# wanted opinions on 1995 MTD 8HP



## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I was offered a 1995 MTD snowblower with 8HP Tecumseh complete minus carburetor, for $40. Looking at the front chute and impeller housing, it was markedly less sturdy than the old Cub Cadet, Gilson, Ariens machines I've been tinkering with and repairing. I passed on it for now.

Does anyone have an MTD 8HP, if so how do you like it ?


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

I have a MTD made yard machine, probably around the year 2000 with a bad auger gear. It's torn apart right now and i can't justify spending the $60 or so to fix it. It's so flimsy as far as anything in the auger area goes. If yours is in mint condition i suppose its worth it otherwise it sounds like a freebee to me.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

that's what I thought....the augers and auger box look very weak to my eyes, for an 8HP machine. so does the front chute sheetmetal thickness. The motor is a good 8HP Tecumseh though.

any machine with a good USA motor is worth $40 IMHO, but as I get older, my TIME is a more valuable asset than the money. I'd rather not spend time fixing something that has no real following or unique intrinsic historic collector value.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

well if you got this mtd I don't think you would keep it anyway so if all it needs is a carb and if you can get a carb for ( I don't know the price of a carb for an 8hp Tecumseh motor ) cheap put a carb on it and put it up for sale


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I thought of that. a carb is around $40 shipped. 
but I don't think the machine is worth much even if running perfectly
what's a 20 year old, cheaply made machine worth, with no collector value ?


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

Maybe $100-150 in my area if it is in perfect shape. People ask for more but those ads stay up for a long time. Winter time you might get more, but i don't feel like trying to compete with guys that think they are a neighborhood small engine dealer.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

that's why I balked....I'm sure the machine has a few other minor issues in addition to the missing carb, if I paid $40 and put $60 into it, and it's worth only $100, perhaps it's not worth the time taken from other projects

I saw the 3 blade impeller and that just turned me off....

if it was free I would have loaded it up and taken it though...


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

Right there with you on the free part, i wonder if i need to check myself into a treatment center or something....


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

not at all...free is the way a lot of business works today
when people renovate homes, they call in scrappers who take all the old copper, steel, cast pipes, radiator, old furnace, boilers for free

the scrapper gets free scrap, the home renovator gets free service

there's a lot of home cleanouts where they put "free" on the stuff outside and people just help themselves to it

if you have the space to store it, grab it up- nothing to lose there. can always throw it out later

but paying for it is another thing.

in my case, I now have 5 snowblowers so I have to start being picky


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

greatwhitebuffalo said:


> not at all...free is the way a lot of business works today
> when people renovate homes, they call in scrappers who take all the old copper, steel, cast pipes, radiator, old furnace, boilers for free
> 
> the scrapper gets free scrap, the home renovator gets free service
> ...


 
I have 2 snowblowers now and the wife says no more. I like my old Gilson made Montgomery Ward 8/26 becuase it has a very cool unitrol drive system how ever it will keep a running if you let go of it so I am sure the safety regulations required a hand grip drive release and auger release incase of someone falling down the blower auger and drive will stop.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

gibbs296 said:


> Maybe $100-150 in my area if it is in perfect shape. People ask for more but those ads stay up for a long time. Winter time you might get more, but i don't feel like trying to compete with guys that think they are a neighborhood small engine dealer.


i sold one a couple years back for $300. always garage kept. used quite a bit though. I have to say that for a budget machine it NEVER let me down and it got worked.
I would probably buy it if I had the chance.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I have a rebadged New Holland 8/26 made by Gilson, early 1970's. It's a Unitrol. Those are a tank of a machine. I'm going to get it honking this fall. I stold the gas tank off it for the Gilson 55012. Since then I've patched the original 55012 tank so that will go on the New Holland. 

If I had a 10 acre field I'd start buying up old American made snowblowers, and lining them up like a snowblower junkyard. I'd buy Chinese made blowers too and crush them, to take them out of circulation. It would be an honorable pursuit. If you fixed up these old USA made machines and sold them by the roadside you would sell every single one you fixed eventually, I'm convinced. They idle, sound, and run like an old American car. that has an attraction that is hard to describe, yet is irresistible. they are also very simple to work on.

seeing an old vintage snowblower for sale, is like seeing a turnkey rough looking '58 Buick coupe with a 364 nailhead for sale in someone's front yard, for $500. You're gonna want it. 

the engineers and marketing men were artists and experts back then, they knew how to design the lines of the product to make it pleasing to the eye, so it sold easily. 

