borat

Looking at the pictures, they look like rudimentary machines.  Similar to the very old Ariens models that used a chain drive off of the side of the power deliver system to run the auger. 

Don't know if you noticed.  It's a Czech Company. 

www.wisconsineng.cz

Contact Persons:

Why don't you go to a few snow thrower repair shops to look for an old machine with serviceable chute.  You can bet that there are a lot of old machines kicking around that might have salvageable part you'd be interested in.  If you get a steel chute, put a plastic liner in it. 

"Sad to see Tecumseh go the way of the dodo bird and with Honda and now Yamaha selling snow throwers, how long can American brands compete?"

With the recent down turn in product quality of a couple of prominent snow thrower manufacturers in order for them to enter into the box store market, and the continued consistent quality of Honda and now Yamaha, I'd say the plan for self destruction is pretty much set for domestic manufacturers.    Look at the auto sector in Detroit.  Their arrogance and hubris allowed them to keep their heads in the sand for almost 40 years.  The writing has been on the wall for at least that long and finally, they've pulled their heads out  just in time to read the bad news.   A loyal customer who learns that the new machine they have just purchased is not nearly as robust as the one of the same brand that they are replacing, will not be coming back for another one.  In addition to that, he/she will not be giving the new machine very good reviews when it starts to break down.   The logic of compromised manufacturing quality eludes me. 

And....I don't buy the "advanced more efficient productions methods" smoke screen either.  Cheap is cheap, plain and simple.   

The gears in there look like they came out of a grist mill! 

Paul7 wrote:

The nicest thing about those old machines is that their simplicity of design and construction would likely allow for a part to be easily made  if need be.   Machines today have elaborate castings that can't be fabricated in an average machine shop.  Those old machines were designed and built by people who were probably machinists and mechanics.  Chances are they were fabbed in very rudimentary plants with lots of manual labour.  Guys churning out gears, shafts and forming sheet metal would have been common place. Getting to be a lost art nowadays.