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

I have spoken to 2 different dealers that sell both machines and both reccomend the Ariens over the Toro. 

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts!!

I went to several dealers, considered online sellers.  In the end, I went with a local dealer:  delivery and assembly was included; the snowthrower cost was $1,299.00.  I read something about the skid shoes leaving red marks on the drive?  Steve or others have any experience/advice with this?  

Thank you all for your advice!   

Congratulations! It's a great machine, I'm certain you'll be very happy with it.

As far as red marks, I'm sure the paint came off after the first use. I am looking into replacement skids because mine are wearing down. In all fairness my skids are set very very low on purpose. But those ones with the wheels look good. I'll price out a pair of metal shoes and see which is cheaper. But our driveway is pretty old and while it's noty cracked it's not pure black any longer. It's also not 100% flat either so there are probably some scrapes here and there that I might notice if I went out and actually looked for them which would mean doing the leaves which after the heavy rain and hail we had today won't be happening for a while.

If your driveway is pristine and brand spanking new, you might be better off with a skid shoe that is smooth and like teflon or something. For me I don't notice it. I just don't want to buy skids every 2 years if there is a better option available.

That's about right as far as wear & tear on the skid shoes goes. I went through about 3 or 4 sets over the 10 years I used & owned my HS624 and a couple of those sets were the commercial skid shoes. Those are about 1" thick bar stock and do definitely last 5X longer than the residential skid shoes. The scrapper bar is another item that sees a lot of action but I only replaced one of those. These are however, typical wear items and will need to be inspected & replaced on a fairly regular basis. Just part of the snowblowing experience!

Thanks FrankMA, yeah it's a wear item, but I'm hoping that there is something out there maybe that skid with a wheel that would last a lot longer, hard to say. But the skid shoes can't cost much. I'm sure I can get 2 more years out of this pair if I flip them when they wear out on one end. Commercial skid shoes would be good too. How much they cost in my area is another matter. The Scraper bar seems ok so that should be fine for a few years.

Just curious, how much did you pay for your skid shoes?

IIRC - the Commercial Skid Shoes were about $50.00 vs. $ 30.00 or so for the Residential version. Typical Honda in that you pay big $$$ but you do get what you pay for in the grand scheme of things. BTW, the Commercial ones are worth the extra $$$ as they are very heavy duty and last much longer than the Residential version. I've recycled them a few times by welding a piece of flat bar to them when the contact shoe has worn away.

Check out the thread below for another option that looks like it has some merit.... It's the posting from rafdog at the bottom.

Replace Skid Shoes With Wheels?

Any sticking issues with the Toro's chute?  I read somewhere somebody used PAN because he had some issues.  ???

Thanks,

Brian