Rebel Repair, LLC

Rebel Repair, LLC Small engine Repair/Maintenance and Antiques Restoration If you have an antique in need of restoring, we’re here to bring it back to life. Call us today!
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ABOUT REBEL REPAIR, LLC
If your small engine needs repair or is in need of maintenance, we’re here to help. Rebel Repair, LLC provides small engine services and antique restorations in the Hunterdon County, NJ area. We take great pride in servicing our customers, returning their equipment in top running condition, and offering affordable pricing. We will provide an honest and reasonable quote. DOI

NG THE JOB RIGHT
Don’t just trust anyone. With years of experience, we can provide you the complete repair or service your machine needs. Whatever your service need is, depend on us to handle your small engine needs. In need of an antique restored, visit our past projects and see if we have what it takes to restore your item. MONEY SAVER
By letting us regularly service your equipment, you will be able to save money in the long run. After all, you’ve invested in a quality machine that should last for years with routine maintenance. Let us service your equipment and help prevent the little problems from becoming big and costly ones. We’ll service your equipment for a reasonable price. Secondary issues discovered while performing routine or specific maintenance will be discussed with the customer and additional costs will be added as needed. I prefer OEM replacement parts but of course they are more expensive than an aftermarket part. I’ve had several aftermarket part successes but I will discuss the options with the customer and let them choose. Please note, I will not guarantee any aftermarket part. Where applicable, this is what you get: oil/filter change, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, fuel lines checked/replaced, differential/transmission fluid change, coolant change/top-off, lever/cable/linkage inspection, lights/switches, grease, inspect any boots/drive shafts/drive belts/chains/sprockets, valve clearances, air gap clearance, battery check, tire pressure, clutch head inspection, nuts/bolts tightened/torqued to spec……..just to list some of what will be done. If it’s a fuel issue, it may be a carburetor issue. If so, carburetors will be ultrasonically cleaned and rebuilt or replaced. Pick-up/delivery fee is $25.00 within the county. Outside of Hunterdon, $50.00. Antique restoration/repair will be priced based on the project. This includes research of the piece, part(s) availability or whether a part needs to be hand reproduced, materials, functionality or static display, and my time. We do not reupholster.

Just a quick mid-week fix…..received a call regarding a Cub Cadet XT1 not starting. Only sound was from the starter “wh...
05/27/2026

Just a quick mid-week fix…..received a call regarding a Cub Cadet XT1 not starting. Only sound was from the starter “whirrring.” As has happened before, thought it was just a crapped up starter shaft not allowing the gear to spin up and grab the flywheel. Wrongo! Shaft sheared in half. Two things usually cause this……the starter locked up during a startup or, while the engine was running, the starter was engaged again. All I know is, though broken, the starter shaft would still spin.

For about a year, ‘have been contemplating an autonomous mower for the back yard. Wanted something to handle a 1/4 acre...
05/17/2026

For about a year, ‘have been contemplating an autonomous mower for the back yard. Wanted something to handle a 1/4 acre and not a pasture. Studied up on multiple manufacturers, each machine’s pros and cons, cost, part availability, ease of use, and customer/technical service. Finally zeroed in machines made by Sunseeker. After several informative email exchanges with the company as well as a few voice conversations, I settled on their S4 model. All app-based and working from your cellphone, there’s a multitude of instructions and perimeters you feed the machine. After a couple of weeks making tweaks here and there, I have to say it was definitely worth it. Knowing one still has to w**d whack fence lines and around trees, it’s still time saved that can be devoted elsewhere. Sunseeker’s customer service/technical team have been prompt with answers and solutions which has been an important reason I choice their product. Plus, as they say, whoever dies with the most toys wins.

Needless to say, it’s been insanely busy between repairs and annual tuneups and the calls keep coming. Just mentioning ...
05/17/2026

Needless to say, it’s been insanely busy between repairs and annual tuneups and the calls keep coming. Just mentioning a few notable pieces that have come through. Comments are with the pics.

Since last post things have picked up with the transition to warm weather equipment tuneups and repairs. Still running ...
04/18/2026

Since last post things have picked up with the transition to warm weather equipment tuneups and repairs. Still running around a 3-week wait list but we’re churning out the needs of our clients in a timely fashion. In between the larger jobs, we’re taking in the smaller ones i.e. push mowers and hand-held to fill the gaps and not disappointing folks. Still had a few leftover snowblowers to service just as a reminder of the cold we will miss……yah, right! But I was asked by a few people when I thought it was best to service a snowblower. Short answer, owner’s choice. However, it is a lengthy time that a snowblower will sit and you have to consider stored gas condition by the time you need it AND if it became a mouse motel during the down time. I treat my gas, I run the carb dry, I top off the fuel tank, take care of the maintenance, and then one last check in the belly of my blower making sure no mice have taken up residence prior to winter use……this is me and it has worked. As always, comments are with the attached pics regarding just some of the pieces recently worked on.

Since last post (besides working in a week in Florida), we've started to transition into warm weather machines and have ...
03/28/2026

Since last post (besides working in a week in Florida), we've started to transition into warm weather machines and have been swamped with a 3-week waiting list. Though still working on several snowblowers, it's nice knowing we're close to being done with this cold. You'll see in the attached photos, a special shout-out to Upgrade Machine Works (Billings, MT) for their 3D printing work on two discontinued Snapper parts used during one of our repairs. The reproduction parts were spot-on. As always, comments are with the pics.

