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

We didn't have much snow, about 5 inches or so. But we had to get out so time to try out our new Toro 1028. I've gotta say compared to our Honda 928TAS the Toro feels really really light. My wife can't believe how light it feels and how easy it turns. She still has trouble with the quick chute but in a few storms she'll have it down pat. From the pics you can see how the machine is almost as big as she is. She was a little nervous using it but we are getting another 8 inches by tomorrow night she'll get more time using it.

Enjoy the pics. I hope they come out.

Nice to see things worked out. Your wife would be better off with a pair of tall insulated snow boots that she can tuck her jeans into. They look pretty soggy in the pics. Looks like she's diggin' though! No pun intended.

Glad to see that you got settled on a blower that works for the entire family... that's a long driveway you have!

She actually is wearing boot, it's just that her jeans go over them. My boots are the same way. I chose those pics because you can see the driveway all the way to the garage and then all the way to the street in the next one. I could have posted another pic where it shows the other section of the driveway. Ok guess I will post that section as well. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to blow it. The first pic here is our EOD as you can see it's mighty wide, it also shows the length of outr driveway. The other pic is a section that comes off our driveway. What you can't see in any pics are the stone walls on both sides of the driveway. They are in need of repair which should take all spring and summer. So far the Toro is working great!

Sweet!..

Wow she looks really happy ! what a nice...machine keep the good work buddy!!!

Beautiful setting for your house, I'd love to be in the woods like that. Based on the fact that your wife is not wearing gloves, you have hand warmers or it's pretty warm out. Snow looks fairly wet, so I'd say you are above 32 deg. That Toro does look pretty tall though.
Cheers

Nice wooded property.  That Toro seems to be suitable for the job.  Good to know that it's working out with for your wife.

The Toro did seemed to be the lightest to steer and tip up the bucket, at least to me.  I think it's due to the balance of the engine over the wheels and the longer handle which gives more leverage. 

I see that you are an environmentally conscious person with that Honda Fit in the background.

GtWtNorth wrote:

Thanks the house is great but needs a lot of work done on it. Some trees have to come down but cost too much. The Really Big one will cost us $3,000 to bring down. It's pine so the wood is worthless. My wife was taking pics that's why she didn't have her gloves on. It was actually very cold probably 10 degrees or so without the windchill factor. No handwarmers on the Toro. The snow had a slushy base but the top was light powder. The EOD was salty slush brownish and hard to throw. The Toro is tall for my wife for me it's just right.

aa335 wrote:

Thanks the house is pretty remote all things considered. But we are only about 5 miles from the Hospital. The Toro worked really well and did ok with the slush. The Honda 928TAS was such a bear to turn and you can see how small my wife is. She's still getting used to it but is not as nervous as before. We actually have 2 Honda Fits. I had a Honda Jazz when I was living overseas, same as the Fit but that one had the 1.3l engine. Great small car, does everything pretty well. I have some videos I might post on Youtube we'll see if not this storm then maybe the next one. Something with 20 inches of snow I hope.

Thanks Denis, The Toro works great and my wife is a real keeper as well.

How does the Honda Fit handle in the snow?  I'm looking for safe reliable transportation in the winter that I can also use for Home Depot errands.

Steve,

Great machine.  I'm glad you and your wife are enjoying it.

When I was shopping for a snowblower this past fall, I had narrowed my choices down to the Toro 828 and the Ariens 24 Platinum Deluxe.  One of the things I really liked about the Toro was its lightweight.  On paper, the toro 828 was 237 lbs while the Ariens Deluxe Platinum 24" was 224 lbs.  I ended up with the Ariens mainly because the smaller width enabled the unit to go through a very narrow path I have on the side of the garage.  The 828 was bit too wide to get through.  Now, however, I'm regretting my choice because of:

1. Although the Ariens is lighter than the toro on paper, it's way heavier to turn.  It even has auto traction control.  My guess is because the toro is longer, the weight is more well-balanced.
2. My Ariens has the snow series engine from Briggs. It's been backfiring when I shut it down.  I know the toro has the snow series max.  Any backfiring on that?

