- Picked up a working 2 stage self-propelled snowblower
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Yesterday I picked up a working snowblower 2 stage Craftsman self-propelled on tracks. Had a few small rust spots but nothing that would make it unsellable or unusable. Not sure why people give away working items like this but...
Makes me wish I had started scrapping and looking at CL sooner, cause I bought a brand new 2 stage self propelled snowblower 2 years ago and it still looks like it hasn't been used. I could have saved a big chunk of change.
Taking a vacation
What brand of engine on this snow blower.
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I guess if I had my choice, it would be nice to be able to wave my hand and say, "make it so....", but it would deprive me of the pleasure of scoring something useful I could flip or use (or use 'til I flipped it) for nothing or next to nothing. I don't know, that would be a tough one... There is a certain thrill you get from a score you just don't get from the store. <------ I think I am going to keep that line
Taking a vacation
There is a certain thrill you get from a score you just don't get from the store. <------ I think I am going to borrow that lineOriginally Posted by t00nces2
Sledgehammer Enthusiast
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Probably a chineese MTD for a two stage Sears blower, if he got a Briggs he definitely scored.
There ain't nothing wrong with an honest days work. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.- Old Man
Taking a vacation
Most look like new because those Tecumseh engines will not start in the cold weather, the first winter I had the MTD snow blower it would not start, parked it then gave it away during the summer then the darn thing started on the first pull.
The new owner power walked it into his barn and there it sat un-used another winter. The paint has never worn of of the auger and looks like it just came out of the store, now probably 10 years old.
I think your supposed to keep them in a heated garage, nine times out of ten your find that the 110 volt starter is toast.
Last edited by Proton; 08-25-2018 at 12:07 AM.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I picked a used one off the dump years ago. It worked okay but it just didn't fit with my need and was taking up shop space so i returned it to the place it came from. Maybe somebody else was able to find a use for it.
I've seen it at work in a three places too. They use it for one winter then they throw it in a corner somewhere and it goes to waste. Maybe the idea of having one is better than the reality of actually owning one for a lot of people ?
The 110 volt starter seems kinda weird. You're skunked if you draw in a chunk of ice, a stone, or bit of wood and it stalls the motor 100 feet from the shop.
Totally agree with Proton on the Tecumseh motors. I've got one on one of my generators and it's a hard start in the winter. Additionally, the bowl float has a habit of sticking open and dumping the contents of the fuel tank on the shop floor when it's not running. ( Even with a brand new carb. ) I usually pinch off the fuel line with a pair of needle nose vise grips to get around that problem now.
There are a few tricks that can help with hard starts in the winter.
1: Try using a high quality 5w30 full synthetic motor oil.
The motor will be a lot easier to crank. On the opposite end of it ... I once had to use a straight 30 weight ashless motor oil for a jenny that was converted to run on propane because hardened valves weren't available. The straight 30 weight was so thick ... it would break the crank before you could ever get the motor to start in the cold.
2: Starting fluid is your friend in the winter.
Just make sure you're using it sparingly. Pull the air cleaner, open the choke, give it a shot of starting fluid, and close the choke.Crank it three or four pulls and see if you can get it to fire. If not ... repeat the process till the motor fires up.
If the snowblower still won't start then PATIENCE is the key. Chances are that you're pretty pissed off if you've been out there fighting with the darn thing for the past hour in the bitter cold and snow. By now, the motor is completely flooded and there's no hope of getting it to run no matter how hard you try.
Just go park it in the shop and forget about it for awhile. Give it some time for cooler heads to prevail.
Six months should do .......
By then, it will fire right up and the snow is all melted off.
Easy peezy !
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It's a Craftsman - it looks like a Briggs and Stratton engine, I haven't got that far yet, haven't even cleaned it. Finally got to picking up scrap again today. It could be a "Chinese" made one or whatever, but it's not a base 2 stage like the one I bought myself. I still feel I scored cause I didn't pay anything for it and it works... similar ones on CL are going for $300 ish...
The one I picked up doesn't look new, it's got some rust as I said.
The one I spent my money on is a Bolens from Lowes, the least expensive self-propelled 2 stage they had. I haven't had any problems at all with it, at the time my driveway was larger but still nothing that needs a really big one - or even one at all. My sidewalks and driveway now... it's extreme overkill. I was contemplating selling it when I bought and moved to my current house - till it snowed.. LOL
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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A snowblower is the best tool for the job if you live in the suburbs or the city. That's definitely a good score. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to plow out a short driveway or sidewalks in such a congested area ?
Didn't mean to pee in your cheerios ... it's just that you were wondering why somebody might pitch a working machine. They're good in some situations but not so good in others. It all depends on the job.
