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

Weighed a couple, and it seemed the right rear wheel had 2.5x the weight of the left. Is that common? That would explain why Ariens freewheel on the Deluxe models is on the left wheel.

New ynits on the store floor. No operator. You guys obviously don't care to know WHY one snowblower works differently than another. You would be happy with an uninformed opinion from a limited viewpoint. Let me guess, you're a Democrat.

This forum has many insights along with quite a bit of incorrect information. Even in this search we went from one brand having 1300 rpm impellers to 1000 rpm advantage, 4000 rpm to 3600 rpm motor. Yet never discuss why one system may lift its nose, or another may have more traction. The manufacturer's don't help, generally providing minimal or occasionally incorrect information, having dealers who have little practical use information, no competitivie information, retailers (Sears, Lowes, HD) with even less info, and then have have people question motives and character if they disagree with you. You operate under the theory "The snowblower community has reached a strong consensus regarding the selection of snowblowers'. You guys must really be Democrats.

I was rather surprised. I was measuring front/rear weight when I found the wedge. It appears it surprised you also.

Now, does someone else who may actually verify this further or have insights into why care to post?

DavidNJ wrote:

Your ignorance is showing first off I am an Independant, have been for over 20 years. So you're wrong on that account. Ad Hominum attacks are so passe'. That's when you don't resort to strawman arguements which is typically what you do when someone refutes your evidence.

Also you choose to ignore most informaton that is provided y people who actually own and use these machines. most of us use these to throw snow pretty far. The how's and why's of why one brand throws snow 10 inches further isn't really all that important to me. You go on and on about all kinds of minor stuff that is going to not make a whit of difference in real world usage. My Toro does everything on your list that you claim is what you are looking for. I know because I have used it to do exactly those things. I also owned a Honda 928TAS, so I'm familiar with that unit too. This is not the same as reading a book or taking a test drive with no snow around the Home Depot or Ariens/Toro/Simplicity dealers parking lot.

These companies sell a LOT of machines. You act like you know what you are talking about, but you really don't. Most of us on here don't brag about our credentials. My father was a machinist for almost 50 years and owned his own corporation. He worked on the Apollo projects working to manufacture components and for a whole slew of other big corporations, mostly aerospace. He was regarded as quite a damn good engineer and Tool & Die man. He didn't work on cars or snowblowers but he could probably design a damn good one and has a far better understanding of these things than you ever will and he isn't an anal retentive ass, never was. He did design things that are still being used today and still work and haven't broken.

Why don't you weight each nut and bolt on your 15 year old machine and see how many micrograms they are off by. No one else really cares. The fact that this escapes you is very telling.

So buy your, on sale, discount MTD machine that will cost you $800 since it has a 1400rpm impeller speed and some other stuff that in the real world won't make it throw snow any further than your current one. Then you can come back and whinge all about it. I'm sure you'd love to complain about issues like the company lied about their impellar speeds or something.

Meanwhile the rest of us will own a decent Toro, Ariens, Honda or Simplicity and be very happy throwing snow and not worrying about weighing our wheels or nuts & bolts or testing our impellar speeds with a laser rpm tester.

DavidNJ: I don't understand how you equate politics to your never ending, over analysis of your future snowblower purchase. That said,  I believe that when it is all said and done, you will indeed end up with a low end snowblower and continue to beat up all the higher end quality snowblowers. You sound like someone who has way too much time on their hands and not enough real world experience to appreciate high end OPE.

I've read your numerous posts bashing Honda snowblowers yet you've never had the pleasure to operate one - not even in a showroom let alone a snowstorm. I've used several different makes of snowblowers over the years and can tell you hands down that Honda (IMHO) is the best. Amortize an extra 200, 300 or 500 dollars over the years' and it's chicken feed in the long run. Buy a good quality product and you'll enjoy using it instead of wondering if you made the right choice 2, 3 or 5 years down the road. Go out and try some of these snowblowers at a dealers showroom and then buy the one that really WOWS you. Who cares if it's a few extra $$$, you're only here for a little while - you might as well enjoy the ride!