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

Lots of folks are looking at new snow blowers this time of year. Many are replacing old models, but there are also lots of people buying a new two stage  snow blower for the first time.

Almost all machines on the market have 4-6 forward speeds and one or two reverse speeds. Almost all have a Tecumseh or Briggs & Stratton snow engine: many are overhead valve designs. Many have new features designed to make them more convenient to use.

The ease with which one turns the discharge chute, or the ease with which one can wheel the unit around are certainly part of any purchase decision. But  I'm surprised that the significant differences between the size of the rakes, auger gearbox, impeller and other highly stressed mechanical components are not taken as more important purchase considerations than the ease of which one can turn the chute on the showroom floor.

The true value of a snow blower is in blowing snow . The robustnes of the unit is going to be a lot more important than the convenience features.

The area I currently clear is such that whether I had a locked axle, unlocking wheel or automotive differential would make almost no difference in how much time it  takes me: I make half a dozen turns. But I have to contend with a lot of fences, and a lot of plowed sonw. So throwing very heavy snow high enough to clear six foot fences is far more important to me than adjusting the chute or turning around.

So spend a few minutes to look at and understand the components that actually touch the snow, not just the accessories.  My $0.02.

Great post! Thought provoking to say the least. I must admit, being away from a blower for some years, I am looking at features without consideration to the "guts" of the beast. Now that more perspective has been added thanks to your post, what is a real good hard core blower less chute turning etc? One of my ideas was to rebuild an older robust style machine as a Gilson but, 1. cannot find one, and 2, no time to do the rebuild. Buying a used machine has its drawbacks. I like Honda after seeing one in action but a new one is big bucks. Does one have to spend big money for a quality blower? I say yes, money = quality.

I would suggest that when you are looking at a top quality machine such as Ariens, Toro or Simplicity that you are already at that quality level. What matters most at that point since all three are similar quality is ease of use in my eyes.

fishwater: As consumers who pay top dollar, we deserve snowblowers which are top quality AND easy to use. There's nothing wrong with looking into convenience features and I think this is why we both chose the Toro as it's easy to use and is robust ;) Cheers, Sabesh.

When I went looking for a snowblower to buy, I really didn't make an effort to evaluate competing brands, features or prices. Why not?  Because  I knew  before I started that I would purchase from that dealer. I knew that I was buying into the service of a company that would offer a quality product at a competitive price and stand behind it.  That was far more important to me than which brand, which engine, what features etc. I would've purchased whatever brand they sold.  It just so happened to be a Toro., and though I like it I'm sure I would be just as satisfied if it had been another brand.  Now that I have it I am sometimes too effusive  in praising it, but I try not to do it at the expense of another brand.  I simply tell others that it deserves consideration along with  Honda, Ariens and Simplicity.  I think it's very difficult to go wrong with either one as long as the dealer  is a good one.  IMHO,  a lot of the brand vs. brand talk which goes on in these forums is merely a combination of post-sale buyer's remorse and the need to reassure one's self that they made the right decision.

AZ

AZinOH said:

"IMHO,  a lot of the brand vs. brand talk which goes on in these forums is merely a combination of post-sale buyer's remorse and the need to reassure one's self that they made the right decision"

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Amen to that. I was about to give into all the Anti-Toro plastic talk until you and a few others eased my fears about it. Toro's & my dealer's service record helped me in making the decision also.

Thanks, Sabesh.

fishwater wrote:
I agree. Many good machines to choose from. The "best" one is the one you decide best fits your needs. Even though I chose Ariens, I do like Toro's plastic chute for the non-stick issue.

Now we're starting to see  posts here and elsewhere to the effect, "My snow thrower throws well but rides up over the snow - I wish it weighed more."

road-hugging weight is a plus in snow thrower design.

It was basically a flip of the coin for me to choose Toro or Ariens.  It was between the Ariens 926LE and the Toro 826LE.  Both the same price but every location here wanted 50 extra bucks to put a light on the Toro.  The plastic is stated as a cost reduceing feature yet I was able to come away with the all steel Ariens for the same price and included a light and the nice shovel :)  The toro plastic is pretty durable, under warranty toro replaced the original design with that of an even tougher design because of some sub-zero cracking, both companies stand by their products.  I got a chance to look at some of the impaller covers off and its pretty thick, much better than that of the MTD/Craftsmans and other companies that clone each others blowers.  The chute itself is disigned to flex to prevent breaking and help reduce sticking.

In my opinion they are both great brands but in my area and my case the Ariens was the obvious choice in my price range.  The next step up for toro is the 828LXE (and LE w/o triggers) and around here it was priced about the same as the 11528LE which has a remote wheel lock and the bigger OHV engine to compete with the quick stick and triggers of the Toro.

I think it has more to do with location and compitition.  It seems in my Area that they arn't priceing the Toro's to be competitive with the that of the Ariens.  I've been told Ariens is the "2-Stage Leader" and Toro is the "single stage leader", that reflects what I have in my garage :)  It really did come down to basically a coin flip and a dealer switch though.  My old dealer was SLOW at doing anything and took forever to get anything done, combine that with the Ariens at his shop being sold out and we almost bought a Toro from him...until we called around and found another dealer who is larger in size and has some of the fastest turnaround times, that's what ultimately got us in Orange over Red, the dealer just as AZinOH said.

In the mid-market compact design Ariens has the best machines in my opinion, the 7524LE is priced near that of the snow commander and with its 12 inch impaller and OHV engine it moves a serious amount of snow for taking up just over lawnmower space in the garage.  That was a close third choice but I wanted the the added augar intake height of the Ariens 926LE/Toro826LE.

I guess it just boils down to what kind of a deal you can get, what features you value over other features, and most importantly: dealer support and service.