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

There is talk of Hondas, and the need for tracks on steep inclines, their advantage over gravel and going through hard packed or icy snow. However, the reviews all also talk about how hard they are to steer.

The MTD Cub Cadet line has the model 726TDE. It isn't very expensive; the Cub Cadet site has it at $1200, It is only 26" wide with 12" auger and impeller. And powered by a small 208cc engine. However, it has MTD's left/right free wheel 'power steering'. Disengaging one track should let the unit turn rather easily.

Does anyone here have or have tried it?

http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_36804_27656_-1_600000_27658

http://www.cubcadet.com/wcsstore/CubCadetCatalogAssetStore/Attachment/sell%20sheets/residential/700_Series_Snow_Thrower_SS_2010.pdf

aa335: Looks like an MTD built.

The tractor section is the same design they have used since at least the early-90's and probably earlier.  It looks like this design slightly modified is what is used in the 930.  The auger gearbox is also the same as has been used for decades.

DavidNJ: Disengaging one track should let the unit turn rather easily.

They turn with zero operator effort.  Power on the outside.  You can doghnut turns with these things if you want.  I've had about 6 of these older MTD's and never had to touch a tractor drive section other than clean and lub.  They are easy to use and fun to drive around.   I've got a 10hp 26 here and will probably keep it for a few storms to muck around with.

What Trouts said. I have a 6 yr old 28" MTD labeled as a Lawn-Man that has different sheet metal and a Tecumseh Snow King that looks like it has the same lower half. It's great steering with just 2 fingers. The only bad thing is when you are trying to turn when there's snow on both sides. You have to muscle it a bit as the housing doesn't like to go into the snow sideways - not really a big deal, if it's really bad (>16") you just back up a bit and make a wider path. The traction is fantastic. The top of my driveway has a pretty good slope and melt off my garage roof comes right down it, often leaving it covered in glare ice. There have been times when I have not been able to walk up it, yet I can hang on to that blower and slide right up the hill. Another advantage of a tracked blower is the ability to set the height of the scraper bar about 1' above ground level and clear unpaved areas easily. But it's an MTD, so be prepared for a little extra maintenance work every year if you want it to last.

One question I have is how well it works as a snow blower. It has a little 208cc motor, 26" width, and 12" impeller. My 1997 MTD has a 28" width, 12" impeller, but a 10hp Tecumseh. It had trouble with wet snow and really never could handle more than 50-60% its scoop width; the snow mount in front of it would just push to the sides.

Can the little motor keep up?

Could you elaborate on the maintenance issue? Snow blowers are rather simple. All use similar motors, many the same B&S. Then there are just a few gears, cables, and the friction drive wheel. What required the extra maintenance?

I have been looking at 30" wide wheeled units. The idea here is that EOD and clear the mailbox, which is effectively EOD, can take 20-30% of the snow removal time even though they account for less than 10% of the total area. Also, the rise from the street to the house is about 10', enough of a slope that the tracks could have an advantage uphill. Finally, I'm thinking a tracked unit may have an advantage over any wheeled unit if the snow is there is a layer of ice on the top or bottom.

This is the only tracked unit that appears to have steering in the US. Trying to muscle locked wheels around the arc of the circular driveway has never been fun and I didn't want to learn it with tracks, therefore the interest in this unit.

It works OK as a snowblower, I'd say probably average. The throw distance isn't great, but good enough. The tracks are great on packed snow but will slip on ice if there's a big pile in front of them. As far as the maintenance issue, the running gear is solid, I've not done anything to it except a little cleaning and lube. Where my complaints are is in the MTD-thinner-than-normal sheet metal and poor paint. Rust happens in the corners, hit a curb and the sides can bend, shoes are thin and I had to weld bottoms on them after two years. I also had to weld on a new edge for the scraper bar in year 5. Too many plastic parts but none of them have broken yet. I was worried about the plastic chute, but it's held up fine, even in extreme cold, so at this point I'd rate it as a plus since it can't rust. If I could get a machine with this design only built more ruggedly, I'd consider it the perfect walk behind. All that said, mine is about to go up for sale since I've just acquired a Case tractor with a 48" blower on it - my walking days are over.

My MTD is 14 years old. I replaced the scaper bar twice it needs it again. The shoot is fine but plastic belt housing has cracked, possibly during a belt failure from age; I should have replace the belts at 10 years or earlier. The skid shoes are fine but the corners have bent in regularly. There are lots of springs, exposed and otherwise, that seem to have developed corrosion. Several have broken over the years,  usually at the most inopportune times. Many bolts also corroded; I've relaced them with stainless when I need to. The springs, bolts, cables should have been stainless or appropriately coated. There has been some paint which scraped or flaked off; I wire brushed it and repainted it once.

If these are still MTD and MTD only issues then that is probably an argument against this. Also, if it slips on ice in first gear would indicate it can't slow down enough. Is that a problem? I read lots of complaints that reverse is too slow. Could it be that the friction disc 'gear adjustment' is off and first is too fast also? The small Hondas always seem to crawl in their videos while their owners rave (or rant, depending on your view) of their performance. A lower speed may help the ice slippage and the snow performance by reducing the volume/weight of snow per unit time.

Bill H:

Great assessment post on the MTD.  The MTD is a price break machine so has some shortcomings but overall if used properly they can last for many years.  I get lots of them with rust and buckled lower front sides.  But, I’ve seen lots of 80’s and 90’s MTD is excellent condition.  Their paint is not the best though.  Depending on storage conditions If chipped or scrapped the rust will spread fairly quickly underneath adjacent good paint.  The exposed areas rust at a rate much faster than Ariens buckets in the same age bracket.  The old Ariens paint and metal was great.  Somewhere in the 90’s Ariens changed paint which came off in gobs. 

