Snow Blower Repair |
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Snow Blower Repair
Snow
Blower Repair
One
of the most significant things you can do each year is maintain your
snow blower during the summer or fall to avoid major repairs during
the cold winter months. Standard maintenance areas include - changing
the oil, checking all belts, ensuring the drive shafts are properly
lubricated and all moving parts are not worn or need replacement.
The easiest time to do this is during warm summer months instead
of during the cold weather especially if you are doing the repairs
yourself.
Another
advantage of getting your annual maintenance completed in the summer
or fall for your snow blower is that these repairs can be completed
when your repairman is not as busy. Once the season starts and there
is lots of snow on the ground, many people find that their snow blowers
require repairs and are in a rush to have their snow blowers repaired.
My snow blower is over 25 years old and I will share with you some
of the common repairs and maintenance I have followed over that time
to maintain my snow blow er..
Every snow blower has an engine, a drive system and a snow thrower
unit. Each of these units has their own requirements in terms of annual
maintenance as well as common repairs. We will discuss the engine component
first.
The
engine is just like any other engine If you maintain it properly
, you are likely not going to need any major repairs. Over the 25
plus years I have used my snow blower I have changed the oil every
year and changed the sparkplug once. I have also had to clean the
carburetor bowl and replace some of the gaskets in the carb. The
rubber just got brittle and cracked. Pretty good for a 25 year old
machine.
The
drive system is a bit more complex. I have changed the belts twice,
since they tend to wear out and stretch a bit with age. I also need
to change the bearings on the drive shaft. All of these components
together cost less than $100 in parts and I completed the repairs
myself. I also had one tire go flat which I could not remove from
the shaft due to rust. My local dealer suggested that I place a new
inner tube inside the tire and re-inflate it without actually removing
the tire. Worked like a charm and this particular snow blower repair
cost less than $15!.
Finally
the snow thrower system which includes the auger and the thrower
itself also needed a new bearing on the main auger shaft. I could
not get this off myself again due to corrosion, so I separated the
engine/drive system from the snow thrower unit and took this part
only into my local dealer. For $10, he was able to get the shaft
out and I then replaced the main bearing myself. The bearing was
quite inexpensive, approximately $20. Overall not bad for a 25 year
old snow blower, with repairs kept to a minimum. One last comment,
if you need to take your snow blower in to be repaired, always get
an estimate first. Labor is expensive and you might be better off
to just purchase a new machine.
If
your at all handy, doing it yourself is usually the best way to go
for snow blower repairs. .
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Snow Blower Repair
information
since 2005 |
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