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 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).