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

So we got the 12" of snow I've been wanting.  Took the Murray out and did my driveway two times.  Once during the storm the other after.  So, each time there was only five or six inches of snow on the driveway.

A neighbour was out of town for the weekend and I told him I'd clear his driveway prior to them coming home.  I waited for the storm to finish then tackled his driveway this morning.   I started off by using his 11 h.p. 30" Craftsman.  Got fuel - check, oil OK - check, fired it up  and it was running rough.  Adjusted the carb a bit and it smoothed out.  Noticed machine listing badly to the left.  Flat tire.  Look for pump.  No pump.  Back home to get mine.  Tire inflated, lets go to work. 

His machine is the second worst snowblower I have ever used.  The worst one was the first Craftsman that I owned and had bought used.   Absolute junk.  This machine is only marginally better and it's maybe ten years old.  First problem was the deflector was seized in the fully up position.  Real nice on a freezing, windy day.  Secondly was the chute would not stay put.  It would swing like a freaking weather vane unless I kept one hand on the crank to hold it.  I needed three hands to operate this thing.  I tried to find a bungee to lock in place but was out of luck.  I made three miserable passes and cleared the EOD then parked that miserable s.o.b. back in his garage then go back home to get the Murray. 

I go to fill the Murray and the gas cap is frozen in place.  Get the big channel locks to take it off.  I fill it and take it out to fire it up.  The g-damn key is missing and it's the only one I have.  I feel around in the snow and by sheer luck, I find it.  I immediately get a piece of wire and fasten it to the key and the other end to the machine.  Turn the key and go to pump the primer.  It's frozen.  Bust off the ice, warm up the primer, fire the machine up and drag it the two or three hundred feet over to the neighbour's driveway.  Everything is going fine..... for a while.  Then the paddles stop turning when I push into deep snow???  WTH?  Pull it back and the paddles turn fine.  Go into snow, they stop.  I figure something must have sheared or slipped.  Back to my garage, park it and pull the Craftsman from the back shed.  Fuel it, fire it up and finish the neighbour's driveway with no issues. 

I take the Murray into the basement to inspect and repair.  I pull the side panel off and find the driven pulley completely encased in ice......again.  I thought that I had remedied this problem the first time it happened.   Apparently not.   Upon close inspection, I found that what was probably happening was more to do with what I was doing in relationship to the design of the machine.  While i was working in the deep, light snow, I'd drag the machine backward while snow was falling from the sides into the path of the machine.  Snow would funnel up, between the wheels and into openings between the plastic housing and the engine mount right into the pulley compartment.  The more I dragged it backward in snow, the more snow would get in.  I put the machine back together, found some aluminum tape and covered the openings to the pulley compartment on the underside, put in another screw to tighten up the pulley cover joint and took it out to do the back yard.  Worked great.  So, if anyone out there has a slipping auger on their Murray, that's probably where the problem will be.

When the Murray is working, it's the best of the three Tecumseh powered machines I have.  Hopefully that the end of the problems for a while.      

aa335 wrote:

For borat, these vibrations are much too mild compared to the rocket launches he supported at NASA.

"I find it disturbing to hear such a poorly maintained snowblower, especially for someone living in such an high snowfall area.  I have well-maintained equipment with redundancy in case of failures, most of which are factory stock, no mods, just a mild case of OCD in me."

The owner is actually quite a handy guy.  It would appear however that he just doesn't care about OPE.

When he got home he asked me if I had any problems with his snow blower.  I gave him a similar review that I posted here.  He acknowledged the problems and laughed when I recounted the misery that the machine caused.  Then he told me that he actually prefers to shovel the driveway and will resort to the snow blower only for large accumulations.   He likes the exercise of shoveling.  I'll tell you this.  Using his machine is pretty much as taxing as shoveling.  I think the skids were also worn through because the thing bucked or pulled from sided to side on every crack in the driveway.  A truly evil machine.

I know that they'll be moving into a condo in a year or so and that's why he's allowed the snow blower to slide.  If he gets this winter out of it, that's good enough.

borat wrote:
You brought up a good point.  My first year of 2 stage snowblower ownership was quite frustrating.  Even though it was a brand new machine and I didn't have any mechanical problems, the skid shoes and scraper bar wasn't properly adjusted to the conditions of my driveway.  The snowblower was very sensitive to the surface.  It pulled side to side as well, I was fighting to keep it going straight.  My wrist, forearm, and legs got quite a good workout.  All the time, I was thinking to myself that I bought a machine to do the work, but it was a lot of work just guiding it around.  It was like driving a high power race car, twitchy and temperamental.  After the year's experience, I made it a point to have the machine properly maintained and set up perfectly.  During the winter season, I would actually tweak it a little to see how the change affect the way it steers.

But after some time, I come to realize that a 2 stage snowblower will always be a beast that is harder to for me to tame as I get older.  An 11 HP, 32 inch wide, 350 pound tracked snowblower with a solid axle is such a beast.  I've seen a 36" wide Simplicity snowblower and I don't envy the owner/operator at all.  Good thing Simplicity don't make those things anymore.  This machine would make the cliche "bigger is better" an oxymoron.  I did envy the neighbor's single stage Toro 221QR when I saw how easily he was able to handle the machine in moderate snowfall of 8 inches or less.  Seeing is believing so I got myself a single stage snowblower to handle 95% of my typical snow.  I still keep the "beast" around for the big snowstorms.  At those time, I appreciate how raw and and capable it is at breaking down that 28" EOD wall.  There is also that thrill of seeing a plume of snow 30-40 feet up in the air landing across the street.  But for 95% of the time, the "beast" stays hibernating in the warm garage.  I'm okay with that.  I'm happy using the SS and it doesn't over power me. 

As they say, ignorance is bliss.  Prior to buying my first used SS machine, I had no experience nor understanding of how well they could work.  Of course, when I brought the Craftsman home and experienced how lame it was I was less than impressed.  Hence jacking up the engine.  Thereafter, it was very impressive until the motor mount started to crack, causing misalignment of the pulleys and inevitable belt destruction.  Once I fixed the engine mount and put on a new belt, the machine has seen a great deal of work, has been very reliable and effective.  The last time I used it however, I found that the chute was reluctant to turn.  So, down to the basement again.  First off, the hole that the chute protrudes through in the cowling was fairly off centre causing tightness on one side and a gap on the other.  I balanced that out by taking material off of the tight side with a dremmel.  I noticed that the real problem was how the crank spiral interacted with the notches in the chute.  It was too far out.  So I loosened the two screws that hold the crank mechanism, shifted it inward about 1/4 inch and it's working great.  Another thing I noticed is that the orignal engine mount is cracked right through and the only thing holding is the mount I made.  Seems to be holding up well enough.

Anyway, getting back to the point, if you've never used a well running SS machine, you're in for a pleasant surprise when you decide to try one.

BR>
Borat wrote: Anyway, getting back to the point, if you've never used a well running SS machine, you're in for a pleasant surprise when you decide to try one.

I know what you're saying.  My driveway has an 10:1 grade.  Not terrifically steep but certainly noticeable.  I had to reduce the engine rpm on the Toro 221 because it pulled too hard going down hill and was treacherous to control.  Slowing the machine down by one one or two hundred rpm helped.  With the modified machines, it's not an issue.  They don't bite as hard as the Toro and are much easier to control.  On the other hand, going up hill they require a bit of encouragement.

borat wrote:

+2