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Abby’s Guide > Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) > Discussions > My latest acquisition, Craftsman 8/26 Track Drive

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jrtrebor


Location: Michigan - 3 hours north of Chicago on the lake
Joined: Feb 10, 2010
Points: 539

My latest acquisition, Craftsman 8/26 Track Drive
Original Message   Dec 15, 2012 9:15 am
Found this on CL the other night. It's an older model but I don't think it saw much use.
Paid $100.00 for it plus $35.00 in fuel to pick it up.
Gave it a bath and it cleaned up nice.  I now have a real understanding for the comments I've
read about moving one of these track drive machines around.  They don't move.  It's like trying
to muscle a wheelbarrow full of sand around in the mud. 
Six forward speeds two reverse.  Got a decent sized
auger gear box.  Augers are free on the shafts and it has grease fittings.  The whole blower section and augers
aren't that beefy, like on some other older model blowers.  12" impeller



The friction wheel and drive plate are much smaller is this blower compared to others I've seen.
So are the drive belt pulley's.  Pretty straight forward drive train.  Axle bushings are good and snug on the shaft.
Got lucky and found a free owners manual online.



It's got a good engine on it w/elec. start.  Carb needs to be pulled and cleaned. All the decals are in good condition.





These are the adjusters for the rear track hubs. There is an inner and outer one.


Drive axle, sprocket and chain.  Driving the front hub.




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55utilitysedan


Location: Litchfield County, CT.
Joined: Dec 19, 2011
Points: 41

Re: My latest acquisition, Craftsman 8/26 Track Drive
Reply #12   Dec 17, 2012 12:58 pm
On many blowers there is room for adjustment of the friction disk on the drive plate. Sometimes tweeking can make things better speed wise.
hcbph1


Joined: Sep 20, 2012
Points: 16

Re: My latest acquisition, Craftsman 8/26 Track Drive
Reply #13   Dec 18, 2012 9:10 am
Assuming you have the same linkage, This may show where your linkage should line up

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t248/hcbph/Snowblower/536_882700%2010%20HP%203%20stage/Carburetor_Rebuilt.jpg

I've got several 8-10 hp's and they are all pretty much the same.  Hope it helps.

This message was modified Dec 18, 2012 by hcbph1
longboat


Joined: Feb 11, 2009
Points: 103

Re: My latest acquisition, Craftsman 8/26 Track Drive
Reply #14   Dec 19, 2012 8:56 am
jrtrebor wrote:
....  I now have a real understanding for the comments I've
read about moving one of these track drive machines around.  They don't move.  It's like trying
to muscle a wheelbarrow full of sand around in the mud.  ....

For off-season storage, you could always tip it up on the bucket and strap some piano movers to the tracks.

I think MTD now (or over the last few years) has tracked versions that feature their "easy-steer" finger-trigger differentials, so if you happen to get a late-model Craftsman (MTD) tracked machine (or one of the many clones), you might get that feature.  Being a handyman/fixer-upper type, you could probably live with an MTD machine.

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