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.

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.