   I picked up a 10hp track for $20 with a chirping auger support bearing.  It has quite a bit of bucket rust but functionally in excellent condition with a strong motor.  DavidNJ it would probably be perfect for you.

 

DavidNJ:

I read lots of complaints that reverse is too slow. Could it be that the friction disc 'gear adjustment' is off and first is too fast also?

 

Yes.  Since MTD put in the second notch for reverse their range of forward and reverse speeds is excellent.  You can get whatever you want for slow forward and still have a good reverse.  On many machines if you adjust for a slow forward reverse suffers too much, even on some Ariens.

 

208cc comes in at about 6.5hp or a smidge more.  If you don’t have any extreme distance requirements it would be fine.  You might have to struggle for some storms with the EOD with a thin cut but overall it would work.   I replace quite a few older Ariens 7 and 8hp machines with 6.5 OHV Honda GX clones and their throughput and distance is great.  I run them against 8hps and the only ones that beat them appreciably are the newer machines which have better designs for distance, better chute shape and faster augers and impeller.   In wet snow they are fine.  I have seen Briggs and Chinese Lifan OHV’s on newer MTDs.  Most of the clones I get are Lifan made and are good engines.  I don’t know what the snow is like where you are but your area up here 25 miles west of Boston could be done with that machine. 

We have 5 or so objectives for the new machine:

1) Handle wet heavy snow. The current machine would often just fill the chute and impeller with a very wet slushy mush, as if it pressing the water from the snow.

2) Turn. The circular driveway has two long arcs and with the fixed wheels required a bit of wrestling. Free wheeling one didn't provide traction when needed. The turn at the EOD was a big arc in the street.

3) Speed it up. The 28" 10hp Tecumseh MTD would often only be able to use half the scoop width before it would have overflow on the cleared side. This is why we have been looking at 30" and large units and focusing in the volume/mass of snow they could eject. This would be our main concern with a 26" 208cc.

4) Handle the EOD/Mailbox.  The end of driveway (about 30') and the Mailbox (another 10-15') are plowed with a tall, hard, 5' wide mound of snow. The old unit struggled if it could handle it at all. It would be nice if the unit could handle it. This is the primary perceived advantage of the tracked unit. The dual freewheel has a slight advantage in releasing both for a quick backward movement. However, the same can be achieved by releasing the drive.

5) Wife can use it. I'm not always here and she needs to be able to get out when it snows. Her favorite story is when I caught the flu the afternoon before a large storm. If the Deere had the Ariens handlebars, we may have gotten it. However, the left/right freewheel will probably be easier for her to turn. She couldn't handle the Deere, but in the store had no problem with the Ariens. The nose weight was a little heavier in the Deere presumably because of the cast iron gearbox, but the real difference was that the Ariens hand grips were much further behind the rear wheels. She really liked the electric chute adjustment.

6) Reliable. Maintenance requires getting parts and possibly going to a repair facilty paying for the pickup/delviery. My guess is the Ariens, B&S Deere/Simplicity, Toro, and Husqvarna are all pretty similar there; they all have basically the same engine and drive components. However, is it a concern for MTD? As indicated, we had some failures do to springs and cables failing.

We have 5 or so objectives for the new machine:

1) Handle wet heavy snow. The current machine would often just fill the chute and impeller with a very wet slushy mush, as if it pressing the water from the snow.

2) Turn. The circular driveway has two long arcs and with the fixed wheels required a bit of wrestling. Free wheeling one didn't provide traction when needed. The turn at the EOD was a big arc in the street.

3) Speed it up. The 28" 10hp Tecumseh MTD would often only be able to use half the scoop width before it would have overflow on the cleared side. This is why we have been looking at 30" and large units and focusing in the volume/mass of snow they could eject. This would be our main concern with a 26" 208cc.

4) Handle the EOD/Mailbox.  The end of driveway (about 30') and the Mailbox (another 10-15') are plowed with a tall, hard, 5' wide mound of snow. The old unit struggled if it could handle it at all. It would be nice if the unit could handle it. This is the primary perceived advantage of the tracked unit. The dual freewheel has a slight advantage in releasing both for a quick backward movement. However, the same can be achieved by releasing the drive.

5) Wife can use it. I'm not always here and she needs to be able to get out when it snows. Her favorite story is when I caught the flu the afternoon before a large storm. If the Deere had the Ariens handlebars, we may have gotten it. However, the left/right freewheel will probably be easier for her to turn. She couldn't handle the Deere, but in the store had no problem with the Ariens. The nose weight was a little heavier in the Deere presumably because of the cast iron gearbox, but the real difference was that the Ariens hand grips were much further behind the rear wheels. She really liked the electric chute adjustment.

6) Reliable. Maintenance requires getting parts and possibly going to a repair facilty paying for the pickup/delviery. My guess is the Ariens, B&S Deere/Simplicity, Toro, and Husqvarna are all pretty similar there; they all have basically the same engine and drive components. However, is it a concern for MTD? As indicated, we had some failures do to springs and cables failing.

One change Ariens made this year was to reorient the cables so that the end of the cable points down instead of up, thereby minimizing the chance of moisture getting into the cable and settling in the low spot of the cable where it could corrode and cause cable hangup/failure.  That's the reason why the cables look so funny looping up the way they do.

BTW, it looks like many others have done this too...