Replacement engine for snowblower suggestions?

[DandDMachine]

I have a old Toro snow blower (probably 80's vintage) with a Tecumseh engine on it. I don't remember but its either 5 or 6 HP. While using last year it just quit running while using it. I suspect a broken connecting rod as it now spins over way to easy. Was too cold outside to mess with it and just put it away for the season. I paid $50 for the whole thing and used it for almost a year. Now its coming up on snow season again and time too get it fixed.

I was thinking about getting one of the cheap Predator engines from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/engine...-engine-69730.html#pr-header-back-to-top-link I believe that most snow blower engines carburetors are designed to run in colder weather. The HF engines are a generic replacement and probably not cold weather calibrated. Do you guys know if that would be a problem with this engine? Has anyone done the swap? I can get one for about $100.

Option #2 a Kohler engine from Northern Tool. Its about $300 but I know my experience with Kohler engines has been good, and its designed for winter use. If I end up having problems with the HF engine I am sure I will forget about the $200 difference when its below zero outside and my fingers are freezing. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200436508_200436508

Option #3 fix original engine assuming broken rod and the block, crank, cam etc... itself is ok, The engine seemed tired but still ran ok until it quit. Had fuel leak from carb. Since I run a engine building shop I can do all of the machine work to rebuild it myself at no cost of labor but parts are getting hard to find for the Tecumseh engines and they aren't that cheap anymore.

I don't want to spend too much money on this deal but any other suggestions would be welcome.

 

[mech-tech]

I would go for the harbor freight engine and use a coupon. Briggs are nice, but a new one would cost a nice chunk of an entire new snow blower.

 

[mtnwkr]

Sorry, no personal experience with those. Id look around for a small engine shop and ask what they have used laying around.

 

[Tim338]

I put the 6 HP HF on my snow blower a couple of years back and its still going strong with no issues.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Regardless of which way you are going to go make certain to lube the rest of your blower or it will fall apart before that engine does.

 

[SMKS]

The HF engine seems to be the major choice online when people re-power older equipment.

If you do some googling you'll find info from people who have used the HF engines on showthrowers. I think there might be a pretty detailed thread on BITOG and I'm sure there are several on the outdoor equipment forums.

 

[zkling]

Sadly, or more accurately, amazingly those HF engines are pretty nice for the money. Don't expect to get 30+ years out of it or completly rebuild it down the road, but they do run very well for the price, new. They really became popular a few years back in the karting world. Guys would modify them like they would a Briggs, beat the pi$$ out of them and still run fine. Quite a few of them are clones of Honda and Briggs engines.

As far as the cold issue, you are correct those are universal engines. Most snow blower eingines are jetted a bit differently and don't run a air filter. I don't remember if the predators have removable jets or if you have to drill them. : dpeneding on what you winter climate is like you may have to modify the stock jetting for best results, very easy to do.

 

[Warrenator]

I had a predator engine on a pressure washer, ran OK new but always a bit hard to start, and had to warm up a while before it could accept open throttle. After a long sit it wouldn't run well at all, I pulled apart the carburetor and cleaned the jet, you can do this easy no gaskets required. I then lightly reamed the main jet with a torch cleaning file (get a set of these at home depot in the welder section) and reassembled everything. It now starts on the first pull and seems to run much better, not as cold blooded. I think to make emissions requirements these engines are jetted to run very lean, which would of course be made much worse if it is snowy out.

Sorry I can't help you on the snow blower repower, I live in SoCal and it is 72 degrees out today. Never seen one

 

[ex-x-fire]

I did a HF engine swap on my snow blower about a month ago, the biggest issue I had was finding pulleys to fit the crank. My original crank was 7/8 & the new one was 5/8. I wish HF sold small engine accessories.
I ran a tube from the air cleaner to the muffler shield to aid in cold weather running.

 

[lilredex]

Before you do anything else.......check to see what the problem really is.

I had an old Tecumseh that acted like that......... no compression. Exhaust valve was stuck open from carbon buildup on the stem. Took off the head and gently tapped down the exhaust valve. Problem solved and it ran another twenty five years.

A stick down the spark plug hole will confirm piston movement.

 

[pcfithian]

Just finished installing a HF Predator 212 on my 1980 Toro 724. More powerful than it has ever been, great upgrade.

See more info here: http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/toro-snowblowers/18921-predator-engine-toro-724-a.html

 

[isr2kba]

Before you do anything else.......check to see what the problem really is.

I had an old Tecumseh that acted like that......... no compression. Exhaust valve was stuck open from carbon buildup on the stem. Took off the head and gently tapped down the exhaust valve. Problem solved and it ran another twenty five years.

A stick down the spark plug hole will confirm piston movement.

Second. Especially if the existing motor is a snow king.

 

[monkeyspanners]

Rebuild it if possible, there is more to life than money

 

[Hootbro]

Rebuild it if possible, there is more to life than money

That is nice if you want to treat the snow blower like a hobby, but there is the law of diminishing returns when it comes to some of the older OPE and replacing it with a new CHONDA.

You can get in balls deep on some of the older stuff to get it repaired when a new $100 CHONDA sometimes is more cost effective.