# Looking for info on Gilson blowers



## Roddy (Mar 11, 2018)

Does anyone have info on these blowers? I found this one in my area for $300. looks pretty heavy duty.

https://stcloud.craigslist.org/for/d/gilson-1032-snowblower/6507515729.html


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

It is a nice heavy duty machine, built around 1980. I am no where an expert on Gilson but I'd guess it's worth $100 MAX. Unless someone else who is more knowledgeable than I with the pricing of old Gilsons, I wouldn't pay more than $50 or $75.

Check out GilsonSnowBlowers.com


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Here is your source for all things Gilson.
Forum member _spectrum_ owns the page. He is a wealth of Gilson info and also has parts.
https://www.gilsonsnowblowers.com

*JMHO but I think he's asking premium $$ for that machine. * $150/would be my absolute max. Is that handle welded down there? Once these handles Begin to crack it is pretty difficult to stop them.
I owned an old Gilson from the late 70's. It was an AWSOME machine. I sold it for $250 but it was absolutely mint.


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## Roddy (Mar 11, 2018)

Thanks guys. I am under the assumption (maybe wrongly so) that all pre 90's blowers are built better than the current year models with the exception of a couple of brands????


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Watch this bid before making any used s/b purchase. 13 valuable minutes.
Doneyboy73 has some great repair and info vids.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Roddy said:


> Thanks guys. I am under the assumption (maybe wrongly so) that all pre 90's blowers are built better than the current year models with the exception of a couple of brands????


There are plenty of great 90's machines as well. Don't rule them out. I had a 94 MTD that was among the very best snowblowers I ever owned. It got more use than any of them too.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

I think you would be much better served by an old Ariens or Toro over the Gilson. Parts are just so much easier to find. $300 is a lot of money for that and IMHO way too much for end of the season on top of it.
One thing I will say is it's the first time I've seen a 32". I'm not sure how rare they are or if you want that wide a machine but Ariens and Toro have them too.

These are all in our area and I'd prefer them to the Gilson. That said you may want a Gilson for some other reason, dad had one, ... but at $300 I just think they are asking way above what it's worth. If you're just looking for a good big machine I found these. 

These are just the 32's I found with a quick search under $400

1132 Toro https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/grd/d/snow-blower-11-hp-32-toro/6539012084.html
1032 Ariens, newer but higher priced https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/for/d/arienssnow-blower-10hp-32-cut/6518873469.html
1032 Deere https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/for/d/john-deere-1032-snowblower/6541606699.html
1032 Ariens newer https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/for/d/ariens-sthp-32-snow-blower/6500901099.html

And I'd say $150 max on that Gilson especially if you look at the price of the above machines.

.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

micah68kj said:


> There are plenty of great 90's machines as well. Don't rule them out. I had a 94 MTD that was among the very best snowblowers I ever owned. It got more use than any of them too.


I also had a '94 MTD, 8hp 26". It served me well for years, I bought it in '01, I think, and used it for about 10 years. It mainly needed consumables during that time. It got hours of solid use, without real issues. 

But I wouldn't say it's one of the best machines I've used. My '94 Ariens that I bought in 2011 was built better, performed better (no tranny slipping), and also had a differential, making it much easier to handle. It was a definite upgrade. My current Ariens, a 2000, is better still, mainly due to extra power, and the tall chute that helps throwing distance. 

All 3 needed work, but I paid $125-$250 for each of them. 

Old iron can be cool, but at least be sure that you have ready access to spare parts, or it could become a lot less useful due to a single failure.


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## toroused (Mar 1, 2015)

It's a 32" gear drive w/a 10 HP Briggs engine. Gear drive Gilsons play at a higher level, as the horse power on the stated engine is actually greater than that of a similar
friction disc drive model. That is, a 6 HP gear drive Gilson actually has the power of a 7 or 8 horsepower comparable friction disc model.

That particular model will actually start at about $500 in the New England region. Sometimes they sit at that price, sometimes they get sold in the $300-400 range. While $300 may seem high, the seller knows what he has. That's also a Briggs engine - the 10 HP friction disc version of that (Model 55135) - actually has a slightly different bucket and a Tecumseh engine. The model in the listing is easily the modern equivalent of a $2,000 Ariens machine. It's a complete beast.


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## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

I don't think $300 for a gilson is a bad price if it's in great working condition


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

toroused, are you saying the engine outputs are actually different, for geared vs disk? 

Or that the disk transmission has more losses to friction within the transmission, and therefore reduces the effective remaining power available for the augers?


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

I had responded to Roddy by email a few days ago.

$300 is certainly in the notch for that machine. At the end of March it's a stretch but seeing it go for more next fall is not out of the question.

It's a scaled up version of 28" 3 speed gear drives starting with model 55012. it's not just wider, it has a larger 14" impeller, 16 inch diameter augers and an early version of the impeller bypass feature that we see on some brands today. Shipping weight #325. 

The transmission is a sealed 3 speed Peerless combined with a counter shaft and 2 roller chains. I have 3 or 4 that I hope to bring a few back from someday.

The icing on the cake here is that most were Tecumseh 10's. The last years had B&S 10's and finally 11 HP engines.

