Shite. Snowblower fell ill today. Will not project snow. Damn, small engine mechanics have been called.
My snowblower story is that we have a big 30 inch wide model we got from our neighbour.
While Carter was sick, I did some contracting for a couple of neighbours. My dad did one job without me because he was there anyway, helping with Claire. One neighbour wanted a loft in their tall garage, above the open garage doors. My dad built it while I was in the hospital over a couple of days that summer. Supplied the lumber and everything. 20ft x 8ft. Big.
At the conclusion, the neighbour suggested my dad take his snowblower as compensation. It was a MTD (meh quality) Home Depot model just out of warranty and something on it had broken, but it was a pretty expensive machine when new and he had abused it in some way. I wouldn't buy that model with an unknown Chinese knockoff engine, but it definitely cost over $1000 new. My dad reluctantly agreed, trailered it to his mechanic friend, had it fixed up for a couple hundred dollars, and decided we needed it more than he did (he has one only slightly smaller but with a Briggs engine).
That winter, I used it to great effect because it's pretty big for a subdivision snowblower. 4 passes clears a lane. My neighbour saw it running and said, "Thanks for fixing my snowblower."
What?
He thought I should give it back. I had to remind him that my dad built his loft, supplied the materials, and he paid with a broken snowblower that cost my dad money to fix, before giving it to me.
Anyway, that meh quality snowblower with the knockoff engine has been working great with only a couple of oil changes since that day. Every year I pull the starter cord expecting something to break, but it never does. I run the engine dry every spring. That's all I do. The oil changes happen when I remember and have time in the spring, which is not often. It only goes through 10L of gas or so a winter, and that's with me doing some other driveways.
Every winter I offer its use to the son of a friend in the area to make money, but he doesn't take me up on it.