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Yard-Man threw the rod through the block :(

4K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  43128 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I have a Yard-Man - unknown model (the plate with the ID is too worn down to read) but it looks simmilar to this one:

The difference is mainly in the controls - mine has a less 'refined' looking control panel. Otherwise, mine is a pretty similar tracked model.

The engine is a Tecumseh HMSK90-156501A with D.O.M. 43078 (or maybe 4307B). My father in law got it second hand and gave it to us so I don't know too much of it's history.

I had just got finished cleaning out the carb and adjusting the machine's cables. I took it out for a test run on the recent lake effect snow we just had in Buffalo. It started running rough after about 20 minutes and stalled. I got it started back up and about 30 seconds later I hear a BANG! and the fuel tank is bouncing up and down, and I hear oil running all over.

I look down below the tank and there's a crack in the engine and I can see the crankshaft :(

It had oil, so I don't know why it died.

Now, I am comfortable taking things apart and mechanically inclined but I know very little about snow blowers. So right now I'm not sure what my best option is. I see three possibilities:

1) Scrap the machine. See if somebody wants it for parts or to put a new engine on. Or cut it up for the scrap yard. Get what I can, and start saving up for a new machine (which means I'll be shoveling my 175' of sidewalk for the rest of this winter, probably).

2) Find a replacement Tecumseh engine. Which may be difficult? I'm under the impression that Tecumseh got taken over and parts are hard to find now?

3) Put a Harbor Freight Predator engine on it. This seems like a good way to go ($100 for a complete 6.5HP sounds good to me) but I have no idea how to figure out what fits. I'm guessing I find the spec for my Tecumseh and find a Predator with the same shape crankshaft. Then make an adapter to raise it to he proper height and bolt it down. But I'm not sure if there's any more to it.

I know #3 is only an option if I have one output shaft, right? Which I think I do from looking at parts diagrams?

Are there other options I haven't thought of?

So I'm looking for any advice I can get. And if anybody has the same / similar model as me and had the engine go out, I'd love to hear what you did.

Thanks everyone!
 
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#7 ·
Your Yardman,if it is similar to the one in the link you provided and has two output shafts, was made by MTD. If that is the case you may be able to flip the friction disc and rotate the lower gear arm 180 degrees to allow for a single shaft repower. It is actually a very simple flip on some MTD blowers. If you can, flip the blower into the service position and snap a pic of the transmission set-up. If your engine has a single output shaft, the 212cc predator will be more or less a plug & go engine for you. Some of the Tec engines on MTD blowers used an odd sized shaft diameter which would require new pulleys for the swap.
 
#11 ·
But quick question - generally, would any dual pulley Snow King replace any other dual pulley snow king? I found an HMSK85 but mine's an HMSK90
Yes, that will swap just fine. Just check to see the crank diameter is the same (even if it's not the crank rarely goes bad when an engine blows up so you can generally clean up the one from the blown up engine and swap it over) Also you can take a single shaft model and swap your old cam and rear sump cover over. 8hp to 11hp flatheads are all more or less the same in a given year range.
 
#13 · (Edited)
If you should decide on a repower : If your old engine has a 3/4 dia. shaft check out the 212cc/6.5 HF Predator, but if it has a 1.0" dia. shaft check out the 301cc/8 HP Predator engine. The latter also has a little extra shaft length. I found the 6.5 would need to be adapted when I swapped my Tecumseh HM80 out and the 301 would be easier, just needing new belts. The 6.5 shaft was a little to short for my application. Measure your old one dia and length and go with best option. If you have dual pulley setup with old engine get a used Tecumseh with same.
 
#15 ·
Ok, so I went out and didn't even have to put it in 'service mode' to check it out. I took off the cover that goes over the belts and there were clearly two pulleys coming out.

It's a 45 minute or so drive to the HMSK85 I found on Craigslist so I'm going to go get that on Saturday. Apparently it runs a little rough and could use a carb cleaning. So I'm going to check some other threads and figure out how to do that (and start a new one if I have more questions). I'm worried that improperly cleaning my carb killed my old engine so I want to learn more. I know it sounds doubtful, but the engine blew up right after I cleaned the carb, so I have to suspect the two are related. I don't know how that could be, but I still want to learn more before I go messing with this new engine.
 
#18 ·
have more questions). I'm worried that improperly cleaning my carb killed my old engine so I want to learn more. I know it sounds doubtful, but the engine blew up right after I cleaned the carb, so I have to suspect the two are related. I don't know how that could be, but I still want to learn more before I go messing with this new engine.
you may have hooked up the governor linkage improperly and it caused the engine to over rev.

Take pictures of all of the linkage before diss-assembly to insure that you can hook it up properly upon re assembly.
 
#16 ·
I've read about Tecumseh engines from the 90s or so blowing up because of surging and bogging and over revving caused by a poor carburetor design with no mixture screw. I don't know if that's true but if you get a similar Tecumseh you may want to have a small engine shop service the carb just so you don't have a repeat performance. A hundred bucks spent there is not a bad investment.
 
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