Joed,

I also have the Platinum 24, which I thoroughly enjoy (and hope you will too before long!).  When I'm done using it, I slowly reduce the throttle to low idle.  Frequently, the engine will give a quick backfire as I reduce the throttle, but it's really no big deal.  If I let it slow idle for 5 seconds or so, then shut it off, it will quit with no further backfiring.

Have you tried turning the machine off this way, or does yours backfire more cantankerously?

By the way, I used to own an early '70s vintage Ariens and had to replace the engine with a Tecumseh, which also backfired when I shut the thing down.  I just considered it part of the beast's personality... no harm done.  But I have to say that the new B&S engine runs smoothly and performs with a lot of oomph.

aa335 wrote:
The Fit is great in the snow, mainly because they use a very tall and narrow tire a 185/16 that's normally meant for 14" tires, so we cut right through the snow like a 4x4. We just run the stock tires with my Civic we ran Nokian snow tires the WRG2's. Awesome snow tire, but the Fit doesn't need them. Wer have 2 Fits because they are really that good. My wife gets around 38mpg and she's down to 32-33 with winter gas. My car have fewer miles so it's not broken in yet. I think I have 6,000 miles on mine. She has about 18K on hers. You can't go wrong with the Fit. Also I got mine under invoice! Tons of room in them amazing how big that little car is inside.

I spoke with a fella today about the backfiring and he suggested you turn the "crack screw" that controls the low idle and turn it up slightly. I think low idle is set at 1600 RPM. Try turning it up a bit.

joed wrote:

Hi joed, we really like the Toro and we did have a Honda 928 with tracks. We looked at Ariens but they were too hard for my wife to turn even with their limited slip differential. The Toro feels light and it is well balanced. The Skid steer makes all teh difference when manuevering it. The 828 is a good unit. Fron the pics you can see we need a bigger one. That said we did our driveway in an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad considering my wife is just learning, heck we both are. Our Toro has a B&S engine also. It's brand spanking new so no problems with it. It's loud but that's about it. If yours 's backfiring it must be running too rich. I'm sure it's just an adjustment. Post a pic of your 828 in action! I don't want to be teh only one posting pics.

I ended up getting the Ariens Platinum 24" Deluxe.  It' s heavy to turn, even with the auto traction control and the engine has been backfiring.  I really wish I had gotten the toro 828.

Too bad about the Ariens, have the dealer check it out as it should not be backfiring. It's a B&S engine, right. So they should get it working right.

The Ariens was a bear to turn even in the showroom and the Toro was a breeze. That's why we bought the Toro, it was so much easier for my wife to use. here are some YouTube links of my wife and I using the Toro 1028.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rea9MWZwy18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Dy-38GswU&feature=related

I have the scraper bar set at 1/8" since our driveway isn't totally flat. I tried it touching the driveway but it was too much work and it kept getting hung up on bumps. Now it's perfect.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Usually I would agree with your suggestion but after re reading Joed's other posts in other threads re his machine and what the dealer's response has been I think his problem is the dealer. This is the dealer that told him he changed the cam ostensibly on Briggs' warranty authorization to address a backfire problem on shutdown of a hot engine. I may be totally off base here but that story by the dealer made my bull $hit detector go off. I apologize in advance if I am wrong but you would have to show me the paper work from Briggs before I believe they would suggest/pay for a cam replacement for this complaint. More likely the remedy would be a carb adjustment or simply letting the engine run at slow idle for a few momments to let it cool off before shutting down. It is not uncommon for raw fuel to be drawn into the cylinder by the still moving piston after the ignition spark has been shut off. If the chamber is really hot the fuel will explode causing a back fire.

