I bought a used Craftsman trac-drive snowblower, 25" 8HP w/electric start.

Model Number:
C950-52671-8

It's made by Sears Canada. My emails and phone calls to Sears have been frustratingly fruitless as they say they have no records for this model number.

Anybody out there have any idea what the manufacture date is for this old beast?

Hi,
How about the numbers off the engine? If it is Tecumseh(as it likely is) then there will a few sets of digits with the last one having 4 digits and a letter of the alphabet. The first digit will be the last digit of the year of manufacture, and the others the numerical day of the year. The letter is a series designation.
Peace,
Clarke

Believe me, I've searched for any numbers I can find on the engine, and there's nothing visible on the exterior anywhere that I could find.

It's definitely a Tecumseh engine as indicated by the name on the electric starter.

Hi goombies,
I have found the number for these engines right near the push button switch for the starter. It is often rusted and very hard to read. You can try lightly sanding it and the numbers may show up.
Good luck.
Mike

Many thanks Clark and Mike - I was able to find the number right near the push button starter switch, etched into the metal engine housing. I had been mistakenly looking for an attached label of some sort.

Looks like this engine has a manufacture date of 1993 - so it's probably safe to assume that's the same year that the snowblower was made as well!

I'm from toronto canada. And I'm pretty sure I have the same snow blower as you. I was told the third and fourth numbers in the serial number indicate the year it was made. As far as getting a manual for this snow blower from sears your S.O.L as they are N/A. however if you phone " 1-800-4-my home " and tell them you have a snowblower that you need a part for they can give you the part number, avaibility and price. I went to the sears part store in toronto and they have the cut-away of the snowblower and its parts but they wouldn't print it out for me. If your in the states and this number doesn't work let me know and I will try to get you the local number with area code for you. I've had my trac-drive for 8 years now and its never gave me a problem except for the odd belt change. Hope this helps

My model is the C950-52671-7 which should be the same as the C950-52671-8. the last digit won't made a difference from what I was told

Go to sears parts direct punch in c950524758 then go to motor mount assembly. It is for a 5 hp but identical components as 8 hp c950526718