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

Hi All.  I am going to buy a snow blower soon and need some advice.  My driveway is between 20% to 30% grade for about 150 feet..   I am concerded that a wheel drive snow blower will not be able to get up a drive that steep with snow on the drive.  At what angle of incline does a trak drive blower need to be considered?  What is the primary puopose of trak drive?. 

Thanks!

Doug D

Thanks everybody for the input. 

Doug D

Every Honda tracked snowblower owner should get a training from the dealer on how to turn this baby.  It's not intuitive at first, but once you learned and mastered it, you'd wonder why everyone is b*tching about it.

Drifter, you have the TC (totally cool) Canadian model with the lever release, us poor souls in the US have to make due with the pedal release, which means we can't activate it while it's moving.  I like to thank Honda of America for making features decision for the US market that's not in the best interests of the users. We should be getting the TC and TCD models that Canadians enjoy, not these watered down TA (totally asinine) models in the US.  Hope someone at Honda corporate is listening.

aa335 wrote:
Well hey at least the machines don't cost ya over $4500 with tax!

I'd probably downgrade to 928TCD just to stay under $4000.       The electric chute rotation and deflection by joystick is pretty cool.  Sure it costs a pretty penny when it breaks, but keep on top of maintenance it should go for a while.

aa335 wrote:
That one is $3999 plus 13% tax = $4518 LOL

Yeah we get ripped off on everything here.
I just bought a set of winter tires for the car which cost me $587(and thats without installation).
Same set on tirerack would cost a US customer less than half that!

giocam wrote:

I dunno, my Nokian WRG2's that I just bought for my wifes car cost $605 installed. That's not cheap. Of course Nokians are the best snow rated all season on the market bar none. They are the only all season with a snowflake approval rating. You do get ripped off up there no doubt. But your money is now worth more than ours so trips over the border are common now. You can save a bundle and no tax either.

Well i got general altimax arctic for my civic which are only $66 each on tirerack. I don't know what your tires would cost you in Canada but I am sure it would be a ton more than what you paid.
Cross border shopping isn't an option for me, its overall about 20 hours of driving plus a 6-8 hour boat ride to the nearest state.

giocam wrote:

Yikes! That is a long haul to the US. So not really an option for you. Most small communities in the US overcharge as well because they can get away with it. Nokian WRG2's would probably cost a bundle in Canada I looked it up and teh same tires would cost you $806. Not sure if that's installed. They are only sold through Canadian Tire up there.

Back on topic....for you Hundaa heads out there, do you feel that you can maneuver just as well with the tracks as the wheeled models ? Off topic : Nokian tires rock. It's just a shame, just like these dwindled down red buckets we get out here. We are 2 years behind in current Nokian snow tire technology ....and their current revision of the Haks are pretty damm amazing.. I thought the Hak 5 series were quite a deal, but the Hak 7 overseas trumps it 2 1/2 fold at least

Back on topic....for you Hundaa heads out there, do you feel that you can maneuver just as well with the tracks as the wheeled models ? Off topic : Nokian tires rock. It's just a shame, just like these dwindled down red buckets we get out here. We are 2 years behind in current Nokian snow tire technology ....and their current revision of the Haks are pretty damm amazing.. I thought the Hak 5 series were quite a deal, but the Hak 7 overseas trumps it 2 1/2 fold at least

I was looking into those Nokian snow tires for my rear wheel drive car a few years ago.  They look like they do a good job with traction on snow.  We don't get a lot of snow at one time, and when the pavement is dry, I'm pretty aggressive on tires so I didn't think those Nokian compounds would nog hold up too well.  Plus I wasn't comfortable with the Q or T speed rating on those tires.  I have Dunlop Wintersport 3D and it's a fairly decent compromise for this area.  Plus, with my wheel size to fit the brake rotors, the highest profile I can get is 40 series in snow tires.

i really would like a truck for my winter driving.  Good ground clearance (5" with my current car) and not worrying about dodging pot holes that sends shockwave through the car.