Finally after 7 years a QA 36

[Donald Ross]

When your wife is not happy with your new surprise purchase and so you loose your only help to get this out of the truck. Lol As you can see my 107 is excited to see the snow thrower it even came up to the gate to look at it.

 

[kmcconaughey]

That appears to be in very good condition. The auger flights are nice and straight. Likely never used on a gravel driveway.

 

[mgwin]

Do you know how to get her to forget all about the purchase?
Buy something else!

 

[dfrisk]

Donald - Kraig is exactly right, that's a really clean QA36, not missing many if ANY parts. Probably didn't get a lot of use. A 10 hp is about the smallest engine you can effectively blow snow with. I first tried my QA-36 with a K-181 an 8 hp and it was slow going. A creeper would really help, or a hydro.
I've used a FARMALL SUPER H with a loader and 80 inch wide blade for snow removal the last 27 winters, even the one we got 101.4 inches of snow locally. I had piles of snow 10 ft high that winter.

 

[mfrade]

I'll disagree with Dennis, I used a 36" thrower on my 73 w\ 8hp with no problems. There is a trick to those throwers and that is keeping it full "just enough" and it'll toss it just fine. So as you're putting along making passes you steer into the snow just enough to keep the unit full and working good but not enough to drag down the rpms and lose performance. And the big variable is the type of snow, that wet sticky slushy snow is just a bear, most of the time it'll throw it but sometimes it's on the edge of plugging the chute vs throwing it. And keep the interior of the unit clean and painted. A lot of guys like graphite paint for the chute. It helps stop plugging.

 

[Donald Ross]

Donald - Kraig is exactly right, that's a really clean QA36, not missing many if ANY parts. Probably didn't get a lot of use. A 10 hp is about the smallest engine you can effectively blow snow with. I first tried my QA-36 with a K-181 an 8 hp and it was slow going. A creeper would really help, or a hydro.
I've used a FARMALL SUPER H with a loader and 80 inch wide blade for snow removal the last 27 winters, even the one we got 101.4 inches of snow locally. I had piles of snow 10 ft high that winter.

I don’t actually have a driveway to say I have a sidewalk and then we have a sidewalk that goes up and down the block so I’ll probably just taken when we have a decent snow if we have one I’ll drive up my sidewalk and up my little driveway and then probably clear the rest of the block just to play with my new toy thank you for all the positive feedback

 

[Donald Ross]

I'll disagree with Dennis, I used a 36" thrower on my 73 w\ 8hp with no problems. There is a trick to those throwers and that is keeping it full "just enough" and it'll toss it just fine. So as you're putting along making passes you steer into the snow just enough to keep the unit full and working good but not enough to drag down the rpms and lose performance. And the big variable is the type of snow, that wet sticky slushy snow is just a bear, most of the time it'll throw it but sometimes it's on the edge of plugging the chute vs throwing it. And keep the interior of the unit clean and painted. A lot of guys like graphite paint for the chute. It helps stop plugging.

Thank you for the pointers I will be sure to do that hopefully this will be my first year I also have a 54 cub 42 a and a 44 age however I actually live in the city and I really don’t have enough room to drive them I guess I can plow the streets but as I get older the bigger tractors are just too hard to work on so this little garden tractor has quickly become my favorite

 

[dfrisk]

Donald - One more thing I bet Mike will agree with me on, look over the short little jackshaft and the "H" shaped aluminum casting to make sure the shaft with the roller chain sprocket doesn't move side-to-side very much. If the shaft moves very far it eventually wears into the needle roller bearing and the needle escape and the shaft wears into the "H" casting. I was shocked my closest Case/IH & Cub Cadet dealer's parts dept. Had a new "H" casting, new needle bearings, new shaft, zerks, small sprocket, and I think new roller chain. My handful of parts cost way more than my whole QA-36 cost me but I used it a lot after I fixed it.
To Mike's comment on snow blowing, I only used my QA-36 a year with the K-181 engine before I rebuilt a K241 and installed it in my tractor. There was a VERY fine line between the 8 hp engine maintaining full rpm to blow snow and lugging down without a creeper drive. I rebuilt the K181 and it now powers the suction blower on my home-made leaf collection blower. The engine only runs slightly above an idle with very little load so should last for decades.. I still have a really tired K-181 that Dad had in our original 1965 #70 Dad bought brand new, I "Think" that 181 was out of a Wheel Horse, has strange sheet metal on it. I doubt I ever overhaul it, it is terribly tired, it routinely fouled spark plugs and used oil at about a 1-to-1 ratio to gasoline. The K241 in our old #70 "maybe" has 100 hours on a complete rebuild, the K321 in my #72 has 156 hours on a complete rebuild, my trusty B48-G Onan in my 982 had a complete professional overhaul when I bought it in 2000, so about 200-300 hours on it. And my 27 hp Kawasaki in my zero turn has just under 300 hours on it since new.
I did have plans to put the QA-36 on my 129 with a fresh K301 in it but it had the wider 23-10.50x12 rear tires and 6.50x8 frt tires on it, so the tractor was wider than the blower, but the extra HP and the Hydro sure would have been nice.
The guy I bought my QA-36 from had a home-made 2 impeller cat Zero 3 pt rear 2000 rpm pto snow blower to go on his 982. He said it really blew snow! It looked really dangerous!

