BCS 853 Losing Power

[TimtheTractorMan]

I have a BCS 853 with a Honda engine. We've been getting a ridiculous amount of snow, and I was snow blowing with it and it gradually kept losing power - the snow was being thrown a shorter and shorter distance, until eventually it won't even make it out of the chute and it clogs up. At first I thought it was the throttle icing up, but I adjusted that.

I left it for a while, made sure it went through a thaw, and tried it again, and it's still doing the exact same thing. It starts up great, runs fine, I can drive it around, everything is spinning and turning, not making any weird sounds - it just doesn't have enough power to throw snow (even light fluffy snow).

Any thoughts what I should investigate?

 

[js5020]

Any chance since your blowing snow the gas cap vent is icing shut and or the air filter is icing up?

 

[TimtheTractorMan]

No, I waited and made sure everything was clear of snow/ice before trying again, including taking the air filter off and having a look.

 

[USMC43]

Crack the fuel filler cap and see if it improves while under load, very common issue

Another thing I have seen multiple times on people’s tractors is a leaf or debris that will cover the fuel pickup point in the tank and then float away when it’s off just to be repeated

Last would be to clean the carb jets encase they became plugged with a small piece of dirt or debris.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

You're governor is freezing up. I had the exact same problem on my 739. It's below freezing but there's a lot of wet snow flying all over everything. The water lays on top of the engine between the tank and the air cleaner/muffler and freezes. That's right where the governor is. It freezes the governor solid. Bad design by BCS/Honda. I ended up making an engine cover for mine to keep the engine dry. Completely solved the problem. Or wait until it gets warmer to clear your snow.

 

[travisbb]

I also had this problem and built a prototype engine cover out of cardboard and tinfoil. It solved my problem.

Most dedicated walk-behind snow blowers have full engine cowling so it makes sense that non-dedicated snowblower also needs one.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

Here's a thread I started on the subject. There's a picture of the engine cover I made.

BCS Snowblower Review

Got a 28 inch blower for my BCS 739. I've used it twice. Here's my take. The Good: This thing really throws the snow a long way. Probably at least 3 times as far as my Troy-Bilt. The package is very powerful too. It will handle heavy roadside piles. It's also pretty cheap for a snowblower. And...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[oughtsix]

You're governor is freezing up. I had the exact same problem on my 739. It's below freezing but there's a lot of wet snow flying all over everything. The water lays on top of the engine between the tank and the air cleaner/muffler and freezes. That's right where the governor is. It freezes the governor solid. Bad design by BCS/Honda. I ended up making an engine cover for mine to keep the engine dry. Completely solved the problem. Or wait until it gets warmer to clear your snow.

This sounds like it could be diagnosed with a hair dryer blowing at the area for 10 to 15 minutes? A hair dryer won't fix the problem but it it runs properly after melting and drying everything out then it would be a pretty clear indicator this is the problem.