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

Recently moved to Minnesota and I've discovered that I DEFINITELY need a Snowblower!  But GOSH, the things are expensive!  And they're tough to find at this time of year.  I've found some 2-stage, 8 HP or more machines available in the area, built by either Simplicity, Snapper, or Troy-Bilt.  I wanted a Toro or an Ariens, but no luck.  Can anyone tell me if these are decent brands and are worth shelling out the bucks (close to $1K) for?  Thanks!

Thanks, all.  I ended up buying a Snapper (which I understand is the same as Simplicity, but with a different label) 9.5 HP.  It's being delivered today.  Thanks for all of your responses, and I'll let you know how it works out!

elussive1 wrote:
Value brand snowblowers use more generic parts than others and poor fit -especially between impeller and impeller housing- usually means poor snow clearing performance. One thing I often notice with such machines is that many of them attain high speeds (impractically high in fact) but can't throw snow more than a few feet regardless of engine size, inefficient power distribution is a sure sign of poor design. As for longevity it's hard to tell since most owners get tired of them long before they develop serious mechanical issues.

That said, I know a few DIY'ers who purposefully buy value snowblowers and turn them into efficient machines with surprisingly little investment. This is possible because a lot of low-cost machines are equipped with reasonably good quality engines. With the notable exception of Honda snowblower manufacturers generally don't manufacture their own engines so even "cheap" brands have to buy theirs from the same suppliers the others guys do and there aren't that many engines that are suited for the job, truly bad ones are rare.