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

I have a long steep driveway, about 60 feet, one car, with a flat bay about 50 X 50 at the base. I have nvere owned a snow blower, but I am getting alittle older and the back isnt waht it used to be. I have looked at the Ariens  11526DLE Snow Blower, which I think is an 11.5 HP. I was wondering if anyone has any experience on this with a steep hill. If not does anyone have any recomendations on one that will run up a steep hill

Where are you located? How deep is your average snowfall? Any idea what the actual incline of your driveway is? 10 degrees...20 or more?

AZ

We average about  6 snowfalls of over 12-18 inches per year. We also have peridiodic 8-10 inch snowfalls....as for the incline..maybe 30 degree's ...its steep. Live in Dutchess County NY

I think the Ariens  11526DLE Snow Blower, would have the power. You may want to buy tire chains if you have a steep driveway. That would be a nice outfit then.

Good Luck,  John

It may be that a snowblower with tracks rather than wheels would be more useful in your case. That means either a Honda (good but expensive) or a Craftsman (cheaper, questionable quality). Here are a couple to consider just to familiarize yourself with them:

Honda   http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=hs928tas

Craftsman   http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=LAWN&pid=07188890000

I have no experience with either of these so I can't advise you but I'm sure others in the forum will. Good luck with your search. Let us know what you decide on and how it works for you.

AZ

Thanks so much for the info. Do you folks think the tracks would work better then the wheels with chains?

muzak396 wrote:

I think a track-drive would be better but wheels w/chains might be good enough. It all depends on your comfort level, your ability to muscle the machine up that slope and how much you want to spend. Try to get the best quality you can and describe your situation to your local dealer(s) and get a few opinions. A good dealer may even allow you to test drive the machine at your home. It certainly can't hurt to ask...all they can do is say no. What dealers do you have in your area (Honda-Ariens-Toro-Simplicity)?

AZ

The wheeled units are easier to move around when not running. That's one reason why the vast majrity of snow blowers sold have wheels, along with being less expensive and easier to maintain.

The 11526DLE is a VERY rugged machine. So is the 926DLE. Both have an automotive style differential that makes it easy to manuever, and the new ones can lock the wheels for max traction.

The new X Trac tires should give you plenty of traction on a paved surface, but you can add chains later if you need them.

I clear some sidewalks on a relatively steep hill and my Ariens ST824 is no problem.

Here's the average monthly snowfall for Poughkeepsie. You must live at a higher elevation?

http://www.city-data.com/city/Poughkeepsie-New-York.html

I bought a used Craftsman track driven unit earlier this week. From what I can tell, quality, Honda has most makes beat. So far as track units go, what the Craftsman got over the Honda is you can steer it. It turns nicely and I like that feature. I'd prefer a Honda, but my funds didn't comply. Went used, as I would not recommend unless you can work on snowblowers, but new, most units will last a long life if properly maintained. I spoke to sears last night to order a small part and they told me they do not have a lot of calls for parts for the track units. My driveway has some steep areas so I went track. There are some very aggressive tires for snowblowers these days called "Snow Hog" tires. The nice thing about tire type blowers is the ease to move them when the engine isn't running. Moving a track blower without the engine running is like moving a small tank. The nice thing about a steer able tank though, it will go through anything, and will not ride up plowing into snowdrifts unlike tire units. If I decided to go tire snowblower, getting a steer able unit with aggressive snow hog tires. I don't mind starting my snowblower up to move it as it starts on the first pull, but I hate to have the thing cop out on me at the end of the driveway, as a tire unit would be easier to push.

I should read my post more carefully, i ment to say, Honda makes the best, not beat. The spell checker didn't catch that one heh.

Carlisle Snow Hogs are still available on  some machines but most everyone has switched to the X-Trac.

Gosh, I'm from Dutchess County and can't remember a winter that had 6 12" plus storms.  We had a little machine at the time and it did well except at the plow lines.   With a steep driveway, chains may be smart, but you could buy a wheeled unit with agressive tires (like the Ariens) and see how it does.  I'm not a fan of track drives generally, though my experience with them is limited.

Good luck. 

musak396

 i have a hondaHS928TAS=9 hp with a track drive. My driveway is 18 degrees(looked like 30 degrees, but i measured it with a gravity protractor)- so i spent the 2 grand and got it.  ( i have  a $33.00 lawn mower to make up for it= 22 degree lawn).  

 I love it, a wheeled blower would NOT have the same traction. YES, they are a grunt to move when not running, but one should have a parking space for it and run the blower 2 times in the summer anyway.

I tried my old neighbors "streerable" blower and did not like it. My dad had ( and still has, with carb problems) a 1990ish craftsman track drive= i liked that too.

The honda motor is a lower rpm torque monster. The big cost in the blower is the Hydrostatic Transission®, i change speeds and direction ( forward and reverse) WITHOUT disengaging the drive level=faster blowoing.

