!44: Shop For Snowblower Clearance: January 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

I took this video from the dash of the car. It's a short trip around a few streets in the downtown/central area of St. John's. We got over 40cm of snow on Feb 19/20, and some of the city's streets never saw a snowplow until late into the evening. Those that did see a plow were often down to a single lane of traffic. Drifting also caused some problems. So here it is... a drive through (and almost getting stuck) in St. John's. (It's never good when the snow is too deep for the ground clearance of your vehicle)

St. John's Snow

Breast Pump For Rent Buy Now Price Bark Collar Pampers Swim Diapers Top Quality

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

BNSF Snow Blower in Aurora, NE

!±8± BNSF Snow Blower in Aurora, NE

The BNSF was clearing the tracks southwest of Aurora and I had a chance to capture it on film.

BNSF Snow Blower in Aurora, NE

Woodworking Plans Nightstand Review

Monday, January 2, 2012

Snowblower Leak-Down test, with homemade bicycle pump adapter, Tecumseh 5 hp engine.

!±8± Snowblower Leak-Down test, with homemade bicycle pump adapter, Tecumseh 5 hp engine.

I made an adapter that allows me to pump air into the engine using a bicycle pump. Since I felt very little back pressure, I suspected there was a compression problem, which I verified by using a compression leak-down tester. FOLLOW-UP: As expected, the valves were not closing (especially the exhaust valve). After shooting this video, I pulled the head cover, removed the valves, lapped the valves in, and ground the valve stems slightly shorter to provide the specified gap (.004 intake and .008 exhaust). After re-assembling, the snowblower started immediately and runs very strong - actually better than new. It's still a bit of a mystery why there was no gap, since the valves obviously did not grow longer over time. Perhaps the valve seats wore down, which sinks the valves deeper into the head. Anyway, all is fixed now - it runs great. Very powerful, and doesn't bog down at all.