MTD Yard Machines Prosumer Two-Stage (26") 8-HP Snow Blower

I have an 11 year old MTD snowblower - the 8HP Tecumseh engine, 26" wide, 2 stage unit has changed very little in design in the intervening years.

I live in Maine, so yeah, its gets to see some pretty heavy use. Here are some observations:

(Keep in mind, these come over the course of 11 years of hard use)

1. The engine has been fantastic overall. I have had to rebuild the carburetor a couple of times when I've put it away for the season without properly draining it. If you do that, the crud in modern fuels can do strange things over the few months when it gets no use (here, that means April - October). One year I had blue crystals in the carb. Still, it was very easy to strip down, clean, and put back.

2. The fuel line had to be replaced. I'm assuming this is due to the change in fuel over the last 11 years. This is actually a painful job because Tecumseh runs the line very tightly behind the cylinder head where it can be dificult to route.

3. In very slushy conditions, particularly in those storms where you get several inches of snow then it changes to rain, the unit can bog down a bit. I don't know any snowblowers that don't in that kind of conditions. 8+ inches of medium weight snow (good snowman snow) aren't a problem for this unit.

4. After 10 years, I did have to replace the rubber friction disk. That's not something you want to do yourself if you're not fairly mechanically inclined -- but if you are, the beautiful simplicity of MTD designs will be apparent. Its a brilliantly simple drive system and as such it is easy to repair when parts wear over time.

5. A couple of springs inside got old and rusty, but were easily replaced.

6. Although it has an electric start as well as the pull cord, I think I've used it only twice. The unit starts well with one or two pulls as long as its been properly maintained.

7. I've just started using the new E3 spark plugs in it. I don't believe fancy plugs make any difference in a car, but with a small engine line this, it is possible that it might -- and the difference in price is not significant considering how rarely the plug needs changing.

8. Just right now, after 11 years, it's the first time I've really torn the unit all the way down for a major overhaul of everything except the engine. This is primarily to resolve a rust problem. I could have avoided this by using touch up paint where needed and rinsing the machine after use. I haven't done that, and as a result I have rust.

As I write this, the unit is apart in the garage while I wait for the fresh paint to harden. Removing the whole front scope and augers wasn't hard, and now that I've stripped the old paint, applied a rust reformer as needed, and repainted using "Rustoleum Farm & Implement" paint (International Red) I'm ready to put the unit back together.

I'll use new zinc plated nuts and bolts, but otherwise all the functional parts are looking like they've worn really well. In fact, other than nuts and bolts -- which you'd be crazy not to replace if you've got the old ones off -- the only part I need this time around is the "scraper blade" which is a solid piece of steel bolted to the bottom of the scoop that drags on the ground. Mine is 50% worn right through (which should give you a picture of the use this thing has seen).

9. Really important to me: Parts are easily available for this unit. The friction disk I needed, specific springs, or normal wear parts are well supported.

The Bottom Line: As someone who still performs his own maintenance and repair work, I recommend MTD products highly. They're very competitively priced, and I find them to be highly reliable and very well built. I especially appreciate the beautiful simplicity of MTD's drive systems in both the Mower and Snowblower. Both are systems that are easily maintained or repaired while being extremely functional.

For the money, I'll got back to MTD every time.

I have an 11 year old MTD snowblower - the 8HP Tecumseh engine, 26" wide, 2 stage unit has changed very little in design in the intervening years.

I live in Maine, so yeah, its gets to see some pretty heavy use. Here are some observations:

(Keep in mind, these come over the course of 11 years of hard use)

1. The engine has been fantastic overall. I have had to rebuild the carburetor a couple of times when I've put it away for the season without properly draining it. If you do that, the crud in modern fuels can do strange things over the few months when it gets no use (here... more