Well, I suppose if you follow this blog you know there are lots of sagas, but one that has rubbed me the wrong way for a long time is the saga of the Trac-Vac. I have come to rely heavily on its ability to clean our yard with minimal physical effort over the last couple years but apparently I didn’t show the second hand machine the appreciation that I should have when it needed it. It seized up one afternoon a couple years ago but I managed to get it running again with some cleaning and restorative additives. Early in 2020 however, it clunked for the last time and I realized just how fatal the issue was to the early 90’s Briggs and Stratton 5hp engine. The engine threw a connecting rod which then lodged into the interior of the crank case. (I know, motor-mumbojumbo).
After tearing down the engine I knew I was up for a replacement so I found a $50 chipper on Craigslist which had a similar engine. The drawbacks there were that it had the wrong crankshaft so I figured I swap the old (undamaged) crankshaft into the new engine. Easier said then done. After over a year of tinkering, I finally got the thing back together but couldn’t for the life of me get it to run consistently.
Barring replacement of the carburetor (which I’m still convinced that’s the problem) I threw in the towel and bought a Harbor Freight engine to replace it. Guess what…. its still not a direct replacement. Ugh. Photos and dimensional diagrams of the new engine never showed that the exhaust routing interfered with where the vacuum housing would mount to the engine. You gotta be %$#@ing !@##*& @@#%% kidding me!!! Now my choice was to head back to my bastard engine and return this one (which I had already added oil to etc) or figure out an exhaust resolution. I chose the later and cut the exhaust off and welded a few pieces of pipe together to improve the routing for my needs.
I can’t tell you the relief I had once I finally pulled the cord and heard it roar to life after a year and a half of dormancy…. just in time for leaf season! The yard is so happy!
