# free Craftsman Trac-Plus 5HP ingested rock damage



## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

got this for free from a neighbor, he got it for free from another neighbor. someone tried to patch the cracks and bulges in the impeller housing with white epoxy ceramic. It really didn't need that, as I'm chipping the white epoxy off with a hammer/chisel, I'm able to flatten the bulged sheetmetal with the sledgehammer. may just have the cracks welded shut- or run it as is. the guy said it ran really well, starts right up. we'll see.

next to it is another find, complete original 1962 Ariens 10ml35 Sno-Thro


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

more


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

this after chipping off left side


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

You could always keep your eyes open for a donor bucket. I'd bet that a wheeled bucket might work as well.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I'm going to run it as is for now. was able to chip away all the white epoxy, then did body work to the bulge and cracked area. basically pounded it back in. 

the engine would not start. would run on gas poured in plug hole, and on the primer bulb, but not by itself. the carb jets were plugged. so I pulled the carb, removed the float, needle valve, idle and main jet needle screws, and sprayed all the passages out with carb cleaner. reinstalled the carb, it fired right up.

low gear didn't work, but all other gears did. had to adjust the shift linkage so the friction disk hit the flywheel properly to get low gear. now all the gears work too. it looks like they adjusted it for maximum reverse speed and sacrificed low gear first 1, and were using forward gears 2-6

it also had a broken shear pin and the other shear pin replaced with a long wood screw with a threaded nut on it. removed those 2 things and have to get 2 shear pins. then I got a little impatient and snapped off 4 of the 7 rusted scraper bar nuts on the small carriage bolts. I adjusted the scraper bar up all the way because I have a gravel 2b driveway, no need for the scraper down, and tightened it up with just 3 bolts, ends and center for now. so add 4 small carriage bolts to the hardware needs list, with the shear pins. 

just didn't want to be heating those small nuts with the torch to get hem off, having just spilled gas in the area. safety first. 

but now she's runnin' fine my 409 !


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

The engine sounds great, good job. Did you check the impeller to see if the blades are bent after eating the rock ? If there is a wide gap between the blades and housing, a Clarence kit would definitely help and easier to install while it's warm out.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

strangely enough the impeller blades are ok, they must be hardened steel. the housing is thin sheet metal spot welded to save money/weight. yes I thought about the impeller paddle kit to add throwing power. but to be honest if someone threw me the right amount of money I'd unload this machine. I like the older stuff to fix up, only took this because it was the neighbor had it, it was free, and figured I'd tinker with a trac drive for once.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Hey, free is a great price. And by all means making something work is a positive thing. And insofar as a comparison between a Honda and this with a HF engine, it might be a interesting comparison. Too bad you are as far away as you are, we could do that.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I installed the shear pins in the augers, and cutter bar carriage bolts today, the Trac-Plus is ready for winter. my intuition proved correct on the carriage bolts, they did not fit correctly in the cutter bar interface, too tight and would jam the bar, even when they were not tightened with the nuts. 
every time that I have to replace original carriage bolts in anything at all, the new replacements from the hardware store never fit right. the square heads are always either too small, or too big, even though the listed size is the same, and thread size is the same.
each individual replacement carriage bolt square head had to be hand ground on 2 sides with a dremel and small disk, to get them to fit.
never should have broken those 4 off. but I got in a hurry and gas was dripping from the carb, with machine tipped up on the chute to work underneath. to torch heat the nuts I'd have to drain the gas from carb and gas tank.

on the upside, the new carriage bolts have a wider flat round head to grab more of the chute metal material and better clamping and holding force on the cutter bar.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

That actually could be a craftsman thing. They love to proprietize things.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

actually I've seen that carriage bolt problem on lots of things right down to bumper bolts for old US made cars. when the car co's outsource that stuff, there are tolerances involved and one co. may make bolts on the high side, another on the low side. cut a hole in the machine for the low side tolerance bolt, guess what the high side tolerance bolt will not fit. vice versa is may be a little loose and start to spin in the square hole. 

that's why I always strive to heat and remove the old hardware and save/reuse it. 

