Well, we finally have had some snow fall here in Grass Lake MI, at least enough to break out a snow blower. I picked up the Toro Power Clear 221QE a few weeks ago here in Jackson MI at a local Toro distributor, and caught it on sale. I bought the Toro to replace a 15 year old Toro 21" single stage as she was getting rather long in the tooth. The area I need to clear is aprox. 10,000 sq ft of asphalt, an "L" shaped drive that faces due West with a good sized pond beyond that. I also have an older Sears Craftsman 2 stage for the really big stuff, the Craftsman still runs like a champ but for the usual 6 inch snowfalls around here it is a bit of an overkill, but still gets a few runs a year when we get the big storms.
Well, I pulled the Toro out of the garage and gave her two primes and gave her a pull, she started with the first pull, with no choke, as I forgot that in my excitement to try her out. She sputtered for a split second, and away she went, very little if any smoke, pretty cool. The noise level was as expected for a two stroke, but yet quieter than the 15 year old two stroke Toro she replaced.
I played around with the quick chute before starting out and found that solid and easy to use. And I would highly recommend getting the quick chute model, that feature is worth the money, at least to myself. I started my normal routine in clearing and she was much more powerful, which I expected, than the old gal she is replacing. She threw the snow a good 20' as advertised and was of course very easy to maneuver. I found the motor to be more than adequate to get the job done of clearing the snow as was again expected.
The one issue, maybe good, maybe bad, but man does this unit have some torque. I found that on the uphill portion of my drive (say 10 degrees if that) she was very hard to control, to the point that I was was nearly walking along side of the unit to keep it straight. This was not very enjoyable as I have tendonitis in both arms. I tried tilting it back so that the paddle was not hitting the drive, tried holding it back, tried forward pressure to get full contact, etc... Going down the drive, she was a bit easier to control, but not by much. This was not like my 2 stage that just chugs along and devours the snow. This was actually quite a workout, not saying I don't need the exercise, but my older Toro was much more controllable.
Am I missing something here? When I purchased the 221QE I also purchased its little brother, the 180 to do my walks and deck, which is a 4 stroke and indeed smaller, but it tracks straight and does not want to "run away". I am wondering now if I should not have ponied up the extra cash for the 421QE? But here is the irony of my decision to purchase the 221 over the 421, I wanted the extra torque of the 2 stroke over the 4 stroke! Now I am regretting, or questioning, my decision.
This message was modified Jan 9, 2010 by Waterloo
