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

I am a new home owner who is looking to by a new snow blower. I am looking at either the Simplicity P1338E or the Ariens 1336DLE. I was just wondering how much better the tecumseh motor is verse the Briggs and Stratton or vice versa. I am the type of person that likes to buy it once, and maintain it for years to come. Any info would be extremely helpful due to the price of these two machines.

Both are premium top of the line machines.   And the B&S Intek and Tecumseh are both excellent OHV engines.  I have equipement that uses both engines...a power washer that uses the Briggs Intek OHV and an Ariens 11.5 hp snow blower that uses the Tecumseh Snow King OHV.  I wouldn't base a decision on the engine.  They are both fine engines.  If you went to buy the engines alone the Intek would run about $450 and the Tecumseh would cost about $495.  FYI...the Intek isn't Brigg's top of the line model...the Vanguard is their premium engine.  Personally I think that my Briggs is slightly easier to pull start than my Tecumseh but that's a mute point since both machines have an electric start. 

If I were you I'd just pick the snow blower that I liked the most.  Does the features or design of one machine stand out over the other.  I know that the Simplicity has an electric powered chute rotation...but the Ariens has a lever that rotates the chute very fast.  Both use the same over-sized X-Trac tires.  Both have a remote differential.  The Simplicity P1338E weighs about 290 pounds and the Ariens 1336DLE weighs about 356 pounds.  The Simplicity has a 12" 4 blade impeller and the Ariens has a 14" 6 blade impeller so both will move a lot of snow.  The Airens is built like a tank but if anything breaks replacement part out of warranty are ridiculously expensive.  I don't know if Simplicity parts are reasonably priced.  Both machines are well built so you really shouldn't have to worry about parts breaking though. 

I don't think that there is a wrong choice.  You'll be able to enjoy which ever one you choose for the next 25 years. 

The Simplicity does not have a differential, it has a remote axle unlock. The DLE line of Ariens Snow Thros has a differential ( that's where the "D" comes from).

The difference is that with the Simplicity the axles are either locked to the wheels or with the pull of a trigger the left wheel is unlocked and freewheels. The makes it easier to turn the machine and is essentially a convenient version of changing the pin lock on lower end blowers. The Ariens Deluxe Sno-Thros come with the same type of system. Some advertising claims that with the left wheel free its easier to turn left since the right wheel is pushing the machine around. The claims are normally made for machines that have a dual remote release system. My experience with regular pin lock is that with one wheel freewheeling its easy to turn in either direction. I tend to leave both wheels locked so it could be that I just don't notice the difference when I do unlock.

The Ariens DLE line have a true differential whereby both wheels can get power but still turn at differring speeds. This makes it easier to turn than a regular pin lock machine and you have power to both wheels as you go around a corner. With the Ariens DLE's the 8526 and 9526 DO NOT have a trigger lock for the differential, you have to lean down to the axle and fiddle much like a pin lock machine. For the 11528, 1333 and 1336 machines they have a remote trigger lock, hold it down and the wheels are locked to the axle, let go and the differential is working again. It is assumed that the "normal" mode of operation is with the differential working and that you will only lock it for brief perids of time.

There has been a lot of discussion as to which is better, the remote axle release system or the true differential. I suspect that the trigger release system is slightly easier to turn but that the differential gives you more power while turning.

Some of the Toro machines have dual trigger release systems, you can unlock either or both wheels by pulling the appropriate trigger.

I live in Central New York. The snow here can very from very little all year to massive amounts all at once. The problem with the type of snow here is it is lake effect snow which is super light and fluffy. So even if we get 4-6" of new snow the drifting is the huge difference which will leave sometimes upwards of 3 to 4 foot drifts down the driveway. Think I am leaning toward the ariens because of the auger size and front opening.

Jeeper,

I would go with the 32 inch wide bite, same HP as the 38 or 36 inch bite.

The smaller bite means you have more HP per inch of bite, greater throw distance!!

That would also save you about $400.00!!

You never mentioned the Honda blowers.

At the price of blowers you are looking at, I would go with the Honda 1132 tracked blower.

You would then have the Rolls Royce of blowers. IMHO

You can buy the Honda for about the same price as the 36 and 38 inch bite machines you are considering.!!!

Fred

The only problem I hear with the Honda track from owners is that they are not easy to
park in the garage. Some people have designed special dollys to move the machine sideways. Ditto that it is a high quality machine though.

Then there is the reliability and necessity of the hydro to consider. I own a Honda commercial hydro mower in which the hydrostatic transmission can be very useful moving in tightly landscaped areas at precision speed but it is in my opinion that this precision is not needed to move snow in most instances.

I own an Ariens 1128DLE (disclaimer) and would rather have the friction disk drive even if Ariens offered a hydro as an option. This disk is much easier and much cheaper to replace and I can do it myself in an emergency. I keep a spare but have never needed it on my 3 year old machine. Ariens has a 3 year warranty BTW.

If you have long straight up and down sections to clear, the 1136DLE is great. I chose the 1128DLE because it also works on my small garden paths to the shed. I also use it to clear my deck with the addition of two 7 ft wooden sand painted ramps which enables the machine to climb 2 stairs.

The differential in the DLE models is the nicest feature IMO. You can get away with not locking the wheels in a foot of powder and still have the tight turns the differential affords.

Ariens, Simplicity and Honda all make quality machines.

Thanks for the info. I actually did look at the Honda 1132 track drive at the local honda shop. I have to admit it is certainly nice until I tried to move it around on the concrete floor which is not much different from a paved driveway, which I have by the way. My driveway measures about twenty feet wide by alittle over one hundred feet long. I don't know if I want to muscle that track drive around that much. Plus I have read owner reports on the track drive and they all seem to like them except for when they have to turn them.