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

Looking to buy a snowblower.  I live in CO and you never know how much or when it is coming.  At HD they have a what looks to be nice Cub Cadet 208 CC (  31AH53TR756 ) for 749 and an Ariens that does not have all of the bells that the CC does and cost 200 less.  Anyone have any thoughts

I believe that Cub Cadet is now an MTD product.  Not quite in the same league as Ariens.  However, I've looked at Ariens and Toro products being offered at Home Depot and they don't look a lot different that the Cub.  There are others that will disagree but to me, it seems that with theHD offerings, they're selling the Ariens and Toro names for more money but not as robust a machine as some of the models I've seen at smaller dealerships.  I'd take a good look at Simplicity.  They're still using heavy duty components and build quality is top notch.  It was the best machine I could find for the price.  Good luck and let us know which way you go.

I live in Black Hawk Colorado and made the mistake of purchasing an Ariens from Home Depot last year.  It was an Ariens 5524 and I can tell you that it is horrible.  Ariens thought of every possible sneaky way of cheapening this blower to make it look good on paper but perform horribly.  It has 2 main faults that render it virtually useless:

1. The bolts that hold the impellers on.  These are a soft material bolt that are designed to break just before the breaking point of the gear case.  As you can see, these bolts are TINY on this unit, and they are also extremely soft.  This tells you a lot about the quality of the gear case.  These bolts break constantly, and you don't even have to hit a rock to break them.  Just hit an icy patch of snow and they break.  USELESS!

2. The "transmission", if you can call it that.  This cheap rubber spinning disc transmission gets very hot after about 10 minutes of use, and it begins to slip.  After 15 minutes it's time to park the thing for a couple of hours to let it cool down, since the tires won't drive anymore.  And yes, I have tried adjusting it many times, it doesn't help.

I have been told that Ariens produces this junk specifically for Home Depot, so maybe if you go to an actual dealer you'll be able to find a much better model.

Isn't the Ariens at HD identical to the one you'd get at the local shop.... with the only difference being how it's assembled out of the box?

Service is a different matter, but here you're talking basic quality of materials and engineering.

I've been happy with my HD Ariens.  But I made the mistake of not getting the DLX model with the extra features, that one would have likely made me very happy.

I think that I am going to go with the Cub Cadet.  Now my only question is do I get the 208cc with the zero turning radius and posi steering or get the 318cc without the posi steering.  There is only a $50 difference.  Any more suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

D

All the HD's I've been too carry the deluxe models of Ariens Snowthros. The dealers in my area all carry the professional models so there are differences.  I don't think there is a "HD" variety of SnowThro, its just the differences in the model types.

Setup by the dealers do tend to be better but I'd want to go through the assembly procedure to make sure I knew how to do the basic maintenance and adjustment that a well used machine will always need.

DB,

I'm not a great fan of Ariens, but::

I would buy the Ariens over the MTD blower wearing a Cub Cadet Logo.

MTD owns Cub Cadet and builds a low quality blower under many Logos, to name a few, Troy Bilt,Yardman, Yard Machines, and Huskee sold by Central Tractor!! !!

You do not see the Ariens brand in Wal Mart, but you see the MTD brands.

That in it's self should tell you something about the MTD quality!!

Where Ariens will have bearings and metal bushings,Cub will have plastic bushings and sleeves!

I could go on and on about the differences, however in your area  I would buy the Ariens!

If you buy the Cub you will be sorry in a few years from now when your Cub / MTD blower falls a part.!!!!!!!

                                                                                             Fred

dbehm wrote:

Not to be insulting but you came to this forum asking for advice and a number of obviously knowledgeable participants have given you their opinion.  I didn't see any of them recommending the Cub Cadet.  So, if you have no intention of heeding their advice, why bother to ask in the first place?   

One thing to remember is that a lot of the cubs have a chinese engine on it.  These are clones of hondas and have not gotten good reviews and will not last very long.  Go for the Ariens.  They have been around for a heck of a long time and pretty much invented snowblowers.  Everyone I know would take the ariens any day with out thinking about it over the Cub.

tc

I too am interested in the Cub Cadet with the chinese built LCT engine.  Where are there reviews of the Liquid Combustible Technology engines?   I've had a Toro 824 for over 15 years and the engine is tired.  I've never been impressed with Tecumseh engines and this lasted 15+ years.  Never could start it by cord in winter, (not enough spark) always elect.  Want somthing my wife can handle when I'm on the road and the little Cub with "power steering" looks like the answer.  HD drew a good review from a user. 

tcanthonyii wrote:
Where are there reviews of LCT brand engines?

writchix wrote:

Never seen one.  Maybe they don't last long enough to be reviewed. 

I'd stay away from cheap Chinese knock off engines.  Some engines from China are OK.  The problem is making sure you get one.  There's so much stuff coming out of China and much of it is crap.  It's hard to know what products they produce are good.  I'd be inclined to stick with brand names manufactured in China and shy away from weird off the wall Chinese brands like "Barking Dog That Never Sleeps", or "Tireless Soldiers Who Fight Fiercely".   If it's a Chinese made Honda, Mitsubishi, Yamaha etc.  maybe.  Otherwise no. 

Sears also sells MTD as several of their models under there Craftsman name.  Included in this group is a 9hp model with the "power steering" feature.  It is on sale for $899.99 through 12/15 dont know what price is after.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07188790000P?vName=Lawn+%26+Garden&cName=Snow+Equipment&sName=Snow+Throwers%2C+Gas