Einstein said, any idiot can complicate something, it takes a genius to simplify things.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

greatwhitebuffalo said:


> I have a rebadged New Holland 8/26 made by Gilson, early 1970's. It's a Unitrol. Those are a tank of a machine. I'm going to get it honking this fall. I stold the gas tank off it for the Gilson 55012. Since then I've patched the original 55012 tank so that will go on the New Holland.
> 
> If I had a 10 acre field I'd start buying up old American made snowblowers, and lining them up like a snowblower junkyard. I'd buy Chinese made blowers too and crush them, to take them out of circulation. It would be an honorable pursuit. If you fixed up these old USA made machines and sold them by the roadside you would sell every single one you fixed eventually, I'm convinced. They idle, sound, and run like an old American car. that has an attraction that is hard to describe, yet is irresistible. they are also very simple to work on.
> 
> ...


*My sentiments exactly!*


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I used to have one of the old Gilson tanks. Sold it due to moving to a house that has about 1/20 of our old driveway. Great old machine and it was all original. 1978 vintage. Let's wait 35 years and see how those chines engines are holding up.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

I think that I'd be more inclined to think that the chassis, bucket, and auger assemblies, will be much more apt to fail with the chinese machines. 

I will say this though, if you look back at the quality history of Japanese products, they were also very suspect in the beginning. And yet, nowadays their machines command a premium.

If we look at how BS and Tec, have fallen out of favor for Honda or LCT. And the reason is innovation in engine design and reliability. 

That's not to say that any manufacturer does not have their share of failures, they do. But without keeping up with the market, those old L - heads, will be harder to find on new machines.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

db9938 said:


> I think that I'd be more inclined to think that the chassis, bucket, and auger assemblies, will be much more apt to fail with the chinese machines.
> 
> I will say this though, if you look back at the quality history of Japanese products, they were also very suspect in the beginning. And yet, nowadays their machines command a premium.
> 
> ...


All true and well said. Your comments on the machines themselves are spot on. those old machines are heavy and a little clumsy. Many of the newer machines are so cheaply made they are hardly servicable due to so much flex. Another thing, the old machines were actually made to last a lifetime. Those days are gone. The engines though were the weak point. But still, there are thousands of those old flat heads, Kohler K's, and even the very touchy Tecumsehs are still going strong. I just find it very difficult to believe the new stuff is going to still be ticking along 30-40 or even 50 years from now.My humble 2 cents.
Biggest thing though is that I always try to buy U.S.A. mfd products whenever I can find them. Went in search of a manual can opener last week and sure enough, I found one at Wal Mart. I hate going there but smetimes ya just gotta bite the bullet. The new tablet I'm using is an RCA but.....mfd in China.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

It is an amazing thing to find a USA made product anywhere nowadays. Something that I bring up daily with my students. 

That all said, when and if the quality of the chinese chassis comes up to par, watch out. Albeit, they may not be very innovative, the HF engines, for their money, are very difficult to beat. And from this forums stand point, they appear to be just as reliable as anything out there. Replacement parts seems to be the only hiccup and that is beginning to improve. 

Insofar as the economic perspective, you are correct in saying that it only harms our neighbors by buying them. But the modern consensus is only worried about themselves, not next door.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

db9938 said:


> It is an amazing thing to find a USA made product anywhere nowadays. Something that I bring up daily with my students.
> 
> That all said, when and if the quality of the chinese chassis comes up to par, watch out. Albeit, they may not be very innovative, the HF engines, for their money, are very difficult to beat. And from this forums stand point, they appear to be just as reliable as anything out there. Replacement parts seems to be the only hiccup and that is beginning to improve.
> 
> Insofar as the economic perspective, you are correct in saying that it only harms our neighbors by buying them. But the modern consensus is only worried about themselves, not next door.


