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

Has anyone used the little Toro Power Clear 180 yet?  It has the 87 cc engine 4 cycle engine on it. 

superbuick wrote:
It is quite a machine.  It's in really good condition considering the age.  I've thought about restoring it to showroom status and retire it as a garage queen.  Then I'd get a Toro 421Q or 221Q to do most of the snowblowing duties.  The HS1132TAS is reserved for attacking EOD and helping out the neighbors or when snow gets higher than 10 inches.  There's just something very satisfying about seeing a 50 foot rooster tail of snow coming out of this machine.  Ranks right up there with a perfectly executed powerslide.

By the way, the HS621 is still in production (in the USA?) and but only available for sale in Canada and other parts of the world, not USA.  I guess the customer base for a $1000+ single stage snowblower is too small or non-existent.  It's a hard sell when current Toro offerings are so well designed, perform well, easy to repair, and costs a lot less.

mech12 wrote:
I didn't know Taiwan makes engines.  Say it isn't so.

They are Loncin engines made in china.

Mine has never leaked fuel, but I guess I'll need to get a float needle just in case.  This is why I like to have a fuel shut off.  Maybe I'll see if it can be added.

jerseybill725 wrote:
Precisely my trouble. Ran for about 20 minutes when new a month ago. Fresh that day gas. Tried to start it today and she coughed, chugged, puked smoke and died. No problem, just need to be quicker on the choke. Same thing: chug, chug, die. Then no chug at all. Just cranked without a pop. Tried 2 hours later. Cranking with no sign of life. Back to the dealer today.
Pete

Is this a typical problem of Toro snowblowers on its first production year, especially with a new engine?

My Toro 180 is in the shop because I had difficulty starting it and it leaked out a tank of gas. The guy working on my snowblower said that he has six other 180's with the same problem. When I brought the Toro back to where I bought it,  no body said anything about this issue to me. They just said we will take a look at it. The person working on it is waiting for Toro to get back to him. These SIX 180's that he has were not all sold at the same store. The service guy said that he put a new Carburetor in one and it was fine. It appeared to fix the problem.  I am not looking forward to using this machine again. My last toro snowblower lasted 30 years.

It's unfortunate that some are having issues and it sounds like the problem is the float needle coating which either sticks closed or open.  This causes fuel to leak out onto the garage floor or not let enough fuel into the carb and the engine won't run.  In my case I've used this little snowblower a lot as a second blower to go with my large two stage.  I like it so much that I just bought a second one to go with my other two stage at my office building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPVRl_9-lU

I do not have an electric start.