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

The in-laws are vacationing so I used their rubber trac driven Honda snowblower today  to clear their property.  I was impressed by the machine's abilities but found it difficult to turn the machine.  Is that the "nature of the beast " when it comes to the rubber trac drive types?   My Ariens is close to retirement and I am trying to evaluate replacement machines.   Other than the steering issue I loved the machine.  Was I doing something wrong or is this the way the machine steers?

I used to own a Craftsman trac dive and got rid of it because of the very thing you speak of...They are difficult to turn. You cannot manhandle them either.  I owned it for one year. Luckily, the next year  I was able to sell it for more than I actually paid for it because that year turned out to be a BIG snow year and there wasn't a snowblower to be found. In my opinion I would stick to the wheels.

Thanks Chisel,  They work great if you are going in a straight line.  I thought I was doing something wrong with the controls.  I'll stick to the wheeled type.

There is a trick to turning them.  Basically you kind of pick up and turn the handle on the inner side of the turn.
You don't have to actually pick that side of the machine up, just give some upward pressure as you pull the machine around.
That way the track on the outside of the turn has more traction and kind of pulls the machine around.

BTW, what happed to the "off topic" discussion area?