Recommend a snowblower brand?

[paperfist]

Hi all!

Hope I can post this here 🙂

I'm looking for some recommendations on a snow blower brand. I have a 3 year old Sears blower which every year fails to start until I rebuild the carburetor. I add fuel stabilizer to it which doesn't help.

Anyway I'm sick of fixing it and am looking to buy something else, any suggestions? I don't really want to spend over $1k on one and don't really care about heated grips and auto chutes. I just want a mean, lean, throw'in machine that's reliable.

Thanks!

 

[desy]

I found with my seasonal equipment just to drain/run them dry and forego stabil

 

[3chordcharlie]

What kind of motor on the Sears?

A couple of years ago everything switched from Tecumseh to Briggs (in Canada, anyway). Have you replaced the carburetor?

Blowers are pretty basic machines, and your only problem is the engine... maybe need to run it more?

I found with my seasonal equipment just to drain/run them dry and forego stabil

Also: definitely this. Old gas sucks, and it wrecks carbs. Your gas may have been 3 months old or more before you stabilized it assuming you don't go through a lot of tanks in a year.

 

[paperfist]

What kind of motor on the Sears?

A couple of years ago everything switched from Tecumseh to Briggs (in Canada, anyway). Have you replaced the carburetor?

Blowers are pretty basic machines, and your only problem is the engine... maybe need to run it more?


Also: definitely this. Old gas sucks, and it wrecks carbs. Your gas may have been 3 months old or more before you stabilized it assuming you don't go through a lot of tanks in a year.

It's a Tecumseh engine.

Yeah it definitely does not get run a lot. During the summer I run it 2 or 3 times and put stabilizer in it maybe in September before winter.

Have not replaced the carb, you think there could be something wrong with it that the basic rebuild kit doesn't cover?

I found with my seasonal equipment just to drain/run them dry and forego stabil

Possibly words of wisdom here 🙂 Seems like the stabilizer may be doing more harm then good since both that and the fuel must be going sour.

 

[jaha2000]

Why would you put stabilizer in it before you start using it? That needs to be done BEFORE the gas gets old.

Even still, i think that crap does more harm that good as well.

I have an Ariens, paid extra for the all metal super machine, it fires snow 50 feet or so. And has electric start as well!

 

[MotF Bane]

Ariens. The one in my garage runs fine, although it's getting overpowered by all this snow, and it's rusting away a bit... but it's somewhere around 20 years old.

Or build your own. :awe:

 

[AMCRambler]

Ariens is the bomb. American made and good quality. I've got an ST24 and it's great. Goes through anything except frozen solid snow banks.

I definitely run mine a lot so I don't have problems with the carb getting gummed up. To put it away for the summer, I usually run it low on fuel, add some stabil and then run it till its out of gas. This way the stabil is mixed in with any fuel that's left in the carb and the tank is empty.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I found with my seasonal equipment just to drain/run them dry and forego stabil

I would run the snowblower dry at the end of every year. If you don't want to do that use the stabil, but top off the tank with fresh high octane gas before you use it. I have an outboard motor that will start but runs terrible on year old gas even with stabil. It runs fine on a 50/50 mixture of old and new gas.

 

[3chordcharlie]

His only problem is the motor, and in general there's nothing wrong with the Tecumseh.

If the machine runs perfectly after a rebuild, then keep the carb.

I would suggest keeping a little better track of your gas:

Don't buy 2gal at a time if that's also 2 years worth
Keep it sealed up - open cans of gas will degrade significantly in a matter of days
Consider buying premium (old premium is better than old regular)
You can add stabilizer to the fuel when you buy it if you want, otherwise you are stabilizing gas that is already old, which won't do much good

Snowblowers have all the problems of lawnmowers, except the weather is worse. Try pulling out your lawn mower in 0F weather and starting it😉

I've got about 10 blowers to get running every winter; for all the 4-stroke stuff I usually put fresh fuel in the tank, then use quickstart and let it run until it's smooth and hot. (Then I change the oil). Most of them will start after 7 months sitting without the quickstart, but rarely on the first pull.

