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

Guys,

I may get to go check out some SS's. One is a Yardman 21" 5hp 2-stroke. The other is a Toro CCR2000e 2-stroke.

I am leaning towards the Yardman, based on boratification possibilities. I'm guessing/hoping it has a 5hp Tecumseh, maybe the HSK850. The Toro would have a 4.5hp Suzuki engine, from what I understand. I don't care about electric start. Any reason to avoid the Yardman? I realize it's probably not as solid/durable a machine as the Toro. But if it could be ramped up more in the power department, I could live with that. Thanks for any feedback.

I"ve got the MTD Yard Machines version with a TH139 in it.  Nice light machine but not as capable a snow mover as the Craftsman despite fact the the MTD is also jacked up.  It seems too light to handle the additional power and wants to climb up on top of the snow when on the gas.  It almost seems like the additional impeller speed lifts it up making it less effective.  I think some weight added to the front/top of the machine may help keep it down.  It makes for a great deck clearing machine.  That's for sure. 

Regardless, for fifty buck, you've got potential for a decent snow mover that's easy to modify and fun to use.  Enjoy!

Don't know much about the Yardman.  But the Toro CCR2000s have a very easy governor step up to modify.   The only thing I learned about the SS blowers with the steel screw type augers.
Is that they don't like hard rough ice on the pavement or in EOD piles.  They are spinning so fast that if they catch an ice lip wrong they can and will wrap a part of the auger around the shaft.
Or break it loose.  Snapper  LE model SS are know for that fun little trick.

We'll see how this does (if we ever get any snow). It's certainly heavier than my Ariens SS322, but I have no idea how it compares to your Craftsman. Here's what I've found so far:

The machine does not have the stock impeller & paddle assembly. For whatever reason, it has the paddle from another blower. It appears to mount up just fine, but this paddle is 1" narrower than stock (it's a 21" machine, which is really more of a 20" now). It looks somewhat like a Powercuve type of paddle to me, but I don't actually have a Toro, to say for sure. I'd welcome any feedback on what it might be from. If I need to replace the rubber, I have no idea what to order, at the moment :) I can fit a fingertip between the rubber and the blower housing, in terms of how worn the rubber is. Not planning to replace it currently.

The cable-mounting assembly at the bail handle must have broken, and was replaced with something to make the machine work. It looks like a cable mount from another machine was mounted to the handle, held in place with hose clamps It does appear to work fine, at least. The belt tension was much too loose, so I tightened that up. The belt looks OK to me.

I got pics of the cylinder and piston. There is what looks like maybe some light scoring? The compression test was good (90 psi), it starts fine, and doesn't feel "scratchy" or anything when pulling it. The rings are free. The engine does seem to sound a bit quieter than my HSK600. The 850 has a bigger muffler, and is also turning slower, I think, which must help.

The build quality does not particularly impress me. The engine mounts leave something to be desired. The engine bolts on with 4 bolts around the crankshaft. On my Ariens, even with the smaller HSK600, the engine bolts on with the same 4 bolts, and also 4 more under the engine, so it's much more secure. borat, if yours is like this, I can see why your engine mount broke. There is an issue with the chute, with cranking it to the left. The teeth on the chute are worn wide, so the screw on the crank binds up. I moved the crank closer, which helped, but it's not there yet. I'll be trying to improve it.

The PO must have repainted the sheet metal housing, so the stickers are covered up. I found a picture of an identical-looking machine, which listed its model #, so I used that to try and find manuals. Now I really appreciate the ready access to my Ariens owners manual, parts list, and service manual. I got an owners manual for this, and I can get parts list info off MTD's site. No service info or anything. Please forgive posting a bunch of pics.

The auger assembly looks like it came from a Toro CCR2450 / 3650. Those were 20" wide.

It's amazing what people will come up with to make things works.  Referring to the auger bearing flange extension bolts.  Never seen anything like that.
But it was a good idea, I love it.

Red:

I haven't taken the MTD machine apart so I'm not certain about the motor mount arrangement.  However, I suspect that it's very similar to yours.   If you're seeing excessive vibration, you may want to stiffen the engine mounting system some how.  You'd be surprised how even a little pulley offset can eat up belts. 

The engine doesn't look too bad.  I wouldn't really that scoring on the cylinder/piston.  It looks more like regular wear on an engine that's obviously seen it's fair share of work.  Run your fuel at 32:1.  The extra lube will be good for the engine.  

I do like the impeller swap.   That modification combined with a throttle mod will likely make that thing quite the kick-ass snow blower.  You may have to weigh it down some to keep it on the ground but I bet it will chuck some serious snow.   For fifty  buck, you did well.

   The MTD isn’t a bad machine even compared to Toro.  They both have their points even with the price break.

 

   Below are pictures of engine supports on the Toro Powerlite and MTD 5.5hp. 

 

   The Toro has a triangle brace running from the lower handlebar over to a triangle brace mounted on the cowling recoil.  

 

   The MTD has a couple of inch horizontal brace bolted to the intake housing running to the engine cowling and cross machine lower brace.  It’s a nice stiff support.   

 

   Both are strong but the MTD better.  The MTD allows access to the recoil and gas tank.

 

Borat,

   The MTD 5.5 weighs 62lbs.  The Craftsman 3/21 53lbs.   Too much to be just engine an difference.  Your MTD is probably a different model.   Maybe it’s riding up is due to the angle and way of attachment to the base. ?  Toro’s will ride up also.  I’ve got a Toro 3650 here this year so can get in some comparison runs to the MTD 5.5.    

trouts2 wrote:

I'm glad the engine on the Toro Powerlite is supported at the crankshaft and the recoil cowl.  These two points should at least be the bare minimum of engine support.  I would be leary of crankshaft support only unless if it is really beefy.  When you have a flooded engine, the recoil rope can put a lot of cantiliver forces on the engine crankcase engine mount.

The MTD engine mount seems very solid.  The forces of recoil and engine torque is braced by triangulated members.  These are the same as the Honda SS.  Having unobstructed access to the recoil housing is nice on these.

RedOctobyr wrote:
Good idea on the spacer for the auger assembly.  Reminds me of something MacGyver would have come up with.  Although the right side of the snowblower wouldn't perform as well as the left side.  Also, the auger discharge doesn't exactly line up with chute opening. 

That Tecumseh HSK850 engine is surprisingly compact with that muffler.  The chassis seems to be fairly stiff to handle extra power.  I've never seen a spark plug that close to the console before.  This is a very tidy compact machine, I like the separate gas tank that is not part of the upper housing.  Easy to pull off without worrying about fuel leakage.

I just weighed both machines with some very accurate American Tourister luggage scales.  MTD was 59.6 lbs. the Craftsman was  ten pounds heavier at 69.6 lbs.  Both machines clean with no snow/moisture on them and both full of fuel.  Ten pounds difference.

The MTD is Yard Machine 31A-260-516 with no electric start.  The Craftsman has electric start. 

Trust me.  There is a major difference in how both machines get the job done.  The Craftsman is, hands down, better at throwing snow.   The MTD might be able to match it if it had more weight but as it is, it doesn't.