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

After 37 years of using various 2 stage machines, I finally got around to buying a single-stage…..NOT intended to replace the 2 Stage, just to “compliment” it…

 As one gets older, it becomes a tad more difficult to handle the bigger machine ALL the time, even when there are lesser amounts of snow.

 So, I spent many hours searching thru this forum for help, advice and information on the pros, cons and capabilities of the SS.

 You guys may not even realize just how helpful a forum like this can be…..

 The various contributions that y’all have made over the years with your posts sit there like an encyclopaedia for anyone willing to do the research.

 From your posts I have learned a lot about a SS blower, and now feel more comfortable with my decision to buy one. They appear to be a much more capable machine than I had thought – this I learned from all your links to YouTube which enabled me to see various models “in action”.

 Which particular brand I bought was not a big part of my decision making – features, warranty, & price played heavily into my decision – all coupled with my own personal circumstances and how I plan to use the machine…..

 The machine that I bought has a 205 cc B & S Snow Series OHV engine with a gross torque of 8.0 T.P @ 3060 rpm. It has both the recoil and electric starters, an on-the-go chute rotation lever from the operator’s position and the quick adjust deflector. The clearing width is 22 inches, the intake height is 12.6 inches and the auger diameter is 10 inches.

 The machine has a 4 year warranty – repair only. I paid $500 + tax (Canadian $s)

 Just bought it on the weekend and have yet to use it - - here’s hoping that it works like some of the ones I saw in the videos !!

 I’ll post some pictures in a follow-up....

 Just one question at this time about using a SS – I noticed in a lot of the videos that the operator would release the auger start lever when they were backing up to make another pass – then restart the auger when going into their forward motion…and it seems like most operators did this ALL the time….is there a reason for that ?? Can one not back up while the auger is still engaged ?? (Other than for safety reasons)…

 Seems to me that the continual engage / disengage of the auger is unnecessarily hard on the pulleys / belt etc. etc. On a 2 stage, with the auger lock down feature, the auger runs almost continuously…

 As I’m anxious to learn the best way to use the SS, and the dos & don’ts, I’d appreciate any feed back on this question.

 Cheers = Roger

Just found this on the Sears site...appears to be the exact same machine as mine, but with the Craftsman brand and a different color scheme.... the "specs" are identical.

It's selling for $200 more than I paid at Canadian Tire and it only has a 2 year warranty - mine has a 4 year warranty.....

Word to the wise = shop around for best prices...

Sears are serious scalpers unless you luck out on a sale.  Their parts are absolutely ridiculously over priced.

Regarding the two fasteners that rattled loose. 

Take them off and drill a small hole through the plastic handles.   Attach the fasteners then string a piece of wire through the two holes and tie them off.   They will not loosen and fall out unless the wire is removed.

If you do the above, drill the holes off center to avoid the screw.

Excellent suggestion - thanks for that.

I was surprised that I found them - usually they'd be blown somewhere into space.

Not wanting to loose them, I'll use your solution.

Cheers

FWIW - I was in Home Depot yesterday and they had a couple of Toro 421's that were marked down from $ 699.00 to $ 499.00. It was very tempting but it's coming into "dump your snowblower/snowthrower" season on CL. I decided to pass and wait for a decent used CCR2000/3000, 221, 421, etc... that's more in the $ 100.00 - $ 300.00 range plus I still have my HS520A that I'll be unloading this fall. If all else fails, I'll sell the HS520A for about $ 350.00 or so and parlay that into a new or slightly used machine this coming fall.

borat wrote:

Thanks to Borat for the good suggestion.

Here's the solution as suggested:

No worry about loosing them now !!

There you go. 

Nicely done. 

ParadiseNfld wrote:

If you had run the wire from the cap on the left to the lower portion of the cap on the right, (5 o'clock position), the caps would not only not be lost, they wouldn't loosen. Not too late to drill one more hole.

How are they going to loosen?  They can't rotate.  

I've used similar set ups on the knobs for the quick release windshields on my ATVs.   I just tie off the wire from the knob to the handle bar.  They stay tight.   Prior to doing that, I had lost a couple due to vibrating loose.  The wire holds them in position very effectively.

borat wrote:

   This is an excellent idea.  I have used a simiilar system on my top fuel dragster and all of the fasteners on my Lear are tied  like this.