This past week we took care of another 10 snowblowers with several different issues and mentioning a few. Had a 1980s J...
03/01/2026

This past week we took care of another 10 snowblowers with several different issues and mentioning a few. Had a 1980s John Deere 524 with a Tecumseh come in with erratic running. After a full carb clean and rebuild, the brass carb float was observed having a crack in it allowing it to fill with fuel and not being able to float properly. Part of the rebuild was to replace it with a plastic upgrade. Had another Cub Cadet eat and ball up an auger belt along with a Honda HS series needing the dry rotted drive belt replaced. A 20-year old Ariens finally wore out its friction disc. Thankfully the owner stopped operating it once it ceased to move preventing metal on metal damage to the drive pulley. After friction disc replacement, the machine received a full service tuneup and returned the same day. Had a newer Ariens come in that lost its drive function. The issue to be discussed is the third one this season that’s been repaired having this problem. The wheel drive pulley is attached to a swing plate which is supposed to remain in place by two “hair pins.” The plate swings on a rod that goes through the bottom of the plate. When you depress the drive handle lever, the plate swings about 1/4”-1/2” and makes contact with the perpendicular friction disc which then drives the wheels. Because the swing plate has a spring attached to it, when you release the handle lever, the plate swings back stopping wheel motion. Keep in mind, when the engine starts, the drive pulley immediately starts spinning with the engine speed hence having a drive belt. When these two “hair pins” are lost, the swing plate assembly travels to right (as standing behind the machine) sending the drive pulley against the auger control rod and tension pulley assembly cutting into both. Very wordy I know, but wanted folks to understand some of the basic operation of the drive system and what happens when those 50 cent “hair pins” come out. In this instance, both the auger control rod and tension arm were almost cut in half. Another issue with the Ariens setup is the static position of the swing plate. You’ll see it in the photos, but in a static position, the swing plate sets back on what I think is too much of angle resulting with the drive belt riding too much on the edge of the pulley causing the belt to get thrown when engaged and taking out the auger belts. A fix was to attach a lock nut on the swing plate stop bolt to remove some of that hard belt angle. You’ll understand when you see it in the pics. As always, it’s never a dull moment.

This past week we caught up on non snow-related machines that had been sitting around and were put on the back burner du...
02/22/2026

This past week we caught up on non snow-related machines that had been sitting around and were put on the back burner due to the influx of snowblowers and generators the last several weeks. We also took in several last minute generators and snowblowers once this new storm was confirmed and returned them asap. One blower, a 3-stage Cub Cadet, the owner stated, "the auger stopped augering." It was an easy fix with replacing the severed auger drive belt and replacing a missing shear pin on the 3rd stage auger. While giving it a complete look-over during the repairs, we removed a nice mouse nest with a single mummified resident from within the unit.

This past Saturday (2/14) at approximately 12:30pm, one of our vehicles was struck after parking on Main Street in High ...
02/17/2026

This past Saturday (2/14) at approximately 12:30pm, one of our vehicles was struck after parking on Main Street in High Bridge by a (fairly certain) black Toyota 4-Runner. The operator of the Toyota, after blasting our side mirror to bits, did not stop and sped up the hill in the Califon direction. Attached is a pic of the Toyota's missing right-side mirror cover. Anyone with information as to who this person is, please pass it along, it would be appreciated.

As mentioned in my last post, regarding the Husqvarna ST224 dash console breakage, we picked up the second one and swapp...
02/14/2026

As mentioned in my last post, regarding the Husqvarna ST224 dash console breakage, we picked up the second one and swapped in a new console. What was interesting, as with the previous one, this ST224’s breakage was exactly the same. I would imagine that anyone owning one of these would have a valid fight with Husqvarna and their poor design. From Husqvarna, the replacement consoles are around $62.00. Not bad, but it’s the principle. We took care of several more carb issues on various blowers and generators…..comments will be with the pics. We also repaired a Craftsman blower that sheared the input shaft in two. The input shaft runs off the auger pulley/belt and drives the augers and impeller. Thankfully no damage was done to the gear case or worm gear. The input shaft sheared at its weakest point where two roll/spring pins hold the impeller to the shaft. Owner’s wife stated her husband (always blaming the guy!) hit something while snow blowing. Only one partial roll/spring pin was found and we did replace a bent auger shear pin and a bolt…..not a shear bolt, a hardened bolt on the other auger. That’s a big no-no. That’s why they’re called shear pins (bolts), they are meant to shear to prevent catastrophic damage to other components. The auger drive belt was slightly chewed up and was also replaced. Comments with the pics.

So this past week was still dedicated to repairs after equipment was beat up from the snowstorm. One snowblower to poin...
02/08/2026

So this past week was still dedicated to repairs after equipment was beat up from the snowstorm. One snowblower to point out is Husqvarna’s ST224. More and more plastic is being used on these machines and owner’s pay the price. One came in with the chute control not operating left or right among a few other issues. Under the console (dash), where one of the cable assemblies attaches, was broken off in two pieces. Coincidently, today I received a call from a new client, also with an ST224 and the same issue. I had the owner check under the console and he sent me a photo of the exact same breakage on the same right hand side. Two within a week.......I'd say Husqvarna needs to rethink their cheap design. Anyway, back to the first ST224, the auger shoes were never adjusted properly and they, along with the auger housing, were ground down. The auger housing was missing about 1” of steel and only a third of the scraper blade remained. The housing’s uneven edge was cut out, a new piece of bar stock welded in, painted and new scraper blade attached. The auger shoes were flipped to use the remaining good surface. A remainder of a tuneup was performed and job completed. More repairs this coming week pending delivery of parts. Comments are with the pics.

I don’t usually complain about winter. It is what it is. But I’m done……..”6 more weeks of winter!” Where is that Punx...
02/02/2026

I don’t usually complain about winter. It is what it is. But I’m done……..”6 more weeks of winter!” Where is that Punxsutawney Phil!!!!

Address

123 Main Street
Annandale, NJ
08801

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19085286571

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