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

i'm interested in buy a 24in simplicity snowblower for a driveway i'll say 60 x20 with a small slope upwards from the house. same engine and torque as the L1226E. aluminum gear case though. any kind of help will appreciated.

new at 850.00. i'm in western mass. last year was a so-so year for snow , but i hear this winter could be bad.  usually the storms are 5-12 inches. sometimes wet, sometimes fluffy. you know the score borat.  lol

hi borat, so do you agree with this choice? how good is the aluminum gear housing?  thx

The aluminum gear cases used on the premium machines seem to be stout looking. Much sturdier than the can opener gears on the MTD/AYP products I've seen recently in the box stores. For twenty years I had previously owned two Craftsman 10 h.p. machines that had aluminum gear cases. Never had a problem with them. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

thanks for your info. is 850.00 a good price for the 1124e? and what parts should be lubricated.

jack wrote:
Here's some info from another post:

First thing I'd do is pull the wheels off and use a good water resistant grease to lube the axles. Snowmobile grease is great for snow throwers. Although not necessary, I like to use an outdoor cable/chain/gear grease in a spray can (motorcycle chain lube will do) to lube the drive chains inside the chassis. Make sure you cover the friction plate and drive disk before applying the grease to the chains. You don't want to get any on them. Lube all friction points for the controls. While you're in there, put a thin layer of oil on the hex shaft. I like to use a light spray grease on pivots and light multi purpose oil to spray into the insides of any cables. Grease the auger shaft.

Check belts for condition and proper tension. Go over all fasteners with a wrench to tighten anything that might be loose. Make sure you're fuel tank is clean and passing fuel to the carb. If the machine is running well, chances are they're fine. If there's no obvious leaking at the auger drive gear case, I leave it as is. As long as there's lube inside and it doesn't have a catastrophic event, it should last the life of the machine without messing with it. Others might disagree but I've never had one leak nor changed fluid in one in twenty years.

so borat do i buy it? seems like the best one overall.  thx

For your application, it seems like a decent choice. The price is good. I'd go for it.

anyone else out there have any comments to add  thank you

jack wrote:
There are better deals for the money than this unit. Briggs Power Products has followed a business plan that involves accumulating a premium brand portfolio (Snapper and Simplicity), then placing those brands on less esteemed equipment (Murray). The true intermediate platform for Simplicity (the latest being the 860EI) was discarded years ago. So were the legacy Snapper designs. Even the "Large" Simplicity platform is heavily compromised (only the blower head remains as a substantial legacy Simplicity assembly, and even that was compromised with a change to use grease instead of gear oil in the auger gearbox). That is, this Simplicity you are considering is a red Murray. $850 is too much for this configuration. I would suggest you look around at the mass retailers. You can get a bigger 27" Brute or Murray branded (similar) machine for the same $$ (on sale) with more features (even a Snapper at Sears, they have the M1227E at sears for $899 quite often). Wallyworld, Menards, Sears....

An Ariens 24E Deluxe would be a good upgrade at $899 as well (if a headlight is a big deal to you, a kit is available). The Husqvarna-built Poulan stuff is also higher grade than this Simplicity machine if you've considered such and have that preference.

Lastly, it's not snowing much most places. Hold out for a good deal and keep your eye on the weather. As soon as snow is eminent, the deals go away...

Snowmann: How does the use of Benalene (liquid grease) compromise the quality of the gear case and components therein? Don't understand that comment. My 2006 built Simplicity was manufactured in the old Wisconsin plant. It has the cast iron gear case and the manual specifies Benalene for gear case lubricant. Does that mean that B&S had begun to compromise Simplicity large frame manufacturing back then? As far as I know, B&S acquired Simplicity some time in late 2004. Being that they de-comissioned the Wisconsin plant in October of last year, why would they alter the assembly lines to produce a different product just to dismantle it a few months later? Something doesn't sound right there. I do not disagree with your assessment of currently manufactured machines. They are not in the same class as their predecessors regardless of brand, other than the Japanese products of course. In Canada, $800.00 does not get you much of a machine. By comparison, the Simplicity in question, according to available information, is much more robust than the offerings I've seen at the large retail outlets. Take a look at the gear case on Yardman, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Troy Built machines for instance. It looks like it could have come off a can opener. The gear case on the Simplicity machine in question is closer to that used on the Ariens than those machines. The Simplicity may be compromised but I don't believe that it's as cheaply built as many other offerings out there. I still maintain that for the money, it's not a bad buy, particularly if the OP can get a discount.