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

I was looking at the Ariens site while researching the answer to another posting and noticed they have the 2007 offerings up.

My initial, admittedly picky,  impressions are:

1. They now have a line of tracked blowers, I suspect that they use a pin lock out system but it is not clear, there is a description on some models of an axle mounted lockout. the "Features" section then says it has smooth maneuverability but doe not explicitly state what type of traction control is in use. This must be a new meaning to the word "smooth" if its in reference to a system that requires you to stop, move around to the side, engage/disengage the axle lock out and then move back to the operator position. If its trigger operated it doesn't mention it. These are the most expensive of the offerings and I would expect them to use the differential drive system with remote locking;
2. The differences between the "Pro" line and the "Deluxe" line are more obvious. Swath widths,  engine type ( L-Head, OHV), auger gear case and engine HP ratings are all different, see below for the probable traction control differences;
3. The tracked versions use the B&S Intek Snow engine, all others are Tecumseh
   
4. The "Pro" description mentions in passing "automatic traction control, which used to mean a differential. It is not listed in the "Features" section and the pictures don't seem to have triggers.
5. The fact that I am looking at pictures to deduce a major feature says something about the Marketing decisions being made;
6. I have not been able to find a reference in the "Deluxe" descriptions as to what sort of traction control is used. For all we know its a solid axle and the the thing just goes in a straight line. I suspect its a remote locking axle but can't say for sure;
7. The FAQ says that the "Pro" line uses "traction control" ( a.k.a. differential) while the "Deluxe" uses remote lock out, unfortunately the "Deluxe" line includes the 1130 DLE, the "D" is supposed to mean Differential. It looks like the FAQ wasn't changed from last year since there is no mention of the tracked models;
8. "Chute Turning Radius" is listed as 200°. Degrees are used to measure angles, radii are measured in units of length ( inches, centimeters, furlongs ...);
9. Chute turning is generally listed as remote control from the operator console yet the feature uses a picture of a manually controlled chute.

Thoughts

I am obviously upset with the lack of traction system descriptions. Since this was always a major differentiator between the "Pro" and "Deluxe" lines the omission from this year's descriptions is frustrating and confusing.

Last year the "Pro" and "Deluxe" lines were almost identical except for the traction systems and its was hard in my mind to justify the extra expense for the Pro when the trigger axle lock out seemed to work just fine. I have a hunch that a lot of Deluxes were sold instead of Pros because of this. The reaction has been to change the lineups so they are less "comparable". The effort has muddied things up a bit, I personally find it frustrating.

The inclusion of the 1130DLE in the Deluxe line up may have been driven by the aluminum auger gear case, either that or the "D" is a typo.

I suspect there will be a lot of discussion about this.