[APinNY]

Joe, that blower looks like he never used it. Of course, it will fit right in with all your other stuff.
Good that you were able to borrow some ramps.

 

[Kubota Ronin]

Like new! Good score.

 

[WrongDoug]

Cool, sounds like a good day! Yeah, you were lucky with the ramps! I have the same RTek engine in my single-stage Toro, I like it. Easy to start, and the power seems good. Those are some of the only 2-stroke powered 2-stage machines that I know of, but owners seem to like them, as I recall.

Yeah it was fun. Some googling reveals that these were only made for a few years and are not a very common machine at all; they were also called the Power Max 6000, same model, different name. The RTek engine is related to the Lawn Boy Duraforce engine. I love 2 cycles and Lawn Boys in particular so I think that's awesome.

Well doesn't look like it was ever used, that guy must not have allowed it near any snow with salt in it! And as always your truck looks incredible!

I can't believe its almost 16 years old and in that good of shape. The powder coat is just about perfect on it. It had to have been well cared for. Appreciate the compliment on the truck, it's in dire need of a wash!

Joe, that blower looks like he never used it. Of course, it will fit right in with all your other stuff.
Good that you were able to borrow some ramps.

Appreciate that Al, the ramps were definitely a back saver.

 

[Steve Urquell]

Changed the fuel filter on our '01 Ranger tonight help from my son. Actually he did all of the work. And this what we found.
View attachment 2487190
Below is what came out filter.
View attachment 2487191
We've had ranger almost 6 years and never had real issues. Bought it with 275k and now has 324k. It hasn't wanted to start mornings so figured it got some water in gas. 4 cans dry gas and can of Seafoam and torpedo heater going underneath for 10-15 minutes each time, thought it was licked cause it started and ran fine for 4 days. Then this morning, no start again.
I think filter was so clogged and holding the water and freezing up. If it continues may have to pull the tank and clean that.

That thing looks horrible. I changed the one on my 94 Ranger ~every 30,000 miles. Probably runs a heck of a lot better now.

I decided to take the truck, it sees enough city driving so figured a highway trip would be good for it. It drank through almost 3/4 of a tank of gas, but that's par for the course with this thing. It also has the CB in it which is fun to have on the bigger interstates.
View attachment 2487255

The seller was a very nice older fella and clearly used this thing sparsely and took great care of it. Al, funny you mention ramps. I was planning on muscling it in the back of the truck. After taking one look at the snowblower, I realized that wasn't gonna happen by myself. And with the seller being of retirement age, I wasn't going to ask him to help me heave it in. Even with two guys it probably would've been a task. Fortunately the seller knew someone who lived a few miles down the road that owned some ramps, so we rode over to this person's house and they were happy to lend them so that I could load it up easily. It worked out well and saved me a lot of trouble. To unload at home, I had a couple pieces of 8' long 5/8 plywood that I was able to use as a ramp. It wasn't the sturdiest thing, but it worked.

The seller was located in Wheeling West Virginia, right off of I-70. There is a big Cabela's there, you can see the Cabela's water tower in the background.
View attachment 2487256

On to the snowblower itself! It's a Toro Powermax 726TE. According to the serial number it dates to 2005. It has electric start, the quick stick chute adjustment, unibody chassis, and it is a bit unique in that it has a 2 cycle engine. A quick Google search tells me that it is somewhat of a rare bird. It came with all of the manuals, booklets, sales floor tag, some maintenance records and even a VHS tape that I guess has some operating instructions. Unfortunately I have no way of watching it because I haven't owned a VHS player in probably ten years.
View attachment 2487259
View attachment 2487258 View attachment 2487260 View attachment 2487261

I'll post more as I learn more about it. Anyways, took a nice drive, met some nice people, bought a snowblower; made for a good day.

Great score on the SB. Interesting that they used a 2-stroke. Is there an advantage of a 2-stroke on one of these? What is the mix ratio? What about parts availability?

 

[RedOctobyr]

Mine is a different 2-stroke Toro, but the same engine. I suspect that weight savings are some of the advantage. I think my 2-stroke Toro is around 15 lbs lighter than the current 4-stroke equivalents. It's also really easy to pull-start (141cc, vs my 318cc 2-stage blower).

Mine takes 50:1, but they suggest TWC3 (?) marine 2-stroke oil. I believe this is because these typically run colder than a summer-use engine. And the marine oil is meant for water-cooled engines, which also run cooler than typical summer air-cooled engines.

