Tell me out this old Sno-Blower I have here...

[Chris B.]

I believe this Craftsmen was made in the early 1980's and was given to me by my late uncle who bought it new. It is a model 536.885400 and says 4/20 on the front and I think a 4.5hp engine. Were these considered good sno-blowers in the day? The tank tracks are like new and work extremely well to drive this heavy girl through the deep snow. It has enough power to throw snow from the far side of my 3 car wide driveway to the 3rd bay but not all the way across all 3 bays. Does not work at all in wet snow as the chute clogs but great in powder(not sure if this is good or bad as I never have used a sno-blower before.
Engine seems to run well but surges from time to time but throttling up helps that. Is this normal? I changed the oil to 0w30 German Castrol, tighten all nuts and bolts, sprayed the drive chain and gears with chain lube and coated the entire steel body with oil to protect it. What other maintenance should I consider for the old girl? Thanks for any input!!!

 

[andyd]

Buy a spare belt and some extra shear bolts for the augurs and run it. Make sure the case is full of lube. No experience with the Sears , but Anything beats shoveling. Wet snow doesn't throw well. There are kits that reduce the impeller clearance to help this.

 

[dave123]

All I'll say is it was free.

 

[Chris B.]

I've never see one with tracks before this one. Got to work better in the traction dept. then tires.

 

[Lapham3]

Tracks are pretty much necessary where you need to adjust your mochine to'skim' over a dirt or gravel driveway. Wheels-tires/chains are good on hard surfaces.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: Lapham3
Tracks are pretty much necessary where you need to adjust your mochine to'skim' over a dirt or gravel driveway. Wheels-tires/chains are good on hard surfaces.

?why they all have sliders?

I could see it being a major help on slopes.

you could always do the rubber impeller mod, or upgrade the engine as well. Its underpowered but not terribly considering its a 20" width.

not saying its not better, but its nicer for all surfaces.

 

[simple_gifts]

Seems to do a good job, I don't see a flake.

 

[ronbo]

Think the 536 in the # indicates that it was made by Murray for Sears.

 

[spk2000]

Looks very good and in good shape. Mine has tires that sometimes spin when pushing into a tall drift. Not sure if the tracks would push it further into the drift but it probably would. Mine will throw wet snow pretty decent but it really needs to be 4 inches or more to perform well. It is an Ariens 28 deluxe 6 months old.

 

[Donald]

Yours is 20" which is on the small side these days. I would guess you should clean the carb is its surging.

I thought the tracks would be a good idea, but they never caught on with snow blowers.

I have large wheels and if I ever get to them, chains.

They sell a no-stick spray for the chute that helps to prevent snow from sticking. I would make sure the chute is nicely painted, then wax it (over the summer) and then next winter spray it with the snow no-stick spray.

 

[JTK]

Yep, Pretty sure it's a Murray made machine for Sears. I don't think it much older than 1990s, but you'd have to decipher the model # to be sure.

 

[Chris B.]

Thanks guys! I'm keeping her!

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Yep, Pretty sure it's a Murray made machine for Sears. I don't think it much older than 1990s, but you'd have to decipher the model # to be sure.


Definitely a 1980's or older vintage. He moved here in 1990 and it was old and well used when he got here. The owners manual has copy right in the 1970's.

 

[HangFire]

That's one of the nicer but smaller models from that era.

You can improve the throw distance of any Murray or MTD type 2-stage snow thrower by adding rubber wipers to the 2nd stage blades. Kits are available on eBay or you can just cobble something together yourself.

 

[Wheel]

My Step-Dad has the 8hp version of that. It is an early 80's for sure, you should be able to find a manual from Sears if you need to. The surging might be the carb in need of some cleaning. Other than what you listed already for maintenance, I like to use Fluid-film on the parts that clog when the snow gets heavy. Also, the rubber-wiper mod that HangFire mentioned is very useful.

 

[ronbo]

If you need help, a great forum is http://www.snowblowerforum.com/

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Originally Posted By: JTK
Yep, Pretty sure it's a Murray made machine for Sears. I don't think it much older than 1990s, but you'd have to decipher the model # to be sure.


Definitely a 1980's or older vintage. He moved here in 1990 and it was old and well used when he got here. The owners manual has copy right in the 1970's.


I'm thinking it's not that old given this style of Tecumseh Sno-King fuel tank, large fuel filler hole and large fuel cap.

The 1980's and older Tecumseh snowblower engines had the small cap fuel tanks.

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Originally Posted By: JTK
Yep, Pretty sure it's a Murray made machine for Sears. I don't think it much older than 1990s, but you'd have to decipher the model # to be sure.


Definitely a 1980's or older vintage. He moved here in 1990 and it was old and well used when he got here. The owners manual has copy right in the 1970's.


I'm thinking it's not that old given this style of Tecumseh Sno-King fuel tank, large fuel filler hole and large fuel cap.

The 1980's and older Tecumseh snowblower engines had the small cap fuel tanks.


Hmmm could be right! I think it is a briggs engine though. I'll double check.

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
That's one of the nicer but smaller models from that era.

You can improve the throw distance of any Murray or MTD type 2-stage snow thrower by adding rubber wipers to the 2nd stage blades. Kits are available on eBay or you can just cobble something together yourself.


Do you have pictures of this or is there a video of how to do this? Thanks!