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

My friend  who is moving to CA has given me his snowblower.   It is a 1978 Bolens with 8 hp Tecumseh engine.  ( the engine was replaced in the early 90s). 

I havent  got the serial numbers or model numbers off it yet  ( it is currently stored in another friends garage.) .   but does anybody  know if parts are still avaiable for this unit. or an owners manaual?

My friend told me the motor was running when he stored it but it has not been run it  5 plus years !  .   He said he stopped using it because " the impeller was clanking around in the bucket housing !"   . what might be the cause of that   ????

The other things Ican see need attention are two flat tires . How do you fix those???    the box that covers the carb is not attached  .

and when I pulled the starter rope to see if the motor was siezed  the motor seemed to turn over but  the rope didnt retract.    any ideas on that. 

Do you think this one is worth saving ?     I had good luck restoring my  yardman   (whith help fom this group)   but in that case i just unstuck the motor and repaired some minor parts.

Providing  Ican get the motor running     I am guessing some sort of bearing is gone which is causing the impeller to clank around in the housing.   is this a hard repair??

Any  first thoughts from you guys/gals.   and we will go from there.

It is just on one wheel.   I guessed it was some type of  system to lock up both wheels.    I am still waiting for my friend to send me the serial /model numbers (IF he can find them)  I will then try the MTD website to see if they have a PDF version of the owners manual.   (they had one for my 1980 yard-man)   So I may get lucky.

I could be wrong, but I think 1978 pre-dates Bolens relationship with Troy-Bilt or MTD. Your blower not being green or red in color indicates to me that it dates back to the good old days when Bolens was a proud independant manufacturer of fine machines. Having said that, do not dispair, a good repair shop should be able to match up parts from other manufacturers to replace what you need. The only things that might be real hard to find would be the auger, auger housing, and sheet metal covers that "style" it as a Bolens. Pins, sprockets, belts, keys, nuts, bolts, engine parts, cables, are all relatively generic and should be available with little or no modifications. I'd go ahead and evaluate what needs fixing and if it just needs the generic parts I mentioned, I'd certainly try to fix it up. First priority would be the engine, because without that, it is of little use. Best of luck on it!

I agree, I will start by trying to get the motor started.   I doesnt seem siezed   . When I pulled the starter rope the engine turned (althought the starter rope didnt retract).   I havent looked at the carb but the gas tank was empty.  My friend couldnt remember if he ran it dry or not.    .

As I said in another post the motor and  drive were working fine ,when the impeller started banging against the housing .   he then parked it in his shed and never toched it again.  at least 5 years !

I guess I will start with that, see if the wheel drive still works  and then address  the impeller issue.

engine will need a carb kit..632347 should fit and possibly a bowl and float.starter is just a rusty spring most likley ,replacement is cheep if necessary.

the impeller will probably need a bearing and you will also need a few belts and a friction wheel is a posibitlty.

if the impeller shaft is not damaged from the bearing going bad (many do get scored quite bad).i would repair the machine.

a bolens of that year is a quality machine and it was well before troybilt.you would have a hard time finding one as heavy as that now.lotsa steel in those.

the tires can either be replaced with sno hogs (my choice ) or put in some tubes .a bit of paint and you will have a machine to be proud of .

later chrsi