Welcome to Teach Skills U Learn - How to Start a Snowblower

Today's lesson on Teach Skills U Learn I will be teaching you how to start a snowblower. If your winter was anything like my winter, it was brutal. When I asked my spouse what lessons did they think people could learn out there, they said how to start the snowblower. So let me teach you. This is a great skill to learn not only is it a lifesaver on your back, but it can actually be very therapeutic. The concept is very simple and once you get the hang of starting it, the rest is really learn as you go. It doesn't have to look pretty, but if you want it to, you can. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube (https://youtu.be/Y6qooyxogVk). 

You can also check out my channel on YouTube:

UCseHEDSYd7C9QUk11718W0g 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What it is what it is. Welcome back to the channel. I'm your host, Bethany Skillen, and this is Teach Skills You Learn. So my spouse was telling me that I should do a quick video on how to start the snowblower. So here it is. As you see, we're kind of in the middle of winter. I shouldn't say in the middle. Hopefully it's the end. Right now it's raining, so thank god. I feel like it's spring. So this is a 22 212 CC. This is um the brand is Power Smart. I got off the you know the internet. So um it's your basic small snowblower. She uh she does the job out here, and you know, I love her because she saves on my back. So what you're gonna need for this is you're going to need um for my snowblower. Okay. Now, maybe this is just a tutorial on how, you know, how uh I can help my spouse start the snowblower because they would love to learn how to do this. And you know what? I think it's probably a skill that you could, you know, learn yourself if you purchase a snowblower. If maybe you feel that shoveling after this winter, shoveling is the last thing you want to do ever again. You're gonna go purchase yourself a snowblower. Fantastic. I would follow the manual or the guide on how to start your snowblower, but I'm just gonna give you kind of the basics, all of which every snowblower is kind of the same concept. So the first thing you do want to do is you need to check to see if there's gas. Gas is what makes this baby run. Okay, so we're gonna see is there gas in there? Oh, yeah, baby. She four all right, which isn't probably a good thing, being that the snow is melting, and I don't think we're gonna get into the snowfall this uh winter, so I'm gonna have to figure out how to drain that. You should run it so it's run empty so that when you winterize uh your um your your snowblower, it's or you summarize, excuse me. All right, so let me explain to you why we don't leave gas inside of the tank. Okay, so generally when you summarize your uh winter equipment, you want to drain all the gas, whether that means you siphon it, um, meaning you take a hose, put it in the tank, get pressure, either by sucking like out of a straw, that's gonna be uh a hose, right? You suck it until you get that gas to your lips or to your mouth, spit it out, whatever. I mean, this is really old school. Like the like I I've seen my father do this, but you um, and then once you get that fluid moving in that direction, gravity will then take place. So then you take that hose and dump it into a uh into a bucket, or you pour the gas that's gonna come out of that tank through the hose into a bucket. They also have siphoners that you can do electronic. They have like something that's battery operated, you just stick the hose um in the tank, and then you have the drain, and there's like a button you can push and it'll electronically siphon. Um, or you can just use um sometimes they just have like you know how at the doctor's office, uh the doctor when they're doing the blood pressure cuff, they have this pump, this hand, like they're pumping um air into the arm thing. Well, that that that little pump thing that also works. Some people have uh the hose and then that pump and then the other end of the hose, and then when you um when you squeeze that pump, it's gonna take that fluid out of the gas tank, and then you're gonna get to drain it into a bucket. Running your snowblower for the last time, you can actually sit outside, have that thing run. Um, I mean, it's gonna be if it's yeah, if you got a full tank like I do, you're gonna be running for a long time. So um at least siphon a little bit out or siphon the majority of it out. Anything that's left over, you could probably sit and run it. Having no gas in those um lines is what I'm trying to get at. And that will save on those lines so that they don't erode dormant, meaning there shouldn't be any gas in there. I should uh I will empty that out when the time comes. As you can see, the oil line. You see this this marbling here needs to. I think we're low on on oil, not gonna lie to you. But uh, like I said, this is a last run, so I'll change the oil on this thing when I do it again. Alright. For the next season. Um, I don't think I'll change it until the next season. Alright, so the thing that you're gonna need is this plug, this end of the plug. It's called the female of the outlet. And if you look right here, that's where you're gonna plug that baby in. Okay. So let's do that.

unknown 5:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Then we're gonna come over here. These three things, one's gonna be the throttle, one's gonna be the choke, and one's gonna be the key to keep it, uh, to start it, okay? So this right here, throttle, this is right here, right? To choke this, you're gonna pump this a couple times, right? This needs to be all the way open. Or or I guess what they call close, because you don't want um, I call it open, but it's it's it as you can see here, it shows that it's closed off, and then when you when you flip this over, this this will when it idles, it's going to idle in a low form and it's gonna idle in a high. So to start it, it has to be over to the choke. All right, this is the key, comes in and out. You're gonna get probably one or two of them with your snowblower, the additional or the spare will go and it'll stay with your manual. Um, that's where I keep mine. All right, so you have to push the key in, right? So now you come over here to this button over here, right? This little red button, and this is how you start it. Right. I think we can start like this. And then you can hear the throttle. Pull the key out. Do it. That's how you start the snowblower, okay? So um, I have these things. Ear protection. Kind of good to have. And you should wear eye protection. Uh, because in case, you know, a projectile, you know, comes at you. Um but folks, that's that's how you start and stop a snowblower. It's very simple. Um, there's this chain here right here, which I'm pretty sure I could probably start this bitch just on a cold on a cold start, like this. It was she's warmed up a little bit. Let's see if let's see if we can. That's how you start it when you're outside. I don't do it uh on a cold start because I'll sit there and I'd be cranking on that bitch, and that's not fun for me. After it's been running for a little bit, the the engine's kind of warmed up a little bit. Then I might pull on that chain, but um, on a cold start, I'll always plug it in. Welcome back to the channel. I appreciate you uh coming back, be kind to one another, do a nice uh act of kindness uh for a stranger, for a family member. And uh it's really gonna make you uh it's gonna make you feel good, um, but it really does improve the world and it makes this place a much better place. And when people see you doing acts of kindness, it makes them want to do acts of kindness, or maybe it even teaches your kids uh to do an act of a random act of kindness. And this world should never be short of uh random acts of kindness. So again, thank you for coming back to the channel, and that is how uh you start a snowblower. And like I said earlier, it's really is kind of the same concept for any and uh any and all other uh snowblowers out there. You have the throttle, you have the choke, um, you have a key. Um, hopefully you have an electric start. If not, you're just gonna be pulling on that. So if you don't have the electric start, like this part right here, where you plug it in, then you would still do you would pump, you would pump action this multiple times to get the gas um where it needs to go. Then you would push this all the way over to the choke end, and then that's when you would pull that string. Then you would pull this. Okay, and you would just pull this until it starts, and then you would move this over until she can idle on her own without any struggle. And that's that's how you start two stroke engine. So, all right, enough of that. Welcome back to the channel again. I am your host, Bethany Skillern. Thanks again, and uh, we'll see you next time.