After storm, snowblower repair mechanics deal with massive demand

After last weekend’s snowstorm, demand for snowblower repair is at an all-time high in the Chicago suburbs, according to multiple mechanics in the area.

The reason is multifaceted, having to do with when the storm hit, the temperature during the snow and the consistency of the powder.

Scott Swaydrak, of M&S Engines in Northbrook, says the first storm of the season always creates a demand spike.

“Every time it snows, it’s mayhem, because people don’t think about their snowblower until they need it,” Swaydrak said. “And that’s probably the worst thing to do. I always tell people, ‘When you put the lawnmower away, take the snowblower out and make sure it works.’”

Eric Phillips, owner of Equipment Repair Specialists based in Palatine, agrees with Swaydrak that this level of need is considerably more than usual, though. Phillips says he has been averaging around 300 customer contacts per day in the past week.

“I didn’t know an iPhone would max out on voicemails, but they do. My voicemail box only goes back to Sunday afternoon,” Phillips said. “If you call today, it would be Dec. 20, so 18 days from now, before I could even look at it.”

Phillips says this is “by far” the busiest November he’s had since starting his business in 2016, and he’s on track for his busiest December as well.

Swaydrak says M&S Engines has run out of space in its shop to hold machines that need to be fixed.

“We’re actually taking a list of people with phone numbers, and we call them when we have an open spot for them,” Swaydrak said. “It’s been crazy. It’s more than double last year.”

This was an early snow with a lot of volume, which both mechanics agree is part of the problem. The other issue for snowblowers after this storm was the consistency of the snow.

“The sheer volume of the snow we got is big for the first significant snow of the year,” Phillips said. “And the consistency of this snow, because the ground wasn’t frozen yet, is a very slushy, thick snow, and it’s hard to throw. So, it will absolutely exploit any weaknesses you have in a snowblower.”

According to Phillips, most of the snowblowers he encounters are broken because people left gas in their machines over the summer.

“The ethanol that’s in our gas is just absolutely devastating to the fuel systems,” Phillips said. “It messes up their carburetors, and then I would say I have about an 85% success rate at being able to clean them out and getting them to function correctly.”

If that doesn’t solve the problem, the process may take more time.

Phillips and Swaydrak say the unpredictability of each fix makes scheduling difficult, and the current demand makes providing quick turnarounds for customers hard.

In order to make the process easier for mechanics, Phillips has one major piece of advice — don’t try to fix it before he shows up.

“YouTube is the biggest problem I have. Because people go on there, they see a snowblower that’s red, and they’re like, ‘Hey, that must be the same one I have,’” Phillips said. “I tell everybody, just leave it, because there’s going to be hints and things I need to see that are going to point me in the correct direction.”