If the winter of 2014/15 forced you into a new snowblower, take a few moments to properly store it and protect your investment! The most common repair problems are easily preventable and they can be completed now – NOT—in the days leading up to a snow storm. 
The single most important storage tip is removing the old gasoline. If you do nothing else, drain the gas!
High ethanol in gasoline will ruin your carburetor.
Drain the remaining fuel from your gas tank. Fuel that sits all summer will go bad and require an expensive carburetor replacement. It’s also unlikely that a carburetor replacement is covered under warranty when bad fuel is at fault! Start by draining the fuel, then:
- Use stabilizer in your fuel. Mix right at the pump with the BEST fuel available.
- Add a small amount of the treated fuel to the snow blower, and start it up. Run the machine for a couple minutes and allow the treated fuel to run through the engine.
- Turn the fuel shutoff knob to OFF and let the snow blower run out of gas.
Finally, turn off the key switch. This step alone will go a long way to protecting the engine and ensure another season of use.
Completing a proper “summarization” involves a few additional steps, but there are maintenance kits available to make the job easy. Most kits will include oil, spark plugs, and fuel stabilizer. If the snow blower is stored outside, its not a bad idea to pick up a cover too!
If your snowblower needs more repair work than maintenance, stop by our site and find the parts you need
here.
Well over a year ago, we decided our website, ProParts Direct needed a makeover. That makeover very quickly turned into a complete overhaul and we couldn't be happier! Our goal was a modern, user friendly place for commercial landscapers and homeowners to shop for replacement parts. After countless hours of planning, revisions, mistakes, surprises, and a little bit of luck…we are on our way to achieving our goal of providing shoppers with the best online experience.
First, thank you to our friends at GourmetGiftBaskets.com for mentoring and sharing their growth experience with us. Gourmet Gift Baskets quickly grew from two family members in the basement of a flower shop into a multi-million dollar company recognized multiple times by Inc.500. They are absolute Pro’s and we are grateful to Trudy, Jeff & Ryan for supporting another NH based, family owned company!
We also want to thank the team at The Scribbit who designed our website and managed the build. This project presented challenges and they knocked it out of the park. Thank you to Laurence, Ben and everyone at The Scribbit for their professionalism, expertise, and most importantly, their patience. We would recommend The Scribbit, without hesitation to anyone looking for creative web design and development.
Finally, we encourage our customers to visit our friends at GourmetGiftBaskets.com and TheScribbit.com – outstanding New Hampshire based companies putting their mark on the web!
We are excited to offer our customers a new and more convenient way to search and order parts online! Our website, ProPartsDirect.net has been designed and developed from the ground up featuring a new look, larger parts selection, and mobile friendly design. Searching for and ordering parts from a phone or tablet is easier than ever with responsive design.
ProPartsDirect.net was designed with the commercial landscaper in mind. We built in a feature that gives commercial landscapers access to discounted pricing. Once a customer signs up for the program, reduced pricing automatically displays when they log into their account.
An all new Bar & Chain Look-up tool means finding replacement parts for your chain saw is even easier! Simply select your chainsaw and we will provide replacement part options. Type the part into the quick order and you are done!
Customers that receive the ProParts Direct Catalog can quickly place orders using the Quick Order tool. Simply type in the part number from the catalog, enter the quantity and add to cart.
Another exciting feature on the website is integrating content from our YouTube page. Product demonstrations and helpful how-to videos will be continually updated to give our customers the best shopping experience!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCinfuJCYy7VAyZEXtuN7Ztw
So take a moment and visit the all new ProParts! For a limited time, we are offering Free Shipping on some orders so don’t wait!
Sharpening lawnmower blades saves time and money, unless the technique is incorrect – that costs money.
** Always use proper safety equipment and goggles, hearing, gloves. **
- Set the blade grinder to the correct angle. For Oregon replacement blades, use 30 degrees. OEM blades, consult your owner’s manual.
- For a right hand cut, set the motor to forward (counter clock wise) to draw the blade into the stone. This will throw sparks out to the right, away from the user.
- Your first pass should be to square up the blade. This will remove any Knicks or chips in the blade. Once you have set your edge then draw the blade across the stone until you have ground away the metal to meet the bottom edge. Flip the blade and repeat using the same number of passes. Do not attempt to get a razor sharp edge, a .030 - .060 is ideal.
- Balance your blade – it is a simple step, but very important when sharpening your blades. A simple screw on the side of your work bench or even a fancy blade balancer will do the trick. Balancing your blade can save you from having to replace your deck spindles prematurely.
A blade grinder is a great addition to any landscape company. By properly learning how to sharpen your own blades you can get a longer blade life, better cut and save money and time while doing it!