I wonder what this will mean in terms of parts supply.

Many Tecumseh parts are available aftermarket under Oregon, Stens, and other labels. Looks like I'll order plenty of Tecumseh carb kits however.

Can you post the link?

I called my Ariens dealer where I purchased my snow blower four years ago to ask what they know about Tecumseh engines going away. He would only say he heard rumors about it, and that their new blowers are still equipped with Tecumseh engines. I then wrote to Tecumseh Customer service to ask the same question. This was their written response:

It is true Tecumsehpower will stop manufacturing engines on December 15, 2008.There still will be parts availability after December 15, 2008

Customer Service
Tecumsehpower

I tried calling customer service, but just got the run-around with options and voice mails. It sure looks like the engines will go away by the end of the year, but I have no good feeling about parts availability after that. Tecumseh is probably offering it's current supply of engines at a discount to purge their inventory before people realize if they buy power equipment with a Tecumseh engine, it could be a real problem down the line getting parts & service for the engine. I hate to see that happen. I have always had good performance and reliability with their engines. What happend to the TecumsehMan who used to post on these forums? He certainly was loyal to the company. Charles Ranheim

canguy,

here you go. Looks like I'll be stocking up on service parts for my Snow King and mower engines.

Here is a link that might be useful: the other place

Cranheim, The Tecumseh man you refer to that used to post to this forum is a good friend of mine and one of the niceset human beings I have ever known. He is still posting to a forum, but not too much on this one. As for his Loyalty to Tecumseh, He worked for a tecumseh dealer/Distributor. He has not been with them for at least a couple of years now. He is now in another L&G line of work with Diesels and such. As for Tecumseh, I own my own small engine repair business, My Tec distributor says they will get support from tecumseh through June 2009. Now, ask me if I believe that Tecumseh will give them "Full support" all the way through June 2009? Like you, I have my doubts. And what this will mean is that there will be people scrambling for parts. There is a big aftermarket parts supply. But let's say you need a new carburetor, then what happens. Sometimes a carb will be hard to get completely clean and replacing is the best option. Not anymore. Are they really finished? Unless Santa Claus himself show's up, I am afraid so.

I live in Dunlap TN where a Tecumseh plant is located.
It is closing in December. It has been our largest employer.

Pooh Bear

Here is a link that might be useful: Tecumseh plant in Dunlap shutting down

Did the Dunlap plant manufacture engines for lawn mowers, or just for snowthrowers? Thanks. -E

This is bad news. I just put a new 8 HP Tecumseh engine on my Troy Bult rototiller last year. Can anyone suggest what spare parts, if any, I should stock up on? Or do you think some aftermarket supplier will step in and fill the void for repair and maintenance parts?

Currently aftermarket parts cover a lot of parts, but the one thing that stands out for me is carburation. Individual parts are available, but I don't know of complete aftermarket carbs for Tecumseh. My hope is that someone will market them. So personally, I would be extra diligent in keeping the fuel treated and clean. MAybe buy a new carb if you want an insurance policy. They are looking to sell the different Tecumseh divisions off and the hope is parts distribution will revitalize and will be there for a long time. Time will tell!

I'm not sure what all they manufactured. But they don't anymore.
I think they made small engines for any application.

Pooh Bear

I've heard that the plastic bowl carbs can be troublesome and need an entire "bowl kit" to repair.
I think I'd stock up on a couple of those and still try to be very careful about "old fuel".