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

I'm trying to decide between getting the Toro 826 2 stage snowblower with the 249 cc Briggs engine and freewheel steering or the Ariens 22" compact model with the 169 cc Robin subaru engine.  I need to clean about
2000 square feet of interlock along with my neighbor's yard when he's away in Florida on his winter vacation.   Any reviews, suggestions?  Thanks.

Hi Joe, I think if it were my money in that case I would go with the Ariens 22. I personally feel that the taller housing is of more value than the wider housing in a situation like yours. The taller housing will be nicer on the big EOD piles - I don't think you'll be missing the extra 2 inches of width, especially in the tight areas. That toro is pretty long, huh? I remember being surprised at the length of mine when I got it home and in the garage.

joed wrote:

I'd say go with the smaller Ariens over the Toro 722. The advantages of the Toro are lost on the models that don't have their premier features.

Update #2

Well, after much thought, I decided to go with the Toro 826.  I figured out a way to get it through the tight spot around my house.  I got lucky too because my dealer had a sale going on this weekend to clear out some stock.  Normally the 826 goes for $1499 Canadian.  I got it for $1299.  Pretty good price considering the compact Ariens would have cost me about $900.  Though the Subaru engine would have been great, I still think that the Toro 826 is a much better unit than the compact Ariens, even with a Briggs engine on it.  Though it looks like a big machine when you first see it, I can't believe how easy it use to move with that freewheel steering.  Anyhow, all I need is snow to see how it works now.   Thank you so much to all of you for helping me out during this process.  I really appreciate it.  Big thanks to Steve too.  I saw your videos on Youtube with your Toro 2 stage unit and it helped to convince me that the machine was easy to use.

Im currently in the market for a snow blower as well and I have my eyes on the 826 OXE as well. But why were you comparing the compact with this model? IMHO the Ariens 24" Deluxe w/211 cc Subaru engine or the 24" Platinum with 249cc Brigs would have been more of a fair comparison. The compact is nothing more then an orange snotek. LOL

joed wrote:

Congratulations and welcome to the Toro family!

It's a great machine throws snow like magic and when I use mine especially on the EOD it always impresses me. Mine threw a 2"x3" piece of solid granite that had come loose from teh walkway and it threw it like 30-35 feet! No damage to my unit at all. So forget newspapers, granite is tough stuff. Post some pics of your new baby if you can.

My wife and I are planning more videos for YouTube with our Toro 1028 to measure throwing distances of various types of snow. Should be fun!

Glad I could help.