Hi Sami
Yes, its that time of year that snowblowers are running low. Specially after last year, I would imagine things are going quick. Most places had everything gone last year even the low end stuff was hard to find. I was very happy I got my shopping done early. Last year I done a lot of research on my purchase as it was my first snow thrower. Well MY first purchase, I used them before. For me it came down to the same three brand names you mentioned in your first post, even tho I would have bought a Honda in a heartbeat. What it came down to for me was getting the most reliable machine I could for my money. I live in Newfoundland and we get a lot of snow. Its not uncommon to get 4+ foot high EOD (End of driveway), this is where you need your machine most. The powder is easy for almost any machine in my mind. Just blowing it around, not really working the machine. But heavy wet snow, ice and big chucks of EOD snow, will really take a toll on a machine. So, for me the more power I could get the better. But I wouldn't sacrifice power for quality. I would rather have a machine that takes more passes to do the job, then to have a machine that is broke and can't do it at all. The second important thing for me was service. I wanted to know that when I needed to get it fixed, it was going to be done. Same goes for part availability, If I need it, I need it. Please don't tell me you have to order it. Since this was my first snowblower, I didn't think I would be the one working on it, so service was key for me (more on the later). Now that you know some of my key requirements in purchasing, I will go into the machines a bit more.
The Toro.
I can't exactly recall the models and pricing at this point, but I can give you overall decision reasoning. Toro is a great machine, I was very close to purchasing the unit. I was looking at a 10hp unit with a Tecumseh l head. The unit was nice and most of all the chute control was awesome. I think playing with that chute, almost made me impulse buy it. I was like a kid playing Atari. lol, I didn't care about the quality of anything, woooo.. look at it go left, right, up down with ease.. NICE! But after 2 hours of playing with it and the sales man giving me the eye to move away, I realized, ok think logically here. For me I was worried about the plastic and not on the chute. Most people stand by the plastic and it is true that plastics of today and super strong and many things are using it in key areas. So the plastic shouldn't be a worry. But for me the one thing that I was amazed with, was the one thing that worried me. The chute joystick. It was plastic and I could see me snapping that off it a hurry to get the job done on a cold day. I think the chute itself would be fine, it was the joystick that worried me. But again, I don't see anybody with that problem, its just something that was on my mind. The second was the wheel lock and unlock trigger. I believe it was for just one wheel, which I still can not completely understand. Why not a trigger for both? I know most of the time I go in a certain direction. But this would ensure I have to go in that direction, if I want to easily turn. last was the fact that it was a little more expensive then the unit I actually purchased. But all in all, I was impressed with Toro and was really close to buying it, joystick aside.
Craftsman.
The craftman was nice and had all the bells and whistles. Hand warmers, Briggs engine, differential, chute/deflection controls, hydrostatic, etc... Was really slick looking and had everything for a great price. Best price on the market for all the features. But one main thing I could not get out of my mind and still cannot. Craftsman reputation of snowblowers is horrible. Very few people stand by them and if they do, I can almost ensure you that they are mechanically inclined and have done a lot of maintenance on their machine. Craftsman snowblowers have been very popular around here for long time, lots of them around to compare with. Granted, the craftsman of today seems a lot better then yester year. But none the less, the history stands strong with them and that is a huge negative in my mind, also sears service is just as bad. They have terrible support and parts usually have to be ordered around here. Expect you machine to be laid up a bit if something goes wrong. Sears support is not just bad for snowblowers, its bad overall for everything I have every bought from them that had some complexity to it. But that is not all that when it to my decision to stay away. The machines metal didn't seem as robust, the gear case was smaller, even the auger and its teeth were smaller. The chute control seemed like a bad design. You had to push in on the lever and then push or pull, it was very stiff and was all ran by cables, which have a tendency to freeze. Last but not lease, the machine was peppered in bolts on the outside. Without being able to look inside the chassis, the bolts scared me. I never counted, but there was tons of bolts on the box, way more then I ever seen on any machine. This means that you have to hope the warehouse kids get everything right on assembly and if you ever have to take it apart, you better hope that nothing is rusted or its going to make for a hectic time. That is all for craftsman that I can remember right now. But I did walk away from this machine. Like the Toro tho, there is was something pulling me to buy it, knowing that it was a great price for all the features and tons of hp. Seemed almost like a steal and I wanted to grab it and run fast. haha.. But keeping my head clear, I stood my ground on everything I mentioned and stayed clear. Craftsman doesn't have a good name at all in my area and I have seen with my own eyes why. Glad I stayed clear of it.
Ariens
This is the machine I decided to purchase. I got the 1130DLE, like the one you mentioned in your first post. This was a close purchase between this and the Toro. The deciding factors were;
It was a bigger engine, 11hp. Looking at it now tho, I am unsure this makes a difference and there really seems to be a lot of marketing hype into engines. Seems like there is a possibility a 9hp could be a 11hp with a different sticker sometimes. This is very unsettling and I never looked into weather the 10hp was the same or not. Truthfully if I had the 10 I don't think I would have seen much of a difference.