Just an afterthought for anyone running a small engine in the deep winter. The gasoline you get is adjusted seasonally. The summer mix is made to work well in the summer heat. The winter mix is made to vaporize more easily in sub zero temps.
Gasoline doesn't burn as a liquid ... it only burns in a gaseous state. Some of the old timers here used to think it was funny to throw lit matches into a bucket of gas on a cold day and watch them go out. Not a very good idea but it demonstrated the point.
Anyway ... make a point of using fuel that's less than a month old with your small engines in the fall and winter. If there's any doubt drain the tank and carb then put in fresh gas that you just got from the pump. It can save you a lot of hassles with a machine that isn't stored in a heated garage.
Bit of a derail but maybe helpful advise ?
Taking a vacation
Why some one would toss is easy to answer, after replacing that expensive 110 volt electric starter a few times going back to the shovel looks good.
When I got rid of my MTD snow blower found this old Simplicity 9020 with a tiller, mower deck and the snow blower for $500.00. Looks odd with out the hood but refuse to hack it up to suit the exhaust pipe that I have installed, when I find the proper muffler then I'll put the hood back on.
The Simplicity tractor was made in 1975, the Onan engine has never been replaced or rebuilt, Its worked flawlessly for the past two years. I clear snow from our very long and steep driveway then make walking trails on our acreage for Pat to walk the dog.
I love this tractor so much that when a member from another forum I belong to gave me the heads up on an Allis 720 with a front end loader that had a blown hydrostatic transmission being sold for $500.000 I jumped at the purchase even though the Allis 720 was located two provinces over from me.
Another member from the tractor forum is now selling me a replacement transmission for $100.00 plus whatever the shipping comes to, I still consider this a bargain.
The Allis Chalmers 720 is just a re-branded Simplicity 9020 they're both identical tractors.
Tire chains came from Jacks, I had to modify them by removing a few side links along with shortening the cross links then added extra cross links, the farm loaned me their chain pliers. Rear tires are loaded with calcium for added traction.
One rim was badly corroded eaten away from a calcium leak, they're 16 inch rims with 6 holes. I cut the bad side away leaving the bolt pattern attached then from a 16 inch 8 hole rim for a Dodge van cut that rim in half then welded to two good halves together at the proper width.
The Dodge rim came off of an old Van that some one had disposed of at the landfill. This time to avoid calcium rot installed wet tubes then refilled them with calcium.
That Onan engine is amazing no matter on the coldest day mother nature throws at us here in Manitoba this engine never fails to start. The one and only problem that I had was some snow had melted and the moisture froze on the starter bendix fortunately the heat gun soon solved the problem.
Last edited by Proton; 08-26-2018 at 11:57 AM.
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You didn't pee in my Cheerios. I am still just pleased as can be about picking it up. It works. It's free and winter is coming up. Worst case scenario I let it go for 75 bucks. That's 10x more than what I would get in scrap for it even though it is awful heavy.
There are others in the neighborhood with snowblowers. It's not a needed item, more if a "luxury" item one step shy of paying someone to clear it for me. I do have a 2 car garage and a driveway that fits 2 cars + sidewalk in front of my house and a sidewalk to the front door and porch, so that's why I kept the one I bought and didn't sell it. I do still have 2 shovels. I also have asthma but I do have a strong son that uses the snowblower and does the driveway and sidewalk... he has asthma too. So it's a luxury for him more than me right now. At some point he will move on and it will be the wife and I and I am not getting younger so.. yeah I am good keeping one.
The guy got rid of it because it was inherited and he didn't need it. Guess he wanted to get rid of it fast rather than selling it, maybe for the same reason some people get rid of working interior appliances for free that work fine.
Last edited by SKWrapper; 08-26-2018 at 01:02 PM.
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Maybe I should buy an electric starter for it. It is "provisioned" for it - at least that's what it says on it.
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I have a Adrian 520 that has both a pull and electric start. Tubeless tires were always flat when needed so I finally put some tubes in. I should do a better job of draining/maintaining the gas but it always starts after a few cuss words and if anticipating a good snow I will bring it into a heated shop but otherwise it camps outside. Usually only need it a couple times a year as I like the exercise of shoveling and being outdoors. We are on a corner lot though and the neighbor is in her 90's so it ends up being close to 400 feet of shoveling. The driveway is oversized but is rock and melts off fairly quick once the sun comes out...I will use the blower on it if we get about 8 or more inches but I have to drop the skids on it so it doesn't spit rocks.
Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesaler
Certified Zip-Tie Mechanic
"Give them enough so they can do something with it, but not too much that they won't do nothing."
