WoodyWW

My 12 y.o. honda harmony mower became increasingly hard to start the last couple of years. (To be honest, I left the gas in it during the off-season a few times, but w/fuel stabilizer the last few seasons--won't do that anymore!). This summer it would take 30-40 pulls to start, I'd give it a rest, try again, etc, it'd start after 1/2 hour, but eventually nothing worked.

I had cleaned the filters, checked oil, looked at the 2-3 y.o. plug. When I Installed a new Champion RC12YC plug, it started after about 10 min., ran great. 2 weeks later, now won't start again. Checked plug, looks new still, checked gap. Any advice? (My experience with paying to have 10-12 y.o. mowers or snowblowers "fixed" or "tuned up" is not good--I'm losing patience & it wouldn't bug me that much to just buy a new $400-$500 mower next Spring.)

Also--the fuel is from 3-4 months ago.....TIA

All things being equal, inc. price, get it at the independent Ariens retailer (assuming they have a good rep., etc.).

These things are what, roughly 200 lb. beasts. If you're in good shape, & have garage space, shouldn't be a problem. But, how big is your driveway, exactly?

ccrabtree wrote:Help, I've had my Echo PB210E blower since ~1999/2000.  It has been tuned up once (cost me a fortune) and just recently it wouldn't start.  The gas was about 6 months old so I dumped it and put in some new gas. 

I bought the most expensive Echo Leafblower for @ $400 in the early-mid '90's. It gave me about 8-9 good years, then became almost impossible to start. (unfortunately, I wasn't that diligent about running out the fuel every season, then buying new fuel next season). Rather than paying a fortune to "tune it, or repair it"--I've been down that path before---I sold it for $40 on CL.

Bought a new PB-413 2 yrs. ago for $299. Like night & day. Seems like a bargain, really. Now I'm obsessive about fresh fuel, using fuel stabilizer, running out the fuel every season, etc......

The 920006 is about a 5hp engine.  It’s one of Ariens compact  models so similar to the 5520 you sold   It would collect a bit better because of the increased width but have as much trouble with high wet snow or compacted end of the driveway pile.........The single stages are great if you have a special need to get something small and easy to use.  They do fine on lesser snows and slush and toss a mile.  trouts2

One thing this discussion has done is to get me to rule out the Ariens "compact 24". The Deluxe 24 has a larger engine, so I may check that out. The 5520 wouldn't throw even dry snow far, & was completely useless on heavy wet snow. BTW, "heavy wet snow" seems to be increasingly all we get in the metro-boston area. There are times you could make sno-cones out of it.

Last winter, I shoveled (ouch!). But my neighbors had a snow-plow truck guy that I hired a few times for $30-$40 per. Hopefully, I can get a Toro single stage for smaller snows, & hire someone for those 1-2 ft. monster storms. Increasingly, buying & housing a 200 lb. snow-blower in my tiny garage, with my aging back, doesn't seem that realistic.....

My driveway is 54 ft. long; varies between 12 & 19 ft. wide. Basically flat, asphalt. In Mass., so the snow can be brutal, a foot or more, sometimes every week. Then there's the giant 2 ft high packed snow/ice dam at the end of the driveway after the town street plows. I've had two Ariens 2-stage Snow Blowers: A 7 hp, 24 in. that ran really well for about 8 years, then didn't. Recently, an Ariens 5.5 hp 20 in. with an "L-head" engine that was almost useless; I sold it after 1 1/2 seasons.

I think I'm going to try a Toro single stage this time. HD has the 221E E/S for $669, & the 221QE E/S for $719. Both have the the "zip deflector" (?). Only the The QE has the "Quick shoot". It would be nice to "change the chute direction without even slowing down" (for $50), I'm not sure it's worth $50 tho.

There's an Ariens 2-stage 24 in. Model 920006 for $799. I can't even tell how many hp the engine is, or whether it's an OHV? (205 cc Briggs and Stratton engine). I do know it's a 169 lb. monster.

My gut says to buy the Toro 221E E/S before they sell out, or HD stops offering free shipping.  Any advice?? TIA!