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

Really these units are similar, but if you ask a dealer you'd think they were exact opposites.  Never used a lever traction system like the Toro, but did briefly try the auto trac on the Ariens.  I live 1/2 hr from Brillion WI and really do feel an attraction to Ariens, but that is another issue... Help me out guys!  I'll be pissed if I choose wrong.  Price is the same.

I was making the same exact decision about a month ago -- bought the Ariens and (without testing it yet) Im real happy with what I received. Plus, two words: Heated Handles!

What were the reasons you chose the Ariens?  Curious, I'll see if it is what I am thinking... 

mmiguy wrote:

I went with the Toro instead of the Ariens. My wife is small and no way could she turn the Ariens even with their fancy auto diff. The Toro is a snap to turn either way just pull the trigger and that's it. I have a huge driveway and can do the entire thing 1.5 hours max. The Ariens might be as fast but I had a Honda 928TAS and that was a hell of a lot more work to do the same job. Try the Toro before you buy. I have videos on YouTube just look for Toro 1028 and they'll come up. If you can't find them I can post links.

I had the same decision to make last year.  I went with the Ariens because of the shorter width ( I have a narrow path on the side of the house.  26" would have been a tight fit) and because the toro 826 never had free-wheel steering last year.  This year it does.  Overall, the snowblower is real good.  It's a bit heavy to turn, even with the auto traction control.  The toro was a lot easier to turn.  I think this is because the toro is about 6" longer.  Thus, the weight is more spread out and easier to move.  On the Ariens, the weight seems to be all on the back end because it's shorter.  The one thing that I have not liked about the Ariens is the Briggs engine.  It backfires on shutdown all the time.  I've only used the machine about 1 hour because we got so little snow last year.  I contacted Briggs about this and they've done nothing..  They say it's because of incomplete combustion in the chamber on shutdown.  This problem isn't Ariens fault, it's Briggs.  Overall, both are good machines.  But if Toro had freewheel steering on the 826 last year, I'd have gone with that one.  It's easier to move and I really liked the quick chute control.

The reasons I chose the Ariens were:

- Heated handgrips
- I preferred the all metal construction (yes, plastic doesnt rust -- and usually doesnt crack - but some people have had it happen)
- The joystick on the Toro was real cool -- but I had read stories of those breaking as well and liked the idea of the more simple, metal controls on the Ariens
- Reading user reviews around the web it seemed like just about everyone who had an Ariens loved it
- I knew where they were made - The Toro I think is made in the US, however I cant find anything from them or anyone else saying where that model is made specifically
- I liked that the Ariens was a bit more compact -- my shed is running out of room
- This one doesnt matter really but I liked the built in headlight on the Ariens more than the headlight on the Toro -- a cosmetic thing but its something I considered

Theyre both great machines -- and nearly identical in all aspects.  I dont find the Ariens hard to turn at all - in fact I think its really easy to move around (but I am a big guy so maybe Im bulling it a little and not noticing)

I must admit, I dont see how someone couldn't turn the Ariens.  The balance on the Toro is much further back so when you have that driven over snow to deal with, I can envision having to lift up on the handles to put the weight back down on the front scraper.   The ideal is to combine a few things of both, but that isn't going to happen.  If Toro had an auto traction control, they would charge a fortune for it.  There are a LOT of people with this exact decision to make.  I have a cheap MTD 5 hp thrower now with a plastic chute and havent had any troubles at all with it.  Put the quickchute on the Ariens and you have the best ever made.

The quickchute is nice -- but I gotta say that I find Ariens controls very easy to use and fast as well.  They dont get points for 'cool', and it might take an extra second if you need to change both chute direction and deflector height at the same time, but other than that I like the controls just fine.

I went with the Ariens Platinum 24". I think I'll be happy- $1150 plus tax Thanks to everyone for you input!

jviera1298 wrote:

I'd like to read some of those stories of the Toro's quick chute system breaking. I've looked and all I hear is people saying that they've heard of them breaking. From what I've seen for actual evidence they break there's not much out there. Plastic doesn't break, not like the old stuff this new stuff is really slick as well. If you prefer metal which dents that's ok. But don't say it breaks unless you've had a few of them break on you. My dealer who also sells Ariens says the few that have broken were from people backing their car into it or abuse like that. He also pointed out that those same things would have destryed a metal chute as well.

My wife weighs 84 lbs. and could not turn the Ariens. The Toro was very easy for her to use. Granted I blow most of the snow but she's always wanting to get her turn in on the Toro. But as I said Whatever brand you own is generally the one you will be in favor of. Toro's sell much faster than Ariens around here because they are fast and easy to use. Ariens work very well but the colleges here don't buy Ariens, just Toro's and Honda.

