# 1977 gilson w/ briggs engine any good?



## mcljc979 (Dec 2, 2013)

saw this on CL
gilson snowblower 8 h.p. 26 inch path
seller says it's a good machine with no problems
is the briggs engine better than tecumseh
i know tecumseh are not made anymore
thanks for any info
BTW, what's a down draft carb mean?


----------



## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Gilson made wonderful snowblowers. That was one of them at one time. That's a $25.00 blower. I only gave $25.00 for this one and this is how I bought it. All I did was wash it off. If the engine runs like the machine looks, run from it. Gustoguy will be along in a minute or two to fill in the blanks for you. You'll note that I upgraded the tires to modern pneumatic Sno Hawg tires and also electric starter and oil drain extension. 
To be honest, that old Gilson looks a litttle doubtful and I feel you can do *way better* .


----------



## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

That rust on the impeller housing looks deep. The poor old girl has seen better days. Obviously maintenance wasn't a high priority.


----------



## mcljc979 (Dec 2, 2013)

micah68kj said:


> Gilson made wonderful snowblowers. That was one of them at one time. That's a $25.00 blower. I only gave $25.00 for this one and this is how I bought it. All I did was wash it off. If the engine runs like the machine looks, run from it. Gustoguy will be along in a minute or two to fill in the blanks for you. You'll note that I upgraded the tires to modern pneumatic Sno Hawg tires and also electric starter and oil drain extension.
> To be honest, that old Gilson looks a litttle doubtful and I feel you can do *way better* .


nice machine
around here nothing is cheap including junk
i can't seem to find something decent in my price range
there are tons of blowers on craigslist , that i think is over priced
seems they all will deliver them


----------



## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

mcljc, you've probably already seen this video, but in case you haven't, it's certainly worth looking at if you're looking to buy used on a limited budget.
Good luck.
Larry


----------



## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

mcljc979 said:


> nice machine
> around here nothing is cheap including junk
> i can't seem to find something decent in my price range
> there are tons of blowers on craigslist , that i think is over priced
> seems they all will deliver them


 in places that get lots of snow even older blowers command a good price but where i am in michigan $125 - $200 is all he would get for the gilson you are looking at. by the way hello and welcome to SBF mcljc


----------



## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

mcljc979 said:


> saw this on CL
> gilson snowblower 8 h.p. 26 inch path
> seller says it's a good machine with no problems
> is the briggs engine better than tecumseh
> ...


Yeah, That one is quite rusty much rustier than mine was. Unfortunately my engine burns some oil puffs blue smoke on start up and puffs a puff of blue smoke when running ever once in a while so I know the valve guides are bad. If the body is structurally sound meaning no rust through then it would be a lot of work to drind off all the rust with an angle grinder and a chemical rust remover. *It could be a nice machine yet but it will take a lot of work to clean up all that rust then to prime and paint it. That is of course if the engine runs really well on it.* Interesting colors on the engine (I wonder if he replaced the original engine with a White 8hp Briggs engine) since my engine is orange and so is the body. I believe yours is a Montgomery Ward one too but I cant read the decal anymore on the handle assembly in the picture. He must of let it sit out side year round to be so faded.
The carburetor is a Briggs 2 piece flo-jet 3 bolt updraft carburetor rather than a down draft carburetor. Rather than pouring a bunch of money into fixing the oil burning Briggs I will put a Predator 212cc on it. I am waiting for some drive pulleys to come and then I will need to find different belt lengths since the drive shaft is not as high off the deck as the old briggs engine. I would talk him down a bit. Joe got one **** of a deal for his almost brand new Gilson made MGW 8/26. I cant believe they sold it for such a low price and it was all original paint too. Here is my machine from start to finish of the restoration
1975 Montgomery Ward 8hp 26 inch unitrol



Your engine is off a Lawn Boy 8/26 from about the same year the color is white and the heater box is different. here is your exact engine


----------



## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

mcljc979 said:


> nice machine
> around here nothing is cheap including junk
> i can't seem to find something decent in my price range
> there are tons of blowers on craigslist , that i think is over priced
> seems they all will deliver them


Watch that video that Blue Hill posted. I went to Rochester craigslist and set my $ parameter to $150.00. Found more than a few that I'd get before buying the Gilson. As I said in my first post, they're good machines but that particular one looks like "she's been rode hard and put away wet" too many times. Set your search for either Toro or Ariens and set your money limit and see what comes up. Do you *need* that size blower? Would a smaller machine do what you need done?


----------



## mcljc979 (Dec 2, 2013)

GustoGuy said:


> Yeah, That one is quite rusty much rustier than mine was. Unfortunately my engine burns some oil puffs blue smoke on start up and puffs a puff of blue smoke when running ever once in a while so I know the valve guides are bad. If the body is structurally sound meaning no rust through then it would be a lot of work to drind off all the rust with an angle grinder and a chemical rust remover. *It could be a nice machine yet but it will take a lot of work to clean up all that rust then to prime and paint it. That is of course if the engine runs really well on it.* Interesting colors on the engine (I wonder if he replaced the original engine with a White 8hp Briggs engine) since my engine is orange and so is the body. I believe yours is a Montgomery Ward one too but I cant read the decal anymore on the handle assembly in the picture. He must of let it sit out side year round to be so faded.
> The carburetor is a Briggs 2 piece flo-jet 3 bolt updraft carburetor rather than a down draft carburetor. Rather than pouring a bunch of money into fixing the oil burning Briggs I will put a Predator 212cc on it. I am waiting for some drive pulleys to come and then I will need to find different belt lengths since the drive shaft is not as high off the deck as the old briggs engine. I would talk him down a bit. Joe got one **** of a deal for his almost brand new Gilson made MGW 8/26. I cant believe they sold it for such a low price and it was all original paint too. Here is my machine from start to finish of the restoration
> 1975 Montgomery Ward 8hp 26 inch unitrol
> 
> ...


thanks, but i think i,m going to pass on it


----------

