Need to rant... Very long ***sorry***.

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opfoto

opfoto

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Dec 28, 2004
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Albany, NY, USA
I just wanted to clear the driveway of some snow. A few inches is all. Maybe 6 or 8. Anyway I brought the blower (purchased in 1/05) forward a few weeks ago from the shed. Filled with fresh gas, new spark plug, oil change. Spritzed the chute with silicone, tightened some nuts. Then I then started it and let it run awhile and thought I had it ready to go for the winter. Well lo and behold today the SOB wouldn't start. Turns out the electric starter went bad. The teeth that engage the flywheel had snapped off. Seems as though it was made of pot metal or something like cast aluminum. The flywheel seemed fine. So I decided to start it manually. The snowblower started after giving it 2-3 pulls on the rope. I got the snowblowing done. Then I was talked to another family member who had a similar problem a couple of years ago and then again this year. Turns out these snowblowers had the same starters. My blower is a Craftsman with a Tecumseh engine, hers is a MTD with a Tecumseh engine. Both I believe are mf'd by Murray. After researching on the web for a new starter I found that Ariens, MTD, C-man, Toro, and a few others share the same tecumseh starter #33329 that seems to go south after 2-3 years. My last snowblower lasted 15 years with out this problem. I gave it to my stepson because he had none. It is still working great but he had to replace the pull rope last year. I ordered a new one and hopefully this won't be repeated in the next couple of years. Thanks for allowing me to spew off. Sorry for the long rant.
 
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I think these kinda problems are planed by the manufacture. They do this to get more money out of your pocket. Nothing, anymore, is designed to last a life time. They design it to last just long enough for the item to be out of warranty. So you either have to fix or replace it. In your case, all they needed to do is spend a couple more pennies and put in a hardened steel gear and the problem would be fixed. The blower probably would of marketed for $5 bucks more.
 
Had the same thing happen on my craftsman twice! I have had the blower a while and can't complain, but I refuse to buy another starter I just use the rope and pull start!
 
You warned your snowblower that it was going to be used. Next time don't prep it for the winter, just push it out in the snow and kick it a few times then start it.

You have to show who is boss in these matters!
 
We never took care of our blower, but every time we needed to use it, the e-starter worked fine - now for 8 years.
Another story about a yard tool:
We had a lawn mower that was not used for the seven years we lived in MI. After we moved back to NJ, I had to mow the lawn. I was not expecting the mower to start at all, so I filled only a cup of gas in the tank. Pushed the prime button twice and pulled the starter rope. On the first pull that thing started up!!! Was quite surprised with this behavior.
 
I heard a lot of good things about STIHL snow/leaf blowers. May cost a bit more but should serve you well (next time).
 
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