craftsman snowblower

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

zrock

Minister of Fire
Dec 2, 2017
1,540
bc
I was given a older tracked 8hp craftsman snow blower. Was told it just needed a new carb as the old one was having issues and after looking it it i can see why... Carb no issue i have one coming. But this thing was also missing the air filter and for the life of me i cannot find a pic of how it attaches to the machine. Anyone have one of these old beasts that could give me a pic of the setup?
 
Most snowblowers have no air cleaner. They do not normally need it in winter and it can get clogged up from blowing snow.
 
makes sence... just was not sure if this thing would not run properly without one... I know some small engines need that restriction of the air filter to run properly
 
None of mine had an air filter assembly either. No dust generated with snow. But mine did have the area shielded with a cover so it didn’t have snow blowing and freezing onto it.
 
Anyone know how the outer drive gear comes off? removed the bolt but that bugger is seized on their.. im assuming it needs a puller? What ever was used as grease on things is like glue shafts would not spin in the drive or idler wheel and im assuming the same crap was used on the bushings in the drive shaft... want to get the chain sprocket off so i can clean and drill in a grease fitting
 
Yea you are probably going to have the opportunity to invest in a new tool, either a two-jaw or a three-jaw bearing puller, depending on how it can be hooked on. Any friction fit shaft is going to seize up eventually. Wheels on small equipment that just slip over a shaft are a big problem, after a number of years you can not get them off. You may have to use heat in addition to the puller.

Grease is not the best for long term protection in these cases, it eventually will harden. I have had good luck with a product called Anti-seize. It is composed of microscopic particles of metals, and seems to last for a longer time than grease.
 
ya thats what i figured i was going to need.. gear has 4 threaded holes for a puller but i will probably just get a jaw puller... thought i had one of those but must have been one of those tools i loaned out never to see again...
Im going to be putting grease fittings in everything i use a really high quality synthetic grease on all my stuff so this should not happen again...
 
Well soaking it in pen lub and using a puller and heat that thing is not coming off... Cant get it to hot as their is a nylon bushing behind it. Luckily i really do not have to take this off i just wanted to clean all the old grease out and get it rolling smother..
 
Well im stumped... put new carb on and cannot get it to run unless i spray carb cleaner or fuel into the intake... Put all new lines on and fuel shut of thinking it was not getting enough fuel that did not help.. Pulled the connection from the carb to the engine and scrapped of the gasket and put a new gasket in with some sealant. let that set up over night and try again in the morning.. It almost like its not creating a vacuum to pull the fuel through but seems to have lots of compression when i put my thumb over the spark plug... the scientific way of testing..LOL
 
I hate to ask this, but is the tank clean and fuel freely flowing from the tank?
 
Does this have a 4 cycle engine? Sounds like an older Cub Cadet snowblower I used to have that wound up needing a valve job.
 
Ya it's a 4 stroke... I was thinking that but if the valves were out it would not create any compression. Without compression it would not be able to draw the fuel up the intake that i dumped in... or so i think... if i cant get it started tomorrow then I'm gonna throw it off the deck and burn it...lol
 
Is fuel actually getting into the carb bowl? If so, is the main jet clear? Choke working properly?
 
yep getting fuel.. manual choke so much cannot go wrong with that... I can use the primer and force enough fuel up to get it started. The primer is just a air bulb that forces air into the bowl and fuel up through the jet... This is what has me stumped if i can get fuel up the jet and the engine can suck it up that far then it should have enough to create a vacuum to pull fuel once its running..

I may just say screw it i see princess auto has a replacement snowblower engine on sale for $79.00 plus about 25 shipping. Its only 179cc that works out to be 6hp give or take... Cant buy a used snowblower for a $100 thats worth a crap... I have used these princess auto motors on other pc of equipment and they are a pretty good engine for a honda clone
 
I have a harbor freight 212cc on a 1968 ariens. Pretty easy swap. You said 8 hp that might not be as easy. Different pulley shaft diameters, different mount holes in chassis. I’m sure it’s doable.
Some of the older craftsman had engines with 2 pto shafts. But by think that was only 5hp engines. The larger engines used one.
 
yep shaft size is different.. Wouldn't have been a big deal but i just realized the tensioner for the drive belt is completely missing. So if i cant find a parts machine then their is no point going any farther
 
Well the drive pully is their just routed wrong and cannot seem to see how it is suppose to be routed. Local shop has a few of these old machines gonna go take a look and see if its worth going farther
 
If you don’t have a lot invested and this is bad time of yr but I’d highly recommend finding a old, I mean old ariens. Very easy to work on, heavy. Best of all it took until like 1973 to make it so you have to hold a lever down to drive it.
My augers are controlled by a lever on the chassis, so always on. For forward movement. Depress handle, choose gear and let go, like a clutch. Now you have 200lbs of metal running off potentially on its own. It doesn’t care if your holding it or not. Free to eat snow, bushes, cats. Truly hands free!!
Oh man hope we get snow this year!! Good luck
 
well crap i was going to bite it and just order it well now they have no online stock... figures... was going to order new pulleys as well as the stock ones have a fixed keyway on them
 
Just about had a old ariens but I thought the price was a hair high especially when much newer are going for 100 more and he said it was eating belts.. almost need to sit on fb and keep refreshing as the good deals are gone in minutes. A buddy sold a 5 year old craftsman for $300 not realizing I was looking... not sure how he missed my post...lol... gf just got a job at one of the cub cadet dealers so maby she will come home with a new toy...lol