Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Just put a Tiny-Tach on the Snowblower. I really had no place to mount it without covering something up so I decided to fab a bracket out of some leftover aluminum from another project. The bracket is angled down at about a 30 degree angle to make it easier to read and so the snow and water will run off.

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/tractor56/TinyTachonSnowblower001.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/tractor56/TinyTachonSnowblower003.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/tractor56/TinyTachonSnowblower002.jpg[/IMG]

Here is a pic of the blower, I think it's gonna get a workout this weekend. We're supposed to have some heavy snow on the way.

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/tractor56/Snowblower001.jpg[/IMG]

Tubby wrote, "OK, gut check time. Do I have to re-evaluate my life as I know it because A), I got excited enough about a new machine to install a tach ($22 on flea bay!),
or B) because I just took the time and posted them to a forum? ???? I am geek!"

It's ok Tubby, we're all geeks in one way or another. We just happen to be of the "power equipment" variety.  I've wondered the same thing before, but I like anything with an engine, it's my hobby.  Don't worry, you're among freinds.

I'm with you Talldog.  Born motor-head.  I probably have between 25 and thirty machines with small motors.  From motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobile, outboard motors, riding mowers, chain saws, gas trimmers, leaf blower, snow thrower, lawn mowers, ice auger,diesel power plant etc.  With all of that machinery seeing service every year, it keeps me fairly busy with maintenance.  Good maintenance habits are essential if you want to keep all that gear running.  I've got equipment that's close to thirty years old still running like the day I bought it.  I find that if an engine problem develops, it's almost always a fuel/carburetor issue.  Very seldom is there any other cause.  Once I had a defective spark plug.  Sparked outside the cylinder but not inside.  Otherwise, every other engine issue that I've had has been fuel related.    It pays to be attentive to your fuel systems. Seafoam is the elixir of a carburetor's life. 

Borat, you've got a lot of toys!!

Well, we didn't get the snow that was forecast, but I had to fire up the snowblower anyway so I could check out the new tach/hourmeter. The RPM's were very accurate and read between 3610 and 3620 rpm.

Not sure if I'm more impressed with the Tach or the fact that the Briggs engine is pretty much dead-on its specified RPM of 3600.

Ha! I've got 10 RPM's on ya dude!

ME FTW!!!!!

Talldog wrote:

Yeah....Having a home and a camp for many years, it's inevitable that sooner or later, you'll have two of everything. 

It rained here for two days which is strange for northwestern Ontario at this time of the year.  This morning I woke up to two inches of slushy snow on the driveway.   Scraped it into heaps with the shovel then used the snow thrower to move it onto the lawn.  Real heavy stuff.  Just as I was getting that done, the temperature started dropping and a storm off of Lake Superior began blowing in and continues to do so.   According to the radar weather map, it's got a few hours to go yet. Looks like we got about three inches right now and I'd estimate that we'll have a good five to six inches by the time it's done.  I'll tell you this much.  I'd rather move two feet of normal snow rather than two inches of that slushy stuff I cleared this morning.  Nasty stuff to move an even nastier if you leave it to freeze.

The highest reading on my tach has been 3610.  The engine keeps rpms up fairly respectably until you keep feeding the wet or heavy snow to it.  After a few seconds of persistent  heavy load, the engine rpms will drop until the engine starts to get close to it's max torque range and starts barking.  Even under that kind of loading, the B&S engine doesn't bark nearly as much as my old 10 h.p. Tecumseh.   That thing would rattle and shake and sounded like it was ready to calf at any moment although, it never did stall.   The B&S ohv engine is a much nicer running machine that the old Tec L head.   

Tubby wrote:

You go Tubby!!

Don't ya just love that Briggs OHV engine!  That thing runs so smooth and quiet. I used to have a Toro with the Tecumseh L-head engine also. Don't get me wrong, the L-Head was a good engine, but now that I've used the OHV, I could never go back.  Now that Break-in is over with, I went to Mobil-1 synthetic. Hopefully, this is the last snowblower I'll ever buy.

borat wrote:
Lucky dog, you'll get to use the blower again. I'm in Northern Illinois. We were supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow last nite. It rained hard all nite and melted all the existing snow. By the time it got cold enough, the rain stopped and it got very windy and cold. Had a hard time opening the car doors this morning cause all that moisture froze so quick. Gotta love the weather around here!!