I recently purchased a Craftsman 14.5 Torque rated machine and due to many service calls I bought a different machine. I ended up with this unit for a couple of reasons, but mostly because it was the only option available at this price point and feature set. Units by Honda, Torro and Simplicity while beging wonderful machines were not in my price bracket. The Simplicity 1530 was $1700 locally and this unit was purchased from Home Depot for $1199.
The Craftsman had a B&S snow engine and this unit uses the defunct (bankrupt) Tecumseh engine platform, which concerns me. The Tecumseh engines have more displacement for a similar horsepower. The B&S engine was a 305 this is a 358. I do like the throttle control and the fuel shut off valve that are both missing on the B&S engine. The wheels are smaller and the total machine weight is 50 pounds lighter in the Ariens than the Craftsman : 293 vs 245. I keep hearing that the Ariens is made with heavier duty parts, but so far I don't see it. I will have to take a sheet metal thickness measurement since that isn't listed on any specs and people talk in generalities.
Time will tell if I made the right choice by returning the Craftsman and paying more for this unit. What I like about it over the 14.5 unit is that it works and has a longer warranty 3 years vs 2 years. I did have to adjust the chute control as soon as it came home. Home Depot had it slopped together. One good thing about HD is that it was Christmas Eve and they closed at 5 pm when I picked this up. I had to drive to another town because they just weren't available in my area. One of the best or worst jackknifed semi trucks blocked the interstate. I remember driving 2.9 miles in about 25 minutes at one point on the way to pick it up. HD manager actually let me pick up the unit about 15 mins after they closed on Christmas eve. I was in the car about an hour with the lousy weather to be able to get it. So my hat is off to HD for that and the couple of quick adjustments that I had to make to the machine can be overlooked easily enough.
Rick
