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

Who makes the strongest, most powerful, most durable snow blower?  Price isnt an issue.  I want to buy a new one and wanted to know who is the best of the best

faithfulFrank wrote:
Hi Frank, what do you ean shift on the fly ?

I have an old MTD brand blower, and I must stop moving with the snowblower before changing gears,, don't the Ariens work the same way ?
.... meaning you must put the thing into the gear you want, then pull down lever that engages the gear drive, which is located on the right handle bar ?

thanks for your time

You can shift into forward gears without declutching, just not from forward to reverse or vice versa.

I haven't used every type of snowblower, but Honda is the best I've tried.  Ariens are easy to work on, and you'll get plenty of practice.  The snow/hr ratings are garbage, because my hs828 could easily more more snow than my 1336dle pro.   Its not the shifting.  I think anyone who can drive a standard knows it doesn't slow you down after a week of practice.  The hydro drive is so much more efficient you save a ton of power for the auger.  They're both about the same in powder, but get some heavy snow (which is when you actually need a snowblower) and the honda shifts into a power band on the auger and goes FARTHER!  The Ariens is not the same.  Nowhere near the power in heavy/wet snow.  You can disengage the wheel-dirve models, and push them but they start so easy and are so quiet, why not?

If you go with the Honda don't bother with electric start unless you need a light.  The motor decompresses on start up, so my 6 yr old daughter could start one, and alway on the 1st pull.  They're amazing.  Not even in the same class.    If its money, then buy a cheap one from sears, but don't bother with a $1500-$2000 not-much-better-than-a-cheap-one machine with 95% of the same parts and the same color paint.