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

I recently purchased a Craftsman 5.5 Horsepower (gas), 24 in snow thrower on sale for $599 (normally $699). This unit has not been delivered as the local store was sold out and it had to be ordered (due on Dec 20th). My dilemma is this: my neighbor is selling a 1995 Toro Power Shift 824 (asking price $400) that looks to be in decent shape. He says it was just serviced last week with the intent to sell. He is retired and does not own this blower. He is merely selling it for someone else. So he doesn't know its history but he does know the owner and claims the thing has been stored in a garage for the last three years. I have never owned a snow thrower so I'm a little skeptical at buying something that is 10 years old. We are expecting a minimum of 6 inches of snow tomorrow and he is going to let me try it out before I commit. I live in South Portland, Maine. The snows here are not overwhelming and I have a very small driveway (about two car lengths long by one car wide). My problem has been the dreaded drifts created by the snow plows at the end of the drive. Should I keep the Craftsman 5.5 and will it do the drifts without a problem (last year the drifts sometimes were nearly 3 to 4 feet high in my drive). My thoughts are that the Craftsman is brand new and will be under warranty. But from what I've read on this forum the Craftsman isn't as reliable as the Toro. Sorry to be so long winded. Thanks to anyone who has read this far! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks Fred and Solara. So I assume the Toro being 10 years old shouldn't scare me? It seems like a no brainer. The Toro has a better reputation plus I could save $200 providing that Sears will cancel my order for me. I'll give it a try tomorrow if we really get the snow they are predicting! Now if I can just figure out how to use the darn thing.....

Steve - Fred nailed it. Ditch that small Craftsman & go for the Toro. Sears should give you no trouble with cancelling the order - they will sell it in an instant to someone else. The Toro offers better components & hardware, and will probably outlast that Craftsman that you were going to purchase! Try her out tomorrow & see how you like the Toro, and go from there.

Marty

The Toro has more HP and is a better machine.

Whenever looking at 2 stage machines, stay away from 5 HP. They are underpowered when you figure drivetrain losses, moving its own weight and trowing snow.  The older Toro powershifts are TANKS, As long as it is serviced, the oil was always correct, it has many years left to go.

Another vote for the Toro. 8x24 is a very handy size. Try t out first, of course.

I have a 10 yo Ariens 824 and it's a very rugged machine.

Thanks to all who offered advice! We got about 12 inches of snow at our house today. I tried out the Toro and it worked like a charm! Even though I have never used a snow thrower I was able to figure out how to get it going and operate it without a problem or a manual. I don't how to compare the effectiveness of this blower but it plowed through the 18 - 24 inch EOD pile without a problem. I didn't have any clogging issues but the snow was rather powdery today. And I'm sure once I locate an owner's manual I can operate it with more efficiency. The end result is that I am cancelling the Craftsman order (hopefully Sears won't charge a restocking fee since the thing hasn't even arrived at the local store). I bought the Toro from the neighbor for $400. I probably could have gotten it for less but since he just had it serviced ($50) I wasn't too concerned about a few more bucks since I had already saved $200 on the Toro over the Craftsman. Now my only problem is that it stopped snowing! I wish my driveway was twice as large!

with the serial # you can probably download a manual from toro.com (free).  this will also tell you the year that the machine was built.


good luck

Thanks Solara. I just downloaded the manual and it's printing as I type. Thanks again for the help!

One thing I noticed on this machine but forgot to mention was that during operation the chute vibrates to positions other than the one where I placed it. In other words, as I'm using it I have to periodically crank the chute back to its original position since it has vibrated to a different one. Is this normal on snow blowers or is there something I can adjust to keep the chute in the desired position? Thanks.

Steve,

Check in your manual on adjustments.

                                    Fred