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

And lived in the Northeast,with a 175 foot driveway,with a slight incline, and a rather large turning pad what snow blower would you buy? Currently have a 12 year old, 24", 7 hp Yardman that I need to retire soon! Thanks in advance.

As far as CR goes, I subscribed to the paper copy from the 70's through to the early 90's.  About 10 (?) years ago I started using the online version, but let that expire 4 years ago.  In my experience*, it became less and less valid, as they all too often had different expectations and requirements for products than I had. I did find that by IGNORING the ratings but reading the reports of the testing itself I got data for my decision making process that had more value than the ratings. That said, after some totally ridiculous choices by them in areas where I had expertise I finally decided it was no longer worth the money and dropped it completely.

*The plural of anecdote is NOT data. The experience of just one person with a product is essentially meaningless, whether you are discussing CR, snowblowers, or toasters. Only by using aggregate experience can you arrive at a meaningful conclusion, but this is tempered by who is giving you their story. This forum, for example, is going to appeal to the more technical person who will - more than the general population - do most of their own maintenance and has different expectations than the general population. This is not the same audience that answers CR surveys, but it is the audience that will be able to explain what problems they have had, and often, why.

Anyway, back to the OP: tgseaver, could you tell us where in the NE? What's best for NJ is not going to be the same for ME, upstate NY, or Canada. Also, your physical condition and age and the usage of the machine by other family members can often eliminate what might otherwise be your first choice. What is perfect for a youngish healthy large male will NOT be the ideal machine for his wife or older children. What is your driveway made of and what is its condition? In some cases on this forum, for example, we've found that taller people hate using some machines that are fine for smaller persons. So, if you give us a little more info, you'll get a better answer as to what to look at.

Only you can go to a dealer and try them out and make the final decision, but we can narrow it down for you.

Hi all,

I have been a customer of the paper and online formats for a total of 15 years.  Rcently, I observed some factual mistakes concerning the recent online review of snowthrowers.  Without going into a lot of details, I contacted CR to communicate the correct info and never heard back.  They have corrected some of the info, but the review was not valid because of the false information provided.  Price info, feature info was incorrect for at least the ARIENS and TORO models.  I was terribly dissapointed because as indicated by some of you this has been an important source of unbiased infor for me for years.  The fact that they didn't bothere did call back to explain, thank me is irritating, but not the main point.  The whole ordeal, for me, calls into question how much I can trust the information from this point forward.  In this case, fortunately, I had done so much research prior to reading the article that I saved me from making another decison, potentially.

Best regards!

Briantun wrote:

CR used to be good years ago but lately I think their subscriptions have lagged. I mean it's easy enough to find a forum like this for almost anything or even Amazon reviews. I do a LOT of those and if it's good, bad or defective I write up a review on it. I tend to ignore 5 star praise gushing reviews. Although I have written a few like that. I have found that over time you will see a pattern emerge with a product and even if it's not a big deal it will crop up from many different reviewers. This is not the case with CR. This forum no one gets paid and yet lots of great info and more detailed than CR. Plus the cost is FREE. The fact that CR doesn't have advertisers and the Net being free means that CR is outdated. CR will not be around forever. I hate ads and CR doesn't have them but CR subscriptions have fallen drastically over the years as well. That means less subscribers contributing info for their reviews and to be honest they are lazy in the way they update data. Many times you will see info on cars that is from a model 2 years ago and hasn't been updated, but they list it as the current model.

rubinew wrote:

You make some excellent points but the Consumer Reports Surveys do get filled out by many thousands of subscribers each year.  Those people must pay for their subscription, and probably recognize as I do, that such surveys and results benefit them through that subscription, so they probably Do participate in larger numbers than non CR subscribers would.

