My Snowblower

hanyoukimura

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For the first half of winter, we hadn't gotten much snow here in MA, not even enough to use the snow blower but once.

That's all changed in the last few weeks as we've been blitzed with more the 3 feet of snow, and another possible two feet is on the way!

So what do I have in my arsenal for snow removal? Well, while I'm spoiled for choice for lawn mowers, I have but one option for snow blowers. It's a Craftsman (by MTD) 31A-3CDE799. Bought it new for $400 in 2006.

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It's a 24" cut 2 stage snowblower with a Tecumseh engine, 3 forward speeds, no reverse. For what it is, its been a pretty good machine.

After 13 years of service, it needed some of its own. Last spring I replaced the two belts in addition to the usual oil change and spark plug replacement.

Tecumseh gets a shout out for this engine at least, because I've never had a problem with it.

The tires meanwhile, have been a problem. For whatever reason the left one tends to loose air and has had that issue for years. Took them off yesterday and had put new bead on them. Seem to hold air well now.

The biggest issue I've had is the handles bars. They're essentially walk behind mower handle bars, and I don't think they are anywhere near durable enough for a heavier snowblower. Probably 6 or 7 years ago, the stress put on the upper handlebars, which had a tendency to come loose, flatted the curved sections where they slide over the lower bar. At first we used cheap band clamps, but they broke pretty quickly. It got so bad that no matter how tight the carriage bolts were, the handle bars would flop around. Eventually, I put 2 u-bolts on each side to hold them in place. This worked quite well for the next 5 or so years.

However, during the last big storm, without warning, the upper handle bar snapped off just before the carriage bolt on the left side. Very carefully, I finished clearing the snow before putting it away.

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I went to look up the cost of a new one, only to be shocked by the $50 price tag for a piece of bent tubular steel! With another storm looming, and not wanting to shell out that kind 1/8 the cost of the entire machine on half of the handle bar assembly, I decided to make something. A friend suggested welding a couple pieces of steel to the handle bars. They'd probably stay in place forever, but it would look awful.

Instead, I had another idea: to use a set of lawn mower handle bars I had lying around and replace the broken upper section. This was tricky, since it needed to be dual bail and similar length. The closest I came was a single bail handle bar off of an MTD mower. From their I drilled a couple holes to mount a shorted second bail from a Murray lawn mower to engage the drive. I then drilled a couple holes to mount the speed selector.

My practice run taught me that its very hard to accurately drill holes with a hand drill, so I dragged my drill press out of the cold garage into the house. I may not use it often, but I sure am glad I have it. Made it much easier to drill straight holes at the correct distance.

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All of the hardware mounted up perfectly, except for the auger bail. The cable was too long for the only bail I had that would fit. I drilled a second hole in the bail, but it wasn't enough. Rummaging through the garage, I found a steel plate with pre-drilled holes in it. Bolted it to the bale and that gave me enough extra length for the cable to mount correctly. I used a couple bail stop brackets to keep the bails from flopping to far forward and letting the cables fall out. Finally, I drilled a second hole on each side of the handle bars 3/4" forward of the carriage bolts, and mounted Grade 8 5/16 bolts with locking washers. This will prevent the handle bars from coming loose from pivoting on the carriage bolts. They aren't going anywhere now.

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Bring on the next storm!
 
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mowerman05

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Looks like you got things going for the next snow storm. Hope you get all the snow for the rest of the winter. I am looking forward to spring and a little warmer weather.:laughing:
 

hanyoukimura

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Looks like you got things going for the next snow storm. Hope you get all the snow for the rest of the winter. I am looking forward to spring and a little warmer weather.:laughing:

You and me both!
 

hanyoukimura

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At the end of last season I noticed that the bottom of the impeller housing had rusted through. Ideally I would like to com across a newer blower housing and put it on, as the machine isn't bad for what it is. Started it up for the first time since last season. Fired right up, as it does every year. I have no complaints about Tecumseh's horizontal shaft engines, at least based on the experience we've had with this one.
 
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