I appreciate your effort to make a video about this great mod to snow blower impellers. Might I suggest a much quicker and easier way to do the same thing. I've done 5-6 for neighbors and on each one I learn a little more and want to work a little less. First I measure and cut the rubber pieces. I use a truck mud flap that I found in the street. I then bevel the leading edge of the rubber on my belt sander to help the wear in and avoid catching on the uneven sheet metal. Then I locate the rubber piece on the impeller blade and hold it with a small clamp. I then secure it to the impeller blade with a single 5/16" X1" hex self tapping screw through a 1 1/4" dia. fender washer in the middle of the rubber. I've never had one come loose or off because the force of the snow keeps the rubber against the impeller blade and holds it there. No extra separate drilling of holes and the whole job takes less than an hour. You could use two self tapping screws w/fender washers if it makes you feel more secure. Hope this saves some labor.

I have done this with about 40 snowblowers and yes it works very well. I do a couple things differently The place where the impeller is closest to the tunnel is at the bottom so that is where I put the paddle tight to the tunnel to do the gap measurements at the bottom. Next I use 3 bolts 3/16 or 1/4, yours were bigger......doesn't matter though. Next I make my paddles longer going right around the curve to the end of the metal paddle and that is where I put my 3rd bolt. You will notice there is a ridge or lip there so I cut a notch in the paddle to fit that ridge. To make this easier I first make a template of cardboard. Then when I first try the machine I spray a little lubricant on the inside of the tunnel so there is less friction and strain as the paddles get settled into the tunnel. Just thought I would add some suggestions . Good video, thanks

Give all the inside surfaces and discharge chute a good spray of silicon. It will make a big difference, especially with wet snow. This also works good on your snow shovel to keep snow/slush from sticking. I did mine today and it worked very well.

Good thorough video. Having done this mod on several snowblowers, I learned that it is a good idea to run the auger after installing each paddle. This will trim each paddle, one at a time. I have had machines that were not able to spin all four untrimmed paddles after installation. Saves your auger belt.

4 hour project to hide from the wife out in the garage. I'll save this for next time my in-laws visit.

Great idea! I'm going to do this on mine. I have one suggestion for easier install. I used to work for a coal mine and worked on conveyor belts, which looks like what you are using. Drilling out the rubber can be difficult and even harder to get bolt thru, purchase a set of hole punches, i believe we purchased from harbour frieght. Works great!

see this guys smart..doing this in August..not like me, 20 minutes before a blizzard,.

I saw this years ago from 65ford's youtube video. Before and after. It works !!

OMG !!! I'm hear to tell you the impeller kits work. Been using a kit for years, I'm throwing snow like I'm at the airport. It's like a rooster tail. The neighbors laugh and can't believe it is that good. You are missing out, you'll thank me and wonder why you didn't do it earlier. Cheers !!!

This just shows that it is never a bad idea to scan through KZfaq and check things out. Look what I found. A great channel about sonething that will really affect your life. First video I watched was how to summerize your snowblower and now this one. I just had to subscribe. My problem with my snowblower is we can get so much snow from a storm that I have to pause and let the blower clear it's self and catch up. Which can add time to do the job and when it is below zero, time on the job is not what you want. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post these tips and tricks.

We just had a wet slushy snow storm and I did this modification over the fall using pressurized hose. Worked great. No clogging. Definitely would have clogged before hand. Was even throwing ice water. I installed rubber on each impeller blade.

Happy New Year from Russia! I am always interested to look at the snow clearing equipment used in the U.S., particularly some of the tricks to make snowblowers throw further, especially wet snow. I made an impeller kit out of the side wall of an old car tyre, it is very effective and has become indispensible to me. We don't have the same snowblowers as you, most of our popular brands (Hüter, Champion, Interskol, Varyag, etc.) are all probably made in the same factory in China, they all look the same and function basically the same. We are always looking for ways to improve them. All the best to you, good health, happiness and success for 2020!

My dad and I did this with Kevlar a few years ago... it works amazing same exact thing! So cool you thought to share this!

I've done about 8 of these machines already. Use a set down bit then follow up with self tapping acres with washers. So much easier and will hold just as well! Also I used my cordless drill driver. Fast and simple

I did this years ago. Works like a champ. I used stainless steel self tapping screws. Mine would actually throw the watery slop along the curb. The rubber wears down quickly to where there is no noise. The video I saw about this suggested making a slight bevel on the rubber. Great video...

