Just got my snowblower back from the repair shop. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to be posting something like that anytime soon, since the machine has been down for the count for almost the past 2 years.

Back in ’23, I discovered an issue with the fuel line leading from the gas tank to the fuel shutoff. It was leaking. Not gushing, but it was dripping fuel, so it needed to be replaced. Easy enough, it was just about 2 inches of fuel line, and about 30 minutes of cranking myself into a pretzel to get underneath, and I had it all done. Or so I thought. Once I got that replaced, I discovered a larger problem. The fuel line that led to the carburetor on the other side of the machine was pretty well cracked and about ready to give way. That was something a bit beyond my capabilities. I had the right fuel line, but couldn’t thread it through the engine casing without probably having to dismantle the engine, and that wasn’t something I was willing to try. I looked at a couple of YouTube videos, and one of them seemed fairly simple, but it’s amazing how simple something can be for someone who has done it dozens of times, and you, who have ONE shot at doing it right, could end up making things worse. Simply put, I needed someone who worked on small engines. And therein lay the problem.

In my area, there is a remarkable dearth of people who work on small engines. Sure, big outfits work on large tractors, skid steers, and the like, but the businesses are not really there when it comes to small engines. Like many other types of companies, they’ve by and large gone the way of the dodo. So when you have a machine that is 35 years old and you want to keep it going, you have to hope to find someone who isn’t terribly far away and doesn’t wish to use you to keep them supported until the next customer walks through the door.

Just recently, a fellow I had been following on Facebook reopened his small engine business here in town. Just in the nick of time one might say. A month ago I’d gone to another business; one that specialized in larger tractors, like Kubotas and Allis-Chalmers. They quoted me $700 to replace the fuel line, test out the machine to make sure it ran ok. And honestly, the guy was dead face serious when he was throwing around a number like that. $200 to transport the machine to and from his shop. Are you freakin kidding me? Even the business office employee got in on the fun, suggesting to me that I ‘buy a new machine‘ instead of fixing the one I have. Yeah. I quietly thanked them and got the hell out of there before I said something that might have gotten me into trouble.

I called the guy from Facebook and seeing as he’s just getting back into the business, he wasn’t terribly busy. He asked if I had a way to get the machine to his shop, I said no and he replied that picking it up wasn’t a problem. We agreed on last Friday, and he was able to get it fixed (as well as a string trimmer I’d been fighting with all summer and losing) and back to me this past Monday. All for the grand total of….less than $200. Pretty damn sweet if I do say so myself. Both machines ran on the first crank and didn’t give a lick of trouble at all. VERY pleased with the work.

So now my only other (outdoor) project is getting the garage squared away so we can put the new Murano in for the winter. Definitely don’t have to worry about getting the driveway cleared when it snows! One less concern.