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

Big thanks to all of you who championed the ss blower, I'm a convert. I used to sneer at those little under powered sissy toys, but no more.
We had a good 8-10 inches of very light snow overnight and the plow had passed, so there was about 3-4 inches of denser snow deeper than the opening of the blower. Fired her up, let her warm up for a couple of minutes and started cautiously. WOW, she threw like a champ, at least 20 to 30 feet, and she's not even Boratified yet! Slowed a bit when pushed hard but never stalled.
She's an MTD 4.5 / 21 with electric start and the Tecumseh HSK845 (DOM 2002). Picked it up at the local recycle yard for $40 (I know I paid too much). The compression seemed good at 93 lbs., so I put in some gas and she fired right up. As soon as she shut down, the carb started to leak a lot. So I put her away for the summer & ordered some paddles, belt and scraper bar from fleabay (shoulda ordered the carb kit too).
So mid november I went to the local small engine shop and bought a carb kit, 2 ft. of fuel line, clamps, a shutoff valve and a carb to intake gasket (might have been something else). When he said $90, I thought he was joking, but no! Since I waited till the last minute, he had me (won't do that again).
Now I'm into it for about $170, so that takes some of the shine off my deal, but she throws so well and is so easy to handle, I can't be too sad. May try and take a video if I get the chance.

Did anyone else get snow?

Cheers
Paul

I still have to address the governor shaft seal.  Got to get the part and hopefully change it without taking the engine apart.  It's an awful tight fit in there.  Not sure if I can prize the old one out.  From my experience with oil/crank/fork seals, it looks like it might be a tough go.   


The motor mount fix.  

These pictures looks like the bottom of my Toro Powerlite.  It also has a Tecumseh engine.  Doesn't Tecumseh provide enough/proper mounting points on these TH engine block so people do not have to resort to bracing on pull start cover?

aa335 wrote:
I think Tecumseh would have provided mounting brackets any where the customer wanted, so it's probably more a case of poor/cheap design of the motor mounting plate. Also, the long output shaft probably adds another source of twisting force on the motor mount when users ram  the machine into snow banks. So, with users who abuse their machines and don't do any maintenance (pulling furiously on the starter rope when it won't start right away) you have a recipe for  early failure.

I have to cast my vote against ss machines. I tried, I really tried to like my recently new to me Toro CCR 3000 SS thrower...but it's not in the cards. Nothing wrong with the machine...got it as a backup machine and it throws snow just fine. But it was too much of a hassel to use on my very slopped doublewide driveway. Because of the slope I had to blow going side to side and with a thin layer of base ice underneath the snow it was hard to keep it going in a straight line. The Suzuki engine was plenty powerful though and threw the moderately heavy snow effectively. Maybe if I had a flatter driveway...

I just wanted to add my $0.02 on single-stage machines.

I had a 3hp Ariens SS322 and a 5hp MTD. Both were nice in small storms of fluffy snow. But I had a lot of trouble with even quite moderate storms (maybe 4-6", especially if heavier snow). I'd end up no longer making any progress (some snow would land in the driveway, and need to be moved again), even taking narrow cuts. I sold both machines.

I've gone back to just a 2-stage (10 hp, 24") for my driveway. I don't have to try and fit a second machine in the limited space in my garage. With the differential on my Ariens, maneuvering it around is so much easier than with my fixed-axle MTD 2-stage (reducing the ease-of-use benefit of the single stage). And it does great even in deeper, heavy snow, including EOD.

However, I have an electric Toro Powercurve 1800 for my deck. I love it, it's actually my second one. At ~25 lbs, it's easy to carry up the stairs to my deck, which is about 10' off the ground. And it performs surprisingly well. Yesterday I cleared ~16" of fairly light snow, with a crust of ice in the middle. I took narrower cuts, and let it chew through, then did a second quick pass to get what went over the top of the bucket. Unlike 2-stroke engines, electric motors typically make more torque as they slow down (and there's no centrifugal clutch to slip), so it will keep churning along even when under a heavy load. The performance/weight is very impressive, vs my ~50-60 lb gas single-stages, and moving/storing it is easy.

I wouldn't want it as my driveway machine. But to be honest, having it as a backup to my 2-stage is still nice, if the big one had a problem. It may not sound like much, but it's still much faster than shoveling.

I recently put my 3 1/2 y.o. (SS) Toro 221QR on CL, & sold it today. First 3 yrs., I thought it was fine. This year, it became increasingly hard--or impossible to start. Then, sometimes, when it did start, it'd die after 5 or 10 min., & then again wouldn't start. (I do have a hinky R. wrist, & was kicking myself for not paying the extra $$ for elec. start.) Naturally, (in Mass.), this was the worst snow season in years. Considering the small size, when it ran, it'd do "sort-of-OK" with deep snow, I guess. I've also owned 2 Ariens 2-stage machines. I think--you get "more for your money" with them. Way better build quality. I also hate how Toro nickels & dimes you on the SS machines. "Quick-chute"? $100 extra. Elec. start? $100 extra on top of that. (Last I looked).