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

Hello,

A friend of mine has a Honda with a hydrostatic drive, and from what he explained to me, this enables you to change gears on your snowblower, without having to stop moving with the machine,
in order to change the gear, and then get that movement going again by pressing down on the gear lever ( on your right handle bar )

Does anyone know if the Ariens brand of snow blowers use this hydraulics system for gearing ?

I'm looking at the model: http://www.ariens.com/products_snow/s_deluxe_1130dle_features.aspx

also, if anyone know where to find an online manual for any of the Ariens brand snow blowers I'd really appreciate any info

Thanks for any info.

I was in a local OPE dealer recently and picked up a 2008 single-page brochure for Husqvarna just for fun, and to see what's going on in the snow blower marketplace.  It was interesting to see that their "Professional" series blowers have the hydrostatic drive.  Other than Honda, I believe Husqvarna is the only manufacturer using this type of drive; well, at least on their top three blowers.  The Husqvarna's also have power steering levers on both handlebars.  Ariens does not have either of these features, but they are well known for their differential axle system, especially the DLE series machines.  This is better than power steering levers.

Sears also offer a hydrostatic drive on their Craftsman line.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Husquvarna and Craftsman come from the same plant.  Possibly manufactured by MTD, Murray, etc. 

borat wrote:

I was in Sears recently, and noticed that their top model (#88106) is a Husqvarna.  It just has the Craftsman label and red paint.  I had to laugh.  The salesperson admitted it is a Husky. 

I have the brand new 2008 Craftsman snow blower brochure (the exact one on their web site), but all models listed there have the usual 6/2 drives except one model that has only one speed.  However, if Craftsman is introducing hydro drives after the brochure was produced, I have to wonder if this feature will spread to all major snowblower brands.  Since there are only a handful of real players (AYP, MTD, Ariens, Toro, Briggs/Murray/Simplicity/Snapper, etc.), I don't think it's too hard to imagine.  Husqvarna already has hydro drive on their top three models for 2008 (I have the brochure).  That was certainly a nice surprise.  By the way, Husqvarna is owned by MTD, but is under the Poulan camp which is also owned by MTD.  This corporate layering gets to be ridiculous.

coasteray wrote:
Uh, no. Husqvarna is not owned by MTD, nor is Poulan.

Snowmann wrote:
Not saying that Husqvarna is owned by MTD.  I don't know if Husqvarna has a manufacturing plant in North America but I'll stick my neck out and say I doubt it. I'll also stick my neck out and say that it's very unlikely they are building their snow throwers in Sweden and shipping them to North America.   What I'm saying is that Husqvarna is likely built by AYP or MTD or Murray or possibly another North American manufacturer.  I know my Husqvara lawn tractor wasn't made in Sweden either.   It was made in the U.S.A. by one of the above manufacturers. 

borat wrote:

Borat and any one else that doesn't know. Husqvarna is the world's largest producer of lawn mowers, chain saws and portable gas-powered garden equipment such as trimmers and blowers and one of the largest in garden tractors. The Group is also a world leader in diamond tools and cutting equipment for the construction and stone industries. And yes your Husqvarna lawn tractor was made in a Husqvarna owned USA plant. Husqvarna was part of the Electrolux Group in 2006 Electrolux divested itself of all of the outdoor power equipment group and Husqvarna Outdoor Products (HOP) was born. AYP doesn't even exist any more it was absorbed by HOP. Husqvarna owns in no particular order Jonserd, Flymo, Poulan, Weedeater, Dixon, Partner, Komatso Zenoah (Red Max), Blue Bird, Yazoo/Kees, Jenn Feng (McCulloch), Jikai (China, Diamond Products), Klippo (Sweden, Pro Lawnmowers), Gardena (Germany, lawn & garden products), Diarnant Boart and probably some that I don't know. As of 2006 Husqvarna had 14 major plants 7 in Europe, 5 in the USA, 1 in Brazil and 1 In China. With some new acquisitions there are probably more now.

AJ

Thanks for that AJ.

Does Husqvarna build Craftsman snow throwers in their plant and just give them a different paint job?  Or does Husky & Craftsman use a generic manufacturer such as Murray or MTD to build their machines?  I'd find it a little unusual to have Craftsman machines coming off of a Husqvarna assembly line.  Not impossible though.  Might be a bit of a marketing dilemma to explain why a Husky is better than a Craftsman however. 

borat wrote:

Yes Husqvarna builds Craftsman snow throwers in their plant and gives them a different paint job. Murray is owned by Briggs & Stratton and is but a shell of the former company. All of the Murray product is now built in Snapper/Simplicity plants also owned by Briggs & Stratton. Some of the Sears product is built by Murray and some MTD and the rest Husqvarna. If the model number starts with 917 or 944 it is Husqvarna, 536 is Murray and 247 is MTD so no one company builds all of the Sears product. Briggs has recently dropped the Murray name and has changed it to Briggs & Stratton Yard Power Products Group which includes Murray, Snapper, Simplicity, Generac Portable Products LLC (not to be confused with Generac Power Systems the former owner of Generac Portable Products LLC) and some others that I just can't think of right now.

AJ

ajallen wrote:

Well I must say that hearing of Husky building Craftsman machines on their assembly lines is quite a surprise.  So, when building Husky machines, they light up the Husqvarna sign on the side of their plant.  When they switch to Craftsman, they light up the Sears sign?   Who'd of thunk it?!!  : )  Maybe they do it under the cover of darkness.  At midnight,  the plant  begins to furiously churn out Craftsman machines.  Or rather, furiously painting Husqvarnas to look like Craftsman machines.   At three a.m., the Sears truck slinks into the loading bay to pick up a load of bogus Craftsman snow throwers to have them deposited on Sears floor for opening time.  Unwittingly, customers will be treated to a product of better quality than they would normally get.  Clever, very clever... 

borat wrote:
Howdy,
I am new here.

I picked up one of these 917.881063 models last month.  It definitely appears to be closely related to a Husky when I cross reference parts on the unit from the Sears parts site.  Some parts seem to be AYP related as well.

Major differences seems to be it has the 1450 Series B & S engine instead of the Tec and no Hydrostatic drive.

It seems to closely resemble a Husky 10527SB

I am new to snow blowers so I hope it holds up reasonably well without too many hassles in the years ahead. 

Snowmachine