I realize I am at risk for sounding like an Ariens "toady" but the Platinum 24 my neighbor has handles great. I wonder if the tires are inflated properly and if the skid shoes are in proper adjustment on Joed's machine.. If the bucket is digging/dragging across it's 24" width instead of riding on the two shoe contact points the handling is going to feel" heavy". This is also something the dealer should have checked.

Sorry for the rant,

Marc

Have to agree with Marc concerning the cam replacement issue. That's a lot of expense to remedy a back fire issue when there are much less expensive solutions to try first. Sounds like the kind of dealer that would recommend a carb replacement to remedy a blocked fuel cap vent. I've seen that happen to a neighbour across the street from me. She got a $400.00 repair bill for fixing a $450.00 lawn mower. I had mentioned in a previous post that the back fire might also be caused by residual unburnt fuel mixture accumulating in the muffler and igniting when there is sufficient oxygen available to make it happen. I bet that if the back firing engine is allowed to run at idle until the muffler temp drops, the back firing will be diminished.

Thanks for all the suggestions and support regarding my backfiring B and S engine on my Ariens.  Ariens sent my concerns to Briggs.  Briggs emailed me back saying they would contact the dealer to resolve the issue.  10 days later I still have no response.  Unfortunately, we haven't had any snow here so I haven't had a chance to try the machine more to see if the backfiring diminishes.  It's been a frustrating experience so far with Ariens and Briggs. 

joed wrote:

I don't suppose there is any chance that the dealer would take it back? I made a deal here for my dealer to take back the Honda I bought.

joed wrote:

Joed- I had an issue with a Kawasaki powered mower that was still under  warranty. The mower manufacturer told me that engine issues were handled by the engine manufacturer( Kawasaki) and to contact them. It didn't make me happy but I have come to learn  that's pretty much standard in the Outdoor Power Equiptment industry. In addition I learned that the Kawasaki engine warranty in this case was a year longer than the mower guarantee. That did make me happy as you can well imagine. It turned out that there was a defect in the connecting rod on the Kawi which caused the wrist pin to seize . Kawasaki replaced the engine.

Since Briggs responded to you work with them. The only issue as I see it is that Briggs sent you back to your dealer.Did Briggs mention anything about the cam change? You should share that information with them. If they say they know nothing about it ask them for another dealer. If your dealer has been BSing you I wouldn't want him to touch my machine.

 Even though there is no snow you can run a test on your machine. Start it up and let it run until the choke is no longer required. That should take no longer than a  minute and then shut it down. The engine will not be  hot relative to it's temperature  if you just finished an hour of throwing snow. If it doesen't back fire on the "cold" shut down then there is nothing wrong and letting it idle for a minute or two before shut down when hot will most likely "cure" the back fire issue.

Lastly-It occurs to me that the unit in question is new which means evrything from the engine to the frame is tight and therefore it is possible operating temps could be higher than when the unit is fully broken in. As you can see I believe this is a temperature related issue. For the mean time I would make sure the oil is up to the proper level and use the machine when necessary. Change the oil at the five hour interval and wait to see how your inquiry plays out with Briggs. You may find the back fire goes away as the machine "breaks in".

 I am curious as to Briggs' verifying the cam replacement as well as what the cure is to your issue.

Please keep us informed,

Marc

Did the dealer show/give you the old engine parts that he claims to have replaced? I've seen sleazy dealers claim that they performed warranty work but didn't do the work that they claimed under warranty. I always ask to see the parts that were removed in any type of work I allow a mechanic to do. I do my own small engine work but if I bring an auto in for maintenance (i.e. timing belt and pulleys), I ask for the old parts before they start the work. I do the same with certain motorcycles that are more complicated to work on such as engines with dual over head cams. It's a complicated job to adjust the valve lash on them. As well, specialized tools and a variety of shims are required. When I bring the machine in, I tell them that I want to know the clearances before and after the work was done as well as what size shims were removed and added. When you ask for this info, it lets them know that you're at least somewhat aware of the work they're about to do and not completely ignorant. Helps keep them honest.