# Buying used Troybilt blower



## hortlady1

Troybilt Storm 8526 with 8.5 Tecumseh engine, 26" clearing width, used 5 or 6 years asking $600. (Has electric or pull start, 6 forward and 2 reverse speeds, Joystick chute control, headlight) I think maybe it is a little much. May be $300-$500. Have a 22" Snapper, much too small for driveway. I have tendonitis in both thumbs and they really hurt after I did my drive, and 4 other driveways. Thought buying an older model with Tecumseh engine was better than buying a new one with a China motor in it. Can not spend more than $800.


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## bwdbrn1

Hello, and welcome to the group. Have you given the Troybilt a good once over? So far as what to pay, Craig's List is a good place to check out to see what used ones are going for to give you an idea of a fair price. If your area is like mine, prices just went up in the last week because we got snow. Couldn't give the things away in December, and the snow we had last week is disappearing again, so I suspect the prices will go down again.


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## sscotsman

hortlady1 said:


> Troybilt Storm 8526 with 8.5 Tecumseh engine, 26" clearing width, used 5 or 6 years asking $600.


WAY overpriced..Thats an $700 snowblower brand new..(MSRP $799..can probably get it for $700)
For used and 6 years old, I wouldnt pay any more than $300 for it, especially since its a MTD..
(actually, I would never buy a Troy-Bilt, period! 

You are right about the Tecumseh engine quality..but in this case the snowblower quality does not match the engine quality..

you can do MUCH better..
personally when looking at a used machine, I would avoid anything made by MTD..which is Troy-Bilt, Cub Cadet, Craftsman, White, Yard Machines, MTD, and a few others..for used, I would only consider Ariens, Toro, Simplicity, Snapper or Honda...no other names.

For new, the Ariens Sno-Tec machines in the $600 to $700 range are getting good reviews..

Scot


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## Oldphil

I agree with the way to high price!


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## HCBPH

*Used blower*

First off, welcome to the forum.

I have to agree I feel $600 is too high for other than maybe a perfect used machine. You can pick up alot of machines here for half that, but it depends on your area.

If you can do mechanical repairs, you can end up with alot more for even less. I've paid a tops of $125 for any one of 10 machines I bought this last year, most needed repairs but doing it myself I've alot less than $300 in any of them.

As far as any used machines, best bet is to do some research ahead of tme. I happen to like the older Murray build Craftsmans (536.918xxx and 536.882xxx prefix). They were well built machines and I've had very good luck finding or modifying parts to bring them back to life. Very well built and available at good prices, mainly because alot of people overlook them. I'm rebuilding one at this time (10 hp 32") that would be comparable to most top-end machines in capabilities for considerable less than you could buy comparable today.

My 2 cents.


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## hortlady1

*Thanks to everyone replying, keep them coming plus*

I neglected to mention, I am a short, 5' tall or less, 54 years old woman who has fibromyalgia. Hortlady1 stands for Horticultural Lady. Mechanical ability mostly limited to changing oil and spark plugs and fall storage. Unfortunaley, none of the men folk who live near me on my street are mechanical. 

Before writing I saw my local farm supply had Husqvarna snowblowers for sale so I researched them on the internet. Well, they were not recommended for short folks.

My present machine is a 4 hp Snapper, 22".

Thanks!!!
hortlady1


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## HCBPH

*Current snowblower*

Hortlady

Is there some issue with your current snowblower? I had a 4 hp 20" at my kids place last winter and it handled 8"-12" snowfalls last winter just fine. I didn't handle it as fast as a 7 hp or 10 hp, but then again it got into places those bigger ones couldn't.

Let us know.


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## BB Cub

hortlady 1 i have a snow tek 24 in snow blower with a 208cc motor. i got to try it last weekend with 4 ins of snow. it worked realy well. home depo has them online for 599.00 with 208cc and you can adjust the deflector from the handle bars. or for 499.00 and 136cc motor and self adjusting deflecter. both are 24 in machines and asembly is easy. hope this helps you out gayland


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## hortlady1

HCBPH said:


> Hortlady
> 
> Is there some issue with your current snowblower? I had a 4 hp 20" at my kids place last winter and it handled 8"-12" snowfalls last winter just fine. I didn't handle it as fast as a 7 hp or 10 hp, but then again it got into places those bigger ones couldn't.
> 
> Let us know.


Problem is 1/2 my driveway is rather wide, ah maybe 5 cars wide parked side by side and this area is also 2 1/2 car length long. The blower does not blow far enough. I end up blowing snow on top of other snow I have to blow. If it is a wet snow and deep snow then I am working at more than twice as long as needed.

I do 4 other neighbors driveways too but none of them are as big as mine. Snapper said it might have been made around 1985. It has given me some trouble and when I tried to fix it cause of my low income, I have made things worse. The 4 neighbors have helped me pay to have it fixed. Last time I told the shop that it was not moving in 1st gear and they made an adjustment. Now when I got it back, it kept dieing on me when I put the blower on but I wasn't doing to ask my neighbor to take it back. Now this one and only snow we had I had to keep increasing the choke to keep it running and blowing to get the job done. Oh and how my both my thumbs pained me when I was done because of the tendinitis.

Problems is carb is all gummed up but I don't have the know how to work on it. I have a Snapper, model 4220, 4hp, Tecumseh HS50 Specification# 67266H, Serial # 8159B. I did a lot of searching yesterday on the internet looking to see if I could fiind free complete details for a beginnner to clean up the carb. I don't want to buy something that when I get it, it isn't a beginners manual. 

Thanks for your interest.


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## bwdbrn1

Here are some helpful videos for Tecumseh carbs.






















If they don't do the trick, he has lots more on his channel.

donyboy73's Channel - YouTube

And, you can probably find your carb on this page.

Small Engine, Lawn Mower, Snowthrower Troubleshooting, Repairs and Safety


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## hortlady1

Hey, they are great! Unfortunately I don't have a laptop with wifi to take out to the garage with me. I don't have a camcorder or DVD player. Have any other ideas how to get video play to garage?

Thank you very much . . . maybe I could also take pics as I disassemble the unit.


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## hortlady1

To bwdbrdl: 
Sorry, I did not see your second link until sometime after I had responded to the video feeds. Maybe using both the video feeds and the pages from the second site I can repair it myself. Thanks ever so much for your help.


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