I helped my neighbor get her old snow blower started yesterday. It took a surprising amount of fiddling. It was a two-stroke, so it was a little different from what I usually encounter. The carb was interesting: it had a little open bowl in the front of it that caught priming fuel, so that it could be sucked into the air coming in at start-up. It also had no air cleaner.
Neighbor's two-stroke snow blower
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Quite a few of them don't. It's winter, the snow has covered any dirt that might make it dusty and it's just another area that could collect moisture, freeze up and not allow incoming air.
Any idea what brand model it was or should we guess?
I've owned both, and currently own a Toro 721R. It's a 21" 4-stroke. I have to say it's been the best I've used so far. The 2-strokes sound cool, and might be a touch lighter, but the 4-stroke is very powerful, uses very little fuel, is easier to start, and is much much quieter. There is also no smelling like exhaust afterwards. I never thought I'd switch from a 2-stroke.
but it's so light an powerful! A little trick - Toro had 2 diff HP ratings for their R Tek engines. 5 or 6 HP. The lower end blowers were 5 hp @3600 rpm. The 6 hp blowers were rated at 4000 rpm. So to bump up the lower end unit you just put a tach on it, bend the little metal tab for the governor spring (?) and increase the rpms to 4000 and presto..6 hp!
This one was quite loud!
A question for those in the know: my neighbor said that there was an electric start option, and I saw a port for an 120V plug. She said that it stopped working; the starter grinds or doesn't engage. Any ideas about what might be wrong?
A question for those in the know: my neighbor said that there was an electric start option, and I saw a port for an 120V plug. She said that it stopped working; the starter grinds or doesn't engage. Any ideas about what might be wrong?
I think that's what my neighbor has: 7 hp.
Bravo for helping your neighbor. BTW- both my 2 cycle snow blowers have no air filter either. I guess there is no grit in snow.
I have a secondhand Snapper two-stroke snowblower that was given to me. It had sat for a long time, and whatever fuel was in it had gotten very gummy and oily. When I finally took the carburetor apart, it turned out it had some rust in it, and the emulsion tube was gunked up. Found a replacement carb on Amazon for $20 and it starts on the first pull every time now.
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There's all kinds of nasty particles(dirt in the atmosphere) in snow.
Yellow?
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Probably true, but snow blowers do not have air filters. Well, I shouldn't say none, as about 50 years ago there were some that had oil bath filters. I only saw a couple of them many many years ago.
Is it a Toro? Mine has basically the copy of a Predator 212cc. It's very quiet, I normally need earphones with other equipment but not this thing. If the starter is grinding it might have loosened and isn't sitting square on the engine block, causing the starter gear to be mis-aligned. They have plastic gears as well, so the gear might have sheared the teeth off if the operator held the button down too long.
There is no air filter because there is no dust during a snow storm (usually).
I've got a 2-stroke MTD built machine that is at least 20 years old. It originally belonged to my MIL who will be 87 next month and no longer clears snow. I believe it has a 212cc engine. She gifted it to me last fall. It hadn't been run in four years.
Prior to snow season I pulled the spark plug, cleaned and gapped it, then added fuel. It started on the second or third pull. I was amazed.
Two weeks ago we had a pretty significant snowfall, 6+ inches, so I loaded it in the back of my car and went over there and blew out her driveway. I find it surprising how much [dry] snow that machine can handle.
Prior to snow season I pulled the spark plug, cleaned and gapped it, then added fuel. It started on the second or third pull. I was amazed.
Two weeks ago we had a pretty significant snowfall, 6+ inches, so I loaded it in the back of my car and went over there and blew out her driveway. I find it surprising how much [dry] snow that machine can handle.
Yeah, those little single stage 2 stroke blowers can really dig in and throw the snow. I have a 1988 Toro with the Tecumseh AH-600 2 stroke and it’s a little animal!
L8R,
Matt
L8R,
Matt
I had a Toro CCR 2000. I think that's what is was anyway. Suzuki engine. What a ripper two stroke that thing was.
The winter air definitely contains lots of stuff to be filtered but an air filter would get wet pretty quickly in a snowstorm and choke out the performance.
