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

          How many of you folks out there with MTD snowblowers, have had problems, or no problems?

Let's count and see how :"Junky MTD" does !!, compared to Ariens great QC ! ! ! 

                                                                 Fred            

Terrapin,

I thought I made it clear that while that topic didn't interest me, I also said "But for others, it could be a very productive use of their time."

I also stated this "is not a dig at the originator of the topic"

I apologize for not making myself clearer, but the point of my post was to make the point that the readers should decide what is productive and what is not.

Once again, my apologies,
--SnowRemover  

When I first decided I wanted to buy a snow blower I had no idea what type of machine to consider, I just new that I wanted a good machine.

I'm a new home owner and I don't have any expeirience with buying ope at all.  I saw a machine at costco a yardman 10.5 horse. I like costco so I nearly bought it that day, but decided to do a little research first. So I came here and read post's like this, I wanted to learn about the problems people had with different brands and what brands seem to hold up well.   I did not go back to costco to buy the mtd, but I feel I made a good decision and I'm happy with what I bought.     just my .02

Mang

  TP,

          What is libelous about calling MTD blowers junk and Ariens having high quality QC????????????

 Do you know what " Libel"  means in the legal world??

I resent your statement!!!! 

                                                                 Fred

I am not picking sides here.  That said,

Fred with all due respect this thread from the beginning had the potential to cause conflict.  Now that it has as the originator you need to deal with that.

C

Hey...


Seems like a snowball fight...

Hope no one gets hit in the eye !  

It's should be fun here !   

Remember  ?  


Dave...

Chris S,

                   What are Forums for???

On this forum, if you can call it that, any more.

Ariens and Toro comments can say anything that goes, no matter what there problems are ,but dare not to bad mouth them! 

Mention MTD , Aiens and toro in the same sentance and a  "HOLY WAR ERRUPTS"!!!!!

My question to this forum, Is Ariens buying advertising time here??

                                                                           Fred 

Fred that was not my point. 

C

Fred-
   based on what you've written about ariens in other threads(I think in one or two you've resorted to out and out bashing), and the *tone* of your post  at the outset of this thread, i'm getting a strong vibe from you that you are (albeit latently) implying that mtd's have a longevity/reliability equal to or better than that of the "big A" (having lawyers in the family i know that libel does not have to be direct but rather it can be implied- just cuz you don't write it don't mean you don't say it).  After digging out two drive ways for over half a winter(in addition to my own plus my yard) last year that were *supposed* to be cleared by mtd's that had big problems, i can say without hesitation that you couldn't be more incorrect.  I even had the pleasure of trying to operate one of those things, and couldn't be more unimpressed.  It had no torque to the wheels, the controls were both flimsy and clumsy compared to mine, and there was this great grinding sound coming out of the auger gearbox- despite the fact that proper shear pins(factory in fact) were installed.  The fact that they get the money they do for them stuns me.  I have seen them break in the conditions that my ariens(and i don't  even have a high end ariens) revels in, even prior to getting the r3 drive- do you realize it took well over two years for my r3 problem to appear? I would bet the disc in an mtd(or the belts for that matter) would be worn worse in the same time,   I am sure in the evironment in which you use your machine it works great and probably always will, but I also know that a storm up here like the one we had a couple weeks back can easily break the back  of an mtd, cause i have seen it happen not once, not twice, but 3 times in the last  12 months, and that's on my street alone.  I won't for a second argue or debate that we seem to be seeing a larger than preferred number of nagging problems with ariens machines this year, but do a little research into the toro 3650, and see what you find.  What scares me the most about your suppositions is they are based solely on empirical evidence that you derive from the board here, which in the grand scheme of things is a terribly small sampling, not to mention a horribly biased, unscientific one.  All this from someone that I have always felt to a person of reason and knowledge.  You may be resentful of what i write, but i'm disappointed by what you are writing.

SnowRemover wrote:

I think it may be because this site for some reason seems to be Ariens orriented.  Many of us post about how happy we are with our machines and that makes it easier for Ariens owners who may be experiencing problems to post questions.  Conversly some models are not as highly regarded and I suspect this has a chilling affect on people who own other makes.   I also think it provokes some members into bashing Ariens but I can live with that.  The way I look at it is:  I bought my machine after evaluating every model I could find in my price range.  I read consumer reports, I talked to other people,  I searched the web for information, but most importantly I thought about what I liked and didn't like about each machine I looked at.  The final decision was based on how * I * thought it would perform.  I'm comfortable with my choice, and don't feel that because someone else came to a different conclusion one of us must be wrong. 

Good luck with the MTD Jubol.  I'll bet there are a lot OPE owners who would gladly trade a neglected "high end" machine for a well maintained MTD.

plugger,   I agree this site does tend to be Ariens oriented - maybe due to the postings from Ariens folks.  No knock on PK helping people out.  He's terrific.  However, there is no doubt in my mind that there are far more troubles reported on Ariens blowers and this has been true for at least the last three seasons.    The idea that somehow this is due to some kind of bias is hard to fathom.  Unfortunately the first hand postings seen here are the only data available.  While not conclusive I put more faith in these reports than in second hand anecdotes.  Your theory does not hold water since other "highly regarded" 2 stage machines like Toro don't have undue problem reports.  

I think it likely that Ariens machines, while stoutly build, are quirky and prone to initial workmanship problems.  If you fix the early problems and stay on top of the adjustments they're probably great for many years.  Even some folks who have had serious problems are still happy with them.  That's loyalty!   My lowly Craftsman has gone through 2 1/2 winters of very heavy snow and I have not yet needed to adjust the drive engagement or either belt - all still as set at the factory.   That's as it should be.  How often do you have to adjust the belt on a car?  Probably never these days.

If any machine gets bashed around here it's MTD and I'm no fan of MTD.  My neighbor has had a 10HP MTD for over ten years (I borrowed it a couple times) with no problems with the machine - except some motor trouble  - but that's just a second hand anecdote.  lol   -Bob