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

Just got back in from doing my driveway again.  My neighbour was out doing his driveway using a  two year old 10 h.p. Yardworks (MTD).  The Simplicity was throwing snow a good twenty feet high and 30 to 40 feet distant.   At least twice the height and distance he was throwing.   He stopped his machine and came over to see what I was using.  He'd never heard of Simplicity either.  So he asked the usual questions.  How much? Where to buy it etc.   "Yeah"... He says.  "I think I'll give this (old) Yardworks to my daughter.  She just moved into a house and needs a snow thrower now.    Think I'll take a look at one of those. "  

One thing I have noticed with the so called 9.5 h.p. B&S, it seems to like fuel.  I've run out of gas twice using this machine since I've owned it.   That's about as much as I did in twelve years with the old Tecumseh.  That tells me a couple of things.  Either I'm enjoying it so much and working longer or, the 9.5 might just be an 11 h.p. in disguise and burning fuel accordingly.   I'm going to have to start timing fuel consumption.  Has anyone else out there run out of fuel unexpectedly using these engines?

One thing I just found out is that when you think the tank if full, it's not.  I bet I put close to a 3/4 of a liter in it after it got to the bottom of the filler neck.  Looks full but it'll take quite a bit more.   

I noticed the same thing with mine. The filler hole has a tube going down a bit and there is a hole through it toward the front that allows air to escape. You can slowly put a far amount of gas in the top section of the tank but it takes a while. I have a hunch its to stop people from overfilling their tanks.

I've found that fuel consumption varies dramatically with load. If its thin, light fluffy stuff the gas lasts for 8-10 driveways. If its thick heavy stuff then 3-6 driveways. I always try to go fast enough so that the blower is almost snowplowing and the engine is roaring. That should be close to maximum fuel consumption rate with maximum work done.

I tank up at the end of each session and check it when I start a new one, I think a full tank when the machine is not in use is a Good Thing (TM). I generally have to refill 2-3 times before I finish all the driveways I do. That includes sidewalks and EOD clearance when the snowplow finally shows up, normally just as I finish the last driveway or two hours after that and I'm trying to do something else.

BTW - I was clearing a driveway in cottage country at night, with no lights, a couple of weekends ago and noticed that the muffler on the exhaust was glowing a dull red, I knew it got hot but I didn't realize it got that hot.

borat wrote:

Hi Borat!

Season greetings,

How many inches of snow to you get each year (average) and what is your region (state), I know some region has mountains it also depends

Denis wrote:

Hi Denis:

We live in the Lakehead region, northwester Ontario. 

We get on average, 222 cm. (87) inches of snow annually.  Some years we get very little then other years, we'll get hammered.  The winter of 1995 to 1996 was one of the heaviest in recent memory.  It might have even been a record.  If I recall correctly, we got close to ten feet of snow from late December  to the end of January.  That wasn't the end of it either.  We received a lot of snow in February as well.  That was a wild year.   Recently we've not been getting much snow.  Last year, the snowmobile trails didn't open until mid March due to lack of snow.  This year seems more average.  I'd say we've received close to three feet so far but with two days  of rain thrown in there, the snow went down fairly fast.  We just receive maybe four or five inches over the weekend so it's nice and white again. 

Merry Christmas to you and your family bud!!!

I have a Briggs 8.5 hp Powerbilt OHV snow engine, and its better on fuel than my neighbor's 5.5 hp Tecumseh L-head.