Just Joined

Farm Gopher Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 3

Hello All,

I love this site. Lots of great information.

Last week I pushed home a Trail Blazer 5 with a shot transmission - three blocks but it was free. It is in sweet condition showing that the previous (original) owner took pretty good care of her.

The Tecumseh engine needed a little coaxing and after a shot of ether it started only after I finally used the electric starter. The auger and blower worked but of course no wheel motion. The smoke cleared in very short time so I think the rings are good.

I opened the transmission and found that the shifting fork broke away from the shaft. No damage to the gears. My friendly neighborhood garage welded it today and I hope to re-assemble every back thing together this week.

Back in 1971 my dad bought a very similar looking used Toro snow blower. Last year he gave it away to his neighbor after using it every season for the last 37 years! He didn't know that I wanted it. These things were built to survive a full out nuclear attack!

I'll post some pictures if anyone is interested.

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:01 am

Welcome. When you get some pictures, please post them to the "pictures of you tractors" section.

Farm Gopher Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 3

My Wheelhorse did a pretty good job during our pre-Christmas 25" snowfall after I got it running right. I needed to disassemble the carb and clean out years of green varnish. Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to get all the necessary information on line. The diagrams were extremely helpful. The previous owner had aluminum clevis pins securing the wheels to the axle. They sheared about halfway through the snow clearing and I thought the transmission had failed again. The rolled pin securing the axle to the transmission drive also sheared soon after that so it was a bit frustrating. Fortunately I had a few .25x2" bolts that fixed things.
I really appreciate all the great information you guys post.

Happy New Year to you all!

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:21 pm

Thanks for keeping us posted and thanks for the comments.

Farm Gopher Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 3

Boy am I glad the snowblower works! I may have jinked the East Coast. Ever since I got my Trailblazer 5 working, the South Jersey area has experienced a record 72 inches of snow.