CR does admit that because snow blowers are NOT a product used by everyone, they limit how much they test them.  In my case I compared their ratings to my new Honda Machine and they had it right, it excels at everything but got their Worst rating for Handling, which is accurate.  I'm big enough to wrestle the machine around to steer it, which is a necessity to its operation.  A smaller person would want to think twice about shoving a 256 lb machine left & right to steer it.   In the morning after, even I'm a tad sore in the muscles from the experience.

Before the age of computers and on line forums etc., Consumer's Reports was of some value.  However, nowadays, with everything you need to know at your fingertips, it's no longer a valid source of good information.  CR have reduced themselves to making money on subscriptions and providing substandard information.  Their objective has switched from being a reliable source of consumer information to a minimum investment publication focused on making a profit.   That's why the information is so inaccurate. 

In response to Steve_Cebu's post saying that John Deere dealers don't sell John Deer snow blowers: I bought my new 1330SE from a John Deere dealer, and traded in my old John Deere 524 for it.. I know that some John Deere dealers don't sell JD blowers (the nearest JD dealer sells Ariens); but, others do.

Also, I think $1500 is a lot to spend for a snow blower for personal residential use (I feel a little foolish and stretched for doing it myself), so I would argue against using that money as a down payment for something more expensive. If you were intending to use it commercially, there might be some justification for spending more to get specific features and warranty advantages. But, for use at home,  there are plenty of sub-$1500 machines available that will do a great job of trouble-free snow removal for many years. If you've been doing the job with a 7 HP yardman for the past 12 years, probably any of the machines recommended in this thread would give you a major performance improvement over your current blower, and get you inside or off to work a lot sooner than your used to.

jdpilot wrote:

Sorry, but that should have read MY John Deere dealer doesn't sell Deere snowblowers nor do a couple of others in my area. Home depot sells John Deere and they are made by MTD I believe. They might very well be good machines but my local John Deere dealer won't sell them as he says theyaren't real John Deere products and they tend to be unreliable. Now i have no way to validate what the dealer says. But since they are a John Deere dealer there has to be a reason they don't carry them. They probably can't compete with Home Depot's prices for one.

I spent like $1,800 for my Toro and look at it as a 15 year purchase. Much better than relying on the Plow guy who does a poor job compared to me doing it myself. It is a lot of cash upfront tho. For me it's worth it being able to get out of the driveway when I NEED to not just when the plow guy feels like showing up.

jdpilot wrote:

My MTD, which I just did an inspection on, and is in very good shape. 8hp and 24 inch, is a great blower, however, it can not get through the tough drifts that blow into my yard.

I spend most of my time, backing up, pushing in, leaning on the bars so it won't ride up, using a shovel to break up, then repeat.

After 2 hours my back and arms are wore out, I am beat! :-) Imagine my 125 lb wife doing this, 3 times in December already.

Unfortunately there are those of use who live between city and country life. Not enough room or place for a tractor :-), but your average wheeled snowblower just can't get the job done.

I need track drive, to push into the drifts, I need the weight, HP, and I want 28 inch.

My wife wants electric start, and likes the Hydrostatic drive, and yes, she does get stuck with the job of snowblowing, when I am travelling.

So in order to get Hydrostatic drive, electric start, tracks, and wieght, plus 28 inch, and at least 9 HP, you are now in the $2000-$3000, with most manufactures.

Now my logic, if I am going to spend 3k, I will likely spend another $600 and get a Yamaha, a machine with proven reliability, durability, ease of use, etc. (also no Shear Pins to deal with!!!)

Again, it is about what fits your particular needs. 

Steve_Cebu wrote:

I bought my Deere at the Dealer in Freeport, NY. I didn't see anything but mts, yard machines, and just a few Airens at Home Depot. I have seen in this forumn that multiple people Implied the new Deeres are made by Simplicity. I could be wrong. My dealer carried Several other brands as well.

Chxbeachva wrote:

Well here Lowes and Home Depot both are loaded with Green & Yellow John Deere products. I really don't recall who makes Deere the dealer told me and I *think* it was MTD but I could be wrong about that.