# Repower options for John Deere 526



## snow-jc (Dec 27, 2012)

Hello, I have a ~1974 John Deere 526 snow blower type W2111 SN 006812M with the H50-65274J tecumseh engine. I'd like to repower it with an 8HP or better. The unit is heavy duty (judging by the weight and construction).

What are my options? I'd like to make it as easy as possible, I am fairly mechanically inclined.

Thank you!!


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Is your existing engine one shaft or 2? If you have a single shaft engine it should be pretty easy.

These work well, and if you time it just right between sales and coupons they can be had for under $100.
HORIZONTAL ENGINE, GASOLINE , EPA 212CC OHV 7HP

These seem to be recommended too:
Search for: Storm Force

If you go with the 7 HP engines the bolt holes should be the same so you shouldn't require much modification. The 8HP+ engines have bigger blocks and will need new holes drilled. The cranks are larger and higher and may require belt cover modifications as well.


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## twofishy4u (Dec 6, 2011)

I would find a nice used tecumseh 8hp. They made an 826 back then so maybe look at parts manuals and find pulleys and belts that are direct fit too. Other than that and the engine I think the actual machine is the same.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

When I decided to buy my First Predator 212cc 7 hp engine I was a bit apprehensive since I was not sure about the quality. (chinese made engine) So I decided to replace the engine on my Doodle bug minibike first. Let me tell you I was impressed so much by the easy to start smooth running engine that I decided to replaced the difficult to start known to bog Tecumseh that I grown to hate more and more each year that came stock on my 1996 MTD 5/22. The Predator 212cc is way more powerful then the Tecumseh ever was even when it was new and it throws snow over twice as far as the Tecumseh ever did. Why buy another poor running Tecumseh when you can get a powerful smooth running OHV engine. Here is my Predator 212cc in action taking on 11 inches of snow.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

Shryp said:


> Is your existing engine one shaft or 2? If you have a single shaft engine it should be pretty easy.
> 
> These work well, and if you time it just right between sales and coupons they can be had for under $100.
> HORIZONTAL ENGINE, GASOLINE , EPA 212CC OHV 7HP
> ...


Shryp. Thanks for the link to the LTC storm force. Same displacemt as the Briggs 208cc is it the same engine? I see that it has the built in heater box and they are very affordable especially for an old machine that you would like to re-power.* People have to realize that the majority of the engines available today except for the larger displacement Briggs and Kohler's are made in China. The Predator 212cc is not junk and its a real good running engine for a nice price. I was skeptical too until I bought one. I first put the engine on a non critical toy my Doodle bug minibike. I call it the Doodle beast now and let me tell you its fast and runs great. It goes 35mph and gets there real fast and will almost jump out from under you. *I have a 12T max torque clutch on it. It came with the Pro-Mod Hotrod mini bike Engine mounting plate and clutch kit. This thing accelerates so fast that some people have put a larger 13T max torque on theirs to soften the take off and adds another 5 mph top speed to about 40mph. My youngest is 16 and my 22 year old step daughter wiped out on it when she lost control of it. I would not let any little kids or inexperienced riders ride it since I am 5 11 and weigh 195 pounds and it hauls my weight around just fine. My step daughter weighs about 140lbs and the thing took off like a rocket with her on it. She had been riding it for awhile and got over confident on it and and was startled by the aceleration and lost control of it and fell. Luckily she wasn't hurt too bad and only bruised her hip and skinned her elbow up. A large band-aid and she is doing fine although she is a bit apprehensive about riding it again.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*ReEngining*

I found a schematic on the model number on the 5 hp Tecumseh engine. Based on what I can find it looks like it's a single shaft engine which will make replacing it easier.

One thing to consider is the mounting. If you don't want to deal with different pulleys along with mounting studs, be careful in what you select. First off, these are all Tecumseh's so take that into consideration.
If comparing a 5 HP to a 7 HP, the mounting holes are the same IIRC. I honestly don't remember if the cranks are the same or not. An 8 HP has a different bolt pattern and different size crank than a 5 HP has so more mods to mount it.

