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.

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.

i will go to the dealer and ask about the difference in the two  thx guys

borat wrote:

Benalene isn’t liquid grease. It’s a trademark name for a type/brand of grease, like Mobilux. The NLGI number indicates its grade which indirectly affects viscosity. NLGI 0 and 00 are liquid greases. Your particular grade is not (it’s an NLGI 1). It is possible Benalene is no longer manufactured as the latest Simplicity manuals call out Lubriplate GR132, Mobilux EP1, and Shell Alvania EP1, all of which are NLGI 1 (as are the John Deere X-references).

 

Sometime between 2004 and 2006 (likely when the gear case castings changed to cast iron) Briggs switched from gear oil to grease. Grease is easy to seal (especially the higher NLGI grade numbers). The move to cast iron could have created some sealing problems (iron generally has less casting precision when compared to aluminum die cast). Grease is inferior for this application in comparison to EP gear oil. It’s an easy fix for short term complaints at the expense of long term durability. Honda, Yanmar, Toro, and Ariens use EP rated gear oil (along with large steel gears); the rest generally use grease and smaller bronze gears (it’s easier to hob the gear teeth with bronze/brass).

 

NLGI 1 grease does not flow like oil and will not provide a wet sump to facilitate lubrication. Grease will displace from dynamic parts and collect in voids and adhere to the casting walls (more so as the temperature gets colder, and no, the gear box doesn’t get warm enough to liquefy the grease in use). In time, there is a likelihood of a dry or near-dry running condition. The non-compatible bronze used on the worm gear has some forgiveness for this, but not enough over the long term. The flow capability of oil is obviously one reason (among many) why most automotive engines, transfer cases, differentials, and transaxles use oil instead of grease (highly dynamic parts). Light constituent petroleum base oils in this particular grease can also separate and dissipate over time leaving only a wax-like substrate (the lithium soap thickener). EP additives, which are the primary EP protection in petroleum based grease, can also be consumed leaving the lubricant incapable of protecting the parts (not to mention they are typically corrosive to copper which your gear and some of your bushings are made from). Lastly, in general, spur and helical gears can use lesser lubricant due to the limited localized pressure and sliding action. Worm gears and Hypoid gears need something better.

 

Unfortunately many gear cases designed for grease will not take gear oil without leaking. Where there are paper gaskets and grease seals or o-rings on grease equipped boxes, gear oil boxes use anaerobic sealant, rubber gaskets, garter-spring oil seals, etc. If it were mine though, I’d still try to top it off with synthetic 75W-140 GL5 MT-1 hypoid gear oil. The synthetic base oil handles most of the EP protection so there is no worry about additive consumption, and the MT-1 indicates good copper compatibility (amongst other things). The film strength is top notch, and the viscosity is high enough that it would slow leakage. The “pour point”, which indicates the cold flow capability, is also often under -50F.

 

I’ve seen the prices of snow blowers in Canada. Horrible. If this I1224E unit is $850 in Canada, then it is a steal. The aluminum gear box on this and other similar models is extremely close spec-wise to the Simplicity Cast Iron version - internally (although its origins are from Murray). It is not a bottom of the barrel gear case (but again, the grease…)

 

Lastly, while your 9528 unit has the corporate brand address for Simplicity posted on the machine, it may have no bearing on which of Briggs’ plants it was manufactured in (it doesn’t say “manufactured at” implicitly). For the very reasons you state, it could have been manufactured in a facility other than Port Washington, but that is just my speculation. Regardless, the assembly location would have little effect on build quality (but it could explain a small manufacturing change like using grease).