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            

DALE A.   BANNED

I apologize in advance for the long reply…only read if bored.

As a newer reader to this forum, I’d like to give a little lay audience perspective as to what is currently happening to this thread, as well as forum, and how it will turn off others (those who are not engrained in the conversations/lifestyle) from contributing or valuing opinions.

Why do people visit this forum? Who are they? What is/are their motive(s)?  What will lead them to conduct behind-the-scenes reading, contributing, or unsubscribing?

Here’s a typical scenario…a consumer decides they want/need a snow thrower. Unless they have an influential neighbor/family member who owns an expensive, but not well known, snow thrower, they’ll initially gravitate to the Wal-Mart/Sears throwers (greater exposure and better price point).

Then, thinking that $600 or so is a lot of money to spend, they’ll look at generic research sources (such as eopinions.com or they’ll read Consumer Reports) to verify their pending purchase. Later, after learning about a few alternative choices, they’ll go google.com or msn.com and search for recommended snow throwers. They’ll often stumble upon threads such as this one. At that time they’ll hear about how they should spend more money than what they planned.

To justify spending more, they’ll look up more first-hand experiences on this forum. Rather than read every single thread, they’ll use the search engine to look for, say, Toro 8 hp or Simplicity. They’ll also see subjects such as “MTD Snow Blowers” and skim it over. They’ll want to learn why magazines recommend MTD (which to them, may or may not be made be the Craftsman model they saw at Sears) but subscribers who own and use snow blowers will often recommend Ariens/Toro/Honda/etc.

While skimming threads, they’ll come across people arguing over who said what, etc. This is normal behavior. People often act differently behind the keyboard than they would if face-to-face.

Back to the consumers…if bored, they’ll spend a little time to figure out why a person is pissed, and another is banned. But, frankly, it’s insignificant to those who just want valuable snow blower information.

As a result, strings such as this are valuable, even if controversial, but only if people first counter opinions/facts they do not agree with, and then later ignore the post/person, rather than get off the subject. Why throw gas on an isolated field fire that can’t harm? If it must, let it burn on its own, and people can decide whether or not to stop by and watch it. Soon, if unattended, it will burn itself out. However, some may sit around and gain some heat from it...their choice.

Another thought…just a guess, but if I were to read these threads and ultimately buy a Craftsman on clearance, I’d probably have not real need to visit the site (since my purchase would not be justified). The only time I’d ever visit this forum again is if the Craftsman ever broke down (to potentially gain information before attempting to fix or bringing it to a shop).  

PS: Snow thrower or snow blower? What's the correct terminology?

colecacola wrote:

They are interchangeable terms really.  Neither is wrong and you are understood regardless of which you use.

C

colecacola...

Nice post... thanks for your insights !

Now to your question Fred...

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

                                                                          Fred

Not that I as a moderator am aware of...  See any particular brand of OPE advertised here ???
Red... ? Blue... ? Orange... ? Green... ? Purple... ?  Grey... ?

I didn't... maybe I missed it... I usually don't look at the ads... can you point us to the Ariens advertising ?

And... if a manufacturer or who ever does advertise here... So what ?
What does your question actually mean ?


Dave...

colecacola wrote:

Both are accepted terminology for the same thing.

Some people argue, with some justification, that a snow thrower is another name for a single stage machine while snow blower describes a 2 stage machine.

I think Fred and some other MTD owners like, and are proud of, their machines. Many owners of other brands of machines have the same opinions of their equipment. Sometimes expressoins of pride and the good natured teasing that comes from making competitive comparasons between the brands that are liked by others gets mis-understood or taken too seriously.

I can't speak for the other moderators, but at the time Fred posted this, there was a bad egg trying to come to the surface. Which made a post that under normal curcumstances would have been just another chance for brand specfic snowblower lovers to beat their chests,  in to a post that was treated with a heightened sensitivity.

At least two good things will come from this post, A thriller from James Clavell "Snowblower Jihad" and the romance novel from Maeve Binchey " When Mary Met Snowdude".

ROFL.....Very good Rob.....

C

colecacola wrote:
FYI, Sno-Thro is a trademark from the Ariens Company.

I used this statement to make my chioce in October, 2003, from    http://home.gwi.net/~spectrum/snowbuying.html#shopping.  Also i used the info from this group of guys, and have been reading this four-um since then   .   I like the Ariens,but no track model for my steep driveway.  Alomost got the MTD Track model (do not like the triiger drive system when I tried a friends), But glad I got the Honda for the Hydrostatic drive!.   I works well for me.                                                                                  18 DEGREES     

I call my Ariens Sno-Thro.  I think of single stages as snowblower as they kind of blow snow.  They bigger ones actually throw snow as do they single stages, but not as far.  I call them snowthrowers.  You might catch me saying either one though ...lol      I also like what nibbler said.