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

Last year I bought a John Deere 1130SE snowblower and for the most part I was extremely happy with it's performance. I love the hand warmers, electric chute rotation, easy steer and the front end weight just to name a few.  The only problem I had, which was pretty significant, was the intermittent transmission slipping.  After sealing the transmission housing with silicone and some weather stripping, the problem was completely gone.  The remainder of the winter was very pleasing and I always looked forward to using the 1130.  I also had a second snowblower that I'm trading for a new 1330SE.  So now I'll have the 1130 and the 1330.  The 1130 will be for my business parking lot.  Some of the interesting features of the 1330 is the addition of an electric deflector control and dash area integrated headlights.  So now the chute is totally electric (both rotation and the deflector).  The slipping transmission should be resolved from water getting into the rubber/aluminum disc drive.  To fix this problem, Deere added a rubber gasket between the engine mounting plate and the transmission housing.  I'll try to post some pictures in the future.
BTW, my second choice would have been an Ariens since they seem to give people on this website support from at least one poster.  I wish Briggs, Simplicity or Deere would give the same support.

6"-12" of snow coming and very cold by Sunday (+1 Degree F).  Looks like I get to play in the snow again.

As several of you know, we had one heck of a storm around here. Starting Friday night and continuing all day Saturday, it snowed and blew like there was no stop in it. Highways and businesses and facilities were closing all over the place. Even the Metrodome didn't survive. I'm not sure what the official totals are, but I'm sure we got at least 15" here in southeast Minnesota. It's hard to tell, because everything is so wind swept. Anyway, I got to use my new 1330SE several times; so, I'll share my impressions.

THE GOOD:

- Power (it ate through drifts and heavy snow plow piles just fine; and it threw the snow a good distance, which was the main improvement I needed)

- Electric Start (never had it before, and it fired up with one quick push every time)

- Heated Grips (forgot they were there until my palms started to feel a little sweaty)

- Push Button Chute Rotation and Deflector (a little too quick; but I really like this feature)

THE BAD:

- Easy-Steer (does nothing noticeable to help the handling of this machine and may reduce its traction at times)

- Drive lever spring is too strong, and holding the lever down is tiring

- Front -heavy imbalance makes the 1330SE difficult to handle and reduces the weight on the tires. All of this results in the front catching and the tires slipping too readily.

My hopes and expectations were probably too high; but overall, I'm at least a little disappointed in this investment. If I could trade back, I might; but I'm sure it would have taken my old blower significantly longer to handle the huge amount of snow I pushed this weekend, and my hands would have gotten numb cold in the process. The other problem is that there was something I didn't like about every blower I looked at. I thought the chute controls on the Ariens Deluxe models were too slow and awkwardly positioned (its hard to beat the JD push buttons); there was more plastic on the Troy Bilt, Toro, and Poulan than I'm comfortable with; the Simplicities would have all the handling issues of the John Deere without the nice heated grips; and most of the crank and lever controls for the chute on all the other models were crude.

I'm hoping that I'll learn to work better with the 1330SE so that the clumbsy handling will become less of an issue. It sure looks like this Winter will give me plenty of opportunities to practice.

Used my 1330 for the first real time today and was real impressed. It laughed at the 12 inches of heavy snow in the driveway and took on the 3 foot plow pile at the end of drive like a champ. I also like the fact shes a little nose heavy she cleans right down to the driveway better than I expected. Where I had driven my truck the night before she peeled up the packed snow better than expected, normally I would have run my shovel down the tire tracks to break it loose not now. One thing I noticed was that with the hand warmers on high and using the chute rotation it would basically dim the headlights out for a second. It also took a little bit of time to start getting used to the easy steer I'm sure it will be fine the more I use the blower. I was concerned before I bought the blower about the electric chute control but after using it today I'm more than satisfied with it and glad I went with them. My only regret today is that I didn't have an encloser on the blower! Any recommedation out there? I seen some posting regarding the classic enclosers any feedback out there gentlemen? I hate dealing with junk!

plowboy wrote:
 Blow low and with the wind instead of high and into it?

