Snowblower Questions

I had an OLD snowflight 524 snowblower that looks real similar to yours @Wildman. I basically saved it from the scrapyard. It had one of the old tecumseh snowking engine on it that was beyond worn out. blowby, bad valves, etc. I happened to have a power washer with a honda engine but a bad pump unit. I swapped that engine on, and that blower worked GREAT. The bolt pattern was the same, as well as the output shaft. Just like @jeepguy03 is suggesting, a new engine will breath a ton of life back into that old girl. a HF clone, for 100'ish dollars is a no-brainer.

The only real issue I had with my honda is that it wasn't a snowblower specific model, and occasionally the governor would ice up. Not a big deal, once you realize whats going on...You might need to bend up a couple small pieces of Tin to guard different areas of the engine.
 
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I know this might be a STUPID question but some of the snowblowers I was looking at when I was shopping had larger tires/wheels on them. Can I put a larger tire/wheel on mine? I haven't look rear close to see how the wheels even mount but one of the reasons I was looking to replace this one was that it gets stuck a lot of times which I partly blame on the small tires.
 
Wildman said:
I know this might be a STUPID question but some of the snowblowers I was looking at when I was shopping had larger tires/wheels on them. Can I put a larger tire/wheel on mine? I haven't look rear close to see how the wheels even mount but one of the reasons I was looking to replace this one was that it gets stuck a lot of times which I partly blame on the small tires.
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Probably not. You might be able to physically get bigger tires on it, but then its going to pitch the front of the machine forward more and your leading edge might dig in before the scrapper bar touches down.
 
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jeepguy03 said:
Perfect, I'll look up some for you tonight since all of my reference info on those engines and what will fit are on my garage computer. The only issue I can see with yours, and it's hard to tell, is that a lot of Toros have really short studs that the current engine bolts too. You might need to punch out the studs (cut them off and drill them out works too) if they are too short and welded directly to the frame. I can't quite tell from the pics, but yours might have a separate platform on top of the frame that the engine is bolted to, which will make putting in longer bolts easier. The reason is the engine block is thicker on the newer engines. Other than that it looks like a pretty straight forward swap, you will just need to swap your pulley over to the new engine's crankshaft, and you can re-use your current belts because the dimensions will all be the same.

Start spraying the belt pulley allen key set screws now with PB Blaster haha.
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What do you think Jeepguy03, let’s go for a road trip and help Wildman out, we can see the country on the way. I’ll bring my spare snow king 5hp and we‘ll grab a chonda (Chinese Honda) on the way.
I hope you don’t charge too much for road calls across the country.
 
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One of these engines:
https://www.harborfreight.com/65-hp-212cc-ohv-horizontal-shaft-gas-engine-epa-69730.html
With this adapter sleeve to go from a 3/4" diameter crankshaft to a 1" diameter crankshaft to fit your pulley:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Z1W9BL/?tag=wranglerorg-20

And 4 bolts that are 1/2" longer from the hardware store and you'll be golden. If you search online for Harbor Freight coupons you can get the engine for $99 on sale. These don't have electric start, but are very easy to start (usually 1-2 pulls) and lots of torque. I repower a lot of blowers with these.

This is another engine option with electric start:
https://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/15C107-0035
Both engines would require the 3/4" to 1" shaft adapter sleeve.
 
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Awesome.... Looks like I'll be doing a repower on my snowblower. Thank you for the info. With the current engine if I didn't have the electric starter I'd be pulling on it 5-10 times to get it started. But if the new one is that easy it isn't as big a deal.
 
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Wildman said:
Awesome.... Looks like I'll be doing a repower on my snowblower. Thank you for the info. With the current engine if I didn't have the electric starter I'd be pulling on it 5-10 times to get it started. But if the new one is that easy it isn't as big a deal.
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The Predator 212 is a Chinese clone of a Honda GX200. They start very easily and parts are cheap on ebay. They are listed as 6.5hp but it's closer to 7 or 8hp. I've repowered at least 20 snowblowers with them, and have built a few for go karts (different cam, valves, billet rod, etc).

