Ramblings
A Quick Fix
I'm not a car guy. I don't like working on cars... won't change the oil myself, won't rotate the tires myself... nothing beyond checking the oil, filling the tank and running it through a car wash. It's just not my thing. But... when my effectively brand new snowblower wouldn't start - I just had to take action. Let's get into it!
A New Machine in '22
Imagine if you will... back in 2022, there we were, shopping for our first brand new snow blower. It was a blank slate - just pick what we wanted and go! You'd think the list would include a few key elements, but really it was quite simple. Obviously it would need to be well-rated and from a reputable company, and the only other real requirement? It absolutely must have an electric starter! All that said - the Troy-Bilt Storm 2600 was the winner!
It Just Wouldn't Start
In the winter of '22 the snow blower came in handy three times I think. Each time I enjoyed the instantaneous roar of the engine with just one bump of the electric starter! Then in '23, there was only two opportunities to use the blower but a neighbor best me to it both times. There's a few of us guys siesta trying to beat the others to snow blowing both sides of the block. And on those super storms you'll see all three or four of us out there cleaning up the block! But a few weeks ago, in anticipation of a few inches of beautiful snow, I thought I'd get the machine started and let it run for a little while.
Upon that first day of winter it was such a wonderland; snowflakes fell as large as feathers wafting from grey cloud. Soon it was a pure white desert, from our doorstep to the roadway and beyond. And on that day I took to making a pathway in good spirits, snow shovel in hand. Roll on a few days later and my created pathway was banked up beyond shoulder height and the childish frisson of joy that had come with those first flakes had been replaced by a quiet resolve, a grown-up sense of duty. - Angela Abraham
A Simple Fix
When the engine wouldn't start I thought about having a small engine mechanic come to ol' 173 to take a look at because...I hate working on engines. But I got to thinking about the look on my dad's face if he were around to hear that idea, and I decided to at least do some basic troubleshooting.
And, because I thought the gas in the tank might be stale after two years (imagine that) I figured I'd start there. So I started by siphoning out as much gas as I could...
Next, I removed the drain screw from the fuel bowl to drain the remainder of the old gas.
Then, after a piece of gardening wire to clean out the outlet hole in the bowl, it was time to give 'er a try.
A couple pumps of the primer, connecting to the ol' alternating current and...ignition! And once again 173 is prepared for the next snowpocalypse!
Not much of a story, nothing worth being particularly proud of but, I was tickled that I kinda did some motor stuff! Anyway...thanks for stopping by - see ya' next time!
