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

Apparently, my local Toro dealer says that this year's 421Q model comes with a B&S 4-stroke engine.  He said that this engine is more powerful than the 2-stroke R-tek engine that is in the 221Q. 

He started the 421Q 4 stroke engine.  It sounded fairly quiet and was relatively vibration free smooth running.  Definitely quieter and smoother than the Honda GX160 engine.  I was impressed.  Good job B&S.

He didn't start the 221Q 2 stroke engine.  Stated that it had no gas in tank.  Either that could be true or he didn't want to stink up the showroom with exhaust fumes.

Has anyone used both engines on the Toro 221Q and 421Q and can provide honest report?  Which engine is more powerful and can do the job of moving heavy snow better?

I know there are folks here are dyed in the wool 2-stroke fans, you know who you are.  Barring the 4 stroke heavier weight, complexity, and hassle of oil change, none of these draw backs are really a concern to me, I can go either way.  No big deal to change oil or mix oil in gasoline.  The 421Q felt slightly heavier in the front, but not enough to make a difference.  I won't be lifting either snowblower up and down the bed of a pickup truck so weight difference of 10 lbs isn't an issue. 

I started this thread a year ago.  I thought I ressurect it to bring closure to my decision.

"Has anyone used both engines on the Toro 221Q and 421Q and can provide honest report?  Which engine is more powerful and can do the job of moving heavy snow better?" 

This was the question I asked a year ago.  And today, I have the answer to my own question.

Well, my neighbor with the 221QR and I with the 421QE went out to clear the same snow this afternoon.  We both are anal and likes to clear the area in front of our mailboxes so that the mail truck can drive on and get close to the mail box.  This area is usually wet and heavy, and salt laden.  Today, this snow was slushy but in a toothpaste consistency. 

As usual, the 221Q was very strong and throws snow well.  But when it comes this type of snow, the rotor RPM would drop quickly and would not have enough velocity to push the snow up the chute.  The snow would just roll forward of the rotor.  The usual procedure was to back up, shake it a bit, and let the rotor build up speed again.

The 421Q was different, in the same snow, the rotor RPM also dropped, but it maintained a higher speed and was able to push the snow through the chute.  There is no rolling of snow forward of the rotor.  If I ram it too hard into heavy snow, the engine would stall.  In comparison, my 12 year old Honda HS621 is the champ in this kind of snow.  It has more torque and it can push more volume out of the chute, but at a shorter distance.  The rotor design does not allow any snow to roll forward.  The snow would either shoot out of the chute, or the engine would stall.

I was quite impressed with the 421Q and how is stacked up against the HS621 for this kind of test.

In medium and light weight snow, both the 221Q and 421Q are about equal in performance.  Both can throw the snow quite farther than the HS621, which is to be expected.  If you look at the rotor design, you can see the Toro is much more efficient.  The Toro is such a joy to use, fast, light and can be toss around easily.  The Quick Shoot feature is worth every penny.

As a side note, the Toro 221Q is a B&S 2 stroke 141cc engine.  The Toro 421Q is a Loncin 4 stroke 163cc engine.  And the Honda HS621 is Honda's own GX 4 stroke 160cc engine.

In all reality how much snow do these two models max out at?

In fresh snow, these single snowblowers can take on 18" of snow with no problems.  I just went through 18" of snow deposited by a plow at a sidewalk corner, but it does take longer and you need to work at it.  EOD with packed and crusty snow can be tacked with some help from a shovel, but you need a 2 stage metal auger to effectively cut through it. 

Yeah - I'm in the same general area as you -   aa335  - and got that heavy, wet snow today -  The 421QE still did a good job in that heavy stuff.

Instead of throwing the snow over 25' or so - it threw around half that distance - 12' to 15'  -  still an admiral job for the wet, heavy stuff.

Still impressed with how nice the quick chute control system works.

Alty,

I'm having so much fun with the 421Q that I hope to get more snow soon.  Looks like we're going on a few cold days without much precipitation.

In wet heavy stuff, the throwing distance drops down to 8 to 15 feet  That's not too bad.  It doesn't have enough power to loft this kind of snow over 6 foot banks.  That's fine with me, I'll just break out the 2 stage machine if I want to carve out a canyon. 

In preparation for the big one, I just leveled the EOD pile and widened my driveway apron by 8 feet.  :) .  Not with the 421Q of course, the other big red machine.  I needed a place to put my garbage and recyclin bins.