Hi all.....need some help understanding relative quality of the newer JD throwers when compared to the vintage models.  I have been considering buying a new 1330SE but also have a chance to buy a (?) years-old JD 1032, and I'm trying to determine which direction to go. 

I was surprised to discover that Lowes sells the 1330SE, since I thought the only JD equipment (tractors, snow throwers etc) that you could buy at Lowes are the "big box store" model numbers, which are built cheaper to appeal to the residential customer that wants a Green Machine on their driveway, but aren't willing to pay for the real deal..  For example....you won't find an X-series tractor at Lowes...case rested!  So....I'm a bit suspicious when I see the 1330SE can be bought at my neighborhood Lowes.  Everything I've read tells me this is a solid unit, built like a tank...but I want to make sure.  If I buy the 1330SE, can I expect it to be a 20 year machine, or is it just another mass-market model trashing the real JD brand?

Of course....asking these types of questions to the "experts" at Lowes is simply inviting blank stares and the standard answer insisting the models are all the same, whether you buy them from a JD Dealer or Lowes.


My current unit is a 10 year old MTD that I bought for $300 from Sam's Club on a season closeout.  it's hard to imagine I even got $300 of value out of the piece of crap.  When it works, it throws snow just fine, but it has been unreliable to say the least. 

Thoughts/feedback on the 1330SE and current JD quality appreciated.

Shout out to all the Minnesotans on this thread.  We just registered 16" in our NW metro home this weekend.  I just hand-shoveled 1850 sq feet of driveway.  That's a lot of snow....enough to push me over the edge into getting a "real" machine. 

Shryp wrote:
Thanks but been there done that. Winds are a little different out here in the open plains west of the Mississippi.

darrvar,

Time will only tell if these new Deere blowers will last like the old ones. I just sold my old work horse John Deere 1032 and to be honest was missing her a little but after using my new 1330 today in the deep snow I'm starting to forget her name already.

PS. Major Props on the serious scooping 

jdpilot wrote:

I know that I prefer an open axle to a solid one for turning.  I'm new to two stagers but wonder if it might just be easier to disengage the drive and spin it manually.  I find the balance of my machine to be light so it wouldn't be tough.  (Correct me if I'm wrong, but easy steer has NO levers, right?) I think the easy steer might be more handy for making steering adjustments instead of 180's.

I'd like to know if the tension on the drive lever might add some pressure keeping the friction disk from slipping??? Otherwise you might be able to make an adjustment??  Ask your dealer.

I tried a large frame Simplicity (like the JD) and found it front heavy compared to the pro models.  Another way to look at this is that a lot of owners of the large home owner models also opt for a cab.  Every place I've read says to add a front weight bar if you put on a cab.  Perhaps you need to add the cab and save the money by not adding a weight bar.  I'd also look into a slight adjustment of the skid shoes to lessen the scraper bar from catching.  It's a fine line between the bar being too high and leaving too much on the ground vs. being too low and catching all the imperfections.  A little adjustment can go a long way to handling!

That's the advantage of most single stagers:  direct beating to the pavement but they too have a scraper bar that can catch on the joints, too.  But because they are so light and the rotor pulls it along, they go over them easier.

Just got a 1330SE and am wondering how to get a parts manual for it (not an operator manual).  The JD site has them for downloading, but the link to the 1330SE just gives the 1130 parts manual.  Any ideas?

Good observations and suggestions, JohnWI. Thanks.

Right, Easy Steer does not have levers. As you said, it is easier to disengage power and turn the 180s. Whether Easy Steer helps on other turns is hard for me to tell. If so, it's not dramatic. I'd prefer what Troy Bilt calls their "Power Steering," which has a lever on each handle: pull the right lever to disengage the right wheel and the left wheel continues driving to make a right hand turn for you, and vise versa. I haven't used it; but it sounds like a good approach. Overall, though, I think I prefer the JD over the Troy Bilt.

I think I will tweek the skid shoes for a better compromise between the nose digging in vs scraping snow as close to bare concrete as practicable. This particular snow storm started with sleet/freezing-rain/snow-showers before turning to all snow and lots of it. So there definitely was an ornery layer of ice under the snow.

Thanks again.