Everything you read online is hearsay (including what we can claim actually happened to our own equipment). Are the stories of the plastics cracking/breaking true? I dont know. Is what you're saying true? I dont know that either. It's a discussion board and were discussing what we've read - Ill still take steel over plastic anyday -- especially when the equipment will be subjected to a harsh environment. A dent and a crack are two totally different animals. The likelyhood of either happening to the chute isnt much - but it exists. I was at Home Depot a couple days ago re-examining my choice to go with the Ariens - and as smooth as the quick chute controls are, Im still happy with my steel Ariens -- and have zero doubt that the Toro chute would break before the Ariens one if the right object ever impacted it.

jviera1298 wrote:

So all you are left with is an opinion which has no credibility. I've worked with steel, aluminum and many other materials my whole life as a machinist. Yes, all sorts of plastics and phenolics too as did my father before me. All steel (sheetmetal in this case) is not created equally. Sheetmetal is going to dent or bend, plastic will crack given enough force. We made tests strips for the huge Nitrogen and Methane tanks. Pretty cool to watch steel that's 1000 times (at minimum) stronger than your Ariens sheetmetal chute shatter like glass. If you actually worked with this stuff everyday you'd appreciate the fact that some materials work better in certain enviroments better than others. Quality of material as well as many other factors all contribute to strength and longevity. The new plastics are very good for extreme cold enviroments. So don't dismiss them because you personally prefer metal. Chutes are basically feeder tubes and not subjected to *much force* through impacts. If I take a 5 lb. sledge to both chutes, after 2-3 hits it won't matter if it's plastic or metal. But chutes aren't subjected to that kind of force, if they were they'd be made of something other than sheetmetal or plastic.

Keep in mind we are both happy with what we own, but I am against the mythology that plastic is inferior to metal for every application. There isn't any evidence to support that Toro's plastic chutes have any more problems than metal chutes from other manufacturers.

Well, I need to add my $.02 since I just took delivery of an Ariens Platinum 24 a few days ago.  Purchased online through HD, and set up and delivered by an Ariens dealer who is 80 miles away.  Obviously I can't comment on snow throwing ability yet this year but some things I have noticed:  The AutoLok steering seems to work fine on dry pavement, however I did notice a strange "shift" in one of the turns I made.   Now that this year's Toro 826 OXE has the freewheel steering, it's a tough call to say which is better.  The handling/balance between both machines is no issue for me.  I think the Ariens Quick chute mechanism is a bit clunky and sloppy feeling.  I am using it correctly but it's still nowhere close to the smooth convenience of the Toro joystick.  I don't know that either one is going to last any longer than the other because while the Toro is plastic, the Ariens design looks questionable.  I would be surprised if the design does not get changed or refined in the coming years.  The Ariens' separate control for deflector angle (which hung up on delivery) is less convenient than the joystick as well.  The Ariens overall seems to be a bit beefier in some areas, but the Toro uses reinforcing brackets on it's impellers and bucket to strengthen it up. The Ariens' Briggs 249cc engine may have ball bearing crank journals as opposed to sleeve bearing on it's competitors, but the damn engine backfires every time you turn the throttle down, unless you move the lever at a snail's pace (this is #%& annoying!).  This cannot be good over the long term for the head gasket.  Other than that the construction is decent except that Ariens uses control rods with hairpin cotter pins everywhere, and there are no flat washers between the pins and the control arms...cheap.  Also much of the linkage was not lubricated, the bucket had chipped paint and some bolts for the shift linkage were loose.  The bolts that hold the chute mounting rod (1" square steel tubing)  were tightened so as to crush the tubing.  The skid mounting bolts were tightened enough to bend the washers there into serious "u" shapes.  I am going to call Ariens today to see what they have to say about all of this (good luck, right?)

Ariens has a lot of folks dealers and owners alike both pushing their lineup. Every dealer pushes Ariens hard, I mean it's crazy how hard they push it but if they sell Simplicity and Toro you don't hear about those makes. They always try and steer you to Ariens. Now Ariens might make a decent machine but I dislike it when they try and steer me like a cow to the slaughter. I'm very happy I got the Toro. I did sort of wear down the skid shoes last year and after this year I'll probably have to buy another set. But the driveway has to be down to bare tar so that's the price I pay I guess.

I hope it all works out with your Ariens but it sounds like you're having buyers remorse. I had that with my Honda 928TAS, wife couldn't steer it either. So I lost a few bucks on the return and got the Toro 1028. Since yours is still new and Home Depot has a great return policy if you decide to return it and get a Toro you probably would be able to.

slinger: If you're not happy now, after just purchasing a new toy like that, you never will be. Steve_Cebu is correct - take it back and get the Toro or whatever brand that makes you happy. You're going to own this for a long time so you might as well spend a few extra dollars to enjoy using your equipment. Sounds like the QC department was sleeping the day the one you purchased rolled off the production floor.

