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

I am looking to upgrade to a new snowblower.  Going back and forth between the simplicity I7524e or the Ariens 624e.   Both seem to have great reputations. I been asking the guys I work with but there not suree either. So now I look to the experts.   I live in eastern pa. and we usually get maybe 3-4 storms a year.   The Ariens seems to have a great reputation, I am not sure about the simplicity???  I know that the one is 6hp and the other is 7.5.. do I really need it. the person at the ariens says I dont need anything bigger than the 6hp.. HMMM.   the price for the Ariens is $750 and the price for the simplicity is $850. 

Hi folks.

I'm new to the forum but certainly not new to things mechanical.  I own and operate over 20 devices that use small engines.  Motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobile, snowblower, chainsaws, weed eaters, brush cutters, lawn mowers, ice auger, outboard motors, lawn tractors, diesel power plant....well, you get the picture. 

I had owned and use a 1995 vintage Craftsman 10 h.p. 29" snow blower for eleven seasons.  Despite the fact that it was not a premium machine, it served me very well and never missed a beat.  The only things needing replacement were skids, scraper bar, shear bolts and one auger belt.   I live in Northwestern Ontario on the shore of Lake Superior.  We see our fair share of snow and often get some serious dumps.  So, you can bet the old Craftsman saw a lot of hard work.  Despite the fact that it was running fine, I decided to upgrade.  I looked at numerous brands such as Ariens, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Toro, Troybuilt, and other names made by MTD. Just by luck, I stopped by an old country store that had last year's Simplicity model 9528, brand new, sitting in a container out back.  Personally, I'd never heard of Simplicty anything.  Well, after looking at all of the other products, I came to the conclusion that the Simplicity is a far more robust product than all of the others except possibly for non-Home Depot models of Ariens,  Toro and  of course, Honda.  I bought it for a very good price.   I've had the Simplicity for a couple of weeks now and went over it pretty good.  I'm thoroughly impressed.  If this thing works anywhere near as good as it looks, it should be a delight to use.  I have since ordered a deluxe snow cab for it and am actually looking forward to some snow.   So, although I have no experience using the Simplicity, I will definitely vouch for its build quality and its convenient features.  One thing that I'm curious about is why Simplicity wouldn't use the B&S Intek I/C engine vs. the aluminum bore Intek?     

Being new to this forum, I'm wondering if there is a spell check feature and a way to attach images.  Anyone know?

  

  

Congrats on the new blower.  I just purchased the same one myself.  I seem to remember reading that the aluminum bore was better for cold weather (heated up faster or something like that...somebody help me out on that one).  I have an Intek I/C engine on my tiller and it's a bear to start in cooler weather.  I'm sure the I/C is a more expensive engine too.  I think I've also heard that the durability of the I/c engine over the aluminum bore isn't as much of an issue since  snow throwers generally operate in a "dust-free" environment and don't get a ton of hours on them. 

EdwardoKarochio wrote:

Are you located in the U.S. or Canada or anywhere else?   

You're probably right about running cooler due to the heat dissipation qualities of the aluminum bore and as you say, limited use will certainly contribute to engine life.  As far as your tiller engine goes, there should be no difference in starting ability between either engines if the key operational aspects are similar (fuel and spark).  If you're having starting problems, check to see if you're getting enough fuel to the engine.  If the engine has a primer, check to ensure it's working properly.  If you're getting fuel and still have trouble starting, go over your electrics starting with your spark plug.  Also, how's your air cleaner?  From my experience, hard starting engines is almost always caused firstly by insufficient fuel and secondly bad spark.  I'd look at the primer first thing. 

Not to start an oil war but, what's the general consensus of engine oil?  Primarily synthetic vs. mineral?  When I went to pick up the new snowblower, I noticed the (very young) technician doing an oil change on the machine because it had spent almost a year sitting unused.  He drained out what looked to be perfectly good oil and when I had returned to load the machine, he advised me that he had put in 5W30 synthetic.  Not sure what the attitude of this forum is but, just about everywhere else, the belief is that engines should be broken in with mineral oil.  I told the kid that and he replied that the manual recommended synthetic oil.  I gave him my views on engine break-in using mineral oil and he said he'd never heard of it.  I said that might have something to do with being only eighteen years old.  He asked me what I wanted him to do.  I told him to just load the machine onto my truck and give me the bottle for the synthetic oil.  I'll change the oil again when I get it home.  So, when I got it home, I put the dino oil back in.  I have nothing against synthetics other than unnecessary cost.  I never use it in anything and, in all of my years of owning and operating lots of engines, many of them fairly old, I have never had an oil related issue.  The primary advantage of synthetic is extended periods between oil changes.  I don't believe in extended periods of oil and related contaminants being in the engine.  To me, clean oil of the proper viscosity is a better choice.  Particularly when the cost of synthetic is weighed in on the decision.   So, what's the view of other motor/gear heads?

Well we didnt get much snow this year but what we did get the Simplicity worked really well. They closed the driveway shut and didnt stop the snowblower one bit, went right through it,, thanks for every ones help

Chad