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

I am looking at purchasing my first snow blower.  My local shop carries Toro's and Ariens.  I live in northern NJ (morris county) and we had a lot of wet heavy/icy snow last year, so the wife has finally given in to the purchase. 

Our driveway is about 125' long and most of it is a about a single car lane, but it opens up to about 3 wide at the bottom.  Also my neighbor's drive way is adjacent to it and its about two cars lanes wide in front of their house and one car wide between the two houses.  So I'd have to throw the snow straight ahead when I am in the section between the two houses.

I'm currenty thinking of purchasing the Arien's 920013 (Compact 22).  Do you think a 6 HP engine will cut it, or should I be looking at a 7 HP?

jyanno wrote:

Your area is 125 foot 1 car wide drive with wide entrance.  You get 40-50 inches average a year which is not all that much.  It's 12 -15 less than what I'm used to.  You don't need a lot of power.   You mentioned one place where you have to toss ahead which would end up causing maybe 30 feet of partial double throw.   For the rest you would only have to throw from one side of the drive way to your land side.  No requirement for big power. 

The 211cc is a nice engine and the hp around 6 - 6.75 (probably the high side).  The tourque on that engine is claimed to be a bit higher compared to a similar Briggs.  The 921019 is nice and has the basics with 14 inch augers and 14 inch impeller.  It's got the XS gearbox which is great.  With the three car EOD you might have to take a thinner cut on some storms but will get the area cleared without a problem.   I would think you'd be fine with the 19. 

You might want more power and features in other models.   You could go 622, 724 or 824 and be fine.   With a long thin drive you won't need be turning much so no need for differential or other easy turn features.  Snowblowers are pretty easy to turn with both wheels locked.   

I had an Ariens snowblower, probably their largest 2 stage model for many years it worked well, but eventually lost its ability to drive into heavy wet snow.  I donated it to a relative who put a new engine on it, and its still working for someone out there.   The 15 Years i had the MTD -Craftsman with tracks it was fine so long as the friction wheel mechanism was recently serviced. Last few years i ended up having to help push it whenever it encountered heavy wet slush and snow.  I decided to spring for the Honda because 1- i was sick of the cold weather repair and adjustment needed to make it work, and 2- i'm not pushing anything anymore, life's too shrt and the hospital bill would be a lot more than the Honda snowblower. Light powder is never the problem, it's the wet southern New England snow that's the problem.  If the snow belt line is north, we get rain but when its close by, as it often is, we get this heavy wet snow that snowblowers struggle to throw.  If your friction wheel 2 stage does the job, great.  but for me it required a lot of extra maintenance.  That is why i bought the pricey HONDA HS 928 TAS machine.  It wasn't because I wanted to pay 3 times the price, but I have been there and tried the friction wheel machines and it just didn't Do The Job.  Say what you want, but I Know the Honda will get it done.

New_Yorker wrote:

New_Yorker: First let me state that I'm not trying to get you wound up, but there are more friction wheel drive units out there than not and most don't have the issues you describe. Labeling ALL friction wheel drive snowblowers as inferior or not up to the task of clearing snow is misleading and inaccurate. You had your MTD-Craftsman for 15 years - how did it perform for the majority of those years? You say it required " a lot of extra maintenance" but was that maintenance performed by someone who knew what they were doing? Maybe you got a lemon - it does happen from time to time? You state that your Ariens worked great for many years until it "lost its ability to drive into heavy wet snow" and then a relative replaced the engine. Not quite sure if this was engine or drive system related but it did last for "many years".  

Friction wheel drive has been around for a long time and is a tried and proven propulsion method that is used on almost every snowblower out there except perhaps for the Honda's and Yamaha's. If this system was so problem plagued, it would have been replaced with some other method long ago because people would stop buying snowblowers equipped with friction wheel drive propulsion. In reading your posts, I believe you mentioned that you have not used your new Honda in the snow yet?

I've been using Honda snowblowers for over 10 years and can tell you first hand that they are very nice, well built machines, but there is nothing magical about them. If you overwork the engine or transmission, you will have problems with your new Honda. It may be your technique that requires some thought as it sounds like your pushing the equipment beyond its engineered design limits. Forcing any snowblower into heavy, wet snow (IMO) is not the best way to work the equipment. Taking a smaller bite and slowing down to allow the equipment (namely the augers/impeller) to process the snow would be a better method. Technique and regular, routine maintenance are usually all that is required to keep any equipment operating as it was designed.

   In 15 years it might be possible to have to replace the friction disk three times.   It would depend on a few things.  

You mentioned getting lots of salt on your EOD pile. 

Clear after work and the snow had sat all day compressing and melting. 

Your area gets lots of sun. 

Maybe the road you’re on gets lots of sun making the EOD pile pretty bad. 

Possibly you’re overdriving the machine.  

The MTD was a track.  Was that because you have a steep area? 

 

With all of those working together and having an MTD with a very slim friction disk it could wear in five.  Given your average snow load per year something has to be unusual for you to have experienced the problems you have had.   

FrankMA:

Very well put. 

Rest assured that those of us who know anything at all about snow throwers or mechanics in general, will take New Yorkers posts with more than a grain of salt.   Credibility is hard to sustain when the information provided is dead wrong.   There are a lot of experienced and knowledgeable participants in this forum.  I'm certain that the combined advice of those who know of what they speak, will guide those looking for advice in the right direction.   

 

I justify the prices of my high end OPE purchases by amortizing the cost over the anticipated service life. If you spread it out long enough it barely costs you anything on a yearly basis :). The way I look at it, you're only here for so long and the work needs to be done so you might as well have OPE that you enjoy using. One other thing, always understate the true cost of the equipment to your wife - it'll make your life sooo much easier....

Yeah, I could be buying Honda machines but if I did, I'd feel that I was capitulating to the gougers.   Particularly the local dealers who smile while they're sticking it to you.  If I were ever to replace the Simplicity, I'd probably order a Yamaha.   Not locally either!   Yamaha appear to make an awesome snow thrower even though the h.p. ratings appear a bit low for the performance they promise.   Something like this would do just fine:


http://www.yamaha-motor.ca/products/products.php?model=3537&section=td&group=G#contentTop

 

When MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul) had a snow storm about a week ago, I thought my Honda HS724WA was adequate and did a nice job but I was a bit worried about it only having 6.5hp.  I was debating back and forth then finally gave my Honda dearler a call on Dec 7, 2010 and asked if I could upgrade to Honda HS928WAS.  The Honda dearler gave me a full credit and was very understanding.  I used the HS724WA once so it was in an excellent condition.  On that afternoon I got the 8.5hp HS928WAS.  When I purchased the 724WA a week ago, the dearler had eight HS928 in stock but they only had two left on 12/7/2010.  So there are a lot of people wanting high performance Honda snowblowers.  The machine is a bit louder than the HS724 so it went from a kitty sound to a lion's roar.  Last night and today, MSP got around 18" of snow thus far and it is still snowing.  The HS928WAS was very strong/robust and can blow very far even at the minimum throttle setting.  The 928 is much faster than the 724 so it was a worthwhile upgrade.  Do I still feel stupid about buying an expansive Honda snowblower?  Not anymore after today's performance.  It is a nice and powerful toy.  My family was not too impressed with me at first but after watching me clearing our driveway and neighbors in a heartbeat, they were truly impressed and glad we got one.  When you have a high performing snowblower, blowing snow can be FUN and enjoyable to watch.

FrankMA wrote:
Excellent Post FrankMA!! It's all in the way you work your machine into the EOD!!