 

[NoCreativity]

Yard Machines. Never more than 2 pulls to start and usually goes on first pull, except this year since I forgot to run dry at the end of last. I've only got the small single stage 2 cycle though.

 

[Howard]

HAT

Honda, Ariens, Toro

 

[paperfist]

Why would you put stabilizer in it before you start using it? That needs to be done BEFORE the gas gets old.

Even still, i think that crap does more harm that good as well.

I have an Ariens, paid extra for the all metal super machine, it fires snow 50 feet or so. And has electric start as well!

I don't put any in till the end of summer. Then I put it in to store it and when I take it out for the first snow fall that I need it it never starts.

You can add stabilizer to the fuel when you buy it if you want, otherwise you are stabilizing gas that is already old, which won't do much good

That may be the problem, by the time I add in stabilizer the gas is around 5 months old. I figured if it was still running on that gas it was good to go for storage. My lawn mower never gives me these problems, starts on first pull every year and it's about 7 years old now. I'm assuming the warm weather doesn't hurt though 🙂

 

[Kirby]

http://www.gizmag.com/for-the-man-with-everything-the-v8-snowblower/4889/

 

[MotF Bane]

http://www.gizmag.com/for-the-man-with-everything-the-v8-snowblower/4889/

Yeah, that'd be the "build your own" option.

Do fucking want.

 

[boomerang]

How much snow you need to move, how frequently it's used along with how much area you have to clear would be helpful for recommendations.

I know everyone is into manly, testosterone pumping two-staged snowblowers, but I clear 300 ft. of driveway with a single stage, two stroke motored Toro. Takes me about 45 minutes to clear it all of 4" to 6" of snow. SE Michigan so we're not strangers to snow.

 

[paperfist]

How much snow you need to move, how frequently it's used along with how much area you have to clear would be helpful for recommendations.

I know everyone is into manly, testosterone pumping two-staged snowblowers, but I clear 300 ft. of driveway with a single stage, two stroke motored Toro. Takes me about 45 minutes to clear it all of 4" to 6" of snow. SE Michigan so we're not strangers to snow.

I have a 10'x75' driveway that opens up to 50'x30'. Biggest problem is the first part has my house on one side and a bunch of neighbor's houses on the other side so the snow has to go straight back so I can place it in my back yard. Seems like we get 1' or more of snow 10x a year so the frequency is low.

 

[bruceb]

Snapper ... I have a 6HP 22 Inch, 2 stage unit. Work great, but with this winter a 10 HP would have been nice as it can throw snow much farther. Another good brand is Ariens
Snapper has since upped the HP of the mid size units.

http://www.snapper.com/products/snow-throwers/intermediate-dual-stage/

FYI: Tecumseh no longer makes engines. Also for any snow thrower, buy spare Shear Bolts for the Auger. Once a year, change the oil, check tires pressure and put grease in any grease fittings. Check that there is a small amount of grease where the chute rotates left / right.

 

[boomerang]

I have a 10'x75' driveway that opens up to 50'x30'. Biggest problem is the first part has my house on one side and a bunch of neighbor's houses on the other side so the snow has to go straight back so I can place it in my back yard. Seems like we get 1' or more of snow 10x a year so the frequency is low.

So what you're saying is that you have no real choice but to blow snow into an area that you then have to clear aftererwards? My drive, although not encumbered like yours, is all curves to I get a little of that myself especially if the wind is blowing and I can't put it where I need to.

I think you'd be very happy with what I'm using. It will handle up to 8" without breaking a sweat. The auger pulls the blower along as it scoops up the snow and it takes no real effort to make it move.