The differential is awesome. It has the ability to put power to the left or right wheel depending on which way you turn. You do not have to get down to lock and unlock a wheel, like some models and unlike the Toro you do not have to pull a trigger to do so. Plus it works in both directions. I must say this feature is nice. I am sure many would say the trigger is not much of a problem, but none the less I really enjoy the automatic lock and unlock differential. Side note, it has hand warmers too.. snug :) lol
The quality of metal and gearcase seems on par with Toro, tho I have read Toro gearcase is better. That is from information I read later after my purchase. But with looking at the units, they seem close from the outside. The chute control doesn't seem as slick as the Toro, but it works great and its all metal. I cannot see me breaking it, which is a good thing.
But the BIG difference that sold me on the ariens was the service. I asked around about the dealers and the Toro dealer has almost as bad name as sears in the service area. They sell ski doos as well and they are flat out working on all things winter at the Toro dealer. They also service the big box HD store, for all their snowblowers. So, I had heard it was not uncommon for snowblowers to be there for over a month and even heard of months. That is not acceptable at all. Days were not exceptable for me, let alone weeks and months. The Ariens dealer is a farm and trailer dealer. They are busy in the summer and as far as I can tell, most of there sales in the winter are snowblowers and the scattered plow attachment and maybe tractor. But I couldn't imagine them being as busy as the Toro dealer, nowhere near it actually. I also asked them before purchase how long to take to repair a problem if it arises. He looked at me and said with great confidence, while you wait! Showed me the back room parts selection and said we have it all and rarely have to order in something. Most things ordered in are for older models, my machine would have great access to all its parts. Their answer seemed on par to what I had heard through other people, the ariens service was great. The machine was also slightly cheaper, which was a plus.
So, I don't believe I have left out much in my decision process on buying the Ariens. The service ending up being the real seller. I should mention that Ariens also has one more year warranty then any other snowblower manufacture I could find. 3 years total and my dealer also included the 3 year summarize plan with it. About the service, I haven't had to use it yet and I didn't bring it in for the summarized. Mostly because I have a car and can't get it back there without cost. I have had to buy a few parts for my machine, due to me breaking some stuff while working on it myself. All parts were available. Why was I working on it? Well, I had to summarize it myself and also winterize it. My machine was rusting. Quite a bit actually. The wheels were rusting and one would not come off at all with many attempts. I did manage to do so, information in another post about that. The axles were rusting and so forth. Is this common to Ariens? I think it may be common to all machines in this area. I know of people who did buy craftsman last year and they are rusting too. I think it has to do with you area. How much salt gets put on the road, do you use salt on your driveway and how do you clean the driveway. I know I will change my cleaning happens this year. A great suggestion was to do the EOD first and then the rest of the drive to help clean off the salt with the clean snow. I also sanded all rusting areas and rust painted them to help ward off future rust. I will keep a eye on it. I have had no problems starting this machine. It starts with ease with pulling it over and electric start. The engine is a bit loud and does vibrate, but that's Tecumseh l head for ya.
Overall super happy with the performance of the Ariens, but have had some slight issues with very little factory grease applied and deflector cable freezing. Glad its only the deflector and not rotation like the craftsman. Most units use deflector cable now, so this would be a issue with all machines that can control the deflector.
That is my thought process on buying my machine. I don't think I left out much, you can find my purchasing post from last year in this forum. You will find out the information that people told me at that time. This was a GREAT forum in helping me buy my machine. I should also note that last year this place really seemed more for Ariens then anything else. This seems to have really settled down this year. Its not as heavy handed as it was.
Side Notes.
If you have a simplicity/snapper/john deere dealer in your area. I would not rule them out. They are all made by the same manufacture as far as I read and they seem to be a great machine. I would definitely look into them if I were you. I did not have this option in my area, they are not sold here.
Honda;
Great machine. I would have bought one if I could afford one. They are so expensive and the parts are the same. Granted I haven't seen many needing parts. They do love to break shear pins tho, stock up on them if you get one. For me, I opted for a what seemed to be the next best thing for me. Do not compare engines when looking at the Honda versus something else. The Honda engine is awesome and I have seen lower 8-9hp Honda take out 10-11hp in Tecumseh. They are truly great engine.
Borat;
There is a post here from borat I read a few days back, in a post similar to yours. I am sure this is the number one topic here. What should I buy? He really broke down the things to look for, like the bushings, metal, chute opening, etc.. I thought it was good post, do a search of his post for the last few days, maybe week. Some really good points to look for.
That is all I can think of for now, good luck on your purchase and hope you get one before its too late.
Cheers
This message was modified Dec 9, 2008 by goofienewfie
Cheers
Goofie Newfie
