Using a snow blower at temps <20°

Several years ago I upgraded to a two-stage Ariens. So far it has worked great as we only get enough snow to use it every 1-2 years (Maryland). It snowed last night about 5 inches. Temps when it started were around freezing. This morning as I started to use the blower the temps were 18-19°. The blower would not blow the snow. The snow was sticking to the auger to the point where the auger blades were 3+ inches wide instead of 1/4, the thickness of the metal the auger was made of. All the blower would do was push the snow, the snow would not enter the auger "chamber" and proceed to the second stage were it could be blown out of the blower. Since this is the first time I have used the blower in temps this cold was my problem due to the lows temps? Figured when I got home from work I would use a hair drier to get the packed snow off the auger and then coat everything with silicone to make it more slippery to see if that helped. I also noticed the snow wanted to stick to my snow shovel this morning. If the problem was due to the low temps what to you folks in the northland do in order to use a snow blower?

 

I think you took a warm machine out into the cold. The warm metal melted some of the snow and packing in more 20f snow froze it solid. After getting the current ice & snow melted try letting the machine get cold before blowing. If you're concerned with it starting then start the engine right when you take it out then let the machine sit outside for 10-15 minutes so the auger can cool. You can also spray the chute and auger with non stick cooking spray or silicone to help snow and ice slide off.

 

The blower sat in an un-heated shed over night. A co-worker, who was originally from Michigan, said when they plowed snow they had to coat the blade on their truck with diesel fuel a couple of times a day to keep the snow from sticking.

 

First thing is what kind or grade of oil are you using? You want a multi viscosity. You should be using fresh gas or a stabilizer in the tank and starting it once a week. Use a silicone or any lubricating spray on the auger, frame impeller and chute. Any lubricating spary is fine. It doesn't need to be silicone necessarily. If the snow is exceptionally heavy then you should be taking only half a width of the machine ob each pass. Also using a broom stick you might need to clear the auger and chute occasionally. Many new machines come with a poker stick for just such use.

BTW...I live in Western New York and have used many snow throwers and worked on many of them. I'm currently using a late 1960's Ariens because my late model Ariens is built like crap and has broken again for the third time. As I have said many times in previous post, Ariens is no longer the machine they use to be. Don't buy one thinking you're getting something of better quality than any other low priced brand.

 

Wet snow sucks... it's nothing like blowing dry powder. You can walk comparatively fast when blowing a little bit of dry powder, but not so with wet snow. You need to creep along. I'm guessing you plugged it up in the first few seconds when you plowed into the wet snow, and once it's jammed with snow it just isn't going to work well. Johnson's paste wax on the blades will probably give you the best results.

Go slow on your first pass when opening things up, then take half passes, as mentioned earlier.