Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

The Toro Retails around $1000 and the Ariens is in more in my price range at about $830.  What made me choose these two is that they both have Tecumseh engines and all of the Tecumseh engines I've delt with have been great.  I'm doing this research for my father who will be spending the money, I'm 17 and almost always snow blow the drive for him.  He has a heart problem and diabetis.  The less expensive toro than the one I was looking at had an R*Tek engine and I would much rather go with a Tecumseh.  There is the debate of L-Head versus OHV and from what I see is that they give more power with less CCs and are quieter.  I really don't care about sound (neither does my father)  just as long as it will last a long time and will be dependable.  I'm also a Fan of buying American and Made in USA equipment.  The Ariens web site cleary shows Made In USA but Toro is really secrative of where theirs is made.  I had always thought Toro made theirs domestic.  That alone may shift our choice of which to buy.  I was also checking out some Craftsman (from Sears), Yard Machines (home depot), and some Troy-Bilt (from Lowes) and they seem cheaply contructed compared to the Toro and Ariens.

I live just outside of Buffalo, NY in a suburb called Amherst.  We don't get the brunt of the lake effect but most snowfalls 4-8 inches and storms range from a foot all the way up to drifts with  5+ feet.  We can get anything from as little as 70-80 inches to well over 150 inches, sometimes over 200 inches in a stormy season (from what I have heard this could be one of those seasons).  I'm looking for something that will laugh at the 5inch range do great in the foot range and get the job done with 2 foot range.  I know there isn't really any blower out there thats going to move 5 feet with ease.  I know both of companies make great blowers and dealer support is really equal for both in my area.  The Price limit is $1000 right now.

The reason we need this new blower is because the 40 or so year old "Hahn-Eclipse Snow Giant" has died.  It made a loud clang after about 3 feet of a row then when I tried starting it again all the parts just spun freely.  The engine on it was a 7HP techumseh and there wasn't a thing I could throw at it that it didn't make its way through, not fast but it cut through nicely.

Here's some pictures of Snow Giant, rest in piece.  We're still going to take it to the service center (where we'll probibly end up buying a new one) and see how much it would be to fix.  The last 2 seasons its broke down during so it might just be time.

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5
Picture 6
Picture 7

The thought has crossed my mind to re-paint and strap on a new engine.  The main reason we decided not to do that is the new blowers have independent controls to make the augars go faster or slower from the wheels.  The Snow Giants engine drives the wheels from a friction disc and then a chain from the right wheel drives the augar.  Its not a bad setup as all the power goes through spot but it requires some rocking from time to time and I need a unit my father can handle when I go off to college in a year or so.  He also isn't really a handyman so I need something that will go a few years with out breaking down.  A new engine would certainly keep that part of the snow blower in shape but its only a matter of time before something else goes. 

My father is slowly being seduced by the 828LXE with the trigger controls for turning and is probibly going to spend a bit more over the "limit" now that he is figuring in the unit will last over 10 years if taken care of make the yearly cost alright.  The only concern he has with the Toros is the plastic parts wondering what the life of a the plastic versus steal would be.

Replaced a 15year old Toro 521 last year  and had narrowed it down to similar choices you are looking at.  Really liked the new design of the Toro PowerMax with the new offset auger housing and the joy stick control, but also liked the ruggedness of the Ariens (less plastic parts), both were offering the same Tecumseh engine so that wasn't much of a difference.  Looked back on the old 521 Toro and it basically had the same amount of plastic parts, chute included and never had a problem with any of them, and the Tecumseh engine never failed to start even after being left in the detached garage in blizzard cold conditions.  When I went to complete the purchase for the Toro 826LE, I was really swayed by the independent drive system on the 828 and you also got a headlight as an extra.  Ended up with the 828 and glad I did.  The 826 is almost the same machine, a bit lighter, no independent drive, no headlight.  I watched my neighbor who did get the 826 struggle to control the machine in deeper snow and drifts while I was able to allow the machine to use its own power to make the necessary adjustments.  Neither machine is slowed down by the heavy snow which is a result of the new auger design.  The 826/828 is probably more than your budget but if you can spare it, I am sure you won't regret  it.

Around here the Toro is selling for a little over $900.

Tommorow looks like the day we'll make final decisions.  Taking the old one to the dealer to "remind" him that we also come there for parts and service and that usually goes a long way with "discounts".  Its down to the Toro 826LE/828LXE or the Ariens 929LE.  Its a toss up right now but both have great features.  My dad is really leaning the way of the 828LXE and I have to admit the controls setup is really simple and the Trigger control for turning is great.

For those of you who have used this Triggers, is is basically like haveing two clutches?  From what I read it seems like its the equivilent to chosing which wheel you want to engage or disengage "on the fly".  I was also curious how fast do these new ones go in 6th Gear?  I make some money on the side doing some driveways and ones around the block so was wondering if I could still speed my way there.

