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

The belt in my Craftsman single stage unraveled so I had to replace it.  During inspection, I noticed that the rear portion of the motor mount had cracked and the engine/crank shaft  had a fair  amount of movement to it which, in combination with higher power being put out likely caused the belt to come apart.   I repaired the motor mount and everything is good and solid again.

The machine takes a 3/8 x 35" belt.   I called Sears and they wanted .... wait for it..... $38.95 plus $7.00 shipping for a belt they claim is 3/8 x 34-3/4" part no. 760928 - 2150.  I suspect the belt on the machine was original equipment.  It had the same part no. 760928 - 2150 printed on it. I went to NAPA and found an FHP belt  for garden equipment coded as a 3L350 which is 3/8 x 35" and fits the machine perfectly.  The NAPA belt was only $6.00.  

Is this a suitable belt?  Will it hold up? 

I fixed the motor mount by fabricating a crude but effective brace.  It would have been nice to weld it but not having a welder nor the skills I opted for what I had available.  I don't want to put any more money  than necessary into this thing.  So, I made the brace out of a piece of steel that I had.  I made a couple bends, ground out a cut out to clear the crankshaft, drilled a few holes to line up with existing mounting bolts.  Then I found some longer bolts, a couple suitably sized spacers, got out the blue Locktite and put it all together.  It's much better than it was.  The bottom pic shows the crack in the motor mount on the bend.

To change the belt is a bit of a chore because the top has to be removed.  However, I've found ways to speed that up and it's not that big of a deal.  Probably 15 to 20 minutes, if all goes well. 

No TSC outlets around here. 

Looks great.  Looks like it was made to go there.

@borat

Can you post picture of the whole snowblower?  What's the age and who makes it?  Thanks.

aa335 wrote:
It's a Craftsman made by Murray.  I think it's a 1998 model.   I took it out for a test run this morning and it worked great, governor over-ride and all.   It's impressive how much power can be squeezed out of these little 139cc Tecumseh two stroke engines.  The big question is, how long can it last.  Time will tell I guess, but from my experience, most two strokes I've used can take a great deal of rpms/load without letting go.  Just make sure there's lot of oil in the fuel.  I like 32 to 40:1 ratio. 

This Craftsman is one of the underdog models.  They are frequently sold on Craigslist at modest prices.  I've seen videos of them working, it doesn't have the longest throw distance, but they move decent volume of snow.

aa335 wrote:
See that piece of string from the handle going into the housing?   Pull that string and throwing distance is increased three fold.   It's amazing to see what that thing will do at 6000+ rpms.

By the way, I bought that one used real cheap.   I'm still waiting for the Toro lady to drop her ridiculous price to something more reasonable.  Then I'll scoop it up.  In the meantime, I'll be having fun with the Craftsman.  If it lets go, it won't be much of a loss.  I bought it more for something to play with than actually depend on it for serious snow removal.  However, it's been so impressive that I haven't had the Simplicity out in weeks.

Hmmm...and I thought that was a wire for the tachometer.  :)

Looks like you got a little Q-ship there. 

I thought about putting a governor bypass and throttle control on mine, but the last time I played with increasing the top RPM, the engine didn't seem to like the extra RPM.  Too much shaking.

What's a Q-ship?

borat wrote:
It's an ordinary looking car that is stealthily fast. 

I have a similar vintage John Deere TRS21 which was also built by Murray.  The engine is a Tecumseh HSK850.  It looks like you have the original black rivets on the impeller which means you have the original paddle rubber.  For better throwing performance you may want to replace the paddle rubber.  Problem areas include the hose from the primer bulb to the carburetor (hardens and cracks over time) and muffler bolts loosen over time.