I was able to buy an aftermarket carb for it last year, but ended up rebuilding the OEM carb, after the aftermarket one was running lean.

 

[tracktortag]

That blower looks brand new! And all of the paperwork too. Nice buy!

 

[Steve Urquell]

Mine is a different 2-stroke Toro, but the same engine. I suspect that weight savings are some of the advantage. I think my 2-stroke Toro is around 15 lbs lighter than the current 4-stroke equivalents. It's also really easy to pull-start (141cc, vs my 318cc 2-stage blower).

Mine takes 50:1, but they suggest TWC3 (?) marine 2-stroke oil. I believe this is because these typically run colder than a summer-use engine. And the marine oil is meant for water-cooled engines, which also run cooler than typical summer air-cooled engines.

I was able to buy an aftermarket carb for it last year, but ended up rebuilding the OEM carb, after the aftermarket one was running lean.

Thanks for the info. Is weight savings important on these things? I was wondering if they needed the weight to push into the snow or for traction.

 

[LLigetfa]

Been a long time since hearing of anyone eating beef tongue, Not one of my favorites.

Growing up on the farm, whenever we butchered a cow, the tongue and liver were the first to be cooked up, and I enjoyed both. Not at the same sitting mind you.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Thanks for the info. Is weight savings important on these things? I was wondering if they needed the weight to push into the snow or for traction.

For whether weight is important, it depends in part on the style of the machine.

My 2-stroke Toro is a single-stage blower. There's one set of fast-spinning rubber paddles. These grab the snow, and as they spin, they bring it towards the center of the machine, where they then fling it out of the chute. They also touch the ground as they spin. This helps clear all the way down to pavement, but it also pulls the machine forward. So while it's not "self propelled" (the wheels are just free-spinning), you don't have to shove it forward. The more you lift the handle, the more weight transfers onto the paddles, and the harder it pulls itself forward. Even up our driveway's incline.

So some weight is needed, I guess, but overall it's nice if the machine is lightweight. Mine weighs about 65 pounds, compared to about 300 pounds for my 2-stage Ariens (which is still only a 24" clearing path, vs 21" for the single-stage Toro). The light weight really makes a difference, even though it's not self propelled. I find it easier to maneuver, and less tiring to use, than the Ariens. It's very well balanced, so it's easy to swing around, etc.

The Toro is actually light enough that the force of the snow exiting the chute can push the machine around a bit. If I'm going straight, and I have the discharge chute aimed far to the right, the machine will be pushed to the left as I'm clearing, and I have to try and steer to the right a bit, in order to go straight.

The Ariens is a 2-stage blower. So there's a slower spinning (high torque) steel auger, which chews up the snow/ice, and brings it to the center, where a fast-spinning steel impeller (the 2nd stage) flings it out of the chute. The auger will chew through icy stuff that would give the single-stage trouble. But 2-stage machines are almost always self-propelled. Even with chains on my tires, I will still sometimes have traction issues, either on the incline, or driving into dense snowbanks from the plows. In that case, like with a snow-clearing tractor, weight helps with traction. I've got different tires to install on my 2-stage, but if those still don't quite cut it, I might try adding some additional weight over the wheels, for extra grip.

 

[MARK (LI)]

I found that 2 stage blowers want to climb out of the snow when it is deep...any one else experience that?

 

[RedOctobyr]

My bucket is fairly narrow, and therefore light, at 24". I have a 20 lb weight bolted to it, which was on the used blower when I bought it. The weight was to counterbalance the weight of the cab that was on it.

I sold the cab, but kept the 20 lb weight on the bucket. It helps hold the bucket down, when going up the incline, or into heavy snowbanks. I tried adding an additional 5 lbs, and liked that improvement.

 

[Kubota Ronin]

Growing up on the farm, whenever we butchered a cow, the tongue and liver were the first to be cooked up, and I enjoyed both. Not at the same sitting mind you.

I draw the line at liver... any kind. I've tried it at least a thousand times, cooked every imaginable way, nope.

 

[Steve Urquell]

I draw the line at liver... any kind. I've tried it at least a thousand times, cooked every imaginable way, nope.

I haven't had tongue but my buddy claims it's awesome as tacos from a local taquiria. I love fried chicken livers. Haven't had beef liver in a loooong time. Not the healthiest organ to be nomming down on.