Ariens has offered to send me a new chute pedestal (support rod) and some Ariens orange touch-up paint for the chips, but told me I would have to talk to Briggs about the backfiring engine.  It seems this is a common enough event that Briggs has adddressed it in one of their FAQs.  They say that it will NOT hurt the engine.  There is supposedly no adjustment screw for the carb...just a fixed jet.  The throttle should run at full speed during normal operation.  Any throttling down must be done verrrry slowly in order to avoid the backfiring issue.  They don't say why it is that way though.  The engine runs fine at speed...just don't shut off the key from full throttle & reduce throttle really slowly.  Have any of you Toro owners experienced this backfiring issue with your Briggs snow series motors? 

slinger wrote:

My Toro 1028 does not backfire when I OFF the throttle. I just push the lever all teh way left and it rumbles dead quickly. One pull to start it up again. I have a Briggs engine not sure of the exact size because it's being serviced right now. But mine for certain does not backfire. It sounds like you got a lemon.

Slinger,

So how did you make out with the Ariens? I just purchased a Deluxe 28 with the 250cc briggs motor and it does the same damn thing! I very much do not car for the backfiring. I don't think it is good for the engine or my ears. Have you pursued Briggs or HD any farther to see whether you should get a new motor or did you return your machine?
I am really considering returning the machine and probably getting the deluxe 30, the platinum 28, or possible a john deere. (i'm dealing at my local john deere)
Looking forward to hearing from you.
thanks

slinger wrote:

I think that your dealer is to blame for that one, not the Ariens factory. I had to put that piece on in the assembly of my boxed Deluxe 28.

NotMoneyGuy,

Your signature says you own a Dulex 28, does your machine backfire when you idle down from operating speed?

mmr_tiggy wrote:

It has done it once or twice. I will try to slowly turn down the speed as mentioned above.

Edit: Here is a B&S FAQ link.

Slinger-

Backfiring is caused by the winter fuel and the overlean fixed jet that the govt. requires in today's standards. In the motorcycle community when Harley was using the fixed jet Kehin carbs on the Evo Block ead engines in the early 80's it was standard practice to use a carburetor jetting ream in order to richen the mixture and the backfire and blueing of the exhaust pipes diminished. Harley eventually went to computer controlled fuel injection which is not an option for us.

On blowers as the engine breaks in the problem will diminish a little  but it is something we have to learn to live with.You certainly haven't gotten a "lemon" and will enjoy good service from your machine.

Just a point of interest- When the ope engine manufacturers were first forced to go to fixed jets by the govt. many of us who bought Tecumseh powered units spent the $80 for the old style adjustable jet carb which were still available for the snow engines and the lean run issues went away. Since Briggs had been out of the snow market for about 30 years the new design they introduced for blowers had a new carb with no old ajustable variant available that would fit. The result  is if you got a Briggs you just have to deal with those issues. Interestingly some Briggs owners will report none of these issues with their fixed jet units. This can be explained by the gas available where they live and the altitude at which the engine performs . Honda's don't experience this problem because they manufacture their carbs with several sized fixed jets available.They usually match the engines to the area in which they are sold. I have a pressure washer with a GX Honda that I boought off the net(not from a local dealer).It back fired like crazy until I got my hands on a high altitude jet (rich mixture)and then the problem went away.

Marc

This message was modified Dec 9, 2010 by joed

Strange.

I've never had an engine that regularly back fired.  I've got several OPE engines within five years old and none of them have that problem.

I am just going to let the engine break in a while and see if the backfiring problem diminishes.  For now I just have to try to remember to throttle down very slowly.  The engine seems to run fine at speed so I'm going to just go with it for now..  I guess as long as it's not  hurting anything (as long as I avoid the conditions that cause the backfiring), I can live with it and see if things improve. 

mml4 wrote:

No problems with my B&S. It even has a fixed wide open throttle and never backfires. I always use Stabil treated premium fuel.

EDIT: At about 3K feet elevation as well.

No backfiring on my Toro which has a Briggs & Stratton on it. All last year no backfiring and this year it started up with one pull. I just slide the fuel to off and let it run out by itself and no backfiring.

Mine didn't have a fuel shutoff so I added one. Easy to install and cheap. At the end of the season I usually let it run out of gas, pull carb bowl off and drain fuel there and then empty remaining fuel out of gas tank.

Purchased an Ariens Platinum 24" 1 month from a local dealer, not HD.  Haven't used it yet but after numerous starts and stops from full throttle and with run times of up to 20 minutes, it hasn't backfired yet.