Taking a vacation
Eight inches of snow consider yourself lucky where I live we get three to four feet with some drifts as much as 5 feet deep. To chew through a deep drift raise the snow blower, its hydraulic. Chew through as far as it will go then back up lowering the blower to the ground for another run.I have a Adrian 520 that has both a pull and electric start. Tubeless tires were always flat when needed so I finally put some tubes in. I should do a better job of draining/maintaining the gas but it always starts after a few cuss words and if anticipating a good snow I will bring it into a heated shop but otherwise it camps outside. Usually only need it a couple times a year as I like the exercise of shoveling and being outdoors. We are on a corner lot though and the neighbor is in her 90's so it ends up being close to 400 feet of shoveling. The driveway is oversized but is rock and melts off fairly quick once the sun comes out...I will use the blower on it if we get about 8 or more inches but I have to drop the skids on it so it doesn't spit rocks.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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So much of it is situational. We generally don't get more than 24" of snow during a storm in this part of Maine. Plows and wing plows work pretty well here.
It's a few years back, but the last winter i plowed the roads here was brutal. Snow came in November and didn't melt off till the next spring. It just kept piling up and up. The snow banks on the side of the road were over five feet in places. It was right on the limit of what we could do with our equipment.
With that in mind ... one of the local guys that plows driveways & gravel roads going into the woods spent 20k. on a snowblower for the front of his pickup truck. It wasn't a good business decision. He took quite a beating on that one in subsequent years. The blower was constantly breaking down from all of the woody and rock debris that was being drawn into the auger. He spent more time working on it than actually working with it.
Different tools for different jobs ?
Me ... i'll do whatever it takes to get the job done, but i would prefer to do my snow removal from the comfort of a heated truck cab if possible.
Taking a vacation
This particular style of starter is used on the Tecumseh, they're either burnt out of the tabs that secure the starter to the engine are broken off. The snowblower I had the starter was burned out I was fortunate to have found another starter at the dump with the tabs broken off.
The plate with the tabs is spot welded onto the case of the starter, the welds are about a quarter inch round and the welds are easily drilled out from the holes.
That is how I fixed the burnt out starter on the MTD snowblower that I gave away, even after replacing the starter this thing just did not want to start in the cold weather.
Taking a vacation
Almost forgot, when your welding that good plate onto the starter, your just filling in the 1/4" holes that you previously drilled to remove the spot welds.This particular style of starter is used on the Tecumseh, they're either burnt out of the tabs that secure the starter to the engine are broken off. The snowblower I had the starter was burned out I was fortunate to have found another starter at the dump with the tabs broken off.
The plate with the tabs is spot welded onto the case of the starter, the welds are about a quarter inch round and the welds are easily drilled out from the holes.
That is how I fixed the burnt out starter on the MTD snowblower that I gave away, even after replacing the starter this thing just did not want to start in the cold weather.
Have a wet rag handy, this is placed onto each new weld just after its made the wet rag will absorb the heat from the weld area thus preventing the loosening of the permanent magnet which is glued into place.
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I have a Adrian 520 that has both a pull and electric start. Tubeless tires were always flat when needed so I finally put some tubes in. I should do a better job of draining/maintaining the gas but it always starts after a few cuss words and if anticipating a good snow I will bring it into a heated shop but otherwise it camps outside. Usually only need it a couple times a year as I like the exercise of shoveling and being outdoors. We are on a corner lot though and the neighbor is in her 90's so it ends up being close to 400 feet of shoveling. The driveway is oversized but is rock and melts off fairly quick once the sun comes out...I will use the blower on it if we get about 8 or more inches but I have to drop the skids on it so it doesn't spit rocks.
We never get more than 8 inches of snow here. Right? Actually last year I only took it out once maybe twice, and I didn't really need to but I am not getting rid of it.
I was so happy when I finally bought a snowblower, I regularly cleared my left and right neighbors sidewalks, the ones without snowblowers. I fire mine up with 6 inches or more.
Last edited by SKWrapper; 08-27-2018 at 12:05 PM.
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In Wyoming and South Dakota a snow blower has very little value. In the mountains of Wyoming we have three foot or more of snow on the level and have to use heavy machinery to clear our paths. A snow blower can not keep up. At the ranch in South Dakota we do not even clear the snow if it is less than a foot. More than that and we wait a day to see if it will blow over to Minnesota or Iowa before firing up the plows. The rest of my family lives along the front range of Colorado. I love visiting there during big snow storms because they might get eight inches of snow and it melts off the next day. Around here, after the first snow fall, the ground will be white until spring.
Last edited by Patriot76; 08-27-2018 at 11:17 PM.
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