"Frank" wrote:

Just had our first 15" snow out here in years. Used my trusty M Wards 30 yr
old 2 stage to clear 100' drive .All was OK except machine kept clogging . I
tried white grease, silicone, soap in the past. Not to good. Any
suggestions?

I bought a 32 yr old Bolens this summer. There was a little rust in
the chute so I sandblasted it out with a $10 HF gravity feed blaster
and some play sand. Then I mixed up some fiberglass & laid a
little in the chute. Followed up with a couple coats until all the
texture in the cloth was gone.

We haven't had enough snow to really abuse it this winter, but I
managed a few hours of blowing, and the fiberglass is secure & doesn't
hold any snow.

Then I made the impeller improvement that Clarence sells for $30-
Here's the address and some reviews;
http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/reviews/355-0-1.html
The video is here-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOmS6ZaCPuE
and a still, here;
http://www.opeonthenet.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5673
[there's a new chute here, too-- but that's a 4horse tossing snow
higher than the rooftops]

$30 seems like a fair price, but I had all the parts lying within
reach and wanted to recycle the rubbers off an old Toro single stage
that just got a new pair.

This 7hp, 26inch blower now throws soupy slush all of 10 feet, and dry
powder shoots out like the commercials for new Toros.

The only downside I can see with the impeller kit is that it probably
strains the belt a little bit more.

Also, the way I put mine in, until they wear down a bit, they keep the
impeller from turning in reverse to remove a stick or stone. I
picked up a split 1x3 a foot long which made it to the impeller & I
needed to use a six foot bar to relieve the tension enough to pull it
back out.

Jim