Slumlord

I will note that on the first night of test runs, I somehow manged to suck in a frozen leather work glove that must have been buried in the snow. It got jammed in the impeller and the entire machine ground to complete halt without breaking the supposed shear bolt!  We're talking terrible sounds, drastically dimming headlight, the works. Isn't that the point of shear pins? To prevent destructive seizure of expensive gearage along with the terrible smell of melting drive belts and such?  At the very least I immediately felt better about the purchase of that service plan of which up until that point I was still questioning the value of.

I think this may be a lengthy thread by the time spring finally rolls around.

snowmachine wrote:
I got mine for $879 after sale price and 20% scratch and dent discount. I still haven't found the and scratches and dents but that's probably because they're on the cylinder walls or something equally as horrific. I'll be sure to repost if and when the thing grenades. With any luck I'll blow the motor and burn the thing to the ground 4 years and 11 months into the 5 year service warranty....

Snowmachine, I'd like to thank you for the inspiration.

I recently tore down my perfectly good garage in order to facilitate the strategic parking of more vehicles in my yard. It's a long story but I do not regret the demolition, aside from the fact that I have nowhere to store or work on anything.

Last week I bought a 2008 Craftsman 14.5 Torque Rating Snow Thrower (917.881063) as a "scratch & dent" model from Sears. I brought it home, where it sat, unceremoniously parked in the backyard under the shoddy coverage of a blue tarp. The yard has changed from frozen ground to mud and back several times already and the snow blower just sank further in every time. It has been with much despair (and much ribbing from my old man, with his climate controlled attached garage and home to his newly acquired Ariens) that I've been reading these posts. It was quickly apparent that there are various maintenance items and general tinkering that can and should occur with this machine. Since I had nowhere covered, heated, or lit, I was at a serious disadvantage in terms of working on machinery in an area where it's always god awful cold and pitch dark by 5pm every day.

Last night just before bed I was checking the pictures you posted on Picasa of your "cable looming" job. Not only were the pictures very detailed and well displayed, I couldn't help but notice the blue tarp on which your machine was parked and the odd patterned wall paper in the back ground - not typically what one would find in a garage. Those people blessed with proper storage for mechanized gadgets would probably overlook these small details but for me it instantly screamed out "HE'S GOT IT IN THE HOUSE!!!. "BRILLIANT!!!"

So at 11:30pm I hastily transplanted the entire contents of my mudroom into the basement with a few jumbled armloads. I laid out a blue tarp, ramped my 293lb machine up the back steps, across the deck, and through the door into the mudroom. I now have lighted, heated, electrically equipped storage and working space! It was really the first time since the Sears showroom that I've even gotten a good look at the damn thing. I'll no doubt be spending the coming days pouring over it, manual in hand, cold beer close by, til all hours of the night, just because I can. I'm thrilled. My wife, on the other hand, may not be quite so enthusiastic but that's besides the point.

Thanks again for the inspiration!

The machine, btw, was purchased at a fairly substantial discount at Sears as "Repaired - Defect Unknown". It had never been used and I can't find any signs of it being worked on or any damage. Odd. I did make a few passes with it the first night home and everything seems to be in good working order. The factory warranty is the same as a new one and for the first time ever I purchased the 5 year service plan. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I'm looking forward to the next good storm so I can really put it to a worthy test before wheeling it back inside....