Snowblower Maintenance
The other day, I noticed the weather forecast showed that we had snow heading our way that evening or the next day. I instantly remembered that I hadn't gotten to any of the maintenance needed on our snowblower due to health problems and miserable weather. Actually, I hadn't gotten to a few other things on my To-Do list that were ahead of the snowblower maintenance but now the snowblower was bumped up to be the priority.
It took me about an hour to find and collect the right tools and then to block up the snowblower. The weather wasn't too bad so it was nice being outside. The temperature was in the upper 40s and the sun was peaking through hazy clouds low on the horizon. It is that time of year when the sun never gets higher than the treetops so any sunlight is a bit of a surprise. Anyway, I had collected all the necessary tools and the snowblower was now blocked up on chunks of 4x4's.
I needed to change the oil. That actually went well and quickly.
Then I needed to replace the pull-cord/recoil cord. It had broken during the winter last season. What was supposed to be an easy swap-out became a frustrating project. A couple of the screws holding this part to the snowblower were very rusted. I actually got one of the screws stuck inside one of my sockets. I spent far too much time and energy trying to remove the screw from the socket so I could get to the next screw. I didn't want to ruin the threads so I couldn't grab the threaded end with pliers and attempt to yank it out of my socket. After trying all sorts of things, I realized that the best thing would probably be to screw it back into the hole snugly... then lightly twist the handle of the socket wrench off the screw... that worked. So, I managed to get it free of my socket but not after wasting much needed time and energy.
I pumped up the tires. I ended up with a flat this past winter and that turned out to be a grueling problem in sub-zero temperatures. I wanted to start the season with tires properly inflated.
The plan was to now start up the engine... I added some fresh gas... primed it... pulled the cord... nothing. And again... nothing. Over and over, until my arm and shoulder were telling me enough is enough. I wheeled the snowblower over to one of the power outlets so I could plug in the electric starter. After screwing around cranking the electric starter another two dozen or so times, I managed to get it running. While the engine was warming up, I decided that it would probably be a good idea to check the spark plug.
I couldn't find my spark plug gap measuring tool so I couldn't check the gap on the spark plug. I decided that I could, however, check the condition of the plug so I tried to remove the plug... it was too far recessed to get at it with my sockets. I would need to remove a heat shield to get close enough. I decided to forego that for this day. In the meantime, I would order a new spark plug and gap tool.
At this point, the temperature had quickly dropped to around 34 degrees and it was snowing. The snow was accumulating quickly too. It was time to start cleaning up all my tools.
I moved the snowblower back over to an area next to the playhouse and remembered that I need some sort of cover for the snowblower.
We still had some building materials leftover from some unfinished projects so I quickly threw together a temporary roof next to the playhouse. It was now downright damp and frigid so I called it a day.
A couple of days later, I finished adding supports to this temporary roof structure. Now the snowblower has a dry home. And, I had already added some power to this area so I can use the electric starter on the snowblower so we are now ready for winter, I suppose.
I had two metal roof panels lying around waiting for me to start on the next project but I ran out of time. I decided to tack one of these roof panels up against the playhouse. I then put some wood support underneath with our woodpile holding up the other end.
I didn't want to put any holes in these panels so I sandwiched them between wood to hold them firmly against the lightweight, temporary wood frame. This should hold until spring.
The spark plugs arrived today. I think the spark plug project will have to wait until it is nicer outside and I am feeling well.
We are now in a winter storm advisory so we'll see how it all goes.
It took me about an hour to find and collect the right tools and then to block up the snowblower. The weather wasn't too bad so it was nice being outside. The temperature was in the upper 40s and the sun was peaking through hazy clouds low on the horizon. It is that time of year when the sun never gets higher than the treetops so any sunlight is a bit of a surprise. Anyway, I had collected all the necessary tools and the snowblower was now blocked up on chunks of 4x4's.
I needed to change the oil. That actually went well and quickly.
Then I needed to replace the pull-cord/recoil cord. It had broken during the winter last season. What was supposed to be an easy swap-out became a frustrating project. A couple of the screws holding this part to the snowblower were very rusted. I actually got one of the screws stuck inside one of my sockets. I spent far too much time and energy trying to remove the screw from the socket so I could get to the next screw. I didn't want to ruin the threads so I couldn't grab the threaded end with pliers and attempt to yank it out of my socket. After trying all sorts of things, I realized that the best thing would probably be to screw it back into the hole snugly... then lightly twist the handle of the socket wrench off the screw... that worked. So, I managed to get it free of my socket but not after wasting much needed time and energy.
I pumped up the tires. I ended up with a flat this past winter and that turned out to be a grueling problem in sub-zero temperatures. I wanted to start the season with tires properly inflated.
The plan was to now start up the engine... I added some fresh gas... primed it... pulled the cord... nothing. And again... nothing. Over and over, until my arm and shoulder were telling me enough is enough. I wheeled the snowblower over to one of the power outlets so I could plug in the electric starter. After screwing around cranking the electric starter another two dozen or so times, I managed to get it running. While the engine was warming up, I decided that it would probably be a good idea to check the spark plug.
I couldn't find my spark plug gap measuring tool so I couldn't check the gap on the spark plug. I decided that I could, however, check the condition of the plug so I tried to remove the plug... it was too far recessed to get at it with my sockets. I would need to remove a heat shield to get close enough. I decided to forego that for this day. In the meantime, I would order a new spark plug and gap tool.
At this point, the temperature had quickly dropped to around 34 degrees and it was snowing. The snow was accumulating quickly too. It was time to start cleaning up all my tools.
We still had some building materials leftover from some unfinished projects so I quickly threw together a temporary roof next to the playhouse. It was now downright damp and frigid so I called it a day.
A couple of days later, I finished adding supports to this temporary roof structure. Now the snowblower has a dry home. And, I had already added some power to this area so I can use the electric starter on the snowblower so we are now ready for winter, I suppose.
I had two metal roof panels lying around waiting for me to start on the next project but I ran out of time. I decided to tack one of these roof panels up against the playhouse. I then put some wood support underneath with our woodpile holding up the other end.
I didn't want to put any holes in these panels so I sandwiched them between wood to hold them firmly against the lightweight, temporary wood frame. This should hold until spring.
The spark plugs arrived today. I think the spark plug project will have to wait until it is nicer outside and I am feeling well.
We are now in a winter storm advisory so we'll see how it all goes.
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