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

I want to thank everyone for theie help in helping me decide in the Toro 826OXE, I almost went for the 828 but with storage space being an issue I opted for its smaller brother the 826. IMO (even thou I havent used it yet) it feels and looks better built then then the competition. I had them head to head with Simplicity and even with more expensive simplicity models on display they recommended the Toro. The dealer was pretty crowded with people but I still felt "taken care" of.  Opposite of what I felt @ the 3 Ariens dealers. So overall im happy, I will give a full review after I use this thing.

Can anyone tell me how much oil this engine holds? Do they burn oil regularly? I know my neighbors less then 3 year old tecumseh (craftsman) burns oil........

Any negative effect leaving the blower outside for the winter? I plan on building a 4" high wood platform (or pallet) to keep it off the ground and will be under a toro cover. Anything else I can do to preserve it until I can build another shed?

Congratulations on the purchase.  You'll love the unit.  I just bought one last week and can't stop "playing" with it.  I only need some snow to see how it in action.  According to the manual, the engine holds about 0.59 litres of oil.  I had a Briggs snow series engine on my last snowblower; a compact Ariens.  Never had an issue with it burning oil.  If the blower is under a toro cover, it should be alright over the winter.  Post some pictures if you can.

stresst wrote:

Congratulations! You own a fine machine that wioll serve you for many years to come. Try and post some pics when you get a chance to use it. I used no oil in mine last year at all and that was it's first year. I keep mine in teh garage so no idea about storage except that the platfor should help. You want to keep snow off it but don't cover it until it's cooled down otherwise you'll get a ton of condensation.

why did you purchase the toro instead of the John Deere.  I already bought a JD....Just curious?

Chxbeachva wrote:

I can't answer for the OP but for myself I bought a Toro for the quick chute joystick control, the dual trigger steering and the auger system which recycles the snow if you bite off a bit too much. Oh and it's balanced super well to boot. Plus it starts on the first pull every time.

Also my 83 lb wife can use it and we put vids of her on YouTube using it. But she tries to hold it back liek that's gonna happen. Still she's getting the hang of it. That wouldn't happen with Ariens, Honda or Simplicity, we know, we owned a Honda and tried out the others. The Jjohn Deere dealer sold us the Toro, and they don't bother to carry John Deere snowblowers just the garden tractors with the plows and snowblower attachments. Home Depot sells John Deere around here not the John Deere dealer.

I just bought a JD 1028e nice looking but when bought I could find nothing on this model since it's new for this year. I compared with the Airens and this is a bigger engine. So I went for it. Consumer reports just gave it a great raiting so I feel better now. The electric shute and heated handles sold me. Let just see how the electric shut holds up.