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

My neighbor's house is still under construction. I've been running down their sidewalk with my Simplicity 1524 -- careful to avoid the edges and stopping short of their drive, because the builder still has 3in limestone as a temporary drive. It covers the walk to prevent damage to the city sidewalks. Well, we got dumped on today -- 11in and 3ft drifts. My end-of-drive was well over the top of the machine and they still haven't finished plowing the streets. Anyway, I veered too far off the neighbor's walk and threw a big 4in limestone rock through the machine. Miraculously, I can find no damage - although the rock came out with a bit of orange paint! The shears are intact and impeller looks just fine. I know these two-stage are meant to handle gravel drives, but I'm guessing I got lucky?

Might have been more than just luck.  As I've been saying all along.  Simplicity machines are very robust.  Not invincible.  That's for sure, but the tougher the build of any machine, the more abuse they can withstand.  .