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

December is here and I'm anxiously waiting for some good snow to arrive.  I've been bit by the 2 cycle bug recently.  I have the Toro 421QE, which is the 4 cycle version of the 221Q.  I thought it may be redundant to pick up a used 221Q so I've been looking into getting a Toro Powerlite.  Plus, I can hang the Powerlite up on a wall.  the 221Q is too big and heavy to do so.

Anyways, anybody got a recommendation for a compact SS two-cycle?  If not, please provide a 7 step sure fire way to cure the 2 cycle habit.  :)

RedOctobyr wrote: RedOctobyr,

Those molded augers were supposed to have free lifetime replacement policy, to the original owner.  I don't see that policy holding up when the machine is discontinued.  Too bad though, it's a solidly designed machine with lots of potential, if they put a decent high output engine into it.  I don't see how a tiny HSK600 98cc engine should be strapped to a 22" wide auger, a heavy auger.


That's okay to be OT, there's not much snow to stay on track anyways.

I used to have Mugen MBX4, T-Maxx, Revo, HPI Savage, and HPI electric touring cars.  My favorite was the MBX4 buggy, 60 mph rocket, keeps going tank after tank, burned the clutch a couple of times.  I run it continuously without shutting down between refueling.    I've given up on gas powered RC, too much cleaning and maintenance, especially on the sub .15 engines or 1/10 scale RC.  I've already have enough trouble keeping RX and TX batteries charged.  I think I spent more $$$ on RC than my OPE equipment.  If I get back into RC, I'd going all electric (lipo and brushless), switching battery packs is easy.  NO oil mess to clean up, no more expensive denatured alcohol, no tweaking the hi / low screws to get it running right.  Those new 2.4 gHZ DSS  bind-n-drive radios are nice.  Plus I want to enjoy running RC with my kids, not spend too much time working on them.

I dabbled with the RC helis, started out with a coaxial Blade CX2 and now 120 SR.  Flew it in the house a couple of times the last couple of years.    Nice and cheap to get started into RC heli without the fear factor, but seems to be too fragile.  When my skills improve, I might look into something faster and more durable.

I finally took some time to take a look at this Powerlite tonight.  The recoil rope was hanging out 12 inches so I was able to wind up the pulley 2 more turns to take up the slack.  There was some crack on the starter pulley but it will hold up so I can try to start the engine.  I took off the carb bowl, everything looks clean.  Gave the pull start a yank, the engine starts up on the second pull.  That was good news.  Then I noticed that some dark fluid like oil was dripping out of the spark plug, so I immediately shut down the engine.  The spark plug was not even tightened.  So I removed and checked the plug, it was dark brown, not sure how long the previous owner had been running with the plug loose.  Anyways, I added more fresh gas and restarted it, this time letting it run a little longer.  Everything seems to be running fine.

I'm not going to sink too much time or money into this machine.  I'll just get a new belt, rubber augers, scraper bar, and a spark plug.  Just the essentials so it operates in peak form, so no restoration to near showroom condition.  I'll restore a BMW 2002, but not a Toyota Tercel.    There's just nothing about this machine that excites me other than the tiny Tecumseh 2 stroke engine, everything else is just low rent materials and build quality.  It's a fun and easy machine to work on, but I got a little annoyed of all the pesky rusted fasteners.

I'll keep this machine around to play with increasing  the RPM and see how it performs.  It's a lightweight machine so I'm not sure it throw snow further or cut through EOD a bit better, or just bounce around.

   A bit off topic but you guys mentioning the RC stuff made me curious about some of the terms.  Googling arond go me to UTube and I came across RC jet powered planes.  Never knew there was such a thing as micro jet engines complete with pre-ignition starters.  The first one I tripped on was a RC of a SR71 Blackbird and amazing. 

trouts2 wrote:
There's some crazy RC stuff, like a large scale B-52 bomber with multiple jet engines on the wings.  It takes two guys to fly these things.   That's some serious hobby.  It makes Honda $8000 snowblower looks pale by comparison.