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

Hi all,

Been trying to decide between these two. I have a 75 by 30 driveway, not much of an incline.

Pluses to me for the Craftsman: steel chute, Briggs OHV engine. Price: Sale price now $999 with 6 mos. no interest. Minuses: no local service (I think they send them off to get fixed), reviews are mixed on the quality level of the Craftsman throwers.

Pluses for the Toro: remote chute system (I haven't seen this model of Craftsman, so I don't know what the chute control mechanism is like for sure), opinion of this machine seems to be high. 14" Auger versus 12...feeder system and gear box seemed to be a better design than the Craftsman. Local dealer whom I trust has it priced at $1,314, cash, no financing (3% higher if I pay with a credit card). Minuses: Only one I can see is that it costs $315 more than the Craftsman. Is $1,314 a "can't pass this up" price? Or should I save the $315?

Which would you choose? I'm in the midwest. Last winter I was really wishing I had a thrower (I used my blade on the front of the garden tractor, and when that didn't work, a good ole fashioned shovel.), but winters vary around here. I'm pretty much set on this size of machine, just wonder which is the better buy/value for the price.

Thanks,

Rod

Well, I went with the Toro! The dealer, after looking over the brochure with the Craftsman said he wouldn't be able to say anything bad against the Craftsman at that price....he thought it was a good deal also! His thinking was like mine, that the Craftsman maybe wasn't built quite as well as the Toro, but for our area and the amount of use it would get, it probably would serve me just fine. In the end I decided I liked the remote chute of the Toro, and I just decided that hey, since this is my one and only snow thrower purchase, I might as well take the "good one" and not look back. Like Fred said, the Toro will provide quite a bit of peace of mind for $12 a year. And this dealer was such a straight shooter that I feel good knowing that if something does go wrong, I have somewhere to turn, rather than a big "chain store". I picked up the unit Friday, ran it a bit on the driveway. Seems to run fine and I don't think it will be hard to use at all. Now all I can say is "Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!!"

Rod



jubol wrote:

What model?? 826

Toro is a great choice!! You are going to love using it!!

When you have a good blower, huge snow dumps are fun!!

I look forward to 20 to 30 inches of snow, great shooting it over your house and doing your large driveway in about 30 Min's!

                                                                     Fred