I have to admit that the HF engines are of decent quality and are reliable and they are undoubtedly a great value at $99.99 when they are on sale. I agree that HONDA did the heavy lifting when the designed their first OHV small engine. Unfortunately the Chinese companies copied them down to the last bolt and Honda sued and some of the first clone engines were removed from the market Remember the HF Greyhound 196cc? It was made by Lifan and was a copy of Honda GX 196cc engine. You could even put Honda parts into that engine. The new Predator 212cc is made by Loncin and has a bigger bore and different flywheel taper. There has been many revision of this engine and even a bemi-head version is being made. I own 3 of theses engines and they are not junk as some of the forum members call them. They always start in 1 to 2 pulls of the recoil and they all run excellently and are much quieter than the old flat head Briiggs or Tecumseh's were. The use the same multi-baffle design mufflers that Honda uses and are smooth and quiet running engines that make really good power even while completely stock. Face it Chinese products are getting better and better and these engines have been found racing genuine Honda engines and even even beating them in races as well.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Oh there is no doubt in my end, that the Chinese are exhibiting their relative capability. Time will tell about longevity and material quality. In all fairness.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

db9938 said:


> I think that I'd be more inclined to think that the chassis, bucket, and auger assemblies, will be much more apt to fail with the chinese machines.
> 
> I will say this though, if you look back at the quality history of Japanese products, they were also very suspect in the beginning. And yet, nowadays their machines command a premium.
> 
> ...


 
Briggs and Tec. didn't fall out of favor, the USA is being intentionally de-industrialized and the economy taken down. All the same companies are merely moving their plants overseas to China. The ones that don't want to move, go out of business. I want to stress to you the fact, it's being done ON PURPOSE by design. It's not a matter of consumer choice. That's the cover story.

The Japanese had very good stuff, true, because we basically occupied them after WWII and rebuilt their economy in the image of the USA economy. To this day they remain a conquered country in that respect. Their currency is backed by US dollars, we're the reserve currency of the world...for now...that says it all.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

micah68kj said:


> All true and well said. Your comments on the machines themselves are spot on. those old machines are heavy and a little clumsy. Many of the newer machines are so cheaply made they are hardly servicable due to so much flex. Another thing, the old machines were actually made to last a lifetime. Those days are gone. The engines though were the weak point. But still, there are thousands of those old flat heads, Kohler K's, and even the very touchy Tecumsehs are still going strong. I just find it very difficult to believe the new stuff is going to still be ticking along 30-40 or even 50 years from now.My humble 2 cents.
> Biggest thing though is that I always try to buy U.S.A. mfd products whenever I can find them. Went in search of a manual can opener last week and sure enough, I found one at Wal Mart. I hate going there but smetimes ya just gotta bite the bullet. The new tablet I'm using is an RCA but.....mfd in China.


 the Chinese made stuff is low quality junk. I had at least 5 or more of those Chicom made coffee pots. They hardly lasted 6 months to a year. 
Finally I said screw it, and bought 2 old used GE coffee pots made in the 1960-70's USA. 2 bucks each at yard sales. Still using the first one for 5 years now and the other is my spare.

it's a simple matter of flight to quality. an old Ariens is way better than a new Chinese made machine.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

GustoGuy said:


> . Face it Chinese products are getting better and better and these engines have been found racing genuine Honda engines and even even beating them in races as well.


 what good is a better Chinese engine, when it undermines the economy of our country, and our kids and grandkids have to flip burgers at Wendy's the rest of their lives. you'll live better if you bought USA made stuff, even if it was worse than foreign made stuff. otherwise we'll end up like Ethiopia in the long run, not making anything. you have to realize that those Chinese made products are made by companies owned by US investors, who are fleeing the USA to escape the high costs of business, insurance, taxes, and most importantly the inflating currency.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

someone said the Gilsons were clumsy, this is true. The Unitrols are clumsy machines, the gear drives while the same size, seem to be more tractable but still big tanks. 
The Ariens on the other hand, is quite nimble for its size.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

greatwhitebuffalo said:


> Briggs and Tec. didn't fall out of favor, the USA is being intentionally de-industrialized and the economy taken down. All the same companies are merely moving their plants overseas to China. The ones that don't want to move, go out of business. I want to stress to you the fact, it's being done ON PURPOSE by design. It's not a matter of consumer choice. That's the cover story.
> 
> The Japanese had very good stuff, true, because we basically occupied them after WWII and rebuilt their economy in the image of the USA economy. To this day they remain a conquered country in that respect. Their currency is backed by US dollars, we're the reserve currency of the world...for now...that says it all.


I will respectfully disagree, in part. If the public were in favor of the Tec and BS machines, then they have the option to purchase those machines. But as things are, those machines tend to be more expensive, then their Chi-Com counterparts. This, in my opinion has been done through legislative efforts, and regulatory practices, that do indeed prevent and discourage domestic production. To that, we agree. The government is killing off the makers of this country. 

Insofar as the US dollar being the reserve currency, while it may be perceived as such, I find it difficult to grasp that it truly is considering the amount debt that it represents.


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