Chute Clearing Tool for Snow Blower/Thrower

Update March 10, 2023 : I am happy to report that I have been using the tool all winter and it is holding up very well. I did find one minor issue, in that the back of the shove blade would sometimes get caught briefly on the inside of the snowthrower chute. More of a minor annoyance than anything else, but I decided to try making a small design improvement :

https://www.printables.com/social/38957-kaje/models

If you are already using the version on this page don't feel like you need to switch, but if you are printing for the first time you might want to try the above Version 2.

Update Nov. 18, 2022 : We got our first real snow at my location this week, and it was slushy enough to clog up my snow thrower. I am happy to report that my “shovel” passed it's first test with no problems.

This tool is used to help clear packed snow from the chute of a snow removal machine. The one that came with my machine was lost, so I printed this replacement in easy-to-find (I hope) orange.

This print was made to fit a 22.5mm diameter wood dowel, but can be scaled to fit other diameters. The print was only partially successful for me in that part of it cracked when I inserted the wood handle (see photos). However, it is still usable, and I can always re-print scaled up a bit later if necessary. In any case, I thought the print might be useful to others, so I decided to go ahead an publish it.

Test Fit and Assembly

As noted previously, the scoop is designed to be fitted onto a wooden handle (a round wooden dowel of around 22.5mm diameter - choose the length that works for you).

The print includes a small section which can be printed for test fitting. Scale the test piece to get a good fit on the wooden dowel that you are using. I made mine for a tight press fit (a little too tight!), but the print includes a hole for a screw if you want to make it a bit looser and fasten it down with a screw.

Once you have determined the appropriate scaling for the test pieces, simply print the scoop at the same scale value.

Print Instructions

Print in PETG using the 3MF or gcode files provided; in general :

• .3mm layer
• height5 layers
• 15% grid infill

CAD

The OnShape 3D CAD files for this are here :

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/0a5e0f976c0d988a831bf866/w/f277ea2d0682659ff59379ff/e/fd6877252e6efc6cadccce71