 

[Donald Ross]

Thank you very much this is the exact information I’m looking for the little pointers I’m gonna go out tomorrow after church and check it out see if it slides side to side or if it’s loose. I am just getting back into this whole thing after seven your lamps glad I join the group this is going to really help this has been a project that I wanted to have completed for a long time I also have the snow blade sitting in the backyard. I have a lighting kit I have a new wiring harness new voltage regulator I put the new battery in it I got a newer deck 36 inches I think sold 42 or 48 I don’t remember lol and I have the wagon original wagon that I had professionally sandblasted and powder coated. My attempt this year is to get everything up and running and I’m debating if I should turn it into a snow tractor or just a work tractor or a working show tractor

 

[mfrade]

No arguments there Dennis (LOL).. the biggest factor I've always felt was the actual "dryness" of the snow. There are some types that just will not be a pleasure to work with. But my 1 stage thrower was always better than my 2 stage walk behind blower!

 

[Neil Mullins]

Is there a 2 stage snow thrower/blower that will fit a narrow frame?
or a 2 stage that can be easily adapted.

 

[mfrade]

The later Cub Cadets could mount a 450/451 snowblower. adapt easily?? I don't know if anyone has ever tried!?!?!

 

[PACub100]

My QA-42a throws snow very well. I was unaware that there were 4 paddle and 2 paddle versions until Charlie mentioned it last year. My CW-36 on my 100 is a 2 paddle and it's not aged well...so it basically sucked. But I haven't clogged the chute once on my QA-42 on the 1450, no matter what type of snow and how deep. Granted, we haven't had a large amount of snow in the past 2 years but at the end of my driveway I can get through the piles left by the friendly plow truck driver... and it's usually soaked with the snow melting from road treatment.

Biggest thing is making sure everything is in good working shape and learning to recognize the "sweet spot" between feeding and blowing the snow. That hydro 107 is definitely a plus and should not have any trouble... now all you need is a cab or windscreen cuz you'll find that no matter what direction you're going, the wind will be blowing the opposite way and you'll be wearing as much snow as you blow.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Way back in November of 2000, I refurbished my QA42 and noticed that the "H" casting that Dennis mentioned above, was worn from the driveshaft pushing against it. I added some steel thrust washers and that has stopped the wear. I don't have any recent photos but here are some from 2012 that show where I installed the washers.

 

[Donald Ross]

My QA-42a throws snow very well. I was unaware that there were 4 paddle and 2 paddle versions until Charlie mentioned it last year. My CW-36 on my 100 is a 2 paddle and it's not aged well...so it basically sucked. But I haven't clogged the chute once on my QA-42 on the 1450, no matter what type of snow and how deep. Granted, we haven't had a large amount of snow in the past 2 years but at the end of my driveway I can get through the piles left by the friendly plow truck driver... and it's usually soaked with the snow melting from road treatment.

Biggest thing is making sure everything is in good working shape and learning to recognize the "sweet spot" between feeding and blowing the snow. That hydro 107 is definitely a plus and should not have any trouble... now all you need is a cab or windscreen cuz you'll find that no matter what direction you're going, the wind will be blowing the opposite way and you'll be wearing as much snow as you blow.

I delivered the mail for 4 years the snow and rain were always in my face not to mention Germany in 83 - 85 with an infantry unit it snowed all year lol

 

[dfrisk]

Leave it to KRAIG to ALWAYS have photographic proof of everything! I didn't catch my loose shaft in time and destroyed the needle bearings supporting the shaft which accelerated wear on the "H" casting. On a different year I found the bearings on the auger shaft were loosing ball bearings and had to replace both of them. The "H" casting is the only "special" part, everything else is used on other attachments I think.
I actually enjoyed using my snow blade more than the snow blower. You used "Blunier RAMMING SPEED" more with the blade, plus you didn't look like the ABOMIDABLE SNOWMAN after a few minutes of pushing snow which you would if you blew snow. The added weight of the blower shelled out a new set of frt wheel bearings in 2 years, and the replacement bearings are still fine after 20+ years. The constant encrustment with snow just KILLS bearings, wheel bearings, auger bearings, any bearings. Dad discovered years ago the frt wheel castings on FARMALL M's & H's are hollow, if your wheel bearing seals are good, dump a quart of 90W or thicker gear oil into the hollows of the wheel castings and your bearings last for years and years. You could do the same on the frt wheel bearings on a Cub Cadet but it would sure make a mess of the frt wheels.

 

[rfunk]

My QA 36 came with a farmer-cobbled-up replacement for the "H" . Couple of steel plates welded together to support a pair of heavy ball bearings in pillow blocks. Still working, though I did buy a parts machine in beautiful shape for $10 a couple years ago. No mounting, as that fellow had it on a completely home built tractor. But still, hardly used!

 

[Jake Olsen]

My qa 36 that was farmered on to a wide frame qa. It took a little work but I got it working on my 1450. The exhaust kind of keeps the chute to warm but good cold dry snow blows ok.