft diesel that would work mint on a lawnmower... but they're like $1200. I've got some ideas to make a horizontal shaft diesel work on a walk-behind mower that requires a vertical shaft engine.



I don't think I could patent this - but I could market it with additional funds. Who wants to offer up some investment dough?



Matt

 

[biggy238]

Build it like the old friction drive bush hogs that use a tire and a disk meshing for the 90* powertrain.





I'm screamin' hang a subaru turbo off the side of that thing and stud the head. See what it can handle. A twin turbo go-kart. yeah baby

 

[SpicyJam]

I'm screamin' hang a subaru turbo off the side of that thing and stud the head. See what it can handle. A twin turbo go-kart. yeah baby

Now there is an idea for Indy next year... ... ... ... .....

 

[TurboTweaker]

Count me in on the go-kart. i'll even fab up a frame, unless jim wants to give up his



The Fat Kid

Andy

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Build it like the old friction drive bush hogs that use a tire and a disk meshing for the 90* powertrain.

Hrmmm... both my lawnmower and snowblower have that setup.

I have an HY-35, but I'd need a big shot of nitrous to spool it.



Matt

 

[HoleshotHolset]

First snow storm of the season!

First of all - I figured out a really neat way to start a diesel in 15°F ambient temperatures without grid heaters, glow plugs, gasoline soaked rags or ether.



Use a hair dryer! :-laf



It worked unbelievably well! I had my 'Old Lady' hold the hair dryer (with the air cleaner removed) on low setting in the intake stream for about 20 seconds and gave the recoil start a yank. It fired on the first pull! (Compared to the 10 pulls it took to start it in 35°F ambient temps without any starting aid... ) I imagine a heat gun would work even better, but I already had a hair dryer that my ex-GF left behind so I used that. If she removed the hair dryer a few seconds after the engine was started, it would stumble and smoke a bit... but ran super clean and smooth with the heated intake air. Now that I know that I can start that little direct injection diesel in the winter, I can look into a small 12V standalone grid heater solution. I might not even find an electric starter for it at this point... which I thought would be necessary in the colder temps.



We didn't get much more than 3" of snow, but I made a few decent 5" high windrows to put a load on it... and it NEVER bogged down even with the self-propelled drive set to maximum speed. I had to walk at a very brisk pace to keep up with the beast... it was nuts. In typical diesel fashion, it ran better with a load on it and seemed exceedingly willing to do all the work I was throwing at it. All I can say is... WOW! That little Ariens snowblower absolutely rocks with a diesel powerplant! I can't wait until we get more snow.



To add to the fun, I ran some mulch hay through it and that still didn't bog it down. Since this is an older snowblower, the clearances between the impeller and the housing are bigger than they should be, so that reduces the distance it will throw snow, rocks, hay, frozen dog manure, etc. :-laf



I have about 10 minutes of digital video that I plan on editing and then I will put it up on the web for all to see...



Matt