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

Not sure what to replace new (December 09 ) Honda 928 track drive with..I love the Honda smooth and throws snow like crazy and goes through anything  ( also have an older Honda 828 track drive at a rental property )...I went out bought this new HS928 tarck drive late December 2009 for my own home so i wouldn't have to transport the 828 back and forth...I  used this new Honda  for literally 5 whole minutes but need to replace it with a snowblower with some type of steering . I know i'm going to lose a few bucks on the new Honda but for this driveway i really need some sort of steering I live in Massachusetts have about 150+ feet of a circular driveway.. I was at Lowes the other day checking out the new 2010 model 1330SE "Simplicity built" John Deere machines with easy steer and dual electric shute controls, heated hand grips etc.. Any ideas?

Why don't you go with a nice Ariens or Toro? I have a Ariens 924108. It has never gave me any trouble. My driveway is about 800 ', I've just went through my first set of belts in 10 years. I recomend them to anybody. Even though mine is a 8 hp Techumseh - Briggs makes good engines too- Just dont buy a blower with a Clone engine. Get a nice Ariens or Toro with no less than 300cc- the bigger the better .

337cc and I want more.  Arrrgghh arrghh.  :)

I'd go for the Toro 1028 it's a breeze to steer and throws snow as good as the Honda. I had the Honda 928TAS so I know it throws snow well but is a bear to turn for some people.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

 Thank's, I was thinking about going to my local Toro dealer this week and checking out the 1028 or 1128 models..My biggest fear about selling the new Honda is losing the great snow throwing distance it has..I have read and have seen you tube vids where the Toro really seems to do really well with throwing distance. I see that the shute stick is plastic how easy does the control work in the cold weather?

Don't worry, the recent Toro, Simplicity, Ariens, and Troy Bilt are no slouch when it comes to throwing snow.  Unless you are into impressing your neighbors or putting your snow on their driveway, I'd say get what you are comfortable with.  Now, if you're talking about throwing slush, well,  Honda literature doesn't say anything about pumping water.  :)

zekeman wrote:

Try the 1028 it's a great machine the 1128 has a weird part on it that can hang up on things I'm told so I didn't bother with it.

Here are some vids from YouTube of my wife using our Toro. She weighs 84 lbs. and has no trouble steering it. The first Vid is me doing the EOD and it's really nasty stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeU7CGw4r0Q

This one is my wife doing the driveway with the Toro 1028. My wife was new at using it and tried to hold it back. LOL :D  You can see how much it throws that was heavy wet snow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uUBRE7vsRU

Steve_Cebu wrote:
That part is a pivoting scraper.  It is designed to move out of the way when catching on pavement.  It's not a totally new idea, I seen this on older Toro's.

aa335 wrote:

Yes that's it and supposedly it's a PITA to deal with. Our local Toro Dealers don't sell many 1128's compared to the 1028. The guys who do the walks at the colleges all use Toro 1028's here. They also use the wheeled hondas.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
That's usually the sentiment with some OPE shops I have talked to.  If it can't be taken off in 5-10 minutes, they usually $#%* about it.  I guess they rather charge someone $80 to change out a carburetor in 10 minutes rather than fiddle with a stuck pivoting scraper for 30 minutes.  It's all about $$$.

Good thing they only work on OPE and not cars.  They have no idea what it takes to change a light bulb in a newer BMW with HID bulbs.  :)    It involves one floor jack,  5 wheel bolts, 10 fasteners, 1 fender liner, 2 clips, and a few choice PG rated expletives.

I don' t think the pivot scraper is all that much trouble, I usually maintain my equipment judiciously so CLA (cleaning, lube, and adjusting) are normal practice.

aa335 wrote:

Yeah, they said the guys using them don't like the pivoting scraper and I guess it jams which is a bad thing when you have to clear a lot of walkways. I figure simpler is better. No fun having to deal with a lot of snow and getting the scraper stuck and dealers are always busy in the winter so there is a lot of downtime if something breaks.