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

Hi all,
Back in October I purchased the first snowblower I've ever owned. I live in eastern Massachusetts. I used to plow my driveway with a small doser blade on the front of my Sears garden tractor (the one I posted about the B&S engine that threw its conn rod), did that for 7 years, before that I just shoveled but Im too old and have developed a bad back. Anyway I got the top-of-the-line Toro 1128 OXE model 38650 with the Techumseh 'Snow King' 11HP engine. I had comparison shopped the equivalent Ariens unit but based on everything I read -including on this forum- the Toro was the better unit (they both had the same engine).

Well right after I got it I put a 'Tiny Tach' hour meter on it. I was using last Monday, we got around 5-6 inches of wet heavy snow. The snowblower had less than 2 hours of running time on it (the TinyTach reads only in full hours). I was just about done (it takes about 20 minutes do do my driveway) when all of a sudden I recognized that the unit had lost it drive mechanism. The auger was still working but no forward or reverse. Being a brand new unit still under warrenty (when I purchased it Toro was having a special offer that included a 3yr warrenty - normally they give 2 yrs) I really did not want to start taking it apart and I called my local dealer where I bought it and they said they would come and get it. I asked if it could be something as relatively simple as a broken belt - they thought not but could not be sure. After I spoke with them I decided to look at the belt so I removed the plastic cover (3 small screws) that they are under. When I removed the cover I instantly saw the problem. The belts were fine but each belt - one for drive and one for auger) has a small idler pulley pressed against by a spring it to keep the belt tight. The drive belt's pulley is mounted on a pivoting bracket and is held against the belt with a 'torsion' spring. I could see the idler pulley - it wasnt even sitting agaist the belt. Then I could seen the spring. At first I thought the spring had somehow slipped off the bracket but then I could see that the end 'tang' of the spring had snapped off.

So the dealer has repaired the unit (they called and found just what I did) and I should have it back tommorow, the repair done under warrenty. But it calls into question -in my mind- the reliability of the unit. That a $1.00 spring could take down a $1600 machine is very disconserting. I also called Toro to vent on them my disappointment with this. Maybe it was just a 1 in a million defect in that spring. I could see a unit several seasons old perhaps, but a unit with 3 uses and less than 2 total hours?

What do you think?

Thanks,
Paul
ps My good neighbor across the street has an Ariens snowblower. He loves his, alway touting its ability, and told me to get one. The fact that my Toro quit and was picked up by the dealer (and will be delivered) during the day while he is not home has saved me some embarrisment.

edgenet wrote:
They don't make anything like they used to.   Commercial domestic manufacturing is going for a crap in North America. 

 As large companies absorb the smaller high quality manufacturers, the first thing to go is quality.  They buy the name, change production methods to make/sell compromised products under the established brand name just to beef up the bottom line.  They'll ride the name until they run it into the ground. 

Those of us with a sense of history and the good fortune to know what a quality piece of equipment is, will lament the days when we could buy top quality domestic goods. 

It appears that if we want a premium quality snow thrower now, we'll have to buy if from Japan. 

borat wrote:
Very true.  You know sometimes feel a bit of remorse whenever I'm critical of the Arien's Company.  I have to think that they too have been courted and temped by buy-out offers.  But so far they're sticking it out and trying to remain a viable domestic family owned private company...forced to compete with much larger international conglomerates.  It can't be easy for them. 

borat wrote:
How true.  Look at what happened to Troybuilt.  There is no comparison between my old Horse and what they are putting out now.

borat wrote:

Sadly this is 100% true. i know as I still work in manufacturing, but probably not for much longer. This very well could be my last year. I can't really discuss the companies we are a vendor for but so many that we used to do work for are now in China or other countries.

Dr_Woof wrote:
You can add to that list: Bolens, Toro (Tractors), Husky (not Husqvarna), Craftsman (in the old days), Ariens (Tractors), Cub Cadet, MTD (older equipment, especially tractors), etc, etc etc... Unfortunately the list keeps getting longer all the time.

It is interesting though that my new Honda HS928 actually cost  less, in constant dollars, than the John Deere 928 that I bought 30 years ago.  Perhaps it is our own fault for always looking for the cheapest.

The really sad thing is that North American consumer manufacturing seems to have achieved it's peak in building quality products a couple decades ago and is now quickly sliding downward.   Those of us born in the 40s and 50s happened to be the generation with the good fortune to see and know the high degree of quality our domestic manufacturers could produce. 

Look at the vehicles produced during the 50s to the early 70s and compare them to what was rolling off the assembly lines after the 1973 fuel crisis.  Look around and see what OPE is still performing year after year, decade after decade. 

I too feel for the remaining domestic OPE manufacturers trying to compete in a dog-eat-dog business/manufacturing environment.   One of their biggest obstacles is that the preponderance of the younger generation(s) don't know what good quality is nor what the benefits of it are.   They are being brought up in a debt laden, instant gratification, throw away world.   Due to rapid technological change and  low cost manufacturing practices, nothing lasts.  People change cell phones, Ipods, computers and Blackberrys like I change socks!     

What started this whole downward slide of domestic consumer manufacturing?    Walmart.  

We all want lower prices.  Who doesn't?   We would be deluding ourselves to think that we continue to get high quality at low prices.

 We reap what we sew.        

borat wrote:
Spot on, Borat!!

What i would like to see is equipment that is rock solid, easy to fix and built to last a long time.  Once you make it, your inventory and cost for replacement parts goes down, as should the design and manufacturing cost since you don't need a team working on next years model all the time.  Sorta like the old VW Beetle  lol

borat wrote:
Walmart, Costco, Sams, Home Depot.  Any of those big companies have enough buyer power to make jobs disappear from the US.  Everytime you make a purchase, think about what that low prices does.  Consumers are digging their own grave with their penchant for low prices.