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

I know..I know...I already searched the board for this title but what I found didn't really answer the question.  But before I get to that, let me give a little back ground.  I just moved into a house in North Jersey with a pretty big driveway (more on that in a bit).  Living here all my life, its not that crazy but we do have some bad ones and from what I'm hearing, this one is going to be bad.  The previous owners contracted a guy who came for the first time a couple of days ago and did a really crappy job.  They just plow with a pickup so there is still less than an inch left on the driveway and where the tires rolled a nice coat of ice forms.  The bigger issue is that they plowed right into the backyard, meaning they tore up the grass where it meets the end of the driveway.  They charge 75 bucks and I guess its not bad but I really hate shotty workmanship.  I'm now sitting here waiting for them to come again to plow the 8 or so inches that is blowing around outside (its now 1:52 and still no show, luckily I work from home).  Ok to the details, the driveway is 800 ft. long (yes, 800 feet) and has a couple of curves.  There is an incline in it in the middle but I don't know what it is, maybe 15 degrees.  For the most part its about a car width except for the entry and the circle by the house.  It’s the house in the yellow box.

 

 

That being said, I’m contemplating on buying some machine to plow it myself for the reasons listed above.  After doing a bit of research I’m stuck with a couple of questions.  I see that a couple of manufactures have both Wheeled and Tracked machines.  I would think that the tracked model would be better in that it has a more traction.  I could see however how that might be a little harder to move while not running.  Before I forget, I two oversized car garages and a basement which is pretty big.  It’s a half flight to the basement and there are stairs from the garage to the basement inside so I could put some boards down and move it down there for the season.  I’m not to concerned about the agility of the machine because for my use (I would think) I’m basically running up and down the driveway and speed if more important.  I also see that the prices go up a bit as the width increases.  I’m inclined to spend a little extra as it may remove a whole pass for me.  So I’m looking for a machine that will not get stuck, will allow me to plow the entire driveway in a reasonable amount of time and most importantly, I want something that is solid and reliable.  I don’t want something that is going to break every season.  I’m a firm believer of “you get what you pay for” so I’m ok with spending a little bit more for a good machine.  I’m assuming that I would have to opt for the two-stage.

 

Thoughts….

Recommendations….

Complains (that I write too much)…

:)

 

-Jay

Thank you everyone who has posted all this great information.  I'm going to head over to the dealer now and we'll see what happens.  I'll let you all know what I end up doing.  Again, thanks so much.

I have a Simplicity wheeled 38" and a 24" Honda tracked. I would send the Simplicity over a cliff before selling the Honda now that I have two to compare.

Advantages of the track:

Even pull, better traction, will not run away down a hill or back into you on a hill, will climb over obstacles and not fall into small ruts, is much more stable. Also, the Honda has on the fly variable tilt so I can raise the front when I know I'm coming to soft gravel or turn it down to dig into harder packed snow. The Honda I have has variable speed on the fly which is SO much better than silly speed settings. I hear that repairs on a track are more expensive, if it ever breaks.

PCPC wrote:
I'll take a differential on the Ariens any day over steering levers! After last winters experience with a Toro 1128 OXE I know what their all about. Why have the extra cables and related hardware when you can have a differential that turns just as easy.

You don't need a differential with the honda, because you can steer while you're moving (like a car does) with the hydro transmission.  I would stay away from the 1336dle pro, even if it turns real easy you'll end up locking the diff because the wheels will spin out even on pavement.  The bucket-to-impeller ratio is absolutely horrible, and you can't clear 4" in low without some of the snow spilling out the sides. 

Right now I have both the Ariens 1336dle pro and Honda hs1132tas in my garage. I bought the Ariens and was unhappy with its performance and reliability, then I saw a sweet deal on a 1yr old Honda. I've been doing testing while waiting for the Ariens to sell.  Same driveway (400ft of turns) same storms.  The ariens is nice and easy to wheel around, but even with a reduced ground speed the track is faster, stronger, better on gas,  MUCH QUIETER, and can dig like a hedgehog.  The Ariens floats above, and if you try to lift up on the handles to give the bucket more leverage down, the wheels just spin out.  I can take the Honda off my driveway, up a slope to the oil tank, around to the wood pile, an into the back yard, up my deck stairs, and blow the deck before I'm done with the Ariens.

Don't spend the extra money on a differential, unless you're a pro behind it for more than 4+ hours a day.  There is very, very little difference between the pro models and big box stores.  They only stick the label on to keep the dealers happy, after selling out to Home Depot and Lowes.  Don't waste your money on it.   Both are going to fall apart on you.

I'm sure the honda track models are great, I bought the 9526 ariens pro track model and I really like it so far. The track models are slower than the same machine in a wheeled version. I chose the ariens because it had an unlock feature so its easy to turn around at the end of the driveway, it also had hand warmers but thats beside the point.