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

Greetings to all. This is my first post. As stated many times by many others,great site! Anyway, down to business. Just picked the new orange machine. I was choosing between the 11528LE & 926DLE.  It came down to durability and the 926 won. Both look like very good machines. The journey is as fun as the destination. Today I'll be out in the garage to clean and wax the unit, and to check all the adjustments to make sure all is operating properly. Looking forward to further discussion with the group. One question on the differential. When I tried to lock the dif. last nite it did not seem to engage/disengage very quickly. Almost like it had to think for a moment. I realise this may be a cable adjustment, or perhaps normal, but I would like to hear from other owners how smoothly this should operate.Thanks for a great group.

Thanks again for the guidance and endorsements.  Tomorrow it arrives at home...let the snows begin!!!!

By the way, does anyone have technical knowledge of the difference between the 9.25hp and 11.5hp tecumsuh motors used on the Ariens?  I see the dispplacements are the same so I'm curious how they achoieve the additional 2.25hp?