New Snowblower

[meierjn]

Good day! I figured since this was a site where most were dedicated to one of the best winter activities around that several of the members here also had experience with snowblowers. After doing a lot of reading and research I’ve just purchased and assembled a nice new craftsman 24” model.The snowblower has a Briggs and Stratton 250cc snow force engine. I didn’t really want anything larger than a 24” and this model seemed pretty solid from my research. The snowblower came well packaged in a nice solid crate and we easy to assemble. When I put something together I like to go everything that was pre-assembled to ensure everything is tight and nothing is missing. So far I’ve only found a couple of missing screws that are on their way after a call to customer service.

As with most new snowblowers there is no throttle control and the engine runs at a constant speed and cannot be throttled down. What would everyone recommend for a break-in period or procedure for these engines? The engine was easy to start and I’ve just run the engine for a couple of minutes in the garage.

Would anyone recommend applying a bit of Loctite to any or all of the nuts and bolts I can get at? Even with ensuring everything isinitially tight and in place I’d like to avoid anything coming loose. With an older snowblower I had we were constantly tightening everything to hold it together.

Is there anything else too look out for? Now all we need is some snow.

Below is the link to the snowblower on the Sears site:

 

[pipes]

I think if you looked closely, you would find that there is a throttle on the engine. I would start it and run it at a low idle til it warms up and then shut it down to let it cool off. Do this a couple of times. then work it at about 3/4 throttle for the first little while. If the snow is quite heavy and you notice that the machine is working hard stop and let it cool off by idling for a short period of time.

that's what I did with my craftsman and haven't had any issues.

 

[hbar218]

Have you tried it yet? I am looking at the same one and was curious if the engine is big enough. Thanks, Brian

 

[meierjn]

Have you tried it yet? I am looking at the same one and was curious if the engine is big enough. Thanks, Brian

I did try it and it seems to work pretty good. It seems like a really solid unit. I shoveled all of the snow on my driveway over the last few days into a pile along the edge that was about 18" deep. Even after it had set up the blower marched right through it and pitched the snow easily accros the street.

I spoke with the Sears dealer in Wetaskiwin and he mentioned that this blower was about $1300-$1400 last year but was marked down this year. For a 24" blower it has a 250cc Briggs and Stratton vs. the 205cc LCT engines that are in most blowers this size at a much better price. I think you'll be happy with this blower.

 

[hbar218]

Thanks for the info. I thought the 205 cc was small and they make a 277cc but it seems a little too big. I am going to order the 250cc one this week.