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

I have an Ariens ST824 that is about 20 yrs. old.  This year it needed a new carburetor and has been working well since.  The machine was used by the maintenance dept. at a 11 acre site before I obtained it about 10 years ago.  It has been used and neglected for years and owes me nothing.   I would like to replace it next year.  A replacement Ariens machine would probably be in the $1000+ range and I really don't have that money to spend.  I am considering a 5hp equivalent Troy Bilt 2 stage  machine from Lowe's.  They are priced more in my area of spending.  I live in Northern NJ and my driveway is about 70 ft. long.  I usually throw the snow in front of the machine and rethrow it until I get to a point in front of the house where I can get it on the lawn.  I realize I would be going from a Cadillac to a Chevy but am trying to determine if the Troy Bilt will satisfy my requirements.   I am sure I am not getting the original 8hp out of the old machine and am trying to determine if the 5hp (equivalent) will do the job in a heavy snow.  Rethrowing heavy snow puts the most load on the machine I have noticed.  All opinions are welcome, thanks.

Nick, Two years ago I went from a 20 year old 5hp Ariens to an 11.5hp Ariens and the performance difference was like night and day when dealing with heavy snow.  One possibility to consider is that for the same price as a new 5hp Troy-bilt you could probably find a larger used blower.  A five year old 8 to 12hp premium brand machine still has an awful lot of service life left in it. 

I would say no way!  I have a 30 year old ST824 that I just rebuilt this fall and I don't plan on replacing it anytime soon.  If you take the money you would spend on that 5hp Troy Built and put a new engine in your ST824 and replace any bearing/bushings that are worn you will have 10X the machine and it will last a lot longer.  On my ST824 the gearbox was bad as were most of the bearings.  I replaced all the bearings, bushings, and gearbox and repainted now I have a machine that is like brand new but built far better than most of the new machines.  A 5hp Troy Built is a huge downgrade from an 824, much cheaper built with lots of platic bushings or in some cases no bushings or bearings at all.  And plus 5hp is very low for a 2 stage and will probably have a hard time with any significant snow.  If you are not the handy type that could re-engine and rebuilt your Ariens, you should still be able to take the money you would've spent on the Troy built and buy a pretty nice used Ariens, Toro, JD, or Simplicity.

More like "going from a Cadillac to a Yugo"..
I would take a 20 year old Ariens over a brand-new Troy-Bilt any day..
not even in the same universe..

I bought my first snowblower last winter..after looking at the quality of BRAND NEW $600 snowblowers on the market,
which are pretty much junk..and not wanting to spend $1,000 for a new quality machine,
I went with a 40 year old Ariens:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/Ariens/

which has been excellent..I intend to use it for decades to come..

Nick,
I believe that if you spend $600 on a brand-new low end Troy Bilt, you will be paying $600 to purchase
a machine that is of significatly lower quality than your 20 year old ariens you already own..
even when factoring in the age difference!
you would be FAR better off just keeping the Ariens..

To use your car analogy some more, it would be like saying "I have a 10 year old Honda Accord, its been a fine car,
but its just getting a bit old..I want something newer "just because"..I cant afford another new Honda Accord, so instead
I think I will buy a new low-end Kia, because its cheap"...totally not worth it! ;)
a 10 year old Honda Accord is a MUCH better car than a brand new Kia..
you would be spending $10,000 dollars to buy something worse than what you already own, and is paid for..

just because its new, doesnt mean its better..
these days, new is often WORSE than used..
with our lovely "Must buy everything as cheap as possible" American attitude of the last 10-20 years,
we have a LOT of brand new products that are absolute junk...IMO the Troy Bilt is in that catagory..

20 years ago these low end snowblowers simply didnt exist...even the cheapest (in price) machine was
still high quality..not so anymore..

Scot

Buying the new 5 HP for $500-$600 would be the most expensive and least cost effective of your options.

Talk to the independant dealers in your area.

Option 1: They may have a refurbished used unit in the 8 to 10 HP range for about $250-$300 and be willing to take yours as a trade-in.

Option 2: Get an estimate on repairs. If your carb is recently new, but you feel that you are not getting full power it may be valve wear.
Try throwing snow after dark. If the engine lugs and you see blue flame from the exhaust under load, this may indicate the exhaust valve
is not sealing and burning combustion gases are escaping past the valve. They may quote you about $200 for a valve job.

Option 3: DIY. Removed the head and replace the valves with new for about $25-$40 for the valves and $6 for the head gasket. While you have
it apart, replace the fuel and primer lines and clean out the fuel tank. Might want to get a new fuel cap too -- it's vented. 

A Sno-Tek 24 might be a good choice if you're not looking for used or refurbished and want to stay in a more premium machine. $599... Not sure you'll find any this late in the season though. A Sno-Tek 26 is $699 if there are any of those left.

Snowmann wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ARIENS-Sno-Tek-26-208cc-Two-Stage-Snow-Thrower-920401_W0QQitemZ280428403739QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414ad5dc1b

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ariens-Sno-Tek-24-Snowblower-snow-thrower-920400_W0QQitemZ300398927824QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f12bdfd0

Thaks for all the replies.  I had some issues with the carb, mainly the place that did the work.  Probably bring it to a good Ariens dealer for a thorough inspection and put the money there.  As long as parts availablility does not become an issue I should be ok with the older machine.  Thanks again for the advise.