Stepney 2,325 #1 Posted August 19, 2020 (edited) Partially WH related, but not. We have a great big Stihl commercial backpack blower and .. out of my endless other machines, no handheld unit. The 20 year old Echo conked out a few years ago.. The Stihl is a mighty powerful unit, but hard on fuel and heavy to boot. Not all that old, perhaps 3 years max. Anyway.. been hunting CL/FB to find me a cheap used hand held blower. This morning.. this odd duck showed up. First thing I noticed was it was sitting on a WH hood in the ad photo. The price was right. So I took a ride up.. simply because it looked oddly clean. Found a shaggy 856 in the garage, and this, amongst other relics. Upon questioning the condition, the fellow recounted that his father bought it, a WH, and a little Toro mower around 1967 ... and never ran the blower The muffler is spotless inside with a little surface rust. Carb was spotless. Tank had no smell.. Didn't touch the points, changed the rock hard fuel hose.. two pulls and she lit off like a new engine ... perhaps she even is. Very unusual throttle arrangement. Solid 1/4" steel rod and notches to hold the setting, nice well made linkage right up to the carb. Runs fairly quiet, not madly powerful but on par with a modern hand held, and VERY light weight. Comfy to wear.. feels like an elementary school pack. Biggest complaint is a slow drip from the original petcock which looks easy to replace.. The tank appears stained from gasoline but its actually steps within the tank to prevent sloshing creating the hue. Anyway.. neat old rig. Tag on the rear claims it is a Kawasaki 'Windmill'. Can't find a single thing about it online. Long story short, I set the points on the 856 and got it going, and he gave me the old lady, along with a little RCA 3 speed turntable. Edited August 19, 2020 by Stepney 5 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,033 #2 Posted August 20, 2020 https://www.environmental-expert.com/companies/vandermolen-corp-57577/products http://www.vandermolencorp.com/NAVFRAME-6.htm 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,283 #3 Posted August 22, 2020 Super cool machine, and possibly nos to boot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,091 #4 Posted August 22, 2020 On 8/19/2020 at 4:51 PM, Stepney said: Found a shaggy 856 in the garage, and this, amongst other relics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
