Turn the choke all the way to the right. Then pull and pull and pull...

 

Yup, knob all the way to the right and lever all the way up to the top of the bunny rabbit. Small engines are very forgiving so just keep crankin away and it should go.

 

I would remove the housing and look at the carb inlet to see which way is full choke and which way is none. The little cartoon isn't very clear, is it? Try some starting fluid, too. My well-used, 1971 Craftsman snowblower just won't start without a shot of it. I think they designed it that way.

 

This falls under the Duh department, but just in case...

Go easy on the starter fluid. We just tore down a neighbors go-cart with no compression. The original reason it wouldn't start was carb related, but the kid used too much starter fluid to find that out and the intake valve was seized in the open position.

 

Uhhhh.... does that thing have an Electric Starter motor on it? I've got a two stage Craftsman Tracked Snowblower ( 8 hp... I think... ) and it's never let me down. I just plug the dang thing into an extension cord and let 'er crank... it sure beats pullin' the starter cord!

If the snowblower is anything like mine, it's got a primer button on it... I press it three times to squirt fuel into the cylinder. So, don't forget to prime.

I keep the CHOKE on full ( to the right ) , and the throttle on it's fastest setting. Then crank 'er over. It starts right up every time. Once it starts to warm up, then I start backing off the choke ( to the left, one of three positions ). Also make sure that key switch is working and the contacts are not corroded.

But I'm with everyone else, make sure you've got good gas and the carb's clean.

 

Uh.....

What's a snow blower?

(it sure sucks to live in sunny Southern California)

 

Peteyg:

 

I knew this one fell under the "duh" apartment... I apologize if I have lowered everyone's IQ...

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to try to start it with the choke ACTUALLY set to FULL. LEVE, you are right -- I failed to include that information. There is an electric start where all you have to do is plug it in and hit the button. I primed it 3 times before trying to start it. I couldn't imagine trying to start this sucker with just the hand-pull.

I'm going to give it another shot tonight. Hopefully she'll start without issue.

Thanks again,
Sean

 

I think he means a "snow thrower", it is a machine they use at ball games to sell snow cones to people in middle seats, I think I saw one at the A's game once.

Seriously

I think I figured out the problem, or a potential one:

In reply to:

I tried to start my *new to me* lawnmore this weekend.

[/ QUOTE ]
I *think* you mean lawnmower. Well:

• Starting the lawnmower will not start the snowblower, they are mutually exclusive.
• A lawnmower is not a snowblower, it may throw snow for a short while, before it locks up however.

And...

In reply to:

Needless to say it was a complete and udder failure!

[/ QUOTE ]

I really have to ask where the cow came into this

 

I'll see if I can dig up the manual on the snowblower and see if it's got any more information. If it does I'll email it to ya...

 

Thor, I wondered about the udders too, but decided Sean would have something to occupy him until he got the snowblower started.

 

At my store we have a 9hp Craftsman snowblower. It has almost an identical set up to yours. We keep it outside under a tarp all the time (in Alaska). It is equipped with electric start, but we don't bother with it. Starting procedure is as follows:

1. Check oil and gas levels
2. Choke to full on
3. Throttle to full
4. Prime 3-5 pumps depending on temp
5. Pull cord
6. Choke to full off depending on temp
7. Give it a minute to warm up and go to work

We have 2 acres of cleared land including our parking lot and the lumber yard. We have a plow company that does the bulk of the area, but we use the blower to get close to the fences, the buildings and lumber stacks. It gets a real workout.

Let us know how you do!

 

Yeah... I'm an idiot. I recall one time... I think it was 10th grade or something... This english teach kept on talking about this crazy concept called proofreading. Not sure what all that was about... I was too busy staring at the hot chick next to me.

Thanks for looking it up for me LEVE.

Udder... I'm from Wisconsin. Make more sense now? Ok. Bad joke.

Sean

 

Up here in Canadia we use shovels.

But I hear the town mayor has one of those gasoline engine things.

For now try the choke full on, throttle full open, once you get the hang of it, you can jocky the throttle choke while cranking to make it start really fast..

Keep your hands away from the snow intake area...

 

In reply to:

Udder... I'm from Wisconsin. Make more sense now? Ok. Bad joke.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too... but was smart enough to leave!

Hey, did you hear that Wisconsin is going to change the State Motto on their license plates from: AMERICA'S DAIRYLAND to WISCONSIN, COME SMELL OUR DARIERE.

Now that's an udderly delightful pun!

 

You should also check the "key" to be sure it's in all the way. That's the black plastic piece to the left of the choke knob. It's basically a cut off switch that breaks the signal to the spark plug. If it's loose or not pushed in all the way it'll never start. If you still have trouble try pulling the plug and see if it's fouled. You should also check that the air intake is not clogged up with a mouse nest.

Remember it's just like any engine, it needs air fuel and spark to run.

 

Well, I got it started this morning. When I set the the choke to Full, and moved the lever to full run it turned over like it did earlier this week with no luck. Then, I tried it again, but on a whim i reached down and lifted up on the lever to make sure it was all the way up by the Rabbit and the instant I touched it the engine caught and started running. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it starting, but it helped.

Thans for everyones help.

Sean

 

In reply to:

Me too... but was smart enough to leave!

[/ QUOTE ]

Shouldn't that read:

Me too... but was smart enough to LEVE!

 

In reply to:

Shouldn't that read:

Me too... but was smart enough to LEVE!

[/ QUOTE ]