Thanks J.B. Clogging has been a major problem with my Yardworks 357 cc snowblower, so much so that I have thought about replacing it with a fairly expensive three stage snowblower but your fix might help me solve the problem. It's worth a try before I lay out the big bucks.

I've been doing this to all my snowblowers for years and you're right, it makes a tremendous difference in snowblower performance. Years ago they only made single stage snow blowers for garden tractors and I even made rubber flaps for single stage units. They would blow even the heaviest, wet snow with ease! Good video!

Great idea . Makes perfect sense . Can't understand why so many negative comments re throwing rocks . Rocks in-rocks out . Look forward to trying this with my new blower .

I did this was the best thing i could have done, my neighbours have more snow in their yard than i do now !! lol love it thx!

I did this modification on my Craftsman 26" machine last weekend, but I haven't had any snow yet to see how well it works. I was able to drill through my impeller with my cordless Dewalt drill and good Dewalt bits. The key with drilling through metal is slow drill speed with a lot of downward force, and a little oil lubricant helps, too. Each hole took less than 30 seconds, and then I used a slightly larger self-tapping screw with a #12 washer to compress the rubber evenly. Let's hope it works well.

love the video! i have a very old 8hp 26" snow blower i will try this on. The video was clear, the lighting was perfect, and the audio was great. Thanks for the tip.. going to try to referbish this old ARIENS snow blower. first got to get some tubes got the old tractor style tires.. thanks for sharing.....

Excellent video with great explanations. Now I know what my problem is. The only thing I would suggest would be that it would have been cool if at the end there when you started the blower, it zooms in & out. On the zoom out instead of summer, it would now be winter & you could actually now demonstrate the improvements. That would have been cool. Thanks.

I did the same about 5 years ago and it works like magic. I drilled the holes through the rubber first and used the rubber as a guide for the holes in the impeller. I would have to be a Contortionist to do it your way, the marking part. Lol

Thank you for the video and good explanation of what is needed to be done. Great video many thanks! God bless 👍

The only thing I would do differently is to weigh each flap and bolt assembly so they are all the same weight. This way there should be minimal balance issues

I did this two years ago, use selftapping hex screws and you're done in 15 minute. It works great, I can go through slush easy. I just picked up a 18 hp 30 inch cub cadet it doesn't need the paddles it feels like I could go through the side of a building with it

Thank you for the tip, can't wait to try it, I had a big problem with mine, thanks!

The rubber can be easily trimmed with a utility knife to match the contour of the housing, also I clean the inside of the unit and spray floor wax with a refillable spray bottle on all surfaces. When done you can rinse out the sprayer with warm water so that it will not harden. I also do this on my trucks 8’ plow. Lasts a long time.

I used some pickup box bed liner material, the drop in kind. It was pretty quick to install 2 of these impeller enhancements with self tapping bolts on the '70s vintage 8 HP Ariens. Made the paddles over sized and they quickly wore themselves in for a close fit. The old dude blows snow much better with the enhanced impellers. BTW, had to replace the bearing on the impeller shaft and removal of the "V" pulley required making holes in the pulley so a hub puller can grab the pulley hub itself, even then the puller drive bolt had to be hit with a 10 pound mall to get it off. What a PITA!!!!! A friend repairs blowers and says many of those with stuck pulleys end up on his scrap pile, not worth the labor. Happy blowing.

Perhaps use a shim when marking holes / installing rubber to create a small space between the rubber and wall. Shim could be made out of a piece cut from a plastic jug. Also a good tip...spray some silicone on the gathering impellers, interior walks, chute impeller and chute. Prevents snow from sticking. In the spring I clean and wash out these areas a d after drying spray liberally with a rust inhibitor such as Rust Check or Fluid Film. Helps prevent corrosion from forming while stored. I spray it again in the fall when prepping the blower for winter use.

Would be nice seeing it in action, throwing snow in comparison to how it did before the modification. But good idea there. Thanks

I did this and I also sprayed the inside of the blower area and chute with ceramic car spray and it made the blower run with much less drag. It also worked on my John Deere tractor grass mower the spray makes the contact areas of the grass very slick and stopped clogging.