As for the tires, I'd try to just find chains for the current tires you have. That should be plenty of traction. In fact different tires could mess with your ground speed if you get a different diameter.
 
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I've got chains on my current tires but they aren't that great so I will look for some that fit better. And I really appreciate all the help on this. I'll post pictures once I get this all done. Most likely won't be until next winter.
 
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Wildman said:
I've got chains on my current tires but they aren't that great so I will look for some that fit better. And I really appreciate all the help on this. I'll post pictures once I get this all done. Most likely won't be until next winter.
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Anytime! If you ever have any questions during the process let me know! :cool:
 
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Well those of us in the PNW have been having some fun the past few days. It started snowing Friday and finally stopped Monday.
Yep I know there are places that got MORE snow than me but this is not our normal amount of snow all at once. I was lazy and didn't snowblow my driveway until today. I didn't measure it but it's close to 2' of snow. The pass on I-90 has been closed off and on for 3 days and is closed right now due to avalanche danger.

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cliffish said:
Yeah we are getting more than normal on the East Coast. Finally got to use my Ariens this year. Are you running the old motor still or did you put the new one on?
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Still sporting the OLD engine right now. I was a little worried it might not handle the amount of snow I had but it did fine. I don't plan to remotor it until spring. I did break the roll pin I'd installed on the drive axle so I put a 1/4" bolt in there instead.

Funny part is it's snowing AGAIN right now. so I'll have to see how much it decides to dump this time.
 
Wildman said:
Still sporting the OLD engine right now. I was a little worried it might not handle the amount of snow I had but it did fine. I don't plan to remotor it until spring. I did break the roll pin I'd installed on the drive axle so I put a 1/4" bolt in there instead.

Funny part is it's snowing AGAIN right now. so I'll have to see how much it decides to dump this time.
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Glad to hear it is still working...we are getting more tomorrow as well. How is the daughters Subie doing?

I got a call from my daughter who is in school (9 hours away) driving my 2016 Outback and she says "Check engine light is on, some other light and the engine is surging" . Then the next day oh it is fine....I am going nuts as the CVT has a 100K warranty and the car has in the 90's already.
 
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cliffish said:
Glad to hear it is still working...we are getting more tomorrow as well. How is the daughters Subie doing?

I got a call from my daughter who is in school (9 hours away) driving my 2016 Outback and she says "Check engine light is on, some other light and the engine is surging" . Then the next day oh it is fine....I am going nuts as the CVT has a 100K warranty and the car has in the 90's already.
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Funny I just got told her check engine light is on also. And se said she is getting a death wobble going down the road but I haven't driven it yet to see what it is really doing. The new clutch is working well for now but I'll have to fix the other stuff. Plus a burnt out headlight I need to fix.
 
Wildman said:
Funny I just got told her check engine light is on also. And se said she is getting a death wobble going down the road but I haven't driven it yet to see what it is really doing. The new clutch is working well for now but I'll have to fix the other stuff. Plus a burnt out headlight I need to fix.
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Death wobble on subie? I won't get a chance to check her/my outback out until we bring her home in May....I miss driving it, I hate the explorer I am driving now....but it is paid for.......
 
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cliffish said:
Death wobble on subie? I won't get a chance to check her/my outback out until we bring her home in May....I miss driving it, I hate the explorer I am driving now....but it is paid for.......
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Yep I have no idea what she is really talking about which is why I need to go drive it so I can hopefully see what she is talking about. But right now I need to wait for the roads to get cleared more.
 
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Wildman said:
Yep I have no idea what she is really talking about which is why I need to go drive it so I can hopefully see what she is talking about. But right now I need to wait for the roads to get cleared more.
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Probably a chunk of ice frozen to the rim considering the conditions.
 
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TJ4Jim said:
Probably a chunk of ice frozen to the rim considering the conditions.
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It was doing it before it started snowing from what she says. It seems to take a week or so before she tells me she's having issues.
 
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