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

My driveway is 54 ft. long; varies between 12 & 19 ft. wide. Basically flat, asphalt. In Mass., so the snow can be brutal, a foot or more, sometimes every week. Then there's the giant 2 ft high packed snow/ice dam at the end of the driveway after the town street plows. I've had two Ariens 2-stage Snow Blowers: A 7 hp, 24 in. that ran really well for about 8 years, then didn't. Recently, an Ariens 5.5 hp 20 in. with an "L-head" engine that was almost useless; I sold it after 1 1/2 seasons.

I think I'm going to try a Toro single stage this time. HD has the 221E E/S for $669, & the 221QE E/S for $719. Both have the the "zip deflector" (?). Only the The QE has the "Quick shoot". It would be nice to "change the chute direction without even slowing down" (for $50), I'm not sure it's worth $50 tho.

There's an Ariens 2-stage 24 in. Model 920006 for $799. I can't even tell how many hp the engine is, or whether it's an OHV? (205 cc Briggs and Stratton engine). I do know it's a 169 lb. monster.

My gut says to buy the Toro 221E E/S before they sell out, or HD stops offering free shipping.  Any advice?? TIA!

Well the one thing that I always saw, and you may have too is NEVER UNDER BUY. I think you saw this with your 5.5 5.5 hp Ariens unit. (Ariens makes good stuff, but this was too small for you.. 54 foot is a long stretch of driveway, How long does it take to make a pass, how many Passes? Remember, if you use it and you are too tired to do anything the rest of the day, you bought the wrong machine, What is your time worth in the cold?

Weight is not much of a problem unless you lifting it up stairs, Weight helps with traction and stability. I imagine that they all come with electric start, so starting in the cold is not much of an issue..

Ask these other guys about the diffrences in single and duel stage pros and cons.. Borat and Trouts could tell you some info on that..

Remember it always cost twice as much to buy something a second time time, regardless of how much money yo saved the first time ..


Good Luck,

Friiy

Go big or suffer the consequences. If you're any where near fit, you should be able to handle an 8 h.p. 26" unit. A decent quality two stage thrower can move a lot of snow with not too much effort if it's well designed and properly set up. With the kind of snow you get, I'd definitely be looking at a medium sized two stage. Stay away from the box stores.

When I first bought my home 3 years ago I had a single stage that I got for free from a relative.  With light 1-4" snowfalls it was great and a lot better than shoveling.  But for the end of the driveway I usually ended up shoveling anyways as the single stage wouldn't go through the stuff the plow packed up.  Although using the single stage blower was faster than doing it by hand, anytime I got more than 6 inches of snow it was about the same workout as doing it by hand.  Middle of last winter the single stage died and I was stuck without a blower.  Mid season I bought a 15-20 year old Ariens 24" 8hp.  The difference was like night and day.  Although heavy, it has a differential so takes almost no effort to move around.  It effortlessly took me through half of last winter, which set snow fall records in NE Wisconsin.  My driveway is about the same as yours, maybe a bit longer.  If I had to buy a new machine now I wouldn't go less than 24" 8hp.  And I wouldn't buy a machine without a differential.  Go into a dealer and try moving some around.  The big machines if they have a real differential take very little effort to move around and the extra size and power are very helpful when you have 2 feet of icy stuff blocking your driveway.

Woody,

   The 920006 is about a 5hp engine.  It’s one of Ariens compact  models so similar to the 5520 you sold   It would collect a bit better because of the increased width but have as much trouble with high wet snow or compacted end of the driveway pile.

 

   I had a couple of 5520E’s and thought they were pretty good.  They tossed very well and dug in ok but a 5.5 with small wheels can only do so much.   If you have a small driveway and want a small footprint machine for storage it’s ok.  I’m in eastern mid-state Mass close to 495.  We can get high heavy snow so with a 5.5 you’ve got to get out there early in the storm to work off a few inches for the big storms.  For some people it’s an ok trade rather than a bigger machine.

 

   Your 724 machines could have been a few different models but most were classics and great machines.  The 70’s and 80’s Ariens machines were great at digging in and throughput but did not toss very far – compared to newer machines that emphasize distance at the sacrifice of throughput.  The older machines ran at slower auger and impeller speeds, usually 100-110 on the auger and 1000-1100 on the impeller.  The newer machines go up to 130-1300. 

   The older 7hp Tecumseh’s was one of the best engines Tecumseh ever made.  Many models came with 1 inch crankshafts and were much heavier than today’s lighter crankshaft engines.  Running that weight at a similar RPM gave more torque.  I mention these things as something to consider when comparing your old machine to newer machines. 

 

  Your considering a 140cc engine single stage which is about 3-4hp two stroke.  Possibly they have it beefed up to even 4-5hp.  That would make a small height and width bucket with no wheel drive driven by a smaller engine than you sold.  It gets it’s forward motion from the augers hitting the ground so no real power for pushing into snow especially if it’s deep or compacted like at the EOD pile in eastern Mass.

 

   The single stages are great if you have a special need to get something small and easy to use.  They do fine on lesser snows and slush and toss a mile.  I’ve had several of them, always have one around and used it often for cleanup of very light snow.  I have not used the high end big single stages like the 7hp 4 stokers.  I imagine they do pretty well but for that money and big footprint they are at least to me not a great value over a two stage at a similar price.  Just say they work ok on bigger storms (which they don’t) the wear on the rubber tips would be quite a bit and replacement cost of those is very high.