 

[Kubota Ronin]

I haven't had tongue but my buddy claims it's awesome as tacos from a local taquiria. I love fried chicken livers. Haven't had beef liver in a loooong time. Not the healthiest organ to be nomming down on.

When I was a kid my mother fed the cats liver almost exclusively for a while. Outright killed one, the other recovered once she quit.

I will grind up chicken or turkey livers along with the rest of the giblets to go into stuffing. I think it's the texture as a whole meat that really puts me off it.

 

[Kubota Ronin]

In other news... if my online presence is somewhat spotty today, it's due to an alcohol-related laptop computer in-ci-dent.

Steady on.

 

[tracktortag]

My grandmother used to cook tongue when I was young. I liked it then, but haven't had it for years. My mother made a great turkey giblet gravy for Thanksgiving. And my uncle used to smoke eels. I liked that too. I'm with Scott with liver though, including liverwurst.

 

[WrongDoug]

Great score on the SB. Interesting that they used a 2-stroke. Is there an advantage of a 2-stroke on one of these? What is the mix ratio? What about parts availability?

Thanks. I think the real advantage of the two stroke is less weight and a smaller package but I think those advantages only become apparent with the single stage type blowers like the Power Clear.

On a bigger two stage blower like this one, I think the advantages are less moving parts, (generally) easier to start, more RPMs (full throttle is something like 4200 rpm) and enough torque to back it up. Honestly nothing very significant. Kind of an answer to a question nobody asked. But it supposedly works well in practice and it satisfies my weird obsession with 2 cycles.

It takes 50:1, although I may run it closer to 40:1, I'll see after running it a bit. Parts availability is no problem. Despite being a bit of a hens tooth, the chassis is essentially the same as any other Power Max blower up to the present day, and the RTek engines were used on plenty of single stage blowers.

 

[lt230s]

That thing looks horrible. I changed the one on my 94 Ranger ~every 30,000 miles. Probably runs a heck of a lot better now.

Seems to. The wife used it today and said it had better get up and go than before.

 

[TnTkr]

Been a long time since hearing of anyone eating beef tongue, Not one of my favorites.

Beef tongue is a Christmas delicacy for us. Everybody in our family like it.

 

[TnTkr]

For whether weight is important, it depends in part on the style of the machine.

My 2-stroke Toro is a single-stage blower. There's one set of fast-spinning rubber paddles. These grab the snow, and as they spin, they bring it towards the center of the machine, where they then fling it out of the chute. They also touch the ground as they spin. This helps clear all the way down to pavement, but it also pulls the machine forward. So while it's not "self propelled" (the wheels are just free-spinning), you don't have to shove it forward. The more you lift the handle, the more weight transfers onto the paddles, and the harder it pulls itself forward. Even up our driveway's incline.

So some weight is needed, I guess, but overall it's nice if the machine is lightweight. Mine weighs about 65 pounds, compared to about 300 pounds for my 2-stage Ariens (which is still only a 24" clearing path, vs 21" for the single-stage Toro). The light weight really makes a difference, even though it's not self propelled. I find it easier to maneuver, and less tiring to use, than the Ariens. It's very well balanced, so it's easy to swing around, etc.

The Toro is actually light enough that the force of the snow exiting the chute can push the machine around a bit. If I'm going straight, and I have the discharge chute aimed far to the right, the machine will be pushed to the left as I'm clearing, and I have to try and steer to the right a bit, in order to go straight.

The Ariens is a 2-stage blower. So there's a slower spinning (high torque) steel auger, which chews up the snow/ice, and brings it to the center, where a fast-spinning steel impeller (the 2nd stage) flings it out of the chute. The auger will chew through icy stuff that would give the single-stage trouble. But 2-stage machines are almost always self-propelled. Even with chains on my tires, I will still sometimes have traction issues, either on the incline, or driving into dense snowbanks from the plows. In that case, like with a snow-clearing tractor, weight helps with traction. I've got different tires to install on my 2-stage, but if those still don't quite cut it, I might try adding some additional weight over the wheels, for extra grip.

I have a 4-stroke 2-stage blower as backup snow removal tool, but I've never really liked it. It's heavy and stubborn, you cannot operate it without sweating. Besides it gets stuck way too often by a piece of gravel getting between the impeller and its housing. We have gravel yard and road.
Now reading what you all write about light 2-stroke single stage blowers makes me want one. Too bad single stage blowers have never been popular in Finland. It may be impossible to find one here.