Hope this helps      18 degrees

There's been some discussion that indicates that the 926 and 11526 are the same machine.

Even the engines appear to be the same and there has been a LOT of postings about whether or not there is some unidentified internal difference that might give the 11526 an extra 2.5HP. I had thought theat the 926 was nimbler but upon checking out the Ariens sno product web site http://www.ariens.com/snow_products/ it appears that both units are identiacl in weight and size. The nly difference being the supposed HP rating of  what appears to be an identically specified engine.

Personally I would go with the 926, its not so much power you want as traction. If the tires don't work then chains will help.  If you get really stuck then blow while going down hill and come back up on the cleared area or take a smalle swath.

Sigh

I should have said "may be the same machine" sorry about that.

I just received information about the Tecumseh OHV 11.Hp motor and the OHV9.25 version.  Correct, both motors are of the same displacement, 318cc's. I asked Tecumseh folks if they could provide me(readable) performance comparison dats of the two motors. I say readable because i've seen some data on the we thats unintelligable.  They were very prompt and did provide two graphs, one for each engine.   Net is the 11HP motor has about 17% more torque and wider torgue range than the 9.25HP.  Specifically, the 11HP peaks at approx 16.25FtLbs the 9Hp peaks at about 13.9FtLbs.  The predominence of the operating range of the 11hp starts at around 14FtLbs and increases rapidly to max of 16.25FtLbs. Whereas the 9HP starts around 12FtLbs and peaks at 13.9FtLbs.  Best understanding I ave is this is accomplished trough carburation diffrerence between the two motors.

So these are the facts.....

RedCoupe,

           If what Tecumseh said is true, you can buy for about $70.00  the carb that is on the 11Hp engine.

If you have an 8, 9, or 10 HP engine you can make it an 11 Hp engine just by putting on the 11HP carb.

Cheap price for the HP gain!!

                                                              Fred   

Sounds like I've opened up the can of worms again.

Carburation was mentioned as a possible suspect but someone else looked up the part numbers and they said they were identical.right down to the jets. This lead to speculation on it being an adjustment difference.

I mentioned some of this to a local ( Ontario Canada, Eh ) dealer and he said he had heard there was a class action lawsuit in the US that was about the mislabelling of engine HP ratings, I don't remember which firms were mentioned but it was several. I haven't heard anything else about it but it could be interesting. Of course they could always claim that the sticker just guarantees the minmum HP from the engine and that if the engine happens to exceed the spec then so much the better.

The bottom line is I suspect shennanigans but there's still a lot of rumour going around.

Couple of points...1. Correct, there was/is a class action lawsuit in the U.S., a local dealer said it involved Toro and possibly some others.  He said the manufactures were considering refraining from using HP as a measurement and simply state cc's.   2. The facts I mentioned in previous post about 11Hp and 9Hp torque ratings and carburator being the differenece were from a direct conversation I had today with Tecmseh's technical manager.  There was nothing vague in his comments, he directly answered these questions.  If I knew how to imbedd the charts in this forum posting I would have done it.  I will gladly send as an email attachment to anyone that asks.  My email d is milite@hotmail.com.

For the 13 hp motor, I imagine the cc's would be bigger. If carbs makes the difference, does that mean a card on a 16 hp on a 13 make the 13 hp into a 16 hp? Technical question.

I believe the 13Hp motor is a bored 318.cc(11hp) to 357cc's.  Bore difference is 79.375 versus 79.400 with same stroke.  Some valve differences as well. 

The 13hp Tecumseh may look similar, but it is a completely different engine. Crankcase, crankshaft, head, piston, etc. It is also counterbalanced, whereas the others are not.

PK

Snowman, with the counterbalance, does that mean the motor would run with less vibration? What are the benifits of a counterbalance. The reason I ask is I am thinking of removing my 10 hp Tecumseh for a 13 hp unit for my blower.

The counterbalancer really works well. If I remember correctly, its 60-75% less vibration than the 318cc models.

PK

If the 10hp you are replacing is the L-head (358cc), you may experieince greater than 75%  vibration reduction. That particular engine vibrates the most.

RedCoupe wrote:
Which would be a sound idea, HP ratings have a lot less relevancy than most people think. Who pays attention to the HP rating of their car or motorcycle? Only a small minority, but a fair percentage of people know what the cubage of their engine is, at least in liters (nowadays) for cars.

Back to Muzak396's question. I agree with the other poster that a tracked model is best suited to your driveway, depending on snow conditions you could get away with a Honda HS724 (it is stronger than its specs lead to believe) or you may require the beefier HS928 which is a commercial grade machine. Very powerful, throws snow very high and far, always impresses neighborhood kids and often their parents as well lol (snow geyser rising above the neighborhood advertises you're clearing), but is somewhat heavy until you learn how to turn properly, then you can do it with one hand. Ariens also makes tracked units but they are new so little is known of them. They cost the same as Hondas.