 

   If you want something comparable to your 724 a single stage is not going to do it. You might consider something at Sears in a 250cc or larger.  They are not the best quality but they are good enough to get 15 years out of if you use it properly and maintain it

There are some other comments on single stages in a post from a couple of weeks ago.  Search trouts2.

 

Actually, the 205cc 900 series Briggs is significantly more powerful than the 195cc Tecumseh SA/SP L-heads and the Tecumseh 195cc OHV's (even the OH195SP series). Briggs at one time had marketed this engine at up to 8hp with a steel cam (a stretch). The former ratings for the 800 and 900 series Briggs were 5.5hp and 7.5hp before they went to the torque power rating system.

The "extra" power now used on the Ariens Compact series (900 series engine) has been fully utilized with more efficient impellers (freeze resistant, low inertia, with channel-style cupped blades), higher imepeller speeds (10% higher), and better flowing chutes (taller, high trajectory, gradual curvature). That said, it will greatly outperform the 5520. I wouldn't hesistate to use this machine in heavy snow.

Still, I'd pay the extra $50 to get the Subaru SX17 instead (920010). Similar power to the Briggs, "Hemi" style Pent-roof head, smoother and quieter in a Swiss-watch-like OHC package.

   The Briggs site listed the 205 900 at 6.7 fp which would be roughly 5hp unless booted in some way.  On checking Ariens spec for the 920006 that motor is listed as 9 fp which would make it roughly a 7hp.

 

   A 7hp with 1320 RPM impeller speed would be nice.  Ariens lists the torque of the Subaru as TBD for the 920010.  It’s 169cc versus 205 for the Briggs.  If it does have similar hp and fp then something is booted.  Maybe is gulps gas like a truck to get the kick. ??  Is OHC the factor?

 

   The Yamaha L-Head at 6.5hp threw like a US 9-10hp and the throughput was great.  The crank was on roller bearings and ran at 4000RPM.  The impeller I think was 1400.  They used 4 roller bearings in the auger gearbox and the auger blade axle also on roller bearings. 

   I thought Ariens only had its bigger models running at 1300 impeller speed.  Maybe they have booted all their models up.  They are still on flange bearings for the axle and removed roller bearings in the auger gearbox.  I think they are using oil impregnated bearings.  Toro used to have oil impregnated flange bearings that were not so hot.  I wonder if the newer Areins units will perform for as many years as the older units?

 

"I wonder if the newer Areins units will perform for as many years as the older units?"

I doubt that they will hold up as well without much more maintenance than the older machines.

Very few things being built today are designed with longevity in mind. Look at appliances for instance. My mother-in-law has a clothes dryer that's over fifty years old and is still operating. In over fifty years, it's only needed a bearing for the drum. New dryers might last five years.

It's a sign of the times. Fast paced lives, throw away everything....

What I find amusing is that these so called "manufacturing innovations, improvements and new design features" are supposed to make us believe that we're getting a better product. Please.... In reality, it's window dressing for cheap manufacturing materials and methods. I don't see it getting any better any time soon.

Horsepower = (Torque + 3600) / 5252

 

Torque = (Horsepower * 5252) / 3600

 

That puts the 932006 at 6.1hp

A 7hp would be 10.21fp

 

Ariens has a footnote on its torque spec:

*Engine output stated in gross torque per SAE J1940 as rated by engine manufacturer.

 

What’s the difference between torque and “gross torque” and why do they need a footnote?  It reads like a disclaimer to me.  “Don’t blame us, blame Briggs”. 

 

Not long ago the engine manufacturers were sued over horsepower and lost.  They had a test setup that had some fudging with the word gross.  What they were doing was testing motors modified to be unlike used on equipment to get better ratings.  They also had a fuzzy spec that allowed at 15% fudge on horsepower. 

 

 

The blue rake bearing is from an Ariens 932105 which is about a 2004 826 model.   The blue bearing is plastic and very thin.  To the left is its holder. 

 

Below is a rake bearing from a 70 Ariens 724.   They lasted for many years.  It’s typical to find them with the collar separated from the bearing and the bearing worn to an oval but still not worn through to the support flange.  Also, the rake on the 932105 is about half the size of the 724 rake.  The newer bearing will have more weight and wear on a smaller area.  

The 920006 is about a 5hp engine.  It’s one of Ariens compact  models so similar to the 5520 you sold   It would collect a bit better because of the increased width but have as much trouble with high wet snow or compacted end of the driveway pile.........The single stages are great if you have a special need to get something small and easy to use.  They do fine on lesser snows and slush and toss a mile.  trouts2

One thing this discussion has done is to get me to rule out the Ariens "compact 24". The Deluxe 24 has a larger engine, so I may check that out. The 5520 wouldn't throw even dry snow far, & was completely useless on heavy wet snow. BTW, "heavy wet snow" seems to be increasingly all we get in the metro-boston area. There are times you could make sno-cones out of it.

Last winter, I shoveled (ouch!). But my neighbors had a snow-plow truck guy that I hired a few times for $30-$40 per. Hopefully, I can get a Toro single stage for smaller snows, & hire someone for those 1-2 ft. monster storms. Increasingly, buying & housing a 200 lb. snow-blower in my tiny garage, with my aging back, doesn't seem that realistic.....

One thing I have observed about Ariens,every year there's a modification to the previous model.Geez can they not get it right?But snowmann always makes it sound like Ariens is on the ball improving previous models etc etc.Bigger this,thicker that blah blah blah.Hey Ariens get it right and you wont have to change the change from the previous year.I understand making improvements but I dont think thats what Ariens is doing.They r fixing their screw up from the yr before.They must be experimenting with inferior parts and then fixing it.