# Saved from neglect: a 2011 Toro 210R



## db130 (Feb 16, 2013)

I was tagged by an acquaintance Saturday night when someone else posted a free snowblower on a local facebook group for free items. I made arrangements to go pick it up the following morning.

It was a Toro 210R. Model number 38587. The seller said it last ran two years ago. Here's a pic from the ad:










It had compression, and had the updated metal Walbro carb. I decided to take a closer look this afternoon.

I could see evidence of a mouse nest under the flywheel cover. I decided to remove the flywheel cover to clean out the mess underneath but I ran into a little bit of a snag.

Did you know that if you try to remove the "rear" flywheel cover bolt (the one that'd be closest to your toes), that bottom bolt will hit the lower aluminum frame before you can remove it fully?? Neither did I. I did not encounter this issue in previous 2-stroke Toros that I've owned or worked on. I've had to replace the electric starter gear and the recoil string on a few R-teks before.

If you've done either of those jobs, you would _know_ that's not a quick job, but at least the bolts are not obstructed on a 3650 or a Snow Commander.

Anyways... I ended up cutting a notch on the flywheel cover around that lower bolt so that the flywheel cover could slide off by loosening that bolt, for the next time I have to work on it (more on that in a minute).

Once I got the flywheel cover off, I cleaned out the mouse nest. The spark plug was oil-fouled, but since I had a new spark plug in inventory, a new one went on. I was able to verify that it has spark afterwards.

It took several carburetor cleaning attempts before the needle sealed correctly. Each time I removed the fuel bowl, there was sediment in the bowl that wasn't there previously. I'll probably replace the fuel line and the fuel filter at some point.

Once I had the snowblower buttoned up, I finally saw a tiny puff of smoke after about 25 pulls (I'm not making this up). Another 10 pulls later, it finally started up and stayed running. It smoked the neighborhood for a good 5 minutes before the smoke finally cleared, and then it kind of settled down and I was able to get it to run without choke.










I've ordered a Briggs rebuild kit for that Walbro carb, and have added a mitten-grip recoil handle since that photo was taken. New paddles are en route as the old ones were worn past the wear indicator hole. The flywheel is provisioned for electric start, and the control panel can be modded to accept the button housing for the electric starter. I do have an electric starter for an R-tek that needs a starter gear, but I haven't been able to bring myself to pay almost $60 for the gear.

I also have a CCR3650 that I fixed up just last month that needed a new primer bulb/paddles/belt. I'd like to compare them both side by side this season if we actually get any snow around here. Whichever one I keep may get the electric starter installed. Maybe..


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## Cstanis (Oct 19, 2021)

I have a toro 3650 and a 518ze which is a 4 stroke. The 3650 moves a lot of snow just a little noisy. The 518ze is good for lighter snowfalls


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