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

Ok, getting late in the season so throwers are hard to find around here.

I can still get my hands on a Snapper 1226 or a 1428

I was all keen on the 1428 - I like the slightly bigger and better MAX series engine, the slightly wider cut path and particularly the easy turn feature.
But then I looked harder at the numbers and the 1226 will work about about $340 less.
 
My situation:
Crushed gravel driveway about 40' x 25'; crushed gravel parking area about 20' x 10', clearing regular heavy plow debris form around mailbox and couple of paved pathways totaling about 70' length.  I can only throw one way off driveway and parking area.  Possibly paving driveway next summer so not really for premium for tracked machine.

What would you do??
Thx

So I got my Snapper 1428.

Its my first blower but on the whole pretty pleased with it so far - easy setup, is solid. 
Havn't had a big dump to really test it yet but a couple of small, heavy/wet snows have proved too easy and after loosening up the well established ice banks around my mailbox with a shovel it makes short work of moving the debris elsewhere.  Need a bit more runtime to get to first oil change.

Couple of concerns however and wondering if others with these Simplicity /Snappers could comment:

First, bucket and frame seems not to be square - i.e. when I weight handles and pick up bucket it rocks a fair bit with left side skid shoe lifting noticeably before right - not sure if this is contributing to tendency to not track straight or if that is uneven gravel or just that i have skid shoes set pretty high to deal with the gravel.

Second the chute rotator control got a bit banged up in transit - the plate with the notch under the dash panel that fits into slots to hold rotation setting was all bent - seemed to bend back into shape ok but the chute rotation goes way further right than left - going right it goes well past 90 degrees to machine while left it is shy of 90 degrees unless I reach over an give chute an extra tug.  Also rotation is fairly grabby not really very smooth at all.  I pulled apart the geared mechanism and the two cogs mesh in center so thats not it.  It is now a bit smoother and can be made to go further left with a seriously fierce tug on the handle but that doesn't seem right.  Any suggestions?

Oh - tires don't seem to be that great - not sure what I should expect - I did drop pressure per the manual - they look like Snow Hogs but are labeled Kenda Polar Trac.  Probably not an issue if I wasn't trying to rip into week old plowed snow banks.

Being a brand new machine, I'd be taking it back or better yet, have them bring a replacement.  Sounds like your machine may have suffered some sort of mishap in transit.  No way should anything be out of alignment and with a bent control mechanism, something unusual must have happened to it. 

You might want to loosen the bolts that hold the frame to the blower housing. Often times there is some "give" there that can straighten the housing. Be sure to readjust the runners and scraper after. Run a tape measure around the wheels. Equal pressure doesn't always mean equal diameter. The diameter tolerances on these kinds of tires are poor. Lastly, it sounds like your chute rotation needs some adjustment (the lock mechanism/cable, and the clocking of the gears).

PK