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

Hey guys, new to the forum, I'm from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. I have a few questions about the above mentioned model that I hope you guys can shed some light on. I've been doing a fair amount of reading over the last week to try to educate myself before I purchase a snowblower. We were hit hard this winter and I swore I am not living another one without a blower from now on. So I went out today to look at a second hand 05/06 Ariens 926LE. It has the L head 9HP Tecumseh engine on it. Now I have a few concerns about this unit 1: The machine is 5 years old and has been used less then 10 times - I would think a sitting engine would be worse off then a lightly used one. 2: There is a fair amount of surface rust on the unit not sure how long a new one would take to develop this but seems normal I guess. 3: Now this is my biggest concern, he has done no maintenance. He did not even realize that a shear bolt had given out from his last use so I could not even give it a true test drive. The dipstick tube was a half turn undone and some oil has been weeping out, not a big deal. The worse in my opinion is he has done no oil changes. The oil on the stick looks fine but after 5 years I would think it would definately need a change. Also there is some nicks from him snowblowing his new gravel driveway in spots. I imagine normal wear and tear in that case but disappointed to see a barely used 5 year old machine with signs of oxidation everywhere and the auger nicks. Now he is asking $900 canadian, keep in mind it retails for 1300 new in canada. I think I can get it for $750 as I have him down to 800 already but disappointed with the lack of maintenance. Also the throttle cable needs some adjustment as it is either full throttle or off, I am not sure how much work it will take to adjust. Any advice and comments would be appreciated! Cheers, Mike from Canada

"As far as the price you mentioned is that in Canada or the US?"

Canadian dollars. 

It was year end clearance at HD.  I bought at Toro SS machine that was regularly $899.00 for $599.00.   Believe it or not, the local Toro gouger dealership was selling the same machine for........ wait for it........ $999.00.   That's right..... $100.00 over MSRP!!!    The above prices are before the 13% HST government gouge! 

If you had a big snow season out west, there may not be any machines left.

Cheers guys. Thanks for the advice much appreciated. I actually purchased an older Ariens ST724 as it was a great price in my opinion. It is in much better shape then the 926LE was. I put a post up on the main discussion page regarding the ST724 looking for some replies. I unfortunately bought the thing in the dark and did not notice a small up and down pulsating in the front auger so I am hoping to rebuild the front auger assembly all the way back to the pulley drive and that replacing bushings and such to clean it up and tighten things up a bit. We will see. Thanks again. Why does my post squish up into one big paragraph even though I make seperate paragraphs? Mike

double posted (???)

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