Abby’s Guide > Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) > Discussions > Ariens and Tecumseh
Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions |
|
Clay
Location: Wis
Joined: Dec 3, 2008
Points: 111
![]()
|
 |
Ariens and Tecumseh
Original Message Jan 5, 2009 10:51 am |
|
I know that this has been brought up many times before, but I wanted to hit this one again. Most know that Tecumseh is now bankrupt and there are no engines available and there are no plans to make any more engines at this point. It doesn't mean that they will never make any engines, but right now nothing is for sure. Ariens was always a proud user of the Tecumseh snow king line of engines. How would you feel about buying an Ariens with a Tecumseh engine in it right now? I was in Home Depot this weekend and saw the latest batches of the 927LE. These new units came with Briggs Snow Max engines that produced 13.5 foot pounds of torque and sold for $1050. . The Ariens web site does not reflect this change yet. I think the Snow King engines are very nice units that have proven themselves in the field or in this case the snow. The other reason to use Tecumseh for Ariens was always a marketing way to differentiate themselves from products put out by B&S, including the B&S name plate, John Deere, and Simplicity to name just a few (I'm sure there are many more). When I think of snow engines I personally think pretty simplistically. I think of the Tecumseh, B&S, Honda and the many Chinesse engines no matter who's name plate is on the sheet metal. Would love to hear your comments. Rick |
JeffM
Joined: Dec 27, 2008
Points: 20
![]()
|
 |
Re: Ariens and Tecumseh
Reply #29 Jan 9, 2009 3:05 pm |
|
Not to knock Fords or Mercury's, but the JD Powers rating is "initial quality". Fit , finish, and first blush impressions. It says nothing for long term durability. Remember when the Renault Alliance was the Motor Trend car of the year? (and the cars were sold with that exact proclamation on a banner in the window). It also made the Car and Driver's Ten Best. They were all in a salvage yard in short order.
PK I'm glad someone spoke up about those JDPower "initial quality" ratings. I"ve never been impressed by them, for the exactly the same reasons Paul outlined. As far as "car of the year" goes, how about the Chevrolet Vega? One of the biggest eggs GM ever laid.
|
|
|
