subaru engines Original Message Aug 18, 2010 1:07 am
I have a Techumseh HMSK80 and am thinking of replacing it with a Subaru SK30 engine. Has anyone used this engine on a snowblower before? It puts out 9.5 hp and revs to 4000 . Is it a quality engine. I was thinking of something different , and better performance than a Techumseh HMSK80. I cant find a NEW 10 ,11 or13 hp Techumseh HMSK engine.I here Honda clones have to many problems. I was told Briggs & Stratton Vibrate more than Techumseh. A REAL Honda GX340 is outstanding but cost is very high. That leads me back to subaru. I want to here from folks that are using them. I want to repower my serial #924108 Ariens Snowblower
He's referring to the OH358SA 13hp. It has a balance shaft to cancel 2nd order vibration (the only snow engine to do so to date). This engine is also equipped with light piston technology (as were the large L-heads the last year or two of production). This engine vibrates a good deal less than the equivalent 342cc Briggs. Very smooth. For the rest of Tecumseh's engines, the opposite is true. They vibrate in magnitude about twice as much as the equivalent Briggs.
I doubt you can get the Subaru as an after-market engine (only Ariens uses them) and they certainly will be expensive. It is a commercial engine built with full automation in Japan (even the GX is made in Taiwan).
Borat had the right idea. Small Engine Warehouse has several engines that will work for you. There is only one with the truly correct crankshaft extension (Tecumseh #3, 1" diameter). It's a Tecumseh 11hp OHV Snow King. I myself would get the HMSK100 (re:358cc L-head) with the adaptor for the 3/4" crankshaft (displacement is your friend). The output on these is rather beastly.