For the hearty DIY soul with a love of old iron it's a nice one to have.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Sorry, what's an impeller bypass feature? I don't know what that's referring to.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

RedOctobyr said:


> Sorry, what's an impeller bypass feature? I don't know what that's referring to.


Yen, Pete. What's an impeller bypass feature?


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

*By Pass*

The common impeller cavity is circular with a discharge opening below the chute. The augers feed the impeller and it spins it out with centrifugal force. when the sidewall transitions to the chute opening it escapes up the chute and jubilation reigns. 

At some point, especially in deep snow the augers can feed more snow than the chute can accommodate. When this happens the impeller can get congested and performance falls off. Some Toro models have a duct that takes this unthrown snow and vents it out the front to be processed again. The 14 inch Gilson impellers have head room after the discharge that gives that extra snow a place to go. In this case it seems to get to go around for another turn. 










Obviously if you keep stuffing a machine it's going to bog down. Features like this do help even the load.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

I think of that as what's on the Toro machines that have that black plastic hump at the top of the impeller housing so if the impeller gets really full it starts to push snow back out in front of the augers.

But I'm not sure how it related to what I see on that Gilson :question:

Edit: Cool, I think we were typing at the same time. Never noticed that hump.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Curious to see Petes answer, but on a modern Toro it's that bulge in the housing next to the outlet.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

I'll be honest, I always wondered what that Gilson feature was until I bought a daughter a Toro. When I started reading about that plastic duct I realized Gilson had an early version of that function.


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## Roddy (Mar 11, 2018)

I ended up purchasing an Ariens st1032 today. Owner listed it at $375 and let me have it for $300. I told him today I wanted it but was looking for a trailer to pick it up. He said he would deliver it for $20 ( 20 miles one way). I told him deal. Couldn't hardly drive there for that with my V10 Excursion.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Roddy said:


> I ended up purchasing an Ariens st1032 today. Owner listed it at $375 and let me have it for $20. I told him today I wanted it but was looking for a trailer to pick it up. He said he would deliver it for $20 ( 20 miles one way). I told him deal. Couldn't hardly drive there for that with my V10 Excursion.


This is ridiculous and a lesson to be learned for all of us. Listed for $375 and sold for $20. I would think all of us would have offered much much more than $20 and felt we got a bargain.

I knew a guy that made an offer on a house that the owner had listed for $100,000, then reduced to $80,000, they owner accepted his offer of $43,000. He told me prior, I told him he was nuts to make such a stupid offer. Insulting. Yea right.


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## Roddy (Mar 11, 2018)

JLawrence08648 said:


> This is ridiculous and a lesson to be learned for all of us. Listed for $375 and sold for $20. I would think all of us would have offered much much more than $20 and felt we got a bargain.
> 
> I knew a guy that made an offer on a house that the owner had listed for $100,000, then reduced to $80,000, they owner accepted his offer of $43,000. He told me prior, I told him he was nuts to make such a stupid offer. Insulting. Yea right.


Oops, major typo. Listed for $375 and let me have it for $300, he delivered it for an extra $20.
Sorry, typing too fast and didn't proof read


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Roddy said:


> I ended up purchasing an Ariens st1032 today. Owner listed it at $375 and let me have it for $300. I told him today I wanted it but was looking for a trailer to pick it up. He said he would deliver it for $20 ( 20 miles one way). I told him deal. Couldn't hardly drive there for that with my V10 Excursion.


Wow, great deal! That's a big machine, and like you said, a pretty reasonable price to get it delivered, given the distance.


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## toroused (Mar 1, 2015)

On that question of gear drive vs. friction disc drive technology, I thought the old gear drive technology on those old Gilsons allowed the machines "to play bigger" than similarly horse powered equipped friction drive models. That is, if equipped with the same 6 HP engines, the gear drive model would seem to act more powerful than the friction drive models. For years, Sears branded their Craftsman gear drive models as "Power Propelled" and they surely were. I found that in heavy, wet or concrete like conditions, the gear drive Gilsons seem to seem to get into a rhythm with the gear drive technology, whereby they were moving at such a pace and throwing snow in such a great rhythm that the machine almost seemed to enjoy the pace. If I were using a friction drive technology model in such heavy, wet conditions, I would always be taking my foot off the gas such as to not beat on the machine. Also, when the old gear drives were in this rhythm, they tended not to clog. They were inhaling and exhaling at a really nice pace.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

I can't speak to the Gilson's but I can to the older Craftsman's having bought, rebuilt and sold a couple of dozen of them. You will have no internal traction issues as there's no place to slip. Tires -yes, drive - no. The Tecumseh transmission was used on a wide variety of machines including blowers, Gravley's, lawn tractors to just name a few and I've seen a couple of 20 HP tractors with one in them. The only damage I've ever seen to them is when the mounts come loose or the chain tries to jump the sprocket - it can damage the mounts on the transmission. Even that is fixable, I've made a repair plate and used it a few times with success.


The Searsaurus has a Tecumseh transmission in it, there's another chassis in the garage with one waiting for an engine and another one in the shed with one. I'm more than pleased with how they perform, I'd rather have that over a friction disc any day.


My 2 cents.


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