Snowblower restoration?

That will really depend on your driveway.  I have mine so that the scraper blade on the bucket is about 1/4” off the ground.  This was mostly for my neighbor Charley’s driveway (gravel) so I wasn’t picking up any more rocks than I had to.  If you have a fairly smooth paved driveway you can go right down so the scraper touches.  Just make sure it’s the same height side to side (scraper and bucket parallel to the ground), I check mine with some shims. 

Hey guys, so with my old Husqvarna I would put stabil in the tank of fuel in the spring/summer run it for 20 minutes or so to make sure that the stabil got to the carb and then I'd put it away. I wouldn't even shut off the fuel tank feed. I never had any problems with this method. Should I drain the tanks instead, and then run it until the engine dies? 

In reply to Mazdax605 :

I’ve used Stabil in all my boat and small engine fuel for years with good results.  On the snowblower I usually disconnect the fuel line and drain the tank into one of my gas cans, then start the engine and run it until it stalls.   There’s a drain screw on the bottom of the carburetor bowl to get that last bit out.     For me it’s worth the 10 minutes of work to have a quick start the next season.  

Broke the snowblower apart today. It's rusty, but solid. Found a broken spring that is for the snow throwing stage tensioner. Also the bolts that hold the chute to the chassis were loose with one totally missing the nut that is clipped in on the back side. Where can I find one of these? I'm not sure what it's even called. How should I go about cleaning up the rust and repainting it? Should I replace both belts? Gonna change the oil, but I can't find the owners manual, so I don't know what type of oil to use. Also the bolts that hold the bottom edge on are like half worn down. I'm thinking about replacing that edge, but I don't know how I'm going to get the old one off. Any ideas? 

Is this called a cage nut? If so, where can I find a new one? 

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You might have luck on the Husqvarna site, most manufacturers have parts available online with diagrams.  Those look pretty specific. 

Are you against tacking a normal nut there before you do your respray?

I need to dig into my old Ariens this summer so it doesn't let me down next season, hopefully that will lead to a mild winter.

Anyone know what oil I need for this engine? 12HP Tecumseh Snow King. Also how would you guys go about cleaning up the rust, short of a sandblaster?

In reply to Mazdax605 :

you are doing what I've attempted to do on mine a few times.  Except I keep breaking bolts soo.. I'll just keep running mine until it really falls apart, then buy another $300 unit off of CL.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to Mazdax605 :

you are doing what I've attempted to do on mine a few times.  Except I keep breaking bolts soo.. I'll just keep running mine until it really falls apart, then buy another $300 unit off of CL.

Or even cheaper. Now is the time to pick one up. 

Used some loctite naval jelly on the snowblower this evening. 

I might do another application. 

Any idea how this comes apart. I removed 2 bolts that went through the shafts, but it still won't separate. 

See if you can find a video that’s specific to the Husqvarna, looks kinda similar to the Ariens...

I pulled the whole rake assembly out of mine (Ariens) this past fall, I think you need to pull the drive pulley off and then pull the shaft and rake out the front of the bucket.    I’m assuming you’re doing this to clean and paint the inside of the bucket?

Pull the nut on the pulley first, soak the E36 M3 out of everything under it with penetrating oil, let it marinate for a while and then and use a wheel puller (gently, that’s a stamped steel pulley it will bend easily) to get the pulley off.   Heat on the bore of the pulley may be your friend here.   Do this outside obviously...  There’s a bearing under the pulley, give that a good cleaning and hit it with some spray grease before you reassemble.  

11GTCS said:

See if you can find a video that’s specific to the Husqvarna, looks kinda similar to the Ariens...

I pulled the whole rake assembly out of mine (Ariens) this past fall, I think you need to pull the drive pulley off and then pull the shaft and rake out the front of the bucket.    I’m assuming you’re doing this to clean and paint the inside of the bucket?

Pull the nut on the pulley first, soak the E36 M3 out of everything under it with penetrating oil, let it marinate for a while and then and use a wheel puller (gently, that’s a stamped steel pulley it will bend easily) to get the pulley off.   Heat on the bore of the pulley may be your friend here.   Do this outside obviously...  There’s a bearing under the pulley, give that a good cleaning and hit it with some spray grease before your reassemble.  

The pulley is off. It came off easy. It's keyed. The shaft and the part that chucks the snow spin independantly of each other with the bolts out, but they won't seperate. 

Yes I'm hoping to get this assembly out so I can clean up the rust and repaint it. 

Ok, cool.  I pulled mine to replace the rake bearings (on the bucket at each side on Ariens).   Have you unbolted those?  The whole assembly should then pull forward out the front, rakes, impeller and shaft.   You can then pull the impeller off the shaft in the direction of the drive pulley.   Again, this is how the Ariens goes together but that looks very similar.  

Glad the pulley came off easily, mine was a little bit of a fight. Everything got a nice coat of neverseize going back together in case I ever need to pull it again. 

Edit, to get the impeller off you may need to stand that vertically, soak the E36 M3 out of that with penetrating oiled and add a little heat.  That looks a little crusty. 

11GTCS said:

Ok, cool.  I pulled mine to replace the rake bearings (on the bucket at each side on Ariens).   Have you unbolted those?  The whole assembly should then pull forward out the front, rakes, impeller and shaft.   You can then pull the impeller off the shaft in the direction of the drive pulley.   Again, this is how the Ariens goes together but that looks very similar.  

Glad the pulley came off easily, mine was a little bit of a fight. Everything got a nice coat of neverseize going back together in case I ever need to pull it again. 

I pulled the bearings on both sides of the augers and I feel like this whole thing should pull out, but it just won't. I feel like I'm missing something, or doing something wrong, but I'm not sure. 

Pic of the opposite side (under where the pulley was) ?

11GTCS said:

Pic of the opposite side (under where the pulley was) ?

Thanks! So the shaft should pull through that bearing and out the front.  The shaft has probably rusted to the inner race.   Penetrating oil, a little heat and some careful tapping should free it up.  Just need to break the rust bond. 

Made some progress on the snowblower.