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

Apparently, my local Toro dealer says that this year's 421Q model comes with a B&S 4-stroke engine.  He said that this engine is more powerful than the 2-stroke R-tek engine that is in the 221Q. 

He started the 421Q 4 stroke engine.  It sounded fairly quiet and was relatively vibration free smooth running.  Definitely quieter and smoother than the Honda GX160 engine.  I was impressed.  Good job B&S.

He didn't start the 221Q 2 stroke engine.  Stated that it had no gas in tank.  Either that could be true or he didn't want to stink up the showroom with exhaust fumes.

Has anyone used both engines on the Toro 221Q and 421Q and can provide honest report?  Which engine is more powerful and can do the job of moving heavy snow better?

I know there are folks here are dyed in the wool 2-stroke fans, you know who you are.  Barring the 4 stroke heavier weight, complexity, and hassle of oil change, none of these draw backs are really a concern to me, I can go either way.  No big deal to change oil or mix oil in gasoline.  The 421Q felt slightly heavier in the front, but not enough to make a difference.  I won't be lifting either snowblower up and down the bed of a pickup truck so weight difference of 10 lbs isn't an issue. 

In all reality how much snow do these two models max out at?

In fresh snow, these single snowblowers can take on 18" of snow with no problems.  I just went through 18" of snow deposited by a plow at a sidewalk corner, but it does take longer and you need to work at it.  EOD with packed and crusty snow can be tacked with some help from a shovel, but you need a 2 stage metal auger to effectively cut through it. 

Yeah - I'm in the same general area as you -   aa335  - and got that heavy, wet snow today -  The 421QE still did a good job in that heavy stuff.

Instead of throwing the snow over 25' or so - it threw around half that distance - 12' to 15'  -  still an admiral job for the wet, heavy stuff.

Still impressed with how nice the quick chute control system works.

Alty,

I'm having so much fun with the 421Q that I hope to get more snow soon.  Looks like we're going on a few cold days without much precipitation.

In wet heavy stuff, the throwing distance drops down to 8 to 15 feet  That's not too bad.  It doesn't have enough power to loft this kind of snow over 6 foot banks.  That's fine with me, I'll just break out the 2 stage machine if I want to carve out a canyon. 

In preparation for the big one, I just leveled the EOD pile and widened my driveway apron by 8 feet.  :) .  Not with the 421Q of course, the other big red machine.  I needed a place to put my garbage and recyclin bins.