I'm going crazy... I picked up two Honda Snowblowers on craigslist for $250

[evident]

My goal of spring cleaning was to clean out my damn garage and this is what I did.

Backstory was last summer I picked up a used Honda HS621 snowblower on craigslist in good condition- no rust, starts up right away, auger was straight, etc. but during the one and only blizzard the auger shaft literally cracked in half. Someone miraculously fixed it for me the next day and i was able to snow blow my sidewalks and stuff, but I was on the lookout for a spare auger.

So saw someone in my area sell two for $250 on craigslist. My thought was to purchase and keep one for spare parts, but I'm thinking i should just flip them. One has the a modified auger from a craftsman machine welded onto the drive shaft (original auger probably snapped like mine did), another has the original auger with a straight shaft but bent paddle areas. Both engines are strong, start up right away and are otherwise good machines if not slightly rusted. I ordered some replacement paddles and scraper bars for one of the units. I'm hoping to flip both of them at this point for around $250 / $300 a piece, but probably won't be able to until the fall. in the meantime what else should I do to refurb these units?

 

[jlee]

Cleaning/painting anything that's rusty will probably help your resale value.

 

[slag]

You have a sickness. I was there once and still fight the urges to return. I keep thinking, this will be a quick flip, easy way to make money, etc. Then I spend too much time working on the items and not enough with my kids/wife/enjoying the things I have. Just this week I had to turn down a free lawnmower and free weed trimmer. Probably easy fixes and could net me a few bucks spending cash, but the feeling of not getting the items and picking up yet another project is nice also.

 

[evident]

You have a sickness. I was there once and still fight the urges to return. I keep thinking, this will be a quick flip, easy way to make money, etc. Then I spend too much time working on the items and not enough with my kids/wife/enjoying the things I have. Just this week I had to turn down a free lawnmower and free weed trimmer. Probably easy fixes and could net me a few bucks spending cash, but the feeling of not getting the items and picking up yet another project is nice also.

Yep. I just got sucked in while I was at the dude's house looking at the items. My original goal was to find the identical snowblower to mine that had the updated and revised auger assembly, which these machines didn't have. The updated auger assembly brand new for this machine costs over $300 at a parts store.

I should have just left at that point but the guy dropped the price down by $50, and at that point the "lets flip this!" switch in my head turned on. Getting two decent shape machines for $250 isn't so bad, but I didn't think about the space it takes up in my garage. And I just spent $40 buying the consumables (scraper bar, paddles) for the one machine.

I've become obsessed with this damn snowblower for some reason. The next piece of OPE i'm getting is going to be brand new, to balance my craigslist habit and headaches!

 

[herm0016]

if you were closer I would be interested in one.

 

[evident]

Called up two of the local lawnmower repair shops around me, both said that they won't touch the auger unless if they replace the entire part, due to liability reasons. looks like i'm going to have to either do it myself or find another backyard mechanic to straighten it out for me.