You also may have to do some mods or changes to things like the chute control if going with a clone engine. They typically will stick out further on the left than a Tecumseh does.

Whatever you do, let us know how it turns out.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I would buy a used Tecumseh over a new Harbor Freight engine any day.
I dont care if they are good quality or not..its the principal of the thing.
I will never, ever, ever ever ever ever, put a Chinese made engine on my classic Made in the USA snowblower (1971 Ariens) or tractor (1964 Wheel Horse)

The following is my opinion, your mileage may vary:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/Ariens/rant.html

Scot


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I don't know anything about those LCT engines. Someone on another forum ordered one from there so I saved the site for future reference.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

sscotsman said:


> I would buy a used Tecumseh over a new Harbor Freight engine any day.
> I don't care if they are good quality or not..its the principal of the thing.
> I will never, ever, ever ever ever ever, put a Chinese made engine on my classic Made in the USA snowblower (1971 Ariens) or tractor (1964 Wheel Horse)
> 
> ...


sscotman, I do not blame or hate the American workers at all. They are the victims not the cause for things being made in Mexico and China. *I blame the greedy penny pinching corporate America for this who complain about having to pay American workers about $15 to $20 dollars per hour while American CEO's make multi millions each year. American CEO are the top paid CEO's in the world. Many like Polaris CEO who is a Job outsource tells their board of directors we can cut our labor costs and give ourselves bigger raises and more stock options and people do not care where it its made. *Polaris exec defends plan to shift some manufacturing to Mexico | StarTribune.com I own two Polaris snowmobiles and back in 2008 Polaris decided to move all its 4 wheeler parts production to Mexico. They received a huge amount of back lash about this and thus ended up keeping some Jobs at the plant in Wisconsin that makes parts rather than close it completely. Arctic Cat which is Polaris only American competitor opened a new engine production plant in St Cloud Minnesota and makes all its 4 wheeler and snowmobile engines here in the USA. So my next snowmobiles will be an Arctic Cat. I also use Amsoil which is made in Superior Wisconsin for all my engines. I also blame poor business decisions on these American companies too. Back in the day American companies would proudly make highest quality cutting edge technology products but as time went on Tecumseh for example did not innovate and kept making the same old problematic flat head engines while Honda took all their business away with their OHV engine which is more efficient. The only reason went with the Predator 212cc is that the Tecumseh 5hp ran poorly and was hard to start. People will still buy high quality and are willing to pay more for it so American companies got to realize while not be able to compete on price they will have to be the best quality in order to survive. Have you seen any flat head car engines anymore? Even Honda has out sourced some parts production to China as well. Even the Briggs 208cc engine is made in China too. Even the So-called high quality Iphone's that all the Apple fan-boys must have is made in China too. Why do you think Apple is one of the wealthiest Tech companies in America. It uses the slave wages of China to build its products and pockets the money. I only own Android phones and I build my own PC computers. I have never bought in to the the religion known as Apple.


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## snow-jc (Dec 27, 2012)

Shryp said:


> Is your existing engine one shaft or 2? If you have a single shaft engine it should be pretty easy.


It is single shaft. I need to check out some of the other URLs y'all posted.
thanks for the replies!


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I dont blame the workers, or the CEO's..I blame the American shopping public.
Its the customers who force jobs to go to China, because everyone demands everything be a cheap as possible, so to stay in business, companys are forced to move production in China..Its Walmart, (and Sams club, and Harbor freight, and Tractor Supply, etc) and the American people who demand cheap junk, which is the reason everything is going to China..

Instead of buying a $200 Briggs replacement engine, made in the USA, everyone wants the $90 Harbor Freight engine made in China..So Briggs cant sell American made engines anymore, because the Chinese engines are cheaper, so production moves to China..Sure, the engines are cheaper, but they are also lower quality..and sure, you save money, but at the expense of American jobs..

Scot


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## Bain (Nov 22, 2012)

would i even be able to buy anything if the label read, " made in canada" ... maybe leather boots or something ?!

This thread needs to be split up !


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