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

My concern is throwing slushy, wet Maryland snow.  I have a Yard-Man (MTD) 7HP 24" snow thrower which can barely move my MD slush, so I'd like to replace it with the thread of a snowy winter.  I'm looking at a (leftover?) Troy-Bilt 10530 vs. the JD 1130.  The most significant mechanical difference that I note between the two is that the Troy-Bilt has a 16" impeller and the JD has a 12".  Both have similar HP/torque.  Can I expect the Troy-Bilt to have better throwing ability, or is there more to impeller design than just size?

Good info Trouts2,  have also been wondering about rake sizes, the newer designs & how they affect the throughput of the machine.

Cheers

I looked at Troy-Bilt snowblowers last season at Lowe's and decided against it for several reasons, the main reason being that Troy-Bilt is equipped the the Chinese-made LCT engines. I suggest you go with the John Deere and its Briggs & Stratton engine.

I've had major improvements in thwoing distance by making sure the impeller belt is properly tensioned and/or replace when it got to decrepit. Before getting a new machine make sure your problem isn't something simple on the current machine.

Thank you all for your feedback.  But can you believe that I cannot find a John Deere in the state of Maryland?!  That was even BEFORE this last storm was forecast.  Spent a half hour on the phone with the predominant area Deere dealer before I could convince him to investigate.  He finally confirmed it, much to his surprise, but couldn't get one.  Nor could any other dealer I've contacted in the state.  So, I will be receiving my Troy-Bilt later this week.  Fortunately, this "Blizzard of '09" was a nice light snow which my current Yard Man handled, though I cleaned my driveway three times through the storm.  Once it arrives later this week, those of you in the mid-Atlantic can be assured that it won't snow again the rest of this winter.