Snowblower - First one

[Gobi King]

My neighbor sold his house and moved to AZ, I walked his snowblower over last summer and said, I don't need it where I am going so if you want it this is yours.

I felt guilty taking it, his dad gave him this snowblower, he bought it new.

I cleaned it up, changed oil, grease/oiled other stuff, put marine grease on areas susceptible to rust.
Orders the skid shoes off ebay and amazon.
Ordered a new drive auger belt off amazon, backup must in case the current one breaks.

I have open the gear compartment clean and lube stuff there.

When I checkd the auger gears with a q-tip end without the cotton, I found it to be packed with some WHITE grease, probably lithium greases?  (see pic below).

I did not fire it up yet, I will do it this afternoon. I will run some curb cleaner and mystery oil through it first and then add gas.

Am I good with the white lithium grease in the auger differential gear box?

[Gobi King]

Oh, I forgot, I replaced the spark plug with a NGK off autozone.

[Crow]

Gobi, I think I would "google" to try to find a users manual.....that should tell you what oil / grease it's supposed to have. that said, some of the low speed gear boxes DO use "grease", instead of gear luge (90w-120w oil), and they do it because the lightly made gear cases, and small diameter shafts make keeping a "seal" almost impossible, and, with no seal, the gear lube leaks out. The actual "grease, won't leak out, and provides enough lube to do the job. The way I service MY snow equipment is to load the truck with fishing gear....,and go to the gulf coast! Snow flurries, here in Illinois, today....leaving for Alabama on Monday!!

[Gobi King]

I found the manual but I did not find any spec for the gear lube,
reading on the interweb, a non-sulphide based lube is suggested as the auger gear is made of yellow metal.

I bought some 00 Grease
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-s-cotton-picker-spindle-grease-00

This is what found is mostly used for the gear box, it is between gear oil and grease.

The current grease in the gear box looks good to me, just confused by the use of it.

Loading the truck with fishing gear sounds more fun that servicing a snowblower on my knees at 28F on my black top, lol.

Have fun in Dauphin!

[foakes]

Hi Shibs —-

The blower is 20 years old.

If it were mine, I would consider taking it in to a GOOD shop that specializes in small gas engine type equipment.

Maybe find an independent guy who will work with you such as a S-Blower, lawnmower, chainsaw, wood-splitter shop.

Have them evaluate and do an updated service on the blower.

Make sure you get an itemized list of work performed and also the specs on parts and lubes.

Now, for around $200? —- you will have it running at top end performance —- then you will be able to do it yourself later on.

Not saying you don't know very well what you are doing —- but if not familiar with everything about one of these —- a Professional initial job will get you operating properly, no breakdowns, and then you will be ready to do the next service yourself.

Most issues on gas engines happen when the gas is not removed prior to Spring storage, and a gas stabilizer is not used regularly.

You may have done all of this already —- but for others who may not have this knowledge —- it is always good to start from a solid, well-operating condition.

Nice looking piece of equipment.

Best, Fred

[Gfish]

Interesting grease. "Special Low Viscosity" and "corrosion Resistance". Would it work in reels?
Your attention to detail rivals mine: obsessive!

[Gobi King]

Hi Shibs —-

The blower is 20 years old.

If it were mine, I would consider taking it in to a GOOD shop that specializes in small gas engine type equipment.

Maybe find an independent guy who will work with you such as a S-Blower, lawnmower, chainsaw, wood-splitter shop.

Have them evaluate and do an updated service on the blower.

Make sure you get an itemized list of work performed and also the specs on parts and lubes.

Now, for around $200? —- you will have it running at top end performance —- then you will be able to do it yourself later on.

Not saying you don't know very well what you are doing —- but if not familiar with everything about one of these —- a Professional initial job will get you operating properly, no breakdowns, and then you will be ready to do the next service yourself.

Most issues on gas engines happen when the gas is not removed prior to Spring storage, and a gas stabilizer is not used regularly.

You may have done all of this already —- but for others who may not have this knowledge —- it is always good to start from a solid, well-operating condition.

Nice looking piece of equipment.

Best, Fred

Fred,

It was 24F this morning, I will probably spend more time trying beg someone to come over for this.

I am all for hiring this out, but part of the allure for me is understanding how this works and how it fails and be an educated owner. 

I am confident I am able to tackle this.

I have to clean and lube the drive chain and clean bit in the gear box.

Carb: Neighbor did winterize it after use, he drained the gas and added some product.
My de-facto standard in addressing carb issues is to buy a NEW carb, lol, much cheaper than rebuilding a carb in terms of time and $$$.

I need to fab a small cover for the engine block as my large cover is too much.
This will parked at the end of drive way in front my garage door.

[Gobi King]

Interesting grease. "Special Low Viscosity" and "corrosion Resistance". Would it work in reels?
Your attention to detail rivals mine: obsessive!

Obsessive? nah, OCD? yah, lol.

It should work in any brass/yellow metal gear. Most sulphide based grease do stick metal more but will attack the yellow metal is what I read.

[foakes]

Sounds like you have it well in hand, Shibs —-

Best, Fred

[Brewcrafter]

Murphy's Law - Shibs will get this Snow Blower operating at the peak of perfection and efficiency to virtually guarantee 4 months of Indian Summer.  If he can't get it running correctly it pretty much assures a Polar Express bearing down on his address...- john

[Gobi King]

Murphy's Law - Shibs will get this Snow Blower operating at the peak of perfection and efficiency to virtually guarantee 4 months of Indian Summer.  If he can't get it running correctly it pretty much assures a Polar Express bearing down on his address...- john

I hope so too, but the projection is for a WET and COLD winter,

2 inches projected in the next 24 hours.

FYI: my average snow fall is around 180 inches last I checked.

[tincanary]

Murphy's Law - Shibs will get this Snow Blower operating at the peak of perfection and efficiency to virtually guarantee 4 months of Indian Summer.  If he can't get it running correctly it pretty much assures a Polar Express bearing down on his address...- john

I hope so too, but the projection is for a WET and COLD winter,

2 inches projected in the next 24 hours.

FYI: my average snow fall is around 180 inches last I checked.

I know you guys are getting hammered over there on the west side.  I'm in a similar situation but have a good guy, but I'm on the other side of the state so I won't give a referral.  My wife's grandparents had a newer Toro that was only used once.  Grandpa isn't in the best of shape so he gave it to me, full of 3 year old gas.  To make matters worse, my brother came downstate a few days ago and I gave him my old blower as he was in need.  Old trusty started on the first pull every time, but now she's gone.  This "new" one has gas so old it doesn't even smell like gas any longer.  I'm sure the fuel line and carb are all gummed up, but it's too cold for me to take on the job.  I usually service my own equipment but with as cold as it is, I will hire it out to my guy down the street.  Hopefully you get yours fixed, I know a big storm is hitting you.