Ouch! What engine does it have? Have to rig up an electric motor w/ a cord...

Ship it to me. dont even mess with it, I'll either fix it or use it for parts. My driveway is dirt and gravel. I just have the skids down all the way.

Naw--i'm going to get it running, and probably use it. We now have 4-5 inches of snow on ground, and more coming. I'll set the skids lower down, or install other ones, or wheels. Not giving up on a good machine. Thanks fer yer invites! Rusty

I always had my skids all the way down and did a long stone driveway for quite a few years.

A friend has a Craftsman snow blower/thrower that is in its eigth season. He plows out the street in front of his place, and down to the main road. (He owns that part of his street!) Sounds crazy, i know, but thats the way it is.
He took his machine in for its annual service, as defined in the service manual, and which he paid extra for.
Sears called and told him this would be his last time on that service and it could not be renewed on that machine! And, they would not sell another service contract on it---period!
So, they called and told him it was ready, and he picked it up and took it home.
Friday was the first time he needed to use it, so he started it up. Then he found one wheel pin was gonzo! Not having a spare, he had to rassle the machine thru the whole evenings work, it always pulled to the right.
Then he found that the big impeller that throws the snow out the chute, was wobbling and not turning like it should. He found the lock bolt that holds it tight to the shaft, was ready to fall out!
Now, what does that tell you about Sears, and their service contracts? I have always considered them to be a rip-off, on anything mechanical! And, what do they hire to do the service work, on lawn and garden and snow equipment? I have seen some of their "hires" sitting around at lunch-time, and most of them look so dumb, they couldn't pour pixx out of a boot, if the directions were printed on the heel!
I told my friend that i'll do any maintenance work, or repairs, next time! And, it'll be done right--not sloppy!

An up-date on the snow blower-thrower. (We must keep the language gurus happy).

For your information: First-the ring gear on the flywheel had the teeth worn down and the starter gear didn't mesh correctly and it would skip. Then i found the teeth on the starter gear were worn, too, along with the starter shaft bearings were sloppy, too.
Fortunately, i found, in my stock of used parts, a flywheel that would work, and the teeth are perfect! I installed it, and the starter gear meshed some, but then i found the starter shaft bushings were loose from wear. RATS!
So-off to my friend at the mower shop, to get starter bushings--wrong--none available for that old starter! RATS!
But, he called his son, who works down in their basement shop, told him, and soon he came up with a starter that would fit! HOORAY! Except--some parts were missing. But, i can get them off the old starter--the gear and retainer, etc. So, tomorrow, i will go down to the garage and try to make it all work! Right now, the snow is really coming down, i'm toasty warm, and the day is getting along toward supper time. The roads are snow covered, and tonight is bluegrass night, some 20 miles away! Might not go-depends on my friend. Be a good night to suck down a few brewskis! And stay home!

Yah , the nice thing about used parts is that you know it worked at least once. New parts dont come with that kinda guarantee.

Well, i found that none of the parts from the old starter will fit the newer one! They changed everything to metric threads, and all. So, i'm back to square one.
Next time i get the garage warmed up, I'm going to try a battery operated starter, to see if that will work. I have a newer motorcycle battery here that just might work. A solenoid, push button, and some wires should be the ticket.
I found that the things i will need to make the newer house-current starter work, are cost prohibitive. So, back to the drawing board! SHEESH! $600+ for new starter, and a lot for used parts.
Any way-too cold right now.

Hey Rusty like I have said before try your local electrical starter / alternator rebuilding facility . I have repaired numerous starters from auto to snowmobile and motorcycles to outboards from their replacement parts . The pricing normally was under 20 bucks.