This is my second one. The first lasted 12 years and still starts and runs fine but it's getting kind of rusty. I replaced it early last spring with the latest Toro model and this one has way more power than the last. I'm really happy with it. The old one took an hour and fifteen minutes to clear the drive but the new one with so much more power clears the drive in 45 minutes. The old one you sometimes had to hold it back in a real heavy snow (8" or more) or it would stall, but the new one just moves itself along and never even sounds like it's working hard. But the snow we're getting tonight will be a real test for it. Right now they're saying 8 to 12 inches. I'll be clearing the drive twice on this one. 12" is more than than I'd tackle with one of these.

Long reply I know, but really, with the snow you get, I think you'll be very pleased. No oil changes with a two stroke motor too. The old one still has the original spark plug in it. They're built pretty well.

This is what I've got.

http://www.toro.com/home/snowthrowers/gassinglestage/221Q.html

EDIT: Read my reply to bruceb below. I misread your post.

 

[bruceb]

Nothing personal, but that is a toy and is only good for light, powdery type snow. Where the OP lives, somewhere in central NY State, you want a real 2 stage unit with a strong motor. Or if large property or very large driveway, a small plow for the truck or for the lawn tractor (if he has either of these)

 

[boomerang]

Nothing personal, but that is a toy and is only good for light, powdery type snow. Where the OP lives, somewhere in central NY State, you want a real 2 stage unit with a strong motor. Or if large property or very large driveway, a small plow for the truck or for the lawn tractor (if he has either of these)

Oh man, I misread where he wrote 1' to be 1".

OP, don't buy what I suggested. I'm really sorry for my mistake. 😳

Mine works great for me and I couldn't be happier, but it's certainly not going to handle a foot of snow on a regular basis. Once again, I apologize.

 

[paperfist]

Oh man, I misread where he wrote 1' to be 1".

OP, don't buy what I suggested. I'm really sorry for my mistake. 😳

Mine works great for me and I couldn't be happier, but it's certainly not going to handle a foot of snow on a regular basis. Once again, I apologize.

No biggy 🙂

I actually started looking at some Ariens, but with a snow storm coming I had to fix the one I had. Luckily I didn't have to rebuild the carburetor, I instead got away with cleaning out the tank, fuel line and carb. A new plug, high octane gas and some booster and I got it running. There was another problem where the linkage to the governor was bent which didn't help. Not sure how the hell that happened...

Anyway, no more stabilizer for me. The old gas I took out was pretty gunked up with small chunks of something floating around inside the gas.

 

[LTC8K6]

Been using sta-bil for a long time, never had any problems. Our company mowers and weed whackers sit all winter. They always start right up in the spring, never had a carb problem with sta-bil.

I wonder if Ethanol may be causing some problems? I notice that sta-bil has a new version out that mentions ethanol problems.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Been using sta-bil for a long time, never had any problems. Our company mowers and weed whackers sit all winter. They always start right up in the spring, never had a carb problem with sta-bil.

I wonder if Ethanol may be causing some problems? I notice that sta-bil has a new version out that mentions ethanol problems.

I've never had a problem with E10 as long as it's fresh; and I don't noice the motors running differently on premium, again as long as it is fresh. That being said, I do use premium. But gas goes bad long before it changes colour or has chunks in it!

OP you're smart to fix what you have - around here (Ontario) any machine under $2k is basically the same grade: light duty. There are better machines out there, but they cost. In general, if you have a Briggs or a Tecumseh, your motor is likely a quality unit.

A can of starting fluid can really help, especially if you don't have electric start. I find after a couple of weeks sitting Tecumseh motors can be stubborn (maybe the gas in the carb gets 'old' fast, not sure), just spray it up under the throttle and shutoff control housing and it will find its way to the intake. There's often a big gasp of black smoke right after it fires. You can get the same effect by ripping on the cord a dozen or so times😉

Also worth noting - you should change the oil every October when you pull the macine out to get it running; at the very least you should by now have changed it at least once since you bought the machine.