Around New England they generally go for $150 to $550 depending on condition. I’ve seen them in about that condition which were in regular use. The paint was very good on those. If used in a clearing area with not much sand and small rocks and stored clean then they can look great even with regular use.
For nit picking the age:
- The look of the muffler suggests very minimal use. I’ve never seen one that clean or even close on the best of machines that were very clean.
- The barrel is very clean. Even the best ones I’ve seen have small areas of rust on the top of the barrel around the chute even if tiny. That one does show a bit on the right side of the chute but slight and the best I’ve seen.
- The chute collar is very clean along with the outside bolts. That’s very unusual even for well cared for machines that were stored indoors. Even the inside end of the bolts inside the intake housing do not show any rust or buildup.
- Inside the bucket there’s a long scrape that’s not tarnished and a bit weird given how clean the rest is.
- Inside the chute is fairly clean but I’ve seen them with cleaner paint on the inside of the chute and impeller area.
All in all it looks great, very little use and cared for. The engines on those can last 25 years and still have great compression. The engine is at least the quality of a Honda GX and probably better. I don’t know if the bore is cast iron.
They run at 4000 rpm and have a high impeller and rake speed which I think is 1400 and 400. The auger gearbox has 4 roller bearings, the auger shaft is supported on roller bearings. The crankshaft is on roller bearings. The engines are very smooth and the tossing distance impressive. They throw a thin stream at a fast rate. The dash controls are very nice to use especially the chute control with a great feel and niece hood control (that works – no frozen cable problems like Ariens).
The range of speeds is very good. Fast is fast and slow slow. There are two reverses with the faster reverse very good for backing up unlike may snowblowers.
I’ve never used a wheeled machine but the track version is very nice to use. With the nice and responsive controls the track versions are easy to use so I would imagine the wheel version even better.
It's an excellent machine and you could get a very nice used Ariens for that price but it would not be a Yamaha. Parts are still available but probably won't be available for as many years as that one could last. If used properly you would not need any. If the price did not get too high you could use it for a few years then sell it.
This message was modified Feb 24, 2010 by trouts2
