Snowblower Trouble

[NH.Solar]

My former business was a large lawn & garden dealership in Concord, and after selling that I went to work for six years as the NE rep for a large manufacturer. Without exaggeration I have sold well over a half a million snowblowers.
The most common problem by far is stale gas in the carb bowl and blocking of the fuel pickup ports, but it is also usually an easy fix. These instructions won't apply to all engine manufacturers but they will apply to most;
1. Turn off the gas under your tank. 2. Remove the nut at the bottom center of the bowl while holding the bowl up against the bottom of the carburetor. If the issue is just a little ice or dirt you may not need to drop the bowl and it will hang stuck under the o-ring between the bowl and carb. 3. The nut you removed will likely have a pencil lead hole at its base, close to the actually thin faced nut (most often 9/16 wrench). Directly above and at the opposite end of the threaded portion on the "nut" there should be a very small hole. Gas is drawn into the larger bottom hole and then metered to the carb through the upper hole. It is very common for a bit of dirt or varnish to block the upper metered hole and this could be the culprit. Do you see any green buildup at the upper portion of the nut where the threads end? If so you have likely found the problem. To fix it first soak it with some carb cleaner or lacquer thinner, and then poke a small diameter soft wire back and forth through the hole a few times. For most applications the wire for a manila tag is nearly perfect. 3. Put it back together, turn the gas back on and give it 20 seconds or so and hopefully the blower will start right up. If not ..drop it off at Mark Richter's, Wolfeboro Power, or Greenlands.
This instruction also applies to the older engines that has a screw in the nut to adjust the mixture rather than a fixed (and usually too lean) jet. There will still be a lower pickup hole and an upper metering hole. You just need to take the adjustment needle out before running a tag wire through the upper hole, otherwise the operation is the same. To adjust the mixture, warm up the engine for a couple of minutes and then set it at full throttle. Start with the adjustment needle 2.5 turns out and slowly turn it in until the engine is running at it maximum, and then back it out until you just begin to hear a bit of an rpm drop. This should give you you best power and response.

[fatlazyless]

Hopefully, no serious big snow is predicted for today or the next few days which gives me some time to work on it. A 4" plus snowfall would be a problem without a snowblower. Using a shovel and flattening the snow in the driveway and entry area only works with minimal snow. ....

Did make a photocopy of the above step by step, specific repair instructions and will get on it, today. Thanks very much, appreciate the good help!

My sense before starting is there's a small chunk of circular ice in the carburetor bowl that's blocking the float and the flow of gas which froze like that during the extreme cold over the last week end?

Except for the rubber tires going flat a few times, replacing skid plates and broken shear pins, the pull cord starter, and reinstalling the black rubber discharge chute after it got blown off this has been a very hardworking and a very reliable snowblower. Bought it new at Lowe's for $550-September sale, about ten years ago. Today's new price is $699, I think?

Noticed TroyBilt now has a similar 24" model with very large wheels that do NOT use inflated rubber tires and has a better designed black rubber discharge chute ....... so ....... if some big snow actually hits and this old one is still broken .... a working snowblower is a must have. The TroyBilt internet specs say it weighs 135-lbs which has got to be an error, as it most likely really weighs 185-lbs. 135-lbs is impossible.

[8gv]

I saw one at Lowes with tall narrow wheels and I wondered if it is not self propelled.

Does one need to push it?

[fatlazyless]

The TroyBilt 24" with the tall, not inflated wheels is a standard self-propelled two-stage. The wheels are about 4" wide with big black rubber treads but not inflated ..... a TroyBilt 2460 ..... weight 195-lbs.


For about the same money, maybe $699 or 799, Lowe's has an unusual single stage with tall, not inflated wheels, an Ariens Crossover about 20"-wide, that is a push it yourself. It says this weighs 200-lb, but this is hard to believe. Look for some big discounts on this model because sales are very slow.