Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I'm hoping I can get some help from this forum....or at least your opinion.  Three years ago when I was transferred to Connecticut, I purchased an old (mid 70's, model 910995) ariens snowblower that I found on craiglslist.  The purchase was alittle bit nostalgic, as it was very similar to the machine my dad had and used all while I was growing up, and worked great for him.  For the past three years, no problems....quick to start up, and threw the snow with ease (even the heavy crap we sometimes get in CT).  This fall, I changed the engine and gear oil, filled up with fresh gas, and gave the carb a couple of shots of cleaner while I let it run.  It ran for about 15 minutes with no problem and I was confident it would be another good season.  During the big snowstorm we got over Christmas, it did not go well.  The blower worked for about 10 minutes with no problems, then shut down.  No sputtering, or sounding like it was running out of gas, just died. I restarted it with no problem, and it ran another 5 minutes, then the same thing....died.  I continued to clear the driveway like this, a couple of minutes of running, then die, then restart.  Sometimes it would die when under a heavy load, other times not. 

So a couple of questions:

     -Any suggestions on what I can do to improve/fix this problem?  The way it runs fine, then shuts down without warning, then restarts easily makes me think its more spark then fuel related.  Any thoughts?  I haven't done much work on small engine other than the normal mainenance, but am reasonably mechanically inclined. 

    -Unfortunately, I have no way to bring the blower to a repair shop.  My local shop will pickup/dropoff for $75.  Add in another $100 or so minimum to repair, and I've spent close to 200, and still have a 30 year old engine.  Looking online, I can get a replacement motor that I could put in for about 250.  Doesn't this make the most sense?  I'm pretty confident I can swap out the old engine, less confident of my troubleshooting/repair abilities. 

Thanks for reading, and appreciate any advice.

Just wanted to give a quick update to those who helped me. We got buried in 2ft of snow last night. Ran the machine for 3 hrs this morning and not one shutdown. Earlier I had replaced the condenser and the kill wire, and cleaned up some oil on the points. Very pleased. During the last hour or so, it started to surge alittle bit, and the power seemed down. Going to clean and reseal the carb and see if that fixes it. Also the muffler blew out. Alittle unsure of that repair as the remaining pipe seems pretty fused to the engine. I'll worry about that another day, now time for a beer.

Nice going, tune-up, crab cleanup, maybe a new seal and you're running.  At least for me three hours would be way over pushing that engine. 

Probable some residual crud from the tank or line.  If you can get a cheap Briggs inline filter and put it close to the carb intake if it will fit.  I bought a bag of 25 but I hardly get a chance to plant them due ti space.

The 910995 is the bucket model.  The machine model is at the back base.  The engine number should be stamped on the top of the cowling.  So not sure what engine you have but likely the H70.  Some people claim it to be one of the best engines Tecumseh ever made.