I used to buy old American cars, 1960-70's A-bodies, for 25-50 bucks each, junkers- and take them apart as a hobby, and sell the parts, from 1980 to the internet revolution. used to sell the parts in local papers. but from taking all those cars apart, learned a lot about hardware. I'd save every bolt in 5 gal. buckets, still have the stuff and it's been very useful.

the old Tbird Fords had very high quality hardware, it would almost all come off with a hand ratchet.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

With a little time, a hammer and dolly and welder, you could fix that sucker up new.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

I have a rare old blower that had similar (actually not near as bad as yours) bulging on the impeller housing for what I decided was many years of gravel ingestion. I first beat it back in place with a hammer/dolly, then I welded in a new layer of steel INSIDE for reinforcement (and smoothing for impeller seals). I spent a fair amount of time priming (weld thru primer)and sealing between old and new layers so it hopefully doesn't rust from the inside out.








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Oh, and I fought removing the rusted scraper bar fasteners also.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Did you ever get the tracks for that beast?


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

db9938 said:


> Did you ever get the tracks for that beast?


I was afraid someone was going to ask that. 
No. 
It's still sitting in the middle of the garage like a prima donna while the car parks outside. I was certain it was going to happen this summer but life continues to get in the way of a trip to Japan. Still the only place I have been able to locate replacement tracks...or as the Japanese call them "crawlers".


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

nt40lanman said:


> With a little time, a hammer and dolly and welder, you could fix that sucker up new.


 doesn't need to be welded, I hammered it back into shape with a body hammer and sledge. she's good to go.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

dbert said:


> Oh, and I fought removing the rusted scraper bar fasteners also.


they come off easy when heated cherry red with a torch. I was in too much hurry, the carb was dripping gas, and didn't want a fire.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

dbert said:


> I was afraid someone was going to ask that.
> No.
> It's still sitting in the middle of the garage like a prima donna while the car parks outside. I was certain it was going to happen this summer but life continues to get in the way of a trip to Japan. Still the only place I have been able to locate replacement tracks...or as the Japanese call them "crawlers".


Sorry to be that guy. And I know how that goes. I have yet to dig back into my Yami to get it moving again.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

dbert said:


> I was afraid someone was going to ask that.
> No.
> It's still sitting in the middle of the garage like a prima donna while the car parks outside. I was certain it was going to happen this summer but life continues to get in the way of a trip to Japan. Still the only place I have been able to locate replacement tracks...or as the Japanese call them "crawlers".


 nice job on that. what make/model is it ? I'll try to find some tracks for you.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

tracks I need are 200 mm wide, with a pitch length of 72mm with total length of 27 links.

This size and type track will fit the following snow blowers, perhaps others.
_Kubota / KSB800 KSR9 KSR9W KSR10WR 
Komatsu / KSS10SD-2 
Fujii / FSR750 FSR759RB FSR7510 FSR7510EF FSR7510F 
Honda / HS1075Z Snow Fighter S100A 
Mitsubishi / MSR750 MSR750RHC 
Yanmar / JE90 YSR9Z YSR900 YSR900RH YSR900X 
Wado / SE101 SE901 SS9W SS80H SS90H SS90RH SS90W_

I'd say most if not all the machines above were produced (and somewhat popular) in Japan with very few finding their way to North America.

Link to the thread here about my machine


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## nycredneck (Dec 29, 2013)

I have one just like it, had it for 16yrs and I got it 3yrs used. I can't kill that thing, it's been through some stuff all right. It cuts the frozen slush at the bottom of the driveway and goes uphill pumping snow for hours, it's a beast.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Tracks*

Biggest problem I've seen and heard regarding tracks is the hubs rusting to the axels. One guy said he'd drilled and threaded the hubs for grease zerks and that took care of his rusting track issues. Just what I've hear, though I did tear one apart years ago for that reason.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

I decided to sell this Craftsman. It sat out back with a fresh tank of gas with Stabil, carb cleaner, dry gas added to it for a few months, in warm weather. well already it would not stay running and the carb bowl was filled with crap from sitting. I cleaned it out again and it stayed running.

put it up on the road with a for sale sign for 150, it was gone in 2 days. adios. not a bad turn. I got it for free, put 3 bucks worth of gas in it, and changed the oil with Amsoil, maybe another 4 bucks for the oil.

7 dollar investment, 150 return. what's what, like 2000 percent gross ?


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