IHDiesel73L
ArboristSite Operative
I had a 20 Ton vertical splitter that had served me well for years, but the 5HP Briggs on it was getting tired, blowing a little smoke on tough pieces, etc... I finally decided to change it out when the pull rope broke and I found that because of the way it is mounted the motor has to be removed in order to take the front housing off. I also had two 8HP snowblowers laying around for a couple of years that were given to me-both work but since I use a plow for our road and parking areas I never had much use for them. I pulled the motors off and scrapped the bodies with a larger load for a couple of bucks. Both were 8HP Tecumseh Snow Kings and completely identical except for the shafts. One had a long 1" diameter shaft while the other had a shorter 1/2"diameter shaft. I used the 1/2" motor so that I could reuse the same coupling that drove the hydraulic pump with the 5HP. I kept the other motor for parts since everything else is exactly the same. A nice feature of these snowblower motors is 120V AC electric start (you plug an extension cord into it and hit the button), but pull start as a backup. Most of the time I'm splitting near the barn which has electric, but if I ever wanted to tow it out into the field to cut up a tree I could still start it there too. I had to relocate the gas tank because the motor sits too close to the splitter beam on that side.
Two Snow Kings:
Old 5HP removed:
8HP test mounted-even the oil drain ended up in exactly the right position:
Precision fabricated spacers to make up for the extra shaft length
Completed-I'll probably end up moving the gas tank-that was just the easiest way to get up and running right away. I need to add an air filter as well as the snowblower engines did not come with them:
The extra 3HP (plus the old Briggs probably wasn't developing a full 5HP anymore anyway) is definitely noticeable and the 120V electric start is nice touch. The fuel tank is also much bigger-I may fab a bracket to mount the tanks from both motors so that they can be plumbed together for a full gallon of fuel storage.
Two Snow Kings:
Old 5HP removed:
8HP test mounted-even the oil drain ended up in exactly the right position:
Precision fabricated spacers to make up for the extra shaft length
Completed-I'll probably end up moving the gas tank-that was just the easiest way to get up and running right away. I need to add an air filter as well as the snowblower engines did not come with them:
The extra 3HP (plus the old Briggs probably wasn't developing a full 5HP anymore anyway) is definitely noticeable and the 120V electric start is nice touch. The fuel tank is also much bigger-I may fab a bracket to mount the tanks from both motors so that they can be plumbed together for a full gallon of fuel storage.
