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I know Brian already claimed this thread title, but IDK what else to call mine as that's exactly what happened! Hope no one gets too confused or anything...
In any event, this was SUPPOSED to be posted more chronologically, but due to issues I've been having with posting images to the forums (for more information, please read: http://gardentractor...-to-the-forums/) I am a little behind with my postings. In any event, the other post about my 850 was supposed to be posted earlier on Thursday and this one was supposed to be done today (which it still is, it is just the other post was a bit later than it should have been. Anyways, moving on...). But I know you're now wondering, "But hey, didn't this guy JUST post some lovely pictures of his 850 with the snowcaster on it and everything looks like it's going great!?"
Well, that is where it all started to fall apart. You see, I think I got a bit over-zealous with the 850 in the wet snow and with running around snowblowing 5 other driveways yesterday, I think it was too much for the poor old Wisconsin to handle. While snowblowing the last driveway I was working on at around 7:30-8:00pm the other night, the engine in my 850 started to sound weird. I could tell the engine was bogging down quite a lot in the heavy snow that had started to melt a bit during the day and now was starting to freeze back up and turn into a crusty coating all over the surface of the snow. I kept having to stop every few minutes to unclog the discharge chute of the snowcaster. Finally, while trying to blast my way through a big snow pile, the engine bogged down too much and it stalled. While trying to crank it over again, it was making all sorts of horrible noises. It sounded like there was a vacuum leak somewhere as I could hear a "pfft, pfft..." noise like air was getting pushed out of somewhere. It was also knocking and clanking around a bit and it didn't want to start at all. I tried choking it again, even though it was already warm, and still had to crank it quite a while until it finally sputtered to life again. I could tell it wasn't running right though and the exhaust noise sounded different somehow. When I tried to use it again, it bogged down much more and a lot easier than it was (it took less of a load to bog it down significantly more than before). It was also knocking horribly under load and kept wanting to stall out. After a few minutes of this, I gave up and limped it back onto the trailer and finished up with the Ariens Sno-Thro.
I tried to start it this morning and it sounded really bad cranking over and it didn't want to start at all, so I gave up on it for now and took it over to a repair shop to have them look at it. I'd normally just work on it myself, especially since there is a shortage of qualified Bolens mechanics to work on it these days, but since it is too cold to work on it outside (and now also too snowy) and the girlfriend wants her garage for her car now that it is cold and snowy out, I have no place to work on it right now! I'm hoping the small engine guy I took the tractor to will be able to get her going again and not charge me an arm and a leg for it. I took it over today on the trailer and we pushed it off and into his shop. I had to take the snowcaster off of the tractor while it was on the trailer before I dropped it off to make it easier to maneuver around. This guy is an old-timer though and he's been in business for over 45 years, so I'm fairly certain that he knows his stuff and has probably worked on a few of these Bolens back when they were still pretty new. He might even have some old parts for the engine still lying around if it needs it...
I'll update this as I hear any developments out of the repair shop. I'm hoping it is nothing serious, but I'm fearing it might need a complete rebuild, even though it has already been rebuilt at some point. The ONLY thought I have on it right now is maybe somehow the new head gasket I just put on was no good and it is leaking? IDK how that could be though myself. I'm worried if a valve is loose or something though in there or a connecting rod let go, but not fully? IDK... I have a lot of theories and bad thoughts running around in my head right now and none of them sound like a cheap fix! 
I just need my poor Bolens back and running again soon. You never know when we're gonna get more snow and it did a pretty good job in this last snow storm before it broke down! The Ariens is nice too, don't get me wrong, and the 2-stage snowblower moves the snow a lot better IMO, but the Bolens' snowcaster is a lot wider and clears the driveway a lot faster!