The safety features on these are alot better than the Hahn-Eclipse.  With the Snow Giant if you wanted it to stay put you had to put it in neutral or hold the clutch in.  It was much like a car.  You would squeeze the clutch change gears than release it and watch it go, and once it did just that, when I thought i placed it in neutral it was actually in reverse and while i closed my garage door I found it had backed up into a snow bank...thats another reason we're considering a new snowblower :P

"For those of you who have used this Triggers, is is basically like haveing two clutches? "

Without a doubt the one feature that made me choose the 828 over the 826.  On the fly you can disengage either wheel.  Squeeze the left trigger and the machine turns to the left, squeeze the right and it turns right.  Squeeze both and you can turn the machine manullay on a dime.  No more trying to hulk the machine and turn it around as I pass up and down the driveway. Learn to use the triggers to control the machine and you can save yourself a lot of energy.  In my opinion this one feature was worth the extra money from the 826 to the 828.

"I was also curious how fast do these new ones go in 6th Gear?"

With the throttle almost completly on fast, in 6th gear you will be at light jog speed.  Only time I use anything above 3 is when I'm all finished clearing the snow and am going from the end of the drieway back up to the garage.

If your dealer has all the machines on his showroom floor, test them out by moving them around, try the controls, etc.  I'm sure you will be impressed by the idependent drive system on the 828 over the 826.  But only you can decide if it is worth the extra money for you.

I am also considering the same two models, both of which are available at Home Depot.  My primary concern with the Toro 826 is its size (storage and handling).  While in the store, the sales associate (who seemed quite knowledgeable - not generally the case at HD) suggested that only one wheel be locked down on the 826.  He claimed that in all but extreme conditions, using one wheel to drive the unit would be fine.  Having one wheel turn freely made the unit handle much easier, at least as I navigated the store aisles!  I visited my local Toro dealer and looked at the 828.  While the Freewheel steering is a great feature, I cannot justify the extra $250.

While I like the size of the smaller Ariens unit, the width of the opening to the discharge chute concerns me, at least when compared to the Toro.  I live in an area that is subject to wet, heavy snow and I am concerned about clogging.  Also, the auger housing on the Ariens was not quite as high as the Toro making me wonder if it would do as well in deeper snow.

Can anyone give me some feedback on the 7524E.  Are my concerns valid?

SportsDad23 wrote:
I felt when looking at it the auger intake housing area was to low, it was comparable to a single stage, it certainly is compact.  If you worry about deeper snow like I did when I saw it then you probably need the higher Toro auger intake or the next one in the Arians lineup, the 926, which is actually a pretty big machine mainly because the controls are high up and set back unlike the 7524 which is lower to the ground and more "compact".  So I guess Ariens says what they mean :P The 7.5 HP engine seems like more than enough to propel it, I would just be concerned about the deeper end of driveway stuff as usually that is much higher than its augurs for me outside of Buffalo, NY.  I also live just after a corner so the plow isn't going fast. This causes it to plow a tall and thick mound instead of a shorter more spread out mound, even when there is just 6inches down, this has alot to do with the other fact the plow always takes the turn wide first pulling all the junk from the center and a little over right into sidewalk and then driveway.  So the EOD destruction is important and these bigger machines look like they would take them in stride in 1-2-3 gears since the Augurs get going a decent clip from the looks of it.

Well it’s good to hear you can get the sucker up to a decent clip when having to get from snow blowed point A to non-blowed point B :)

Pricing at one of the hardware stores in my area was something like $999 for the 826LE w/o the light, $1049 w/ light, $1329 for 828LXE.  Knowing my father he will be able to negotiate the 828 down since there are plenty of dealers around who sell Toros and they usually start dropping the price when you say "well I guess I'll check out XYZ".

Well ended up with neither of the units I was first considering.  Little known to me Ariens made a 8526LE $999, for some reason it didn't click in my head that for this year they upgraded it to the 926LE (that and I overlooked the Ariens 2006 lineup post).  The local store (Jim's Lawn Equipment) was selling that for $999.  

When we first walked in we didn't see it.  The last one was in the back getting last minute adjustments to it as it aready had a home to go to.  We saw 2 Ariens in the main show room, an 11526DLE and a 1336DLE.  Although large and would be great to own they were both above the price limit.  So after almost putting the OK on a Toro 826LE my father asked "what does Ariens have in the 1000 pricerange?" just to be curious, we figured it would be one of the smaller compact units.

Well we were wrong, he said "they make a 26 inch with an 8 1/2 HP engine".  I was surprised to hear that, then he showed us the unit and corrected himself to say it was a 926LE.

Well....We go in tommorow to finalize the paperwork and then we will be the proud owners of an Ariens 926LE.  The price is right, more powerful than the Toro 826LE (for same price), comes with the "shovel", driftcutters and all the others of a 926LE.  Jim's was all out of them but they are on a truck scheduled to arrive soon (he was actually telling me they were suppose to arrive already and he is raising cain with the shippers).  The controls are all steel contruction, no plastic as seen on the Toro.  I like having steel to reasure no breakage.

Thats the model we are going to buy.  I had overlooked the Ariens because of price (thinking I wouldn't find one for/under 1000 that wasn't a compact) but we couldn't say no to a 926LE for $999.