Everyone gives MTD a black eye. So here’s another view.
The machine shown is a 1997 in fairly decent shape mechanically. It should go another 5 years fairly easily. Not bad for an inexpensive machine. The machine has seen some good use over the years clearing a good size area every storm. BUT that in eastern Massachusetts so not all that much snow per year compared to other places.
The paint is flaking off and rust set in but not very bad yet. Last year the owner painted directly over the rust and stopped it a bit. The machine is still ok but should get a scraping of the rusted spots and touched up with some decent paint to extend the life of the machine.
In general I’d guess that an MTD would rust out twice as fast as a better machine but if the owner garaged it or at least swept it off after use they generally don’t rust. I’ve seen many 10 to 15 year old MTD still in excellent shape.
The nest is proof of a bit of maintenance neglect. The shift lever was difficult to move as the hex shaft grease was all dried up. It cleaned up very easily and the shifter very smooth.
The MTD speed set is nice. There are two reverses and five forward speeds. When set properly reverse 1 and 2 are nice with 2 being very useful for long backups. The 1 speed is nice and slow for piles and the 5 pretty fast for long runs in light snow.
The drive setup has dual thin belts off the cam PTO for tractor drive and two belts off the crankshaft pulley for auger drive.
The dash controls and handles are cheap but last.
As a note: The “Gold” high end version is essentially the same part for part version of a regular model except for a being painted black and has a light. The motor on the 8hp version is an 8.5 and an ok engine. Other than the engine and light the “high end” version is a basic MTD. There is not difference in tractor or auger gearbox parts.
- Simple tractor section. There’s not much in there to break.
- The gears – never saw a worn or broken MTD gear. There may be some but in general they last well past the body or engine.
- Cheap parts – mostly. The friction disk is 14 bucks and a cinch to replace.
- Hex shaft on roller bearings held in by 1 screw on each side – simple.
- Wheel axle rides on plastic flanges that wear well.
- Wide hubs stick the wheels out a few inches on the side more than most machines.
- Light weight with good size tires so very easy to handle and turn.
- Lifts up in heavy snow quicker than better built machines but not so much sooner to make a huge difference. You just have to drop a speed or thin the cut.
- Inexpensive.
- Cheap metal (weight). A positive and negative. The light weight makes them a dream to use for most clearing requirements. For the EOD they lift sooner so they have to go slower than the better machine but not by that much to make a big difference.
- Cheap paint – seems to flake of much faster than the better machines. If garaged and brushed off the paint lasts 15 years fairly easily from what I’ve seen of second hand MTD’s.
- Very simple controls and linkages. Cheap but do last.
- Plastic chute – easily lasts 15 years.
- Lamentable chute worm – easily lasts 15 years.
- The auger is one of the smallest in the business but will last 15 years fairly easily with proper use.
This years crop of Home Depot MTD’s were better built than this one and at a pretty low price. The OHV engines on the new MTDs semed ok but getting information about them has been impossible. My bet would be you could easily get 15 years out of one clearing a decent size driveway with the big factor being if it got regular oil changes, drained of gas each season, and tractor section greased at least once every two years.
dawei http://www.kedawei.com/snowblower.htm
