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

Have any of you seen the December online issue of Consumer Reports?  Snowthrowers are reviewed.  Lots of facual errors.  The have the retail price for the 828 oxe at $1,700.  If you click on "shop for this item", more mistakes.  They also have all models, at least the 2 stage models, rated poorly for sound.  I'm wondering if this information was pulled from the days of when many of these brands used the Tecumseh L-head.  Further, they have falsely listed certain models as having freewheel steering.  Honestly, there are so many mistakes, that I wonder if they did any actual testing this year.  Is the magazine in trouble financially? 

I have used CR for may years and was disturbed to se this level of recklessness in reporting.

FrankMA wrote:
Most definitely to all of the above.

I found this  site while researching which machine I should buy several months ago and its been invaluable in helping me figure out what would fit my needs by educating me  far more than i had expected.

I just checked the Consumer Reports on line site, and the price is listed at $ 1700.00 as you say but upon clicking on the shop for the prices of $ 1460.00 come up and when I do a Google search the prices vary even more up to 1600 bucks, so it sounds like Toro is having a sale, and trying move these machines.  You'd have to ask them what decible levels they rate poorly to discover why the sound levels are rated poor.  CR is still the only objective reviewer on all such machines, so don't be too hard on them.  I expalined what is, in my opinion, their deficiency on explaning how snowblowers work, and what actually matters. Heated hand grips won't do you much good if the drive system doesn't move the machine into that heavy wet pile semi-ice.  They also do not tell you important information to compare the brands, like the diameter and wdth of the friction wheel and drive plate on each machine.  That is like leaving off the tire and wheel sizes on cars.

  I find C.R. a usefull tool in my product search,but just that.    I research many other sources