Abby’s Guide > Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) > Discussions > Need some help deciding on a new blower
Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions |
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stresst
Location: The Village in the Middle of New York
Joined: Dec 11, 2010
Points: 213
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Need some help deciding on a new blower
Original Message Dec 11, 2010 10:58 pm |
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First time posting, hope you can help me decide. I was in the market for a blower a few months back but thanks to my POS water heater going bad, I had to put it off till now. Been doing my research and have it limited down to a few units. Any help would be appreciated. The first one is the Ariens 24" Deluxe but not too confident in the subraooooo engine. Next up is the Ariens 24" Platnium but @ nearly 1300.oo not sure. Next up I like the craftman 26" w/ 208cc engine, power steering. Not too keen of the craftsman but how can I go wrong? They offer a 5 year extended in home service contract for about 250.00. (799+250 im still 300+ cheaper then the Ariens). Lastly I like the Toro 826 OXE 38624W.
BTW, im located in the New York City and the area I need to maintain is kinda small. I have about a 16' x 50' sidewalk, narrow single car driveway about 80' long (houses on each side) which fans out to about 4 cars wide and the other end I get a mountain of snow from NYC sanitation plows. Any input on these particular machines?
TORO 826OXE
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Steve_Cebu
Joined: Dec 17, 2009
Points: 888
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Re: Need some help deciding on a new blower
Reply #7 Dec 12, 2010 6:23 pm |
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Thanks for everyones replies. As far as the Subaru engines go, I never heard of them. Ive always heard of the Briggs and Tecumseh so I was a little concerned but guess it was just my ignorance. As far as the Ariens Sno-tek go, I have been to two local dealers picking there brains with questions trying to decide and they both had horror stories about not being able to get parts for the engines. They both said they will not be ordering anymore nor will not be carrying them next year. They said they "thought they were a less inexpensive option for consumers not looking to break the bank". Later on went on saying "whats the use if you cannot get parts". One dealer told me he sold one cutomer an electric starter for cost and instaled it for free cause he couldn't get him a spring for the recoil. So obviuosly sno-teks are out. LOL I dont see much talk about John Deere blowers? I kinda like the Deere 827E but not sure I like the wide width. Any opinions? If you had to decide on the Ariens 24" Platinum 921917 or the Toro 826 OXE 38624W which would you choose? Toro's are easy to get parts for and all my local dealers have a full stock of parts. It's powerful and the auger system actually allows the snow to recycle if it's too much for the chute. Ariens has the name but in real world usability the Toro won me over. Ariens is a big heavy tank of a machine but steers worse than a tank. I want to drive my snowblower not muscle it around the driveway. Love the fact it start on first pull and you really don't see too many complaints about Toro. The Joystick whips the chute around and places it exactly where you want it and that's a must for me in certain areas or I'd lose a window. Love pulling the trigger and the machine turns. I've driven mine into hardened plow berms and it just chewed them up and spit them out. I don't know there are so few Toro 2 stage supporters in this forum but it's easy to overlook the fact that Toro makes one hell of a nice machine. Ariens is good but doesn't impress me. Just being heavy for the sake of being heavy seems like a waste. Also I LOVE the plastic chute forget the nonsense that says they aren't good. This isn't backed up by the real world. Snow doesn't clog up in the chute. Try them out and buy the one you like, just don't underestimate Toro because Ariens has a lot of vocal fans.
"If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England." "If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England."
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stresst
Location: The Village in the Middle of New York
Joined: Dec 11, 2010
Points: 213
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Re: Need some help deciding on a new blower
Reply #10 Dec 12, 2010 8:23 pm |
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Something seems fuzzy. Just for yucks I looked up the spring mentioned (I used the SX21 on the Ariens 724). It’s available all over the net, even Amazon for $6. Right, this is now the story was “then”. Not questioning you stresst but something does not sniff right with “no parts”. Ok.......so what the heck are they both talking about?? Hope its not some BS ploy to get me to spend double the money nevermind I dont think home depot would carry a line if parts were not readily available but you sort trust what local dealers are saying.........I cannot wait to go back there. Do you have the part number for the spring? I want to go there with a print out and see how he responds.
This message was modified Dec 12, 2010 by stresst
TORO 826OXE
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trouts2
Location: Marlboro MA
Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Points: 1328
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Re: Need some help deciding on a new blower
Reply #11 Dec 12, 2010 10:40 pm |
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NotMoneyGuy – stresst said Subaru so… Ariens these 920402 920403 Ariens SnowTek 24 & 28 inch slow with LCT
and
these 921020 with Subaru.
>>so what the heck are they both talking about?? Who knows?? The reasons could be all over the place and with justifications spanning fantasy to real. Where are you located? It could be their supplier/warehouse was out or does not stock things they needed. Maybe it was all unlucky coincidence. Maybe they trashed their relationship with Stens. Whatever. Two dealers saying they are dropping a line for the same reason is interesting and a surprise. http://robinamerica.com/smanuals.aspx?sid=59 You can get the user and parts manuals there and get the spring number. On taking a quick look it seems there is a Stens spring that is very available. I’m not sure if Stens has an agreement like it did with LCT or just a second source for some Subaru parts. Possibly Stens is the only outlet for SX21 parts. ?? It’s hard to tell if a suppliers part is a Subaru part or an aftermarket. Some suppliers say and some don’t. In order to make a story more flowing it could have been he had a hard time getting a cowling section and just filled in the part as spring. Maybe he could have gotten the part in two weeks but the customer was giving him a hard time so installed the electric start at a discount. But two dealers makes it different.
This message was modified Dec 12, 2010 by trouts2
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