Good vid GG. This is one of the better impeller mod videos. Also some great comments. Subscribed.

I like to see the throwing of snow after the modification ....... I believe it would work, I just like to see it in action!

This is my next project for the weekend! Already rcvd 6cm of wet snow in Lanaudiere region QC. Tks for the video

I cut 4 pieces of an old 1/4 in. thick combine belt and screwed it to the impellers with 3/4 in stainless self tapping screws . Worked perfect .

I did that mud to my snowblower, Two years ago, and to my surprise you are absolutely right, Water/ slush Slings it like nothing

I like how you address everyone as “ladies and gentlemen” outstanding manners not seen much these days. Just wanted to give you props for that.

New subscriber here. Wow! You sure sold me on this idea. I have a Power Smart ( cheap Chinese unit) and it plugs pretty easily. Thanks for this video J.B.

Ok, I installed mine . Made from the sidewall of an old boat trailer tire. Got some wet snow yesterday and gave it a try. It picked a rock and threw it so far, it barely missed my neighbors big picture window. Really, so turn that chute deflector down some more. Thanks for the idea. good video. No clogs and clearing the driveway goes much faster.

At 08:13 you could have placed the rubber in position below the metal impeller blade and marked from the top with your marker so as to be more precise. After the holes are drilled in the rubber they will match when installed on the correct side of the impeller. Thanks for sharing the upgrade to your snowblower 👍 I will be sending this video to my son so he can use the idea on his Ariens.

Great explanation.....easy to follow!

Where you bolted the rubber to the impeller, you can see a bit of rubbing on the chute wall, causing a bit of tightness. Simple fix, use a dremel to round off the corner. No more strain on the belts. Great video, thank you

Greetings from Russia! I think that politics should not be confused with the ordinary life of ordinary people. People all over the world should remain kind and responsive to each other on all continents. Thank you for the video. A great idea, I will definitely do it on my snowplow as well. Subscribed to your channel. I'm waiting for new videos on garden equipment!

I used self tapping SS screws instead of bolts. Worked great.

These kits work great! I have installed one and you never have to stop!

Well going to have to do that to the snowblower on my Craftsman tractor. Just picked up the snowblower this fall. It's a berco snowblower had to make brackets for my Craftsman but it works great.

Hello from Iowa! Followed all your great advice! I know it will pay off, no heat in garage put small electric facing blower, had can of cooking spray I was cold but blower was dry, clean, and blades shiny. Getting ready to change oil in my cub cadet rider brand new last year. Fingers crossed. Thank you for your help ☮️

Great video. Thank you for addressing your audience as “ladies and gentlemen” since i am a woman who will attempt to fix just about everything around my house. And yes, as the other comment pointed out, I will be working on my snow thrower in boots and winter clothes. No flip flops!!🙂

I used Silicone rubber, 1/4" thick. It stays flexible at cold temperatures so there is less load on the motor and nothing sticks to it. I cut a radius on one edge similar to the snow thrower discharge chute radius. I also used stainless steel screws with a door of Loctite to attach them to the impeller blades. Works like a champ!

Thx for the tip I’m going to try it definitely 👍🏻

Thats a FANTASTIC idea!!!!!! Thanks a million for the idea. I will install it for those NUC blizzards.

After I drill the holes in the impeller I put double stick tape on the rubber pieces, stick it on the impeller, rotate the impeller up so I can, using a red or yellow Sharpie, mark through the impeller holes the drill holes on the rubbers. No guessing work, always spot-on. You can also rivet it using the right size washers and have the right riveting tool.

Great idea, would like to see it performing. That's the ultimate test

thanks,also @1:07 of video; when snow blowing, turn the chute 180 degrees ,snow will be thrown farther, And on the rubber pieces ,cut slotted holes, easier to keep close clearance as rubber wears out.

Did this mod about 5 years ago on my Ariens 8526. Works great as described, BUT, be sure to leave that 1mm to .020' gap between the rubber and the sidewall. If you don't leave that tiny gap, when you're done snowblowing and park that mean machine back in your garage, the remaining snow in the housing and chute melts and then re-freezes at the rubber/sidewall junction (even after coating the area with Sno-Jet). When you go to re-start the snowblower impeller you'll get belt slip. Had to shut off the snowblower and manually rotate the impeller through a revolution or two to free it up. Even though I started rotating the impeller before engaging, I was going through a belt a season (that's only been about six blowings) until I removed a little rubber off the ends. While the rubber removal improved belt wear, I added a dual belt pulley as I was still getting a bit more premature belt wear than I think I should.

