Need help modifying snowblower

[Scimonetti]

Hey all, I picked up this snowblower on the side of the road in mint shape for 70 bucks this spring!
No pics on hand

We had our first major storm and it proved itself. Powered through a foot of cement snow in 4th gear no problem. My dad's toro of the same size backed up and bogged down, I'll probably clean the carb and everything soon too.

Anyway, the one thing I don't like about it is you have to independently actuate the auger and drive. On the Toro, if you have both down at the same time you can let up on the auger and keep on moving. It's very handy because you can swivel the chute without stopping the blower. I've gotten pretty good at turning and keeping the chute aimed at one point, so it's a pain with this new craftsman.

It only goes one way too, because you can actuate the auger and pulse the drive, but not the other way around.

Can anybody think of a way to to accomplish this? I'm not sure how to search for it because I can't find a term for it.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

That's one of the many Murray-derived units. I'd hit up any small engine shop to see if there are any wrecked machines you could pull the spring loaded pin arrangement out of to retrofit to yours. I have a Brute 27" I bought from WalMart 5 years ago (Murray). The wheel drive lever cams a spring loaded pin sideways under the handle to engage a metal quadrant with a hole in it under the auger drive lever. If you just push down the drive lever, the "cam" pushes the rod to the right, but the spring loaded pin does not engage the quadrant to hold down the auger lever because it s pushing against a flat piece of steel. When you push down the auger drive, the quadrant moves, exposing a hole to the spring loaded pin. The pin slides in and hold down auger drive lever down until you release the wheel drive and the pin retracts, as the cam on the wheel lever moves and allows the pin to slide back to its retracted position.

There are a lot of Murray derived snowblowers with this setup, including the Craftsman you have, Snapper, Simplicity, Canadiana, John Deere, Brute, Dynamark and many more.

 

[DenisG]

You could make a "loop latch" -- something like this:
http://www.hooverfence.com/woodfence/srlooplatch.htm
that you could flip up so that it hold the augur control lever down in the "engaged" position. Alternatively, you could also strap it down with some self-adhering velcro strap to keep it in place.

 

[Scimonetti]

Thanks! Salvaging the assembly seems like the best option. If I can't I have an idea to run cable through the crossbar so that when ever the drive is on the auger is too. I'm not sure if I want that though

 

[justme-]

Couple suggestions for that machine unrelated - never store it outdoors - those B&S engines are very open and drink rain and melting snow very easy - we had one in the shop 2 weeks ago that drank enough to stop the piston and took out the cam gear. the leak around the choke lever especially.

The plastic covers over the carb and spark plug are held on by plastic wing screws - the plastic loosens from the screw often - use a normal 10-24 screw instead of the $6 a piece replacements.

Don't touch that carb until you know which it is. The newer B&S carbs with the 4 phillips screws holding the bowl on are a nightmare to clean/repair/reassemble. We refuse cleaning them and replace them if it's an issue because of the difficulty in working on them - they never go back together and work correctly often enough to bother. The design changes in manufacturing with the EPA requirements made changes to the manufacturing process - theres a plastic plate with ports inside kind of like an auto transmission valve body. It's a single gasket that seals all the ports and passages on the bottom and the float bowl to body... just as an example of issues - it almost always gets pinched or misaligned and fails.

the old Toro may need a new auger belt or auger bearing from your comment above.
you also may need to retrofit more than just the locking bar mechanism - the handles on your may not be drilled for it, or may be drilled for a different era/style of locking system - there are a few, so you may want to look for the whole handle bar assembly in parts if you want to change it just to be safe...and keep in mind when you order parts the model number on your machine will not show the changes you made even if it's the same as another Murrey made unit.

 

[kctyphoon]

Just wrap a loose zip tie around the auger drive handle, so you can slide it over the paddle when depressed, and slide it off when you let go of the drive paddle..

 

[404]

Need to check size for the particular machine, but this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-2...-Coupling-P1056-22/100096490?N=5yc1vZbuf5Z4hs

minus the band clamps can fit over the handle and control. Bonus is that it stores on the handle when not in use.

If the blower eats your kids pets or arm you are on your own though. For that reason you should never do this. Blah blah.

 

[Scimonetti]

Need to check size for the particular machine, but this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-2...-Coupling-P1056-22/100096490?N=5yc1vZbuf5Z4hs

minus the band clamps can fit over the handle and control. Bonus is that it stores on the handle when not in use.

If the blower eats your kids pets or arm you are on your own though. For that reason you should never do this. Blah blah.

Haha thanks for the link. One of the neighborhood kids was doing our neighbors house last year and ate up a strand of live Christmas lights. He was slow to notice and it pulled them off the bushes!

 

[Scimonetti]

Couple suggestions for that machine unrelated - never store it outdoors - those B&S engines are very open and drink rain and melting snow very easy - we had one in the shop 2 weeks ago that drank enough to stop the piston and took out the cam gear. the leak around the choke lever especially.

The plastic covers over the carb and spark plug are held on by plastic wing screws - the plastic loosens from the screw often - use a normal 10-24 screw instead of the $6 a piece replacements.

Don't touch that carb until you know which it is. The newer B&S carbs with the 4 phillips screws holding the bowl on are a nightmare to clean/repair/reassemble. We refuse cleaning them and replace them if it's an issue because of the difficulty in working on them - they never go back together and work correctly often enough to bother. The design changes in manufacturing with the EPA requirements made changes to the manufacturing process - theres a plastic plate with ports inside kind of like an auto transmission valve body. It's a single gasket that seals all the ports and passages on the bottom and the float bowl to body... just as an example of issues - it almost always gets pinched or misaligned and fails.

the old Toro may need a new auger belt or auger bearing from your comment above.
you also may need to retrofit more than just the locking bar mechanism - the handles on your may not be drilled for it, or may be drilled for a different era/style of locking system - there are a few, so you may want to look for the whole handle bar assembly in parts if you want to change it just to be safe...and keep in mind when you order parts the model number on your machine will not show the changes you made even if it's the same as another Murrey made unit.

Thanks for taking the time to write all that out! It's being stored inside. I had just barely cleared up some garage space when I saw it for sale. I haven't done much work on those size engines before and thanks for the carb warning. I've been lurking on snowblower forums to learn more before I do anything stupid. In round 2 of the storm using the toro I confirmed it was the auger belt. It squealed for the first time as it lost auger power. It also hasn't been replaced in a while too.

 

[lakota]

That engine has an oil fill plug on each side. Check them for tightness and mark them so you can see if they loosen.

Have almost the same model and engine, if it's a B&S 7.75HP. Blowing thru deep 4 foot snow my oil fill plug blew off on the right side without me knowing. The engine seized and it cost me $310 for a replacement engine.

Also if you change oil they claim 20 oz capacity. It's no more than 18 oz,. 16 oz will get it half way between add and full on the dip stick.

Do you want two wheel drive or single. In your pic it's in two wheel drive. The pin locks it to the shaft. Single drive a hole is closer to the end of shaft and the pin in there will cause the wheel not to be locked to the shaft. I would go with two wheel drive.

If you didn't get an owners manual it available for free on Sears website.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Quick and dirty fix: Rip an old rag or tee shirt into a long 4" wide strip and tie it around the activator lever. Not necessarily going to win any safety awards but it has worked flawlessly on my push mower for many years...