# v box spreader gas motor powered



## rcnease (Nov 3, 2013)

I have two v box spreaders. One is a Western Ice Breaker with a small Tecumseh 10hp engine (I hate this motor), and the other is a Down Easter with a 13.5HP Briggs engine. I have a guy local who says he can convert both of these to electric spreaders. I have two questions reference this. 1) Is it worth trying to convert these to electric spreaders (I am pretty tired of always having problems starting the motors in the cold weather)? 2) Is electric spreader better than the gas spreader? Would I need to change out the alternators etc? I plow in the MD area so we don't normally deal with extreme cold but we sit in the belt that tends to get a lot of icing and we put down a lot of salt on the route we run for the county. Any input would be great. Thanks


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## lfaulstick (Sep 7, 2009)

i feel your pain with the icebreaker, thats why i now have all hondas on spreaders, what a differance. we had really cold weather here for few weeks and the one truck was plowing for a good 5 hrs in -30 (with wind chill) and i had a call to sand a hill and it fired right up i couldnt beileve it i was totally shocked, this is my first year with hondas and so far i couldnt be happier.

i too run alot of material when it ices usually straight sand so not exactly free flowing and i would nervous about electric not be able to supply full power, at start up and to run almost constant for load after load. 

just my thoughts and worries.


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## Italiano67 (Feb 16, 2005)

The electric spreaders don't take that much juice to run. I could run my vbox for at least a half hour with the truck shut off. they are not quite as powerful but they get the job done everytime. I went from a half hp motor on my snoway vbox and upgraded to a .75 hp which helped. Be prepared to spend around 400 bucks for a motor. Don't be fooled by the cheaper ones. They are not designed to do this job.


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## rcnease (Nov 3, 2013)

I have always liked the Honda engines. they always seem to be pretty good. Did you get yours from a local place or did you get from on-line. I know parts are a little more expensive, but I think overall they hold up better so it probably evens out if not paying for itself over time. I still want to explore the electric side a little more, but I don't hear great things about them especially when the material is wet and heavy. Just don't feel totally comfortable with it yet.


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## lfaulstick (Sep 7, 2009)

i bought mine online infact here it is
http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/GXV340DE33.html


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

I have a Tecumseh 10hp motor . after having some issues with the spark the motor been pretty goodx.
The motor is hard to start in the cold. some times it drains the battery . I usually hook up a booster pack to the battery when I try to start the motor just the make sure the battery doesn't die

I also carry a few extra plugs. the motor usually floods when trying the crank it for too long.


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## JimMarshall (Jan 25, 2013)

lfaulstick;1745712 said:


> i feel your pain with the icebreaker, thats why i now have all hondas on spreaders, what a differance. we had really cold weather here for few weeks and the one truck was plowing for a good 5 hrs in -30 (with wind chill) and i had a call to sand a hill and it fired right up i couldnt beileve it i was totally shocked, this is my first year with hondas and so far i couldnt be happier.
> 
> i too run alot of material when it ices usually straight sand so not exactly free flowing and i would nervous about electric not be able to supply full power, at start up and to run almost constant for load after load.
> 
> just my thoughts and worries.


Minus 30 wind chill has no effect on your spreader.


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## Brad3403 (Sep 8, 2008)

In cold weather we just give a little squirt of gas into the air intake and they fire right up. DON'T use "Ether"!!!!


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

I removed a perfectly good 10.5hp Briggs and replaced it with a 3/4hp Leeson electric. I don't even have an inverted V in my spreader, and at the moment I am spreading wet sand/salt blend. Always starts, no problem. The motor was under $400 in '09 when I did the conversion but I priced a spare motor this year and it was well over $500 at the dealer. I searched online and on ebay there is a guy selling them for under $400 shipped, got a spare one from him.


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## jbell36 (Feb 21, 2008)

this is a tough subject…i was tired of gas spreaders, we always had a dead battery and starting issues…then we went electric with the new boss spreader and have been less than thrilled with it…it seems to have problems turning on when it's cold, i mean, where in the **** did they test these spreaders, texas? of course it's going to be cold…anyways, they definitely don't have as much power as the gas powered spreaders…i've been so disappointed with the new boss vbx spreader that we are thinking about taking it back and upgrading to a bigger gas powered spreader

i feel this is mainly a problem with boss, not electric in general…i could deal with not having as much power as long as the damn thing didn't turn off because it was "too cold." can't believe boss out of all people would put out a spreader that didn't even turn on

not sure what we will do, the idea of electric is very nice especially when it comes to starting issues, we might look into a different brand of electric spreaders


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

That doesn't sound normal at all. My stuff is home grown and doesn't have any problem turning on... 

Maybe tickle it a little? Breathe in her ear a bit?


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## lfaulstick (Sep 7, 2009)

JimMarshall;1746506 said:


> Minus 30 wind chill has no effect on your spreader.


I keep spreaders and trucks in heated shop... They are running when we leave and pretty much run until done spreading. My one Curtis will not start when it gets that cold....the new Hondas seem to start up as long as chokes are all working....that's if on a rare occasion that a truck stays out and not in heated shop


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

More than anything else, I hated the constant noise of a gas engine... especially where we had residential subdivisions right next to where we plowed. Also filling with gas from a can, pretty high up on my truck so always had to climb up... plus having to carry an extra can wherever I went, which was straight gas as opposed to two stroke, so also had to make sure the shovellers didn't fill the Toro blowers with it...

No, I do not miss having the gas motor at all. I will never have anything but electric ever again.


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## jbell36 (Feb 21, 2008)

derekbroerse;1754604 said:


> More than anything else, I hated the constant noise of a gas engine... especially where we had residential subdivisions right next to where we plowed. Also filling with gas from a can, pretty high up on my truck so always had to climb up... plus having to carry an extra can wherever I went, which was straight gas as opposed to two stroke, so also had to make sure the shovellers didn't fill the Toro blowers with it...
> 
> No, I do not miss having the gas motor at all. I will never have anything but electric ever again.


2 more very good points, how loud they are and always having to bring a gas can…then making sure the regular gas doesn't get mistaken for the mixed gas for other equipment

i would prob say electric is the way to go, but we had a terrible experience with ours…thank god it wasn't our only v box or we would have been in trouble


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