I believe mudflaps are cheap and very effective to use as the impeller flap extension.

Additional tip -- before the season starts, give the chamber and especially the tubes a good coating of silicone spray, do it several times to get a good coating on. The snow will slide right out and prevent it clogging up. repeat between snow storms unless you live in Buffalo, NY which is pretty much everyday . Ps: A bottle of rumchatta and hot chocolate usually helps keep the snow blower work better also!

Great vid so far (9:14 min in) - silver sharpies are a GODSEND in so many applications.

Thanks for the video. I have the exact same Ariens, (ST824), and will do this mod this weekend. BTW, nice Milorganite shirt!!!

When marking the rubber, place it on the back side and mark it, makes the job easy. This is after you make the holes in the metal.😄I wonder why some of these snowblower company's don't make a kit for this or do this from the factory.

I did this about 15 years ago by clamping 1/8" thick strips of steel to extend the impellar blades and mark off the slight amount of clearance to prevent nuisance scraping of the impellar against the inside. I ended up balancing the impellar though just in case it should vibrate. It's definitely worth the effort as long as you do this in warm weather or a heated garage or shed. I also welded the extesions instead of bolts because I was afraid of a bolt coming loose or breaking and launching from the chute. This 9hp Sears Craftsman snowblower now throws heavy snow, slush, and sizeable chunks of ice which can be dangerous, but really beats having to shut the thing off to unclog it.

Great video. I need to do that to my Simplicity snowblower. I bought the snowblower because the salesman said it had a very far throw but once I tried it out during the first big snow fall I was a bit disapointed. Thanks again for the video and have to mention you have a lovely wife...great photobomb.

Good idea, gonna give it a try. Thanks.

Lol I was singing round the outside, round the outside immediately

The addition of rubber belt flaps on the impeller blades made a HUGE difference for my 30 year-old Ariens 7HP SnoThro! I helped a buddy do the same modification on his 8HP Yardman blower and he was very pleased as well! BUT I would highly recommend 2 revisions to what was shown here though... 1) I learned the hard way that the gap between the impeller housing wall and the impeller blade edges is NOT uniform! To save yourself significant rework (and a jammed impeller), initially clamp the rubber flap to the vane and manually rotate the impeller through a full rotation inside the housing to determine where there is minimum clearance and THEN mark it for final positioning 1mm away from the housing at that point. Then do the same for each additional blade you're planning to modify. 2) Also, if you have a 4 blade impeller, adding the flaps to just two opposing blades is ALL you need to do to make your machine a snow-n-slush-hurling BEAST! The Yardman had a 3-blade impeller, so we needed to do all three. NOTE: You can skip adding rubber flaps to any Ariens model 926000 series altogether because they have very little clearance between the impeller blades and the housing wall. Although I STRONGLY ENDORSE spending ~$65 to upgrade your Ariens 926000 series machine from the original single belt drive to their new dual belt kit - It made a remarkable difference! (For 11HP models and below use kit 72600700) See kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qd6ZpMJpyLLKe6s.html .

I have done this and it works great. We currently have just over 3 feet of the white stuff. We had a system stall over us and it dumped 2 feet of wet shit. Handled it no problem.

Did this years ago it works great, make sure rubber is the same width as impeller blades

Thank you..God bless .

Drilling into metal, it's always beneficial for you (and your tools/bits) to predrill with a smaller hole/s first. Bet that forearm was burnin'!

This was awesome! Thank you n I live in tahoe so I need that extra bump from my blower in winter.

OMG Just as I took a drink you said "round the outside". At the same time, I was thinking the song as you started sing it. I almost spit out my drink!

Cool idea!...however just to add to the video maybe a run in the snow (before and after) just to show the difference at how much farther it would throw....just my opinion!!

Nice video. Would be nice to see a before and after snow throwing.

Excellent video, I have a couple of comments, I appreciate you!! My first comment is I have never run my snowblower wearing shorts and flip-flops, and also with the leaves still on the trees! My other comment is I appreciate you saying ladies and gentlemen, you won’t hear that from Disney World anymore, I have a 17-year-old craftsman snowblower, never changed the oil, it’s surging now, last year we got 38 inches, but I’m definitely thinking about upgrading it and thank you so much for the video good job Sir!!!

I did this a few years ago with my blower, however I did not use bolts. I used self tapping screws and it works just fine. A little less work to get the rubber on.

From one jeepster to another- great job!

Being paranoid about vibrations and out of balance metal spinning around in front of me, I would suggest making a jig to locate mounting holes as close to identical as possiblla.

I had to do this to my 1971 Ariens sno-thro, the machine is awesome except in heavy wet snow. I bought a truck mud flap at NAPA Auto parts store for $12 and made 2"x4" paddles, for the top piece of metal I went to Lowes and bought some Simpson Strong-Tie A21Z 2"x1" Angles for 0.78 cents each and hammered them flat, 1/4"x1" SS bolts with washers and Lock nuts. I was surprised that I was able to drill the holes with a cordless drill and inexpensive ryobi 1/4" drill bit.

Did my Troy Bilt 28" 9.5hp track drive in winter of 2018-2019. It throws snow and especially slush much better. I have a 400" driveway with 1.5" minus gravel so rocks getting jammed in the impeller area was a concern....but the more I thought about the more I felt that the gravel actually now has less places to get jammed into with the new wipers and overall performs better even in the gravel :) Lee

I did this but used stainless steel self tapping screws. Been there 4 years with heavy snows

The impellers are rarely centered in the housing so each wiper must be installed at the point of it's closest point. If you don't it won't turn. If a bit tight they will wear in.

Would love to see it in action. I have an older Ariens with an impeller kit from a tire sidewall on 2 impeller arms. Haven't used it yet. Super excited to using it this winter

Looks 2 me like a 4 to 6 minimum beer job (on a warm day)!! Nice job JB!!

I got a truck mud flap and it works great 👍🙏👍🙏

Looks very good

I did this and it works great, just one caution check to see if the impellers are not frozen from melting snow between using, or you’ll burn up your belt.

Good Day JB, Good Stuff!... I liked the snowblower impeller wipes retrofit... I may try that one... Ron

I don't have anything to do with snowblowers but maybe waxing up the inside of the impeller tube and the chute might help? It makes a difference on skis and snowboards, so ...

Did the same with mine.. instead of all that drilling and alignment just use some 1/4"X 3/4" self drilling tech screws..works tits, 5 mins 👍

did mine 5 years ago !Used stainless steel nut and bolts and lock tight. u can use old tire the sidewall, or bailer belt from TSC etc ... and did all blades/impeller and used a piece of cardboard as gauge to keep the same space at each blade at the tunnel. And just make a templet to mark the rubber and the blade, center punch it drill it assemble & be done. HAVE ONLY HAD 1 STORM EVER SINCE LOL . But I was flinging snow 3X Further ,Wet Heavy Snow; Puddles of Water....FOR SALE :Craftsman TURBO CHARGED SNOW BLOWER !!

I would use a clamp and put all four rubber pieces together and drill them all at the same time. Then I would clamp one of the pieces of rubber to the impeller where I wanted them and drill a marking whole through the rubber and onto the paddle of the impeller. Then remove the rubber and finish the hole in the impeller. This will be much quicker and just as accurate. This Idea by GG is a great idea and I will be doing this to my machine.

It was -22 today and I was wearing shorts and sandals too.

Thank you for this great info...👍

easy for you. I have a John deere 47 inch blower attachment and it has cables running to the chute controled by the hydraulic lever on the dash. Not so sure I want to take off the cables and not get them attached the right way just to get at the impeller. But a great video.

Thanks bro! you are awesome! You are making me look better!

2 things you can do to make the drilling alot easier. 1) use a long cobalt center drill to start the holes. and/or 2) take your drill and put a groove on each side of cutting edge which will act like a center drill as you drill the holes. either one will make the drilling alot easier

It also helps to use a spray that prevents the snow from sticking.

Clever idea; I'm going to try that. I use Lucas Marine Grease for everything...it's an outstanding product.

I just use sheet-metal with washer self drilling screws it was fast. I have to say it does work , I was really happy with snowblowing specially with heavy wet snow. I even put it on my sons riding snow blower. Truck mudflap picked up at a truck dealership cut it out by using my Dremel and put them on snowblower propeller.