Hand warmers on Snow Blower

[jigeye]

I got a lot of [PoorWordUsage] last year for posting this and didn't get any decent replies so I'll try again this year. Has anyone installed hand warmers on a 2-stage walk behind snow blower? Would a pair of snowmobile hand warmers work? I have a John Deere 924DE.

Thanks,

Jigeye

[jeffreyd]

as long as there is no wiring in the grip now i dont know why you could not use them. you will have to put them on a switch and i would suggest a relay in the circuit also. that way the switch is not carrying the load. I can help you wire it if you get them via email. good luck jeff

[deadeye]

I would check the power output from the snowthrower and see what you get for amps and volts. Grip heaters can take quite a bit of power so I could see a problem with them getting enough power and/or taking too much from the machine.

The other thing to consider would be mounting a small battery on the machine and using that to power the grips. As long as your not out for hours on end it should work fine. You could then hook it up to a battery tender till the next time you need to use it.

[Macgyver55]

If the blower has a lighting coil adequate to power them it should work. Most warmers use around 7 to 10 watts on low and 15 to 20 watts on high.

[Phred52]

Does the snow thrower have 12 volt electric start? Is there a battery 'on board'? If so, the engine should have a means of recharging the battery (Generator or alternator). As in another of the replies, I'd connect to the battery for the hand warmers with both a relay and a fuse in the system. The amp draw might be too much of a demand if you just connect to the charging system (without a battery) and then eventually you would short that out. Phred52

[Surface Tension]

If the blower has a lighting coil adequate to power them it should work. Most warmers use around 7 to 10 watts on low and 15 to 20 watts on high.

Like said, if you have a head light then you have a lighting coil and you can put on hand warmers. No headlight, then wear warm mittens.

[Big Tom]

And I thought my vibration-dampening beer holder was overkill.

[Surface Tension]

Is this your blower? Looks like you have a headlight.

[jigeye]

Yep that's the one. So I would have to unhook the light though right? No big deal, the light doesn't do much anyway.

Thanks,

Jigeye

[deadeye]

If your unhooking the light you should be fine then. If you used the light and the handwarmers it might draw too much power. Sounds like you should be set though. Those lights don't work that great to begin with.

[jigeye]

Thanks for the great replies. I should get to this next week during the holiday break.

Jigeye