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The Green Outdoors (December 14, 2009)
Discussions Photos - Files |
The place where the Gilson snowblower legacy lives. This site is in no way affiliated with any of the products or companies mentioned or depicted within except as noted. Supporting Gilson Equipment Owners Since 2001 |
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In addition to Gilson branded units we suppport the many private brands Gilson built for including;Montgomery Ward, Garden Mark, Plymouth, Senator, LawnBoy, Mastercraft, Marshall Wells, Beaver, New Holland, Snow Charger, Ford, Wizard, Toyota, Artisan, TECO, Brentwood, Mor-power, Gambles, SNOTRAC, Bob-a-Lawn, Davis, PRO PULSION.
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If you have found the material on this site or any correspondence helpful you are welcome to show
your appreciation by making a donation to help further this hobby. I am always searching for reference materials and other items that tell the Gilson Snowblower story to make this site more informative and interesting. Without your support I cannot purchase these resources to preserve and share.
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If you live in or near Southern Maine and have a Gilson you're ready to part with don't scrap it, contact me instead! I do pay cash depending on condition, completeness and how it fits into my collection. This being a hobby my budget is limited but I can offer your machine a good permanent home. Donors of free machines are listed on my "Friends of the Gilson Snowblower Shop" page. I do not resell machines. Dealers welcome. My collection is limited to Gilsons and machines Gilson built under the many brand names shown here. |
In the beginning…..
It wasn't long after that I came across another model in the "graveyard" of a local equipment dealer. I bought the machine and got it into tip top shape. That was my 1971 55002, it's a favorite and is the one machine that is always in the garage waiting to work. From there the hobby grew. In November of 2015 the 100th Gilson walk behind snowblower came home with me. Of these, 18 are presently working front line machines, as seen in my gallery, The Gilsonian Institute. Dozens are operable or at least candidates for restoration and some that came to me beyond salvage have been parted down to support the collection and other owner's machines. There are still many models that I'd like to acquire.
In 2021 I retired from a career in automation engineering. I now have more schedule flexibility to provide parts and technical support to Gilson equipment owners. There is no shop or storefront to call on. Contact information is here I do not repair machines for customers. I do not sell machines, they get parted down, refurbished, or stashed away for future projects. I continue to acquire and refurbish machines. I hesitate to use the term "restore" since mine is a working collection.
One of the most gratifying aspects is the discovery of the "heirloom Gilson". An amazing number of machines that belonged to a father, grandfather or spouse are being kept in service in loving tribute. It's especially rewarding to help these owners. It's a pleasure to work with Gilson owners here in the United States and around the world. I have found that Gilson exported many more units than the records suggest. I can tell who is having a rough winter just by watching my inbox!
One of the interesting things about Gilson is that they were a brand name in and of themselves, but they also did a tremendous amount of private brand work. The features of the private brands typically lagged the Gilson machines by a year or so, giving the Gilson dealers some advantage. Here are some of the many brands Gilson built snowblowers for.
Gilson snowblowers are commonly found in the United States, Canada and the Scandinavian countries.
In 1988 Gilson was acquired by LAWN-BOY. In 1989 LAWN-BOY was acquired by TORO and that was the end of the Gilson designed models. Currently LawnBoy is handling the GILSON parts and archives. The LawnBoy dealer network is your source for OEM parts. See my FAQ for more info on locating parts. This site is dedicated to providing the resources needed to keep these machines working. You will find resources pertaining to parts and service procedures along with historical information throughout this site.
ABOUT The GILSON Snowblower Shop
It all started in 1972 when I worked at a local hardware store. Among my duties was setting up and servicing snowblowers. These weren't just any snowblowers, they were GILSON's, nice sturdy machines built in Plymouth, Wisconsin. The owner of the store had an infectious enthusiasm for these machines that got into my blood and never left. As he once said, "Gilson with the big G for Goodness". I stayed with that job for 7 years through college and headed off into the world. In 1987 we got a place of our own and for the first time in a long while had to deal with my own snow, and I had a lot of it. There was an older Gilson at my folks house that was not being used, I talked dad out of it and put it back to work. Years of in town use including curbstones and road salt left it in pretty sorry shape. After two years, in 1989 I tore it down completely and refurbished it, the magic was still there.
Your patronage of M&D Mower links helps support this site.
Along the way I also became interested in web-site creation with my Family Camping Site an early project. That project had pretty much run its course as the Gilson's began to fill the garage and I soon found myself sharing this new hobby with the world. Through the Internet I began sharing information that I thought owners would find helpful. The sale of an occasional surplus used part allowed me to invest in archival materials as former dealerships cleaned house. Things snow-balled (no pun intended!) and as critical parts became discontinued I began applying my engineering skills to bring some items into small scale production. In 2009 I started with digitizing the parts lists and added the Idler Roller Rebuild Kit. There seemed to be enough interest to take a chance and with diminished parts for an aging fleet it seemed like it was a "now or never situation". I began to have other parts machined and fabricated adding more as ideas, designs and cash allowed. In addition to what I now offer for parts I have a number of new items in the pipeline and I am always monitoring common wear items for availability. In 2015 I began to add support for Gilson's legendary roto tillers starting with some snowblower parts that were common. I now offer many exclusive, custom produced tiller parts as well.
Contacting Pete at The Gilson Snowblower Shop
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Click here to start an email message spectrum@gwi.net |
I do not have set office hours and will be away from the phone or home at times. Unless the status banner says otherwise I am following up on messages and shipping parts daily. The best times to catch me are weekdays, from 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM eastern time. These are dedicated phone lines, you won't be disturbing anyone. I'm often able to take calls outside those hours including weekends. If I miss you, please leave a message. Include your phone number, when I can return your call including your time zone, or just try again later. If I just miss picking up on your call I may call right back. I am in Maine, on Eastern Time. I will return calls in the United States and Canada, often 7 days a week at any reasonable hour.
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The STATUS banner above, and at the top of many pages will indicate if I will be away for an extended period.
I also keep a close eye on our FaceBook group. I will respond to general questions there, but I do not conduct business on Facebook. Please do not contact me with Facebook messenger, please use email for correspondence.
TILLER PARTS
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Sustainability:
The Gilson Snowblower Shop endeavors to be kind to the environment. The changes I have seen in my lifetime are concerning. We are doing what we can to help save this big blue orb for my children, grandchildren and beyond.
Updated March 2, 2023