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

Here I've been thinking 2009 Subaru powered Ariens Deluxe 30", 2010 B&S 342 Ariens Platinum 30", B&S 342 Toro 1128 and now a Deere 1330SE pops up.

Net, 14" auger, 342cc B&S, same Hillard AutoLok differential as Ariens Platinum (does Ariens make it?), electric hand warmers, electric chute rotation/deflection adjustment (still can'd decide if this is a good thing), slightly bigger tires than the Ariens or Toro (16x6.5), cast iron gear case. It includes drift cutters for a price of $1500, less than all but the Ariens Deluxe.

It is sold by a dealer and by Lowe's (same price, dealer has cheaper delivery). Is this made by Ariens? Is it any good? Is the Impeller also 14"

Update, the 30" looks like a Smplicity Large Frame, the 32" a Simplicity Signature Pro Commercial. Specs are the same except for the differential (Simplicity's free the left wheel), hand warmers (NA on the Large Frame), and color.

Slinger:  Congradulation on your resisting the temptation.   Many make the mistake of buying for worse case and most regret it later although it takes a few years of dragging around a big machine to cave in and admit the mistake.  I pickup big machines often from people who are happy to get rid of them.  Tough to resist a big toy but unless you're in a snow belt they hardly get used.  I'm 25 miles west of Boston where there is not much snow per year.   

The Ariens 1124 was a 11.5 Tecumseh OHV on a 24 inch intake housing, model 924122.  It was a fantastic machine with CI and full differential of the old hand switchable style at the wheel.  I'd take that anyday over the newer full differential.  The rakes were 16 inch, impeller 12 with a 4 blade impeller.   It was the last year I know of to have a cast iron gearbox with cone roller bearings on the auger drive shaft.   I kept it for one season then sold it to make room for something else to try out.  It was a great compact tiger.

I would have thought the opposite. When the snow was heavy the extra width was no advantage, the impeller couldn't move the extra volume. When the snow was light, 2" or so, the the greater the width never seemed enough.

The differential lets one wheel run faster than the other, so it is inside wheel that is powered. You are providing the force to make the turn but you don't have to fight a locked axle, engage or disengage the a free wheel, or have any cables, levers, return springs, etc to maintain. Ariens uses it, the 1330SE seems to be the only Briggs and Stratton model with it.

trouts2 wrote:

Good point trouts. I must admit I did fall for this mistake. The 28" snowblower that I really wanted was sold out for the whole winter, so I bought the next size up, a 32". It was more money, bigger, and heavier. Looking back, I should have waited another year to get the 28" that I wanted in the first place. Oh well.

My back aches just looking at those machines over 28" or 30" in width. I can't imagine bulling around something with a 32" or larger bucket unless you have an unusually long and/or wide driveway or very large areas to clear of snow. I'd probably get an a blower attachment for my tractor if I had to deal with that type of situation. I think you would be more productive with a smaller machine by being able to manuever it easier than a larger machine.

I've been using a 6HP, 24" bucket, wheeled machine for the past 10 years and just stepped up to a 9HP with a 28" bucket and tracks so it will be interesting to experience the difference this coming winter. I was a bit apprehensive to sell off my HS624WA before trying the new one under real world conditions. I decided that it was time for an upgrade and if it does not work out to my satisfaction, I'll sell the HS928TA and get HS724TA. An idiot with a plan is better than a genius without one!

That HS928TA was the exact one I wanted to buy. I think this one has good balance between power, size, and maneuverability. Soon after I bought my HS1132TAS, I found that our Canadian folks was able to buy the HS928TCD, tracked model with joystick control electric chute and onboard battery start. I would have jumped on it if I haven't bought a snowblower and can get imported to the US at a reasonable price.

It's sad that American market doesn't have the selection that Canada and Japan has for snowblowers. They are way more advanced and feature rich than what we get here. $$$$ Expensive though.

Those models have a scoop that is cut back on the top. Intuitively, that seem much better suited to snow taller than the scoop itself. Why don't other manufacturer's do that?

I'm not sure that is an advantage for the Honda. At least I don't think it makes a difference for snowblowing. But, it does help for visibility. On the other hand, the Yamaha have bucket extenders (in black) to prevent spill over. They also line the metal chute with slippery plastic (teflon maybe) to prevent sticking and possibly resulting in higher discharge velocity.

The Yamaha has a similar scoop design, and the low friction plastic liners. It looks quite nice, although I still fail to see why when making a premium priced tracked vehicle with hydrostatic drive, separate left and right drives allowing steering aren't used. They are common in zero-turn lawn mowers. The unit below does allow the tracks to be individually locked to allow turning and has a dual range for the hydrostatic drive. It is also over $5000CAN, really over $5000US. If it were sold in the US for $3000, I would be very tempted.

It's not that hard to turn when there's layer of snow underneath the tracks.  The tracks have teeth that has great traction front to back, but you can get it slip sideways easier.  I've even turning on dry concrete at low speeds, high effort, but doable.

Come to think about turning, it is very technique dependent.  Too fast and you overshoot your turn, it will run wide, don't have time to steer, and it will outrun you.   Seriously, how do you catch up to the snowblower that 4 times your footprint on slippery surface.  Too slow and it has too much friction, more effort to turn.  The hydrostatic drive allows very precise speed control so you can dial the exact speed you need depending on the turn radius and the surface friction.  This is more amplified with tracks and a hydrostatic transmission is almost mandatory.  When you turn, the tracks will fight against the power of the engine.  I think that kind of torque and resistance might kill friction disc in no time because the disc is least efficient at low speed, scrubbing and slipping are really high.  Kinda hard to explain turning a track snowblower unless you're operating one, you will get a feel for it and adjust speed and technique.

If it has tracks, torque demand is very high.  I would not accept anything less than a hydro or individual electric motors.  I'm not sure what kind of drive Ariens use on their track snowblower, but if it uses friction disc, it will have to be specially designed for